Ecuador

Spent some time back along the Pacific coast. Weather was OK, but got a lot of overcast as well. First town I hit was Canoa. It was the nicest beach that I´ve been to since Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It was huge too. Got to do a little surfing, but was pretty much like starting from scratch again. This surfing gig is tougher than it looks. You don´t get the luxury of a 6 man chairlift and unlimited supply of gravity. The only thing gravity does out in the water is help you do a faceplant off the face of a 6 foot wave. I still can´t figure out which waves are the weak ones that won´t carry the board, and which ones are so powerful that they roll you over 4 or 5 times and make you lose your sense of up from down. Town was very quiet. Stayed at the CocoLoco which had awesome beds (real mattresses) and awesome warm showers. Owned by a dutchman named Franz.

I next passed through a town called Puerto Lopez which is supposed to be good for whale watching (but I didn´t go), and then went on to an awesome little surf town called Montanita. Only 2 little streets, just jammed with restaurants, bars, and surf shops. Beach was OK, but waves were great for learning on. Had a few days on the water, and actually started catching some waves again. Met some cool people (Renan & Maria fr. France, Bobby fr. Scotland, the Auzzies, Matt and Lauren fr. Canada, the pharmacist from NZ, etc.). Party scene was great. Would have been spectacular if we had more sun. Passed the evenings with intense games of Jenga (seem to be playing alot of that on this trip). We actually had a crowd around our table at one point, with people applauding at how high we got it (26 levels). Twas pretty funny. Got a few pics. Stayed at the hostal Tsunami. Hung out at the Hostal Blanca.....great food.

Headed down to Guayaquil after that. Was a huge town (pop 2.5M). Got sick there though, so spent most of the time in bed. Did manage to go check out the town, and then went to a movie (The Centinal). It was actually the first time that I´ve ever gone to a movie myself. It didn´t last long though, as two cute little local girls came and sat behind me and handed me a napkin ¨Como se llamo¨¨(What´s your name). Was pretty funny. It was yet another reminder of how horrid my Spanish is though. Not much to talk about beyond that. I did end up watching the movie with them anyway.......well, I think that´s what they asked.

I´m now back in the mountains in Riobamba. It was an intesting ride here. As I always do, I asked about 4 other people at the bus station if there were going to Riobamba and they all said ¨Si¨. What was supposed to be a 4 hour bus ride turned into just under 8 hours due to a blockage on the road (it doesn´t take much to block these mountain roads). So after a couple of terrible spanish movies and a bag of cheezies that I bought, that turned out to be.......not cheezies...........the bus pulls over and the guy comes over to just me and says, ¨OK, Riobamba¨. I look around and I´m the only #### person getting off. I wanted to turn around and ask everybody else where in the hell they were going (but I didn´t know how to say it in Spanish). Anyway, after reconfirming with the bus driver four times over, I finally got off. It turns out I was just 10 min cab ride from Riobamba.....AND, the room I got had a TV with cable. Got to watch Agassi play his last match.....I think (how do you say last match in Spanish??).


Its funny, but you can really tell the differences in elevation. Up here you get runny noses alot (not that I haven´t had that for the past week anyway), and you get really short on breath when walking up hills. I´m staying at a hotel called Hotel Tren Dorado. This town has a nice mix of locals, as well as indigenous people (the women are so cute in their little outfits.....I will try to get pics). I have absolutely no friends here, but have been trying for the past 2 days. Met some Germans in the lobby earlier. They asked me if I knew where any good restaurants were. I said, ¨No, but I´m hungry¨. We chatted for a bit, they grabbed their guide book, found a spot, and then they all turned to me and said, ¨OK, see you later¨.

Yeah, it was nice talking to you........assholes.

Mom, you will be proud to know that I got a hair cut today. You could imagine what it was like trying to communicate with the girl about what I wanted. I told her that I only wanted a little off, and then she grabbed the clippers. I was like, ¨Woh, woh, woh......slow down....slow way down.¨. I told her to only use scissors (by ´told her´ I mean, I made the scissors motion with my fingers and said ¨solo¨). All the girls in the shop were getting quite the kick out of it. Turned out OK though.......I think. Well, what can you expect for a dollar.

Heading out to do some mountain biking tomorrow with an organized group. They drive us up to the base camp of the largest mountain in Ecuador (Chimbarazo), and then we get to bike down the paths for 5 hours. Should be fun. Supposed to be pretty easy though, as they have other paths for the advanced types. If elevation becomes an issue, then we end up getting a nice ride in the truck.

Anyway, that´s all for now. I have another big night planned of hanging out by myself again. Here´s to hoping for a good movie on the tube..............in english preferably.

PS - I watched Law and Order in Spanish the other day.........it´s amazing how useless all the character´s lines are. It´s pretty much the same shit.....show after show. In fact, I think I like it better without the English.....its not as annoying.