#28 Eating the Arequipan delicacies (not in moderation)

From Cusco we decided to head south to Arequipa also nicknamed the white city. I took an overnight bus to Arequipa from Cusco (true to nature I was being as indecisive as ever so the girls had already booked a bus by the time I decided to also tag along to Arequipa) the plus was that I found a cheaper albeit shittier bus and I arranged to meet the girls at the hostel we had booked. The hostel Friendly AQP was about a ten minute walk from the main square, Plaza de Armas. I was looking to get a workaway around Arequipa (working for board) and to stay a couple of weeks here to save a bit of money and well....just slow down a little bit. Workaway is a really popular website with people travelling that I've met along the way, it is essentially lists of 'volunteering' opportunities all over the world in a range of places from farms, hostels, schools, with families, in shops etc.

The morning we arrived we had a walk around the centre of town and of course quickly found a place for a strong (real) cup of coffee. I then went to look at two potential hostels for a workaway. The first was a lovely little hostel/hotel in town but after speaking with the manager Carlos (the only English speaking person in the hostel) he explained he would be leaving for a few months travelling and I would need to be giving tourist information in Spanish essentially to guests......I somehow didn't think my basic Spanish (Spanglish) would suffice. The next hostel would have been very easy reception type work but it was pretty grim so I decided against both of them.

We ended up spending three days in Arequipa. None of us had the yearning to seek our trips to the famous Colca or Catahausi canyons (deeper than the Grand Canyon) and instead we ended up having a few quieter days walking around Arequipa and eating (quite a lot) of the local foods that Arequipa is famous for. Of course on our first day we weren't long In finding the local food market called San Camillo (three food obsessed dietitians can clearly seek out every single market in every South    American city). Similar to the huge market in Cusco, it was arranged in sections of stalls ranging from fruit and vegetables to chicken, meat, fish, cheese, natural remedies, hats, juices, grains, bakeries and various household wares and clothes. Upstairs was the food court where we went for lunch on our first day along with a Miami native called David who quickly realised how obsessed we were with food and couldn't believe how much we talked about eating, food, what we have already eaten and what we still want to eat...... I had heard about a traditional Arequipan dish called Ricotto Rellena, a pepper stuffed with meat, onion some herbs and spices and served with potatoes gratin, which I got there for $3 complete with a vegetable soup as a starter.

Ricotto Rellena  

As we were in a new city this also meant another walking tour! The walking tour started at a beautiful little chocolate workshop/cafe called Chaqchao. They offered 'bean to bar' chocolate workshops (nom) and had so many different craft beers and wait for it......PERUVIAN GIN! However it was 10am and they were only selling it by the litre so I refrained.

Our tour guide Narella was local and took us around the white city for over two hours. We learnt that Arequipa got the nickname the white city due to the grand buildings built out of white volcanic stone but more so because it was known for having a predominantly 'white' population of Europeans when compared to the more inca/indigenous predominant populated cities like Cusco and Lima. This was also apparent in the architecture, baroque and Andean style churches and buildings line the Plaza de Armais. We visited a small enclosure called a 'Tambas' tucked away off one of the busy streets. Narella told us about thirty families lived in the small residences off the small peaceful square and that in the past the slaughter houses were located right beside the houses and that would be the
families livelihoods that lived there. We also went back to the San Camillo market for a tour, we walked through the butchers section where intestines, livers, hearts and snouts and heads of animals were laid out to be bought. These parts of the animals are more affordable for larger families and every part of an animal is used! Even tail is a popular meal (think I'll skip that one). We ended the tour in a local restaurant/bar with a small pisco sour (and a slightly larger one that I won for being the first to name the food market)! If it's food and alcohol related I can be pretty quick. Another local food that I had every day in Arequipa is famous queso helado (cheese ice cream). It's less than a dollar for a cup and is on nearly every street corner being sold by women in traditional dress. It sounds gross but before I go on it actually doesn't have any cheese In it. It's made from cream, sugar, coconut and cinnamon and they serve it with cinnamon sprinkled on top....delish.

Exploring the Tambas in Arequipa 

Whilst in Arequipa we had also wanted to visit the famous 'Juanita'. A well preserved girl of about 14 who was sacrificed in the Incan times and mummified in the snowy mountains outside of Arequipa. She is supposed to be one of the best preserved mummies in the world. Unfortunately Juanita had been moved to the university to be studied so we didn't really see the point in paying into the museum of the main attraction wasn't there.

