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21 December – Time to head home!

I finished my packing back at the guest house, with essentials, valuables and Christmas gifts all going into my hand luggage; with a little over two hour connection at Madrid Barajas airport I was taking no chances! On my last trip back from South America via Barajas, my luggage didn’t join my arrival into Heathrow, but was delivered a couple of days later.

My better than expected impression of Guayaquil during the morning tour ground to an abrupt halt enroute to the airport. One of the guest house staff accompanied me to the street below to help ensure that I took a 'safe' taxi. Other than the lack of driver friendliness all was okay until he decided to let off some steam with another taxi driver, and play a dangerous 'cat and mouse' game, which after the vehicles scraping along the side of each other, terminated in the other driver squeezing in front and grinding to a halt. He left his vehicle, hurled lots of abuse at my driver, and then went to retrieve something from his boot. At this point I realised that I could very soon be in serious danger.

Someone had pulled up beside us in a smart looking jeep so I took a quick decision to grab my hand luggage and ask the respectable looking driver for help, telling him that I was trying to get to the airport. A risky move to go from a 'safe' taxi to a completely random vehicle in this city, but I had to move fast. It turned out that the other taxi driver retrieved a small wooden plank from his boot (rather than something far worse as I’d feared). As he violently used it to try and damage my taxi (including windscreen) I quickly grabbed my main luggage (luckily on the back seat rather than in the boot) and sought safety with the driver who’d accepted my plea for help. He saw that I was shaken up but for him it was just all part of the everyday fiery Latin spirit. Anyway, he seemed genuine and we ended up having a more relaxed conversation before arriving at the airport, where he refused to accept any money.

On top of what I’d experienced the previous evening, it’s fair to say that I arrived at the airport a little traumatised! I spent nearly three and half months without experiencing any noteworthy problems, and all of a sudden it all happens at once. Although, on both occasions, I was no doubt just in the wrong place at the wrong time, it left a bitter taste in my mouth of Ecuador, and I was feeling relieved to be at the safety of the airport and leaving this place, something I never expected to be saying just 24 hours earlier.

I checked in to learn that my flight would be delayed by one hour, so was even more happy that the essentials and stocking fillers were in my hand baggage. At passport control the officer couldn’t find a record of me entering the country; after ten minutes of taking photos of my passport and entry card, and WhatsApping and calling colleagues, he disappeared to take photocopies of them, and then let me through. Presumably it was because I used an off the beaten track border, where the staff are not so efficient at updating the database!

While waiting for the flight I released some of my stress of the past day with phone calls to couple of friends. Then I was presented with the boarding card for my flight to Heathrow so LATAM was at least optimistic that I’ll make the connection! And they were right to optimistic, I made it to the boarding gate of the Heathrow flight, in a foggy grey Madrid, with still 15 minutes to spare.

It wasn’t until the English Channel that the cloud cleared, for a (albeit over the wing!) beautiful sunny and emotional descent over central London and into Heathrow, where I was surprised to find my checked luggage waiting for me on the carousel. With two hours to kill until the coach to Leicester I enjoyed my first decent pint of ale in over three months!

Thanks for following my blog; let’s see how long it is before planning of part 3 gets underway 😁

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Guayaquil 2nd set

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20 December – Last stop, Guayaquil

After a final swim to cool off from the coastal hike, I said goodbye to the sunny beach and head back to the bus terminal for the two hour journey back to Guayaquil, for my flight the following day. I did consider spending another night by the beach but Guayaquil surely deserved a morning stroll along the central riverfront Malecón, which I’d heard has been spruced up.

Unfortunately the journey was to present me with some of the realities of Ecuador, and to be fair, plenty of other Central and South American countries. Firstly, we ground to a halt at a police security checkpoint, where we all had to alight the bus for a bag and body search. On re-entering the bus I noticed the warning that firearms (along with pets, alcohol and hot food) are not permitted on board, a reminder of the territory I was in.

