Hilton Colon Guayaquil

... list goes on!<br>2) Shoe shiners - still exist here!<br>3) People carry brown envelopes but I´ve no idea what´s in them<br>4) No toilet paper to be flushed down the loo, well at the hostel anyway - yuck!<br>5) Gates everywhere and security - every house has big steel metal gates (hostel is in a residential area 20 mins from downtown so it´s visible here). <br>6) Security - men with bullet proof vests and guns almost every 100m you look.<br>7) No hot water at all for a ...

... was uneventful, but the bus journey turned out to be quite different. We had bought tickets to Guayaquil and assumed the journey was direct. We also assumed the bus would have some air-conditioning and some comfort since it advertised so on the outside. It turned out that air-conditioning meant that the windows opened. However, the seats were not too bad, so we settled back for an 8 hour journey south to the coast.<br><br>The direct service was a complete misunderstanding. We were told ...

... lined with surf shops, cheap hotels and bars. Many, many bars. Still, I met some lovely English people and we managed to find a room to share and had a couple of days of over-indulgence. Normally this would be fine but I was a little disappointed with the total lack of sun. I somehow feel that Mompiche (that I visited about a month ago) will be going this way in a few years' time. A shame, as Mompiche is in a far better location.<br><br>Still, I cut my losses and headed back to ...

Ecuador has continued to be amazing and surprising. For most of the week I passed the time with friends and settled into the slower pace of life here. On Friday I went to the symphony with my friend Anna and her landlord. They played Rachmaninov's symphony No.2 and it was such a classy theater that I almost forgot I was in Ecuador. <br><br>At midnight that night I took an 8 hour bus ride to Guayaquil, which is ...

... buses. none of them go to Ecuador however. I ended up on a dirty, cramped bus with an unbelievable pile of cargo and luggage on top...Okay, I can do this. I was okay until I got a neighbor who was holding a baby. The seats were cramped and I either had mom's elbow or baby's foot bumping against ...

... while waiting for some construction people, but did finally end up in (REALLY hot) Guayaquil about 5 hours later, right around 2pm. I met Kahyda, which you can instantly tell is an amazing person, and I had some (expensive, but really good) pizza while waiting for a couple other girls she was going to host. Then, we took a (25 cents for all buses) bus to her place, and while the other two girls rested, I immediately took off again (after ...

... fog in Quito was to thick to land. This was 10:30pm. We waited in the air for a few hours for "the fog to pass" but we really believe they were stalling to set up accommodations in Guayaquil. Around 1AM we were told we would be landing in Guayaquil and leaving the next morning to Quito at 10AM. When we landed in Guayaquil, around 2 AM they had everything pretty well arranged. I love ...

... crisiis thats affectting North Amrica and Europ is not felt in peru or Ecuador. In fact the value of the dollar is exactly the same as when I arrived in Peru 1.5 years earlier. Gotta Love it!! Not leaving South Ameerica anytime soon, but I will be back in the states probably around March of 2009, most likely to traveling to Atlanta Georgia. I was denied entry into 2 places in Guyyaquil, no doubt because of my skin ...

... Santa Ana. This was once a slum area (and is still on the edge of a slum) but has itself been regenerated. The houses have been tidied up and painted, there are bars, restaurants and artesan stalls, and guards and it´s all pretty busy with tourists and locals. You can see through the gateways to the rest of the slums and you can really see the contrast. There´s not ...

... more humid, similar to Cairns. If you visit Guayaquil, make sure you get your portrait done in charcoal. The price is approximently $7 and they are skilled at it. Flying in at night, it is picturesque, with a collage of lights. I was glad to arrive as the plan had been delayed by about 50min. Saying goodbye to Amilkcar and his family ...