One our last day there I set myself the small task of attempting to make El Salvadorian Papusas with the girls and a couple of guys we met in our hostel. I've wanted to try and make these for ages so thought while we had a day free and a kitchen available why not. I went to the market and bought corn flour for the dough and cheese for the fillings and set about making my first Papusas with the help of Kristy, Eimear and Devon. The whole process wasn't the swiftest but for a first try I was pretty happy. We made cheese and hot sauce savoury Papusas and peanut butter and banana sweet Papusas, making one for an Argentinian volunteer in the hostel called Léon who's 30th birthday it was that day! We spent the rest of our time playing pool, eating more chocolate and ice cream and I even managed to do some HIIT on the hostel rooftop with Devon one morning with a pretty amazing view of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa.

My first papusas attempts 

Quest helado (cheese ice cream)....although contains no cheese 

View from the hostel rooftop of Misti, Picchu picchu, Chachani  volcanoes 

Luckily I heard back from a workaway in Lima so decided to take another overnight bus back up to Lima with the girls to start volunteering in a hostel and spend the last couple of days with Kirsty and Eimear before they head off to New Zealand!

Next Stop: Lima, Peru
Stayed: Friendly AQP Hostel, really sociable hostel...didn't want to leave! $8 per night with really good breakfast.
Food/drink: San Camillo market for Ricotto Rellano (stuffed pepper with meat, onion and spices served with potato gratin. CHIFA (Peruvian, Chinese food) around the corner from our hostel. Queso Helado ice cream. Immense chocolate mousse cake for $2 in cafe cocoa. Homemade Papusas in the hostel. Breakfast in the hostel, the best pancakes stuffed with banana and chocolate sauce or eggs and bread.

#27 Hiking again, this time the mountain of Rainbows

Having had a day to recover from Salkantay trek in Cusco which consisted of wandering around San Pedro market again eating market food of omelette, vegetables, rice and lots of chillies as well as trying all of the strange fruits, I actually surprised myself when I decided I wanted to do anther hike. Aimee and Grace, two lovely Californian girls we met on our hike and in our hostel wanted to do Rainbow mountain day hike. I had also wanted to do this when I read about it before coming to Peru and saw the vivid strips of colour on the mountain top. We bargained with the travel agent we booked our Salkantay hike with and got the day trip for 75 soles ($22) including breakfast and lunch...Bueno. We had an early night but when my alarm went off at 2.40am I really did wonder what I was doing! We got picked up from our hostel just after 3am and had a three hour bus journey out to Ausangate mountain (I think everyone slept most of the way). We set off hiking at about 8am after a simple (crap) breakfast of bread and jam as well as a surprisingly nice chocolate semolina concoction. We set off quite quickly knowing well how cold it would be at the top. We also were surprised at how many tourists were being dropped off at the same time. I was glad to see the girls also get 'pedestrian rage' so we bolted ahead of the crowds.

Baby alpaca with mummy 

The scenery was beautiful and the indigenous people in traditional dress with OPEN TOE sandals ran up and down constantly with their horses should any tourist feel the effects of the altitude. There were also Alpacas lining the trails with their little babies playing in the fields (I want/need a pet baby alpaca). After two and a half hours we made it to the top of rainbow mountain. The highest altitude I had ever been at at 5300m. Thankfully I wasn't overcome with altitude sickness and just had a bit of a headache. The thing that got to me the most was the cold. Even with four layers on, hats and gloves it was still excruciatingly cold...almost too cold to take a selfie!! The sleet and snow didn't help either. We took the obligatory tourist pictures and scrambled back down in under two hours taking breaks to re and de poncho with the intermittent rain and snow.

The top of rainbow mountain 

Once we got back on the bus we had an hour to wait for everyone else (we didn't mind though as long as it was warm). After everyone made it back to the bus we had a short drive to lunch where we were greeted with quinoa vegetable soup (can't believe I'd never had quinoa soup before) followed by chicken in sauce, rice and salad. We then had our three hour bus back to Cusco. This was of course another winding road complete with a child getting sick in a bag in the seat in front....think the altitude affected some more than others.
Later that evening Grace, Aimee and I cooked a simple and extremely cheap dinner of omelettes, avocado and salad (everything for $1)! And kirsty and Eimear joined us. Aimee and grace left us for Ecuador the next morning. Kirsty, Eimear and I decided to also leave Cusco the next evening..the three of us strangely looking forward to an overnight bus again!