Then it got worse as we ground to a halt again on the dual carriageway, where through the window appeared a dead guy lying on the road, with blood and body parts spread around him. It was awful but what saddened and shocked me most was the passengers heading to the windows or getting off the bus to take photos of the guy, and after ten minutes or so, some shouting to the driver (who appeared to be trying to help, since there were no emergency services yet at the scene) to continue the journey. I suggested to one of them that it was more important for the driver to help than continue to Guayaquil but it pretty much fell on deaf ears. A 4WD had pulled up in front of the guy to try and prevent vehicles driving over him but the rear warning lights of the vehicle did little to illuminate the scene, as vehicles drove around him. I expected someone to park up behind him to better protect the body and provide a brighter light through headlights, but it didn’t happen. Eventually we continued but before the emergency service had arrived.

It made me reflect on how little some people value life here, as in other parts of the world. The number of road fatalities is ridiculous at around 35 times more the level in the UK per motor vehicle (although still less than in Bolivia), and many accidents involve coaches, and they keep happening. It seems to be accepted as an everyday inconvenience, people don’t seem to care. They continue to drive like crazy. On the approach to Guayaquil it was raining heavily, and visibility was poor, but the driver hardly slowed down, and continually drowned neighbouring cars in the spray and huge puddles we passed through.

During my trip I’ve been very aware of the safety of coach travel here and where possible have chosen companies carefully, seeking advice from locals, or even flown occasionally. For the 12 hour crossing from Peru to Ecuador I had the choice of just one bus company (Cooperativa Nambija); on doing a web search to find the contact details I was presented instead with lots of news coverage of an accident three months ago in the same area, when a bus overturned and disappeared down a cliff, killing 12 of the 40 passengers. Obviously it made me a little anxious about using the company but it was the only option.

So, not a great end to the last full day of my trip; I’m maybe over dramatising things, but what I experienced this evening was really upsetting. However, I have to accept that I’m in a different part of the world and with different cultures, precisely why I’m visiting these countries!

After passing one metal shutter after another protecting the ground floor of the city centre buildings, the taxi arrived at the last place of my travels, a guest house (albeit more like modern city apartments), where the owners didn’t seem at all surprised or phased by what I saw on the journey; basically, little reaction. I entered the room with a 'wow', it was huge, in fact probably as big as my flat in London! I was also very happy to be offered an arrival drink, a glass of wine. So that makes another first on this trip, but at least a nice one!

In the morning I was very lucky to have a local at hand to show me some of the main sights of the city, including the spruced up Malecón riverfront (where I shared a bench with Juan Pueblo, a popular and icon of the city) and the very pretty neighbourhood of Cerro Santa Ana, which from a distance could pass for a favela! It was 444 warm and very humid steps to the top but well worth it, the views of the city and the wide River Daule were stunning. I then got to see some of the commercial streets, with the mishmash of styles of uncared for looking buildings. Suddenly I was hit with the sweet smell of cocoa as we randomly passed a renown Ecuadorian chocolate factory right in the city centre. I left the shop with yet more to try and cram into my rucsac!

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Final swim and dinner

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La Chocolatera and La Lobería

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Onto La Chocolatera

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Salinas part 2

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18 December – to the beach, Salinas

After a leisurely morning of stocking up on yet more tacky fridge magnets and visiting the cathedral with it’s incredibly huge nativity set (complete with flowing river!), I head to the full-on bus terminal for a coach to Guayaquil, the largest (and possibly dodgiest) city in Ecuador, with around three million residents. The first challenge was getting me and my luggage through the scanner since the barcode on my 10 cent bus terminal usage ticket failed to work, and the security guard was incapable of overriding the system!

Thanks to the traffic it took forever to get out of Cuenca, so let’s hope that the tram currently under construction will improve things in future. We were then soon climbing the windy road (with lorries overtaking us!) into the Cajas National Park, another suggested destination by many but there was no time. The cloud, rain and then an hour of fog, at least helped comfort my inability to visit. For once we were presented with a romantic movie, How To Be A Latin Lover.

