Hostal San Jose Piura

... I guess disco-ing hours are from midnight to 5am...that's okay though since we didn't need anyone seeing our dance moves! I left with a few people at about 12:30 but others stayed later. By the time we left a line had formed outside the disco and you could have heard a pin drop when a couple of blondes walked out the door! <br><br>Yesterday we piled into vans, trucks and a "bus" to head to the beach near Paita, we stopped on the way in ...

... the dark last night. The slopes of the mountains on either side were different shades of lush green with a small river flowing at the bottom of the valley. There were a few newish large houses being built along the route and quite a few with swimming pools. I can now see why people have said that there is foreign investment in this area. In contrast as we rose above the ridge into the valley where Loja was, the lush green vegetation become sparse and was very dry and arid in parts ...

... but even when you get the pronunciation correct (80% of the time) nothing is priced so having asked for the goods, and the price, if you don't want it they have to take it and put it back on the shelf. It's a right rigmarole, and not only for us, usually there's several other people doing the same thing at the same time, mass confusion often reigns.<br><br>Back to this morning, after asking several times, we eventually found the tiny panaderia in the middle of the barrio ...

... la Plata. <br><br>2) Pacific Coast. Montanita might not be real Ecuador but was great for us. Would have been even better if the sun shone.<br><br>3) The Andes. Banos was a lovely valley town with activities and hot baths. Would definately recommend it<br><br>4) Colonial Cities. We avoided Quito which was getting a bad name from fellow tourists at the time but saw the classical if slightly sleepy City of Cuenca<br><br>5) The Rainforest. Well you can't see it all in 3 ...

So we are now in Peru, I have loads to write about as we have made about 5 stops since my last entry, but this is a slow process so I will upload some pics and write a little and hopefully fill in the gaps when (or should that be if!) internet access improves.

... the bus limped into the next town and had to be abandoned. A German girl and I were put in a private car with three Peruvians and the driver was advised to drive us to Piura. He drove us part way , asked for money which we did not give, and deposited us at a bus station in nearby Sullana. We boarded a bus but had no Peruvian soles to pay the ticket guy on ...

Bye-bye Ecuador, hola Peru! ---------- Waaaah ce fut une nuit pénible, passée dans des bus pourris et inconfortables... D'abord 1h30 de Vilcabamba à Loja, où bien sûr le bus que j'étais censé prendre ne roulait pas, mais la compagnie n'avait averti personne. J'ai attendu le suivant, et départ pour le Pérou à 23h. 5h de route plus tard, nous arrivons au poste frontière, où ça a pris 10 minutes à réveiller le gardien côté Pérou. Apr ...

Population 328,000 Known as a transport hub. The journey through Ecuador to the boarder with Peru was stunning, take this journey during the day if possible, the views are breathtaking. It was interesting how the landscape changed quickly between Ecuador and Peru, Ecuador is more green and lush whereas Peru looks more desert like. The boarder crossing was very easy and the staff great, we had no difficulties. We were a ...