Coffee in JC's cafe 

Next stop: Arequipa, Peru
Stayed: intro hostel, Cusco,
Food/drink: El tabuco, a really cute little pizza place around the corner from Intro hostel, Food in San Pedro market, $2.50 for vegetable omelette, salad and rice. Coffee in JC's cafe

#26 Salktantay trek and reaching Machu Picchu

The main reason people come to Cusco is to visit the infamous Machu Picchu. The historical site built by the Incas dating back to the 1500s. Most people seek out to trek the Inca trail, following the same paths that the indigenous Inca people did thousands of years ago. However due to its popularity the Inca trail can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars and tends to be booked up to six months in advance. As the Inca trail is out of our budget and we are definitely not organised enough to book something months in advance (I also don't see why you would pay hundreds for a hike) we had decided to look into the Salkantay trek which still takes you through the sacred valley, through Inca sites and ending at Machu Picchu. Over the past few months I had met people who had warned me about the tough trek, consisting of five days hiking and reaching a high altitude of 4300m on Salkantay mountain. I had been even more petrified when I met a Canadian couple in their twenties on a hike in Guatemala who said they had opted out of Salkantay as they thought it was too hard...they had just got back from trekking in Nepal!

When Kirsy, Eimear and I got to Cusco we spent a few days 'acclimatising' to the high altitude as is advised before thinking about what hike to book. On our first day we did a free walking tour of Cusco (I really think this is the best way to see a city when you first arrive). Elvis, our tour guide took us through the history of Cusco, showing us the traditional Inca and Spanish churches and buildings, he pointed out the catacombs under Santa Domingo church and he brought us to San Pedro market.  Lines of fresh fruit and vegetables, ladies making fresh juices, butchers chopping and using every part of various animals and too many grains and colours of quinoa that even three dietitians together didn't know existed can be seen as well as the famous alpaca jumpers, hats, crafts, jewellery, literally anything you could think of can be found here! Elvis pointed out where was best to eat in the market (avoiding the ceviche as it's unlikely to be fresh). He also pointed out a woman randomly skinning frogs on a little stool in the middle of the market. I don't want to know what she was using them for. We went back to San Pedro market I think every day we were in Cusco. We bought clothes there, jewellery, fruit, nuts, juices and had lunch there. We also discovered that they do really good coffee in the market for less than $1 (good coffee is surprisingly very difficult to find in South America unless you pay a lot for it). Saturday night in Cusco we decided to 'treat' ourselves to a meal out (e.g pay more than $2 for a menu Del dia). I also tried alpaca meat which was pretty good, a bit like lamb! And we also visited Paddys, 'the highest Irish pub in the world' with the night ending with dancing on the bar in Wild rover hostel. Note: high altitude + hangovers = convincing yourself you're close to death.

San Pedro market  

So with a hangover that was affecting my sanity we bit the bullet so to speak and booked the Salkantay trek to leave the next day. As it is rainy season we got a pretty amazing deal for a five day, four night hike, all meals, camping gear, cooks, guides, entry to Machu Picchu, transport, a night in a hostel and guides! We had our 'induction' the night before and realised two other girls from our hostel, Aimee and Grace from California were also coming on the same trek. After being freaked out by our induction the five of us went to pack and have an early night ready for our 4am pick up.

Day 1: The next morning we got picked up by one of our tours guides, Nico and had a very sleepy two hour bus journey to our first town for breakfast where our group of 20 started to get to know each other. We set off hiking, day 1 as going to be 15km to our first base camp. We quickly realised we were not overly prepared, it rained.....a lot and it was freezing! We hiked to first camp which was at 3800m. The backdrop almost made up for the freezing temperatures! However we were pleasantly surprised when we realised we were actually glamping. Our tents were sheltered and set up when we got there, there were toilets and a room for meals with a big table. The food all through the hike was amazing, three meals a day. Lunch and dinner was three courses and always different but always with a vegetable and quinoa soup. My favourite was mushroom ceviche, beef stirfry with rice, lentils and vegetables. Breakfast was either pancakes, eggs, quinoa chocolate porridge, fruit, bread and hot drinks. Our favourite was 'afternoon snack' of popcorn, crackers and hot chocolate. There was also lots of cocoa tea. Everyone always looked forward to the meals. I'm still surprised how the three cooks (manzanita, jeronimo and anise) managed to make such impressive meals in tiny little kitchens with limited supplies. On our last meal they even made a bird out of a cucumber and a hedgehog out of a pineapple (it's the little touches)!