Once the fog had cleared we entered a much more tropical flat landscape of palm and banana (or possibly plantain) trees, and then rejoined the Panamerican Highway that I’d left in northern Peru. It was back to toll stations, and for the first time I recall on my trip, there were radar vehicle speed displays at the side of the road, along with the usual signs requesting drivers to respect the highway rules, to slow down (noting that the family is waiting at home), not to dump litter, or to destroy the environment. During my time here I’ve seen no evidence of these signs making any difference!

I arrived into Guayaquil bus terminal, which is huge. Along with the countless bus stands on three levels, the terminal was part of a shopping and food mall. Probably since I arrived during the evening rush hour, there were plenty of people running around in a stressed manner; it certainly had the busy big city feel. With so many bus company ticket offices, it took me a while to find the one I needed to take me onto Salinas, a further two hours or so.

Predictably it was back to a loud action movie as the driver appeared (since it was dark) to have his foot as far down as possible on the accelerator. Something else I witnessed for the first time on my trip was passenger rage, due to someone not being happy with how far a passenger’s knees were protruding into the back of her seat! Another sign of big city living and the daily commute stress! And to make a trio of new experiences, I found people around me eating takeaway packaged dinners they had bought in the bus terminal.

We approached Salinas to find numerous homes dressed with Christmas lights (making another thing I hadn’t really seen here to date), and I finally checked into my beachfront hostal. I woke up in the morning to a beautiful view of the beach and head out for a pre-breakfast swim, it was sooo nice! During my stay I got in a number of swims, and did a (flat) hike to the Chocolatera and Lobería península points. The former is the most westerly point of Ecuador (and sometimes regarded as the most westerly mainland point in South America, but I’m not convinced...this is surely in Peru), where the coastline changes from east-west to north-south. It is named so since the meeting of opposing strong currents churning up sand that sometimes give the sea a chocolate looking colour. The very excited sea presents impressive crashing of waves over the rocky coastline.

I took note of the 'no swimming' signs although others didn’t and were soon told to leave the sea by local park rangers. I got to see one sea lion, plenty of birds diving down for the teasing jumping fish (who looked amazing in the transparent crest of the waves), and a couple of guys standing on a viewing platform getting completely saturated by a wave they hadn’t correctly anticipated the power of! Other than eating and drinking, the rest of the time in Salinas was just relaxing, as it was meant to be.

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Cuenca final set

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Cuenca 3rd set

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Cuenca part 2

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16 December – Cuenca

With my remaining time now being down to five days I deliberated over visiting Cuenca; I was well aware that it’s UNESCO centre is one of the prettiest in Ecuador, and possibly South America, but I didn’t want to rush through and not do it justice, and I was meant to be commencing my coastal stay in Puerto Lopez the following night. In the end, the weather forecast for Puerto López determined what I should do. The forecast was rain or showers for my days there, not ideal for a beachside hostal or visiting the nearby 'poor man’s Galapagos' island. Also, I was craving some last chance warm sunshine after the past week or so of cool showery or relentless rainy days. So I decided to cancel my booked accommodation in Puerto López, have a couple of nights in Cuenca, and try and have a shorter beach retreat somewhere nearer to Guayaquil, where I need to spend the night of the 20th.

After struggling to exit myself and my luggage through the local bus platform exit gate at the bus terminal stop (clearly no consideration that the bus terminal passengers may have luggage!), I was lucky to arrive as a bus was leaving. We were subjected to the usual noisy movie (action rather than disaster this time) but on the plus side, I was very encouraged to see sunny skies an hour after leaving Loja. On arrival into Cuenca I had the clear feeling of being back in a large city (Cuenca has a population of around half a million), partly due to the shadiness of some characters on the streets.

