Hablas Espanol?
Trip Start
Jul 15, 2006
1
2
11
Trip End
Jul 31, 2006
Guyaquil,
Ecuador
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The area around the luggage carousel is a complete zoo. The carousel is tiny and the four hundred or so people that just got off the flight are all trying to get at their luggage. It seems that everyone on this flight brought extra bags. Luggage carts are bending under mountains of bags. To further complicate things, army soldiers are waiting at the exit inspecting everyones luggage tags. The lineup to get out is massive.
We finally get outside and the scenery is now more like a typical airport
The first bar
. We find Edwins family, load our luggage onto a pickup and we're off to a hotel in town. We are going to spend the night as they do not believe it's wise to travel to Machala at night. Our hotel is clean. Basic rooms, a small TV hanging on the ceiling and no elevator. There is a bar downstairs so we venture down for a few drinks. I turn heads in every corner as I have not seen another blond guy with light eyes since Miami. The bar is a tiny joint full of underage drinkers and is engulfed in a cloud of smoke that does not have a way to escape the room.
We meet a few people, most of them related to Edwin or came along with them. It seems that at least 20 people or so came to pick us up from the airport. At this point, around 1 or 2 am, we're pretty beat as it's been a long day, but we figure, we should check out the Guyaquil night life. So we hop in a cab and head for the club district.
We go to an area littered with bars and clubs. Guyaquil has a lively night scene. Most of the places we visit are full of people although not crammed like popular clubs back home. The way covers for bars and clubs are done here is very cool
Local night scene
. The cover you pay to get in, actually entitles you to a good amount of alcohol. So essentially all you are really doing is pre buying drinks. The music is a mix of hip hop, r&b, reggaetone and some local tunes I have not heard before. Everyone is real friendly and seems only interested in having a good time. The drunk guys your normally see back home looking to close out their night with a scrap outside don't seem to exist. No complaints here.
We meet some random people at the clubs and end up leaving with them at some point near closing. We stop by a liquor store and continue to a house party. More music, dancing, drinking. By the time we hail a cab back to the hotel, the sun is up and the place has cleared out.
Not a bad first night. Not sure if I can survive two weeks if we continue at this pace. Tomorrow we're off to Machala, the banana capital of the world.