Night one basecamp 

Day 2: After a very colds night sleep we were woken by the cooks with coca tea at 4.50am and our first breakfast of pancakes. We wrapped up and put on ALL our rain gear and set off for day two...(the hardest day) at around 6am. The first 3hours was a steady ascent up salkantay mountain reaching 4630m! We all took it at our own pace and made it to the top just before 10am. I was blown away by the snow covered mountains and glaciers (and the freezing temperatures). After a lot of congratulating each other, a group picture and a quick history lesson from or guide Nico, we then started our descent for a further two hours where lunch was waiting for us. Hot soup, guacamole, chicken, rice and pasta. And more coca tea. We then hiked a further 10km downhill through the Amazon cloud forests and arrived at our second nights camp at 5pm tucked away in a tiny village in the jungle. Feeling slightly stiff we were happy to learn that two Argentinan girls in our group were yoga enthusiasts and they took us through a quick yoga/stretching sesh before important snack time.

Group picture at the top of Salkantay mountain 

Day 3: After a slightly warmer sleep we were woken again by the cooks with coca tea at 6am (could get used to being woken up with tea every morning). Today we hikd 17km along road, crossing streams and into the Amazon. Our guides Jesus (or baby Jesus as he was nicknamed) and Nico would point out wildlife, birds and plants along the way. It was a nice easy hike and we all enjoyed the sunshine, such a stark contrast to the day before in the snow capped mountains. After about four hours we arrived a to lunch spot in a little village where we had a really good lunch of mushroom ceviche; main of lentils, stir fried beef with veg, rice and salad wth avo. We also had a freshly ground coffee from the farm (so strong and greatly appreciated after days of instant coffee). After lunch we got a bus to our camping spot for night three (and our last night camping). We were all very excited to have an afternoon at a hot springs (mainly cause we hadn't showered in three days). The hot springs were tucked under a mountain in a beautiful valley and we had the next few hours here to relax the aching legs. By the time we got back we were all ready for dinner which was the last dinner from our cooks. That night was 'party night' according to baby Jesus. After dinner he was quick to bring rounds 'inka tequila', a sugar cane liquor which did not taste like it should be ingested. Some of the group hit the inka tequila and beers hard! Especially baby Jesus and we spent the night dancing to regatone around the bonfire (there was a seriously impressive sound system and strobe light scenario). Some decided to head out in the small town of Santa Teresa but I took it easy (so wise) and considering the next day a group of us decided to hike 22km I was glad to be hangover free.

Lunch spot day 3

Day 4: We woke up early again, some suffering more than others. The first 11km of the hike that morning was optional, some opted to take the bus and others zip lined. Aimee, grace, myself and a few others decided to hike through the valley and it was a really nice walk, one of my favourite from the whole trek. We arrived at a point called hidroelectrica where we met back up with the rest of the group and had lunch. From here we hiked a further 11km along the train tracks to Machu Picchu town called Aguas Calientes. We were all looking forward to our night in a hotel..hot showers, a chance to charge our phones and of course get on some wifi! However when we arrived we were told there was a power cut in the whole town (of course)! We took the opportunity to have a wander around the touristy town and thankfully the electricity came back on just before we headed out for our last supper.

Day 4 optional hiking crew 

Day 5: Machu Picchu day!!! After a sleep in a real bed (wow), we hot up at 3.40am (so.early.). We all walked to the bridge where you show your passport and ticket for entry. The queue had already started when we got there at 4.15am with the bridge not opening until 5am. From here we psyched ourselves up for the 1600 steps up to the site....After already hiking 80 odd kilometres in the last few days you can imagine how unhappy the legs were with the prospect of all these steps but we bounded up then in less than 40mins getting to the entrance of the site, looking like we had just run a marathon! But we made it and when we entered the site we were lucky enough that it was nearly empty and it was clear, sunny morning. I must admit, I really was blown away with vastness and detail of the site, especially the beautiful  View our from the ancient town looking at the various mountains with clouds swirling around them. We had a two hour tour by Nico our tour guide. Followed by a few hours of getting the standard 'in at Machu Picchu tourist pics and selfies before getting fed up with all the tourists flooding in later in the morning. Unfortunately it was at this stage that we had to say goodbye to our group as people were on various trains back to Cusco at different times. The girls and I quickly realised that we were the only five taking the more 'economic' option of waking 11km back to hidroeletrica where we had a six hour bus journey back to Cusco. Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day and the five of us ended up chatting and laughing the whole way back we barely realised the distance back.

