Hotel Plaza Grande Quito

... fall straight down, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, and counterclockwise in Canada. I wouldnt have really believed it if I hadnt seen it, The Simpsons were right. Next was the balancing of raw eggs on the head of a nail, supposidly easier because of the reduced magnetic pull on the line. I managed to balance the egg on both nails one facing east and the other facing west. Kristen on the other ...

... from the region, such as how the Shuar created shrunken heads, and how the kings were buried in massive womb-like tombs, often with their wives and children, who were buried alive! She showed us a mud hut made of agave plant and the blood and excrement of animals so it was earthquake proof, a big worm, fish and boas in glass containers and a massive anaconda skin, as well as some live guinea pigs, which she joked were for dinner. It was a really interesting place and we were glad we ...

... blocks back to our new apartment not daring to look behind.<br><br>Our hosts greeted us and made us very welcome. Our apartment was huge compared to most places we had stayed since Mexico, we had a large attic style bedroom area which had access via a spiral staircase, a downstairs area which was a combined bedroom and dining area, a large kitchen, and a bathroom with hot water. Outside was a combined courtyard which we shared with the owners. Not bad for $10 a night.

... a great stop for buying gifts for people back home. Not so much though. Everything there was quite expensive. Leather gifts would have to wait. I did find one leather watch band and a machete holder (don&#8217;t ask) that I liked, but decided against it because of the cost. Jen bought it for me unexpectedly for an early birthday gift. <br><br><br>After that we bused it back all the way to Quito (4 hours) and spent another night in the hostel we just keep coming back to &#8220;Cental del Mundo&#8221;.

... ever. <br><br>After wearing ourselves out and hitting all the recommended places in our guide book and some additional winding streets besides we took a cab back for $5.00. It&#8217;s amazing how exhausting it can be climbing steep streets and touring churches when that&#8217;s all your doing and the altitude is kicking in! <br>Tomorrow we meet our group and head to the Galapagos Islands!!!<br>

... After school, I ate at a bagel place owned by a guy from the U.S. I don&#8217;t know if there will be bagels in Honduras, so I thought I should soak up as much familiar comfort food as I can. I wasn&#8217;t too safe though, and got a Quinoa bagel. <br><br>This past weekend there were 3 different music festivals in Quito so I ended up going to 4 concerts in 4 days! The first was a punk rock one. I felt like my friend&#8217;s mom because I held her jacket and ...

... later apologised profusely.<br><br>One night we went out to the party district which is in the new town, after our shift. We went to the Irish pub Finn McCools which the staff is friends with and it was lots of fun. That part of town has a bar or club almost door to door for quite a few streets, and so many bouncers and security that its actually more safe than the old town at night because its generally deserted there. Karen went out on her last couple of nights and almost missed ...

... there wasn´t another until 2.30pm. Yawn. Luckily there were a couple of other backpackers I could chat to for a couple of hours until they got their bus elsewhere. Then I just had to killmore time. The bus to Lima was long. It was supposed to take 17 hours but took 23 hours in the end, this was due to countless stops by the police and ID checks. One time we had to take all our bags off for customs to go through. Excrutiatingly frustrating but ...

... been ages since I've met another gay traveler and it was great to sit around and talk about Madonna, martinis and men. What started out as just another night out for a drink with an insta-friend turned into something that felt like a good first date. We weren't all flirty or anything....it was just an easy conversation that went on for ages until we headed back to the hostel. <br><br>If last night was our first ...