The short walk to the hostal didn’t provide any signs of a beautiful city centre, however I checked in to what turned out to be the best hostal of the trip, set in a large old colonial house, with rooms around a pretty central patio. The habitat feel room was luxurious with quality cotton bedsheets and wooden floors, the staff (a mix of mainly Colombians and Venezuelans) were all very friendly, and the adjacent cosy bar had a great selection of Chilean wines served, no less, by a Chilean. I wasn’t sure who was following who but I arrived to find that William, the guy I’d met in Chachapoyas and then on the bus to Ecuador, was staying in the same hostal!

In a recommended local restaurant I sampled the Cuencano for dinner, a tasty duo of mote (boiled corn) with a mini mixed grill. The following morning I head out for the latest 'free' walking tour, this time in a group of around 20 rather than the three in Loja. It was clear from the tour that I’d taken a good decision to spend a couple of nights here. There is a really stunning selection of buildings, colours and styles to admire, including the incredibly grand cathedral complete with shiny blue marble domes. We also ventured into a Panama hat enterprise and terminated in the bustling colourful central market, where three of us enjoyed some local dishes, me some eight hour roasted pork and more of the white beans, after which a chocolate stand caught our attention.

I got to see more of Cuenca on two wheels, cycling along the riversides and up the challenging hill to the Turi viewpoint, where a small pretty colonial church sits overlooking the city. Of course I also enjoyed more good coffee in Cuenca; the owner of one café was very keen to point out that Ecuadorian coffee is the best in the world. Playing Devil’s Advocate I pointed out that northern Peruvian coffee is probably equally good!

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Loja final set

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Loja 2nd set

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14 December – Loja

I turned up at the hostal at 1.15am and, after a couple of rings of the bell, the guy on night duty appeared to let me in; I was very happy to hit the sack! It was a late start the following morning; for breakfast I took a gamble on ordering something called mote, which ended up being a tasty introduction to Ecuadorian cuisine: scrambled white corn, egg, and cheese, with a kind of salsa. I then explored one of the many riverside parks, where I stumbled across an old steam engine and carriages, and on leaving, one of the municipal pools where I took note of the opening hours.

Lunch was another new cuisine experience, when I tried the café’s signature dish of a taco calzone pizza, washed down with a tomate de árbol (tree tomato aka tamarillo) juice, which bore little resemblance to the taste of tomato. Then it was time for the 'free' walking tour of the old city, with a Canadian couple, when we got to appreciate the different building styles from colonial, to renaissance to modernist, and even a few stones from the Inca period incorporated into a church facade. It was sad to see the majority of colonial buildings in a bad state of repair, with some completely abandoned. The regulations now in place to preserve them (from structural changes) mean that demolition is no longer an option, but neither can locals afford to rehabilitate and maintain them. An exception was the cafe (complete with pretty courtyard) where I had lunch, an impressive colonial building still gradually being resurrected by the owners.

The tour terminated in a restaurant where we got to sample some local coffee, prepared using a cotton filter and metal stand device common here. Loja is said to have the best coffee in Ecuador so I resisted from adding milk or sugar, so that I could fully savour the slightly sweet roasted flavour. Helped by the Canadian coffee-loving couple I was convinced that it was good and splashed out on a bag, taking my coffee supply to nearly 1.5kg, with what I’d already bought in Chachapoyas and Jaén.

On Saturday night I got to discover a bar set around the patio of a colonial house, thanks to the local chico I met for some beers. I was impressed with his English but much less so with the pint that he suggested, which turned out to be citrussy and salty. After a couple of mouthfuls I ordered a bottle of Club, one of the most common national lagers. I was all set the following morning for a swim, so returned to the pool I’d found the previous day to be told that my swimshorts were not of an accepted style! There was concern that the colour would leak into the pool thanks to the chlorine; explaining that I’d had them for two years and they’d been washed many times got me nowhere. I was directed to an open air pool (which sounded more appealing) back towards the centre but found it shut, in spite of the December timetable posted at the entrance stating that it should be open. So, another failed swimming mission on my trip!

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Crossing into Ecuador

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Towards the border