After a nice, relaxed walk back we arrived to get our bus back looking forward to sleeping all the way back. Only to quickly realise it wasn't going to be that easy and it was total chaos with so many
white buses all looking the same and hundreds of tired tourists looking for a white bus to take them to Cusco. After an hour of searching for someone to put us on a bus we finally got on the shittiest bus ever wth no air conditioning, no where to put our bags and six hours of winding roads along cliff edges. Needless to say the bus journey back was definitely the most stressful/hardest part of the five days and of course no chance of sleeping.

We got back to Intro hostel late that night and climbed into bed. The next morning over breakfast, Aimee, Grace, Kristy, Eimear and I reflected on the last five days. Hiking about 92km in total (who's counting), seeing everything from sun, rain, snow on mountains and the jungle and ending at one of the most impressive ancient ruins in the world. Making amazing friends from all over the world and of course eating lots of good food. I would recommend the Salkantay trek to an alternative, more challenging (and cheaper) Inca trail!!

Next stop: Cusco for a few days recovery
Stayed: Intro hostel, Cusco $9/night including breakfast. Camping on the salkantay trek and hotel Eco Mapi in Aguas Calientes
Food/Drink: meals from our great cooks on the trail.

#25 Sand sand EVERYWHERE...Huacachina desert Stop off

Thankfully after a touch and go 24 hours and a good Chinese meal in Lima I was feeling much better. Eimear, Kirsty and I left Lima and took a four and a half hour bus (a very short jaunt these days) wit Cruz Del Sur to a city called Ica where we then took a taxi 8km out of Ica to a small oasis town called Huacachina. Huacachina is a strange place, little restaurants, hostels, hotels, souvenir shops and big colourful dune buggies loop around a small, natural oasis in the middle of the Peruvian desert. The town was solely built for tourism, the main activity being sandboarding and dune buggying in the surrounding sand dunes (whoever came up with this idea was a money making genius)! We were really using Huacachina as a Stop off to break up the journey to Cusco. Of course I wasn't opposed to trialling out this random activity. What's the point in travel insurance if you aren't going to test it out!?

We checked into our hostel wild olive which was a really pretty little place with a kitchen, big living room and restaurant out the back that backed into the boardwalk and oasis. It also had sand boards that we could take for free up to the dunes! That afternoon I decided to test out if I could possibly be any more clumsy on a sandboard than I was on a surfboard (burst lip....still healing). A Dutch guy Patrick we had met in the hostel and I headed off....sandboards under arm. We stupidly ignored the sand dunes where most people were sliding down on their bums and found the highest sand dune we could to walk up. When I say walk I mean clamber..it was exhausting! After about twenty minutes we got to the top and quickly realised that it looked an awful lot steeper from the top. We walked a little further and found a slightly more forgiving slope. Patrick was straight on the board and managed to get down the dune with his feet strapped in with only a couple of tumbles. I'm not going to lie I whimper out on the standing option (a little audience had gathered at this stage too) and I sat on the board for a few hundreds metres before face planting and getting a mouthful (and bra full of sand). After a couple of hours of testing out the boards did back to the hostel to decant all the sand we had collected in our clothes, hair and mouths.

Huacachina town 

Later that night the three of us and Patrick went in search of food. The restaurants are generally a bit more expensive in Huacachina as it's so touristy but we managed to find a set menu Del dia (our fave) for 15 soles ($5) for a fresh chicha mora juice (blackcurrant juice), starter of salad and main of chicken with lentils (lentil joy) and rice. We sat outside and had great entertainment watching a little kitten chase a cockroach...my nights out are too wild these days.

The next day feeling fresh, Kirsty and I decided we needed to get some exercise in. So off we went for a run.....in the smallest little town...In the desert...'crazy gringas'. Our run actually consisted of looping around the small boardwalk a few times, before doing tricep dips on a bench outside and sit ups in the living room of the hostel. I genuinely have no shame anymore. Guess it's inevitable after four months of sharing bedrooms and bathrooms with multiple strangers every day.

Later that day we arranged to do a sand buggy tour and sand boarding. The most popular time to do it is four in the evening as it's a bit cooler then and also means you catch the sunset on the way back. We managed to get a really deal for $8 each (I had expected to pay about double that). Luckily there were five of us and I actually really enjoy trying to haggle in Spanish so we got it cheap. The sand buggying was really good fun with the buggy flying over the sand dunes....like a roller coaster in the desert. We had the chance to board down four different dunes...each one getting steeper and higher each time. Our guide Nico explained it was safer and easier to board down on your tummy. Patrick the Dutch guy still boarded down standing up and fair play to him he did it like a pro. I however stuck to boarding down the (slightly) safer way and considering the speed and steepness of the dunes this was satisfactory adrenaline induction (petrifying)! We were slightly delayed however when our sand buggy ironically got stuck in the sand, leading to Nico using a sandboard as a shovel and then the seven of us (Kirsty, Eimear, me, Patrick, a girl Emma we met in our hostel and a Colombian couple) pushing the sand buggy over the sand dune to free it up. Once it was free we sand boarded down the highest dune leaving me with sand burns and a sore throat from screaming followed by a sunset over the desert. After we got back to the hostel we had enough time to de-sand ourselves and get to Ica to catch our overnight bus to Cusco!

All hands on board to free the buggy 

The quick, sandy, adrenaline inducing Stop off in Huacachina was definitely worth it!

Next Stop: Cusco, Peru
Stayed: Wild olive guesthouse, $10 for dorm including really good breakfast (omelettes are life)
Food/drink: typical menu Of the day for $5 of salad, main of chicken, lentils, rice and a juice (chicha mora). Cusqueña negra wheat Peruvian beer...probably the first beer I've had away that isn't a light larger...I didn't like it!

#24 Clumsy surfing and sampling Pisco in Peru

After three weeks in Ecuador and seven days of this spent in Montañita, Eimear, Kirsty and I planned to head to Peru. The border crossing at Aguas Verdes was rumoured to be 'the most dangerous in South America'. I wasn't really sure why, but the girls had read about people being drugged and their possessions stolen on buses when crossing over the border. After looking into it, there were regular night buses running from Ecuador to Peru so I figured if they were running buses it couldn't be that bad and we decided to take an overnight bus that would take us straight over the border and 'risk it for a chocolate biscuit' so to speak.

We took a bus from Montañita to Guayaquil for $6 where we then planned to take an eight hour bus to Mancora on the Peruvian coast. We looked up some recommended companies and the times. We got to Guayaquil at about 9pm. We went to the ticket desk of CIFA bus and was told they only had two seats left on the night bus....didn't anticipate that one! We tried the only other company running a bus that night and were told the same thing. The first bus in the morning was leaving at 7am. We considered sleeping in the bus station but it didn't really appeal. We tried our luck and went back to the first bus company and asked again.... out of desperation and just in case they had any cancellations. We were told (for the same price of a normal ticket) the third person could sit up the front with the driver and the ticket inspector....not ideal for an overnight bus but probably better than having to wait 10 hours in a bus station in Ecuador. Sold! We waited until 11pm for the bus and I took my seat up front next to the driver, leaving the ticket inspector sitting on the floor in between us. He didn't seem to mind though answering 'tranquilo' when I apologised to him in Spanish for stealing his seat (I assumed this probably happened a lot). While everyone in the coach was asleep with the lights off I was sat in the front with these two middle aged Ecuadorean men  listening to anything from backstreet boys to Ricky Martin, the ticket inspector had plugged his phone into the radio and was playing DJ. Needless to say I hadn't got much sleep by the time we arrived at the border at 3am. As everyone on the coach sleepily got off the bus and were ushered into migration by the bus driver and ticket inspector, I was surprised at how quiet and easy the whole process was with Ecuador exit and Peru entry desks right beside each other in the same room and with our bags staying on the locked bus. The whole process at immigration did take about two hours with two other coaches arriving as well however I'm still unsure where this border got its dangerous reputation. Welcome to Peru!!

Thankfully after the border we all got a seat on the bus and managed to get a few hours sleep before we arrived in Mancora at about seven in the morning. Still half asleep we were shuttled off the coach and quickly approached by a tuk tuk driver asking us where we wanted to go, we were aware that we didn't have any Peruvian currency on us but at that stage we just wanted to get to the hostel so luckily for the tuk tuk driver we agreed to pay him more than the local currency ride in order to pay in dollars (travelling fail)!

The hostel was only five minutes away and was right on the beach, little wooden cabanas in different colours with balconies for the dorms stood facing the beach in a row. There were salt water showers, a little kitchen and communal area and the two friendliest Peruvian men who worked there. It was already quite hot at that time and even though we couldn't check in until 2pm, Marcos and his son offered us breakfast and coffee while we waited for our rooms to be ready. After some food we walked right onto the beach and basked in the blistering sun for the morning.

Cabanas at Misfits hostel 

Mancora beach 

Mancora is another surfer town, smaller than Montañita but lined with souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and the opportunity to rent horses, banana boats, jet skis and quads. Being in Peru, the first thing I wanted to try was ceviche, the traditional Peruvian dish of marinated fish in lime juice with onion, chilli and coriander. I had had it before in Central America but this is where it originated. It was extremely easy to find with almost every restaurant offering it as part of their set menu. I got a type of traditional Peruvian ceviche in a spicy, creamy sauce with a small serving of purple sweet potato on the side) followed by fish in a light sauce with peppers and onions served with a small portion of salad and rice and fresh maracuya juice (family of the passion fruit). All for $3.

Ceviche with sweet potato 

Later that night we went to The point hostel just around the corner from our very quiet residence with a Mexican and Argentinian guy. One or two Pisco sours turned into a very bumpy tuk tuk ride into Mancora where the girls and I ended up in a salsa bar with three local surf instructors who looked about 17 but swore they were in their mid twenties. They were very good salsa teachers and one of them, Jherson offered us free surf lessons the next morning! After a couple extremely strong rums (one shot of coke and four shots of rum) we headed back to our misfitting hostel and clambered up the very dodgy wooden ladder to our dorm. The next morning waking up a bit rough to the sound of the sea crashing on the beach, Eimear politely declined the surf lesson and Kristy with an irrational fear of sharks combined with a hangover also wasn't keen but came with me for the walk down the beach to meet jharin at 10am. We got to surf point a little after ten and was greeted by Jherson with a big smile on his face, he was highly amused at Kirsty's polite decline of the surfing due to shark fear. He grabbed me a big board and for the next hour and a half I went from practising standing on the board correctly on the beach to surfing (small waves) all the way into shore almost knocking out a few kids along the way. This was before of course I realised you were meant to jump off the board about five metres from the shore. Towards the end of the lesson, we came into shore to Jherson  could get another leash as the one I had kept coming off my ankle allowing the board to continue shooting into shore...again endangering more children's lives. While he ran back to the surf shack I clumsily waited in the shallow water holding the massive board, before I knew it a wave crashed into me, causing the board to shoot up and smack me bang in the face knocking me back into the water. I stood up quickly grabbing the board before it hit any more children leading to an arrest for child endangerment before I realised that my lip was gushing blood.....no I didn't cry but yes the beach was crowded full of spectators.....definitely not quite the surfer chick yet. Jherson came back and I embarrassingly showed him my lip and explained to him what happened. Typical, I get left alone with a surfboard for two minutes and nearly wipe out two kids and almost knock myself out. Poor Jherson was so apologetic but Kirsty and I explained to him that I'm muy 'torpe' (clumsy). After the lip stopped bleeding, I thanked Jherson for the excellent surfing lesson and apologised for my clumsiness, we all hugged it out and Kirsty and I walked back to the hostel laughing at my burst lip and me trying to drink the Diet Coke she had bought me in the shop (what a gem)!

Surfing baby waves 

Later that afternoon after another cheap two course meal of fresh ceviche in a light lime marinade with red onion served with plantain crisps and chicken (lime juice and burst lip = extreme pain), we got a bus from Mancora (which much to our joy was an hour and a half late) overnight to Lima which was due to take 20 hours. Of course it ended up taking 23 hours. We took a bus with a company we hadn't heard of before (error) for $33. We had gone for the semi cama option (part reclining chairs). The bus was comfortable but was a bit manic as the driver stopped about for locals along the way, at one point they were even sitting on the stairs. Definitely not good when you're paying for a private overnight bus!

Lima - the capital of Peru.
The main touristy area in Lima is called Miraflores and is apparently full of lovely cafes, restaurants and museums. We had booked a hostel in the centre of Lima instead, purely for ease of getting to and from the bus station. The hostel was in an old French mansion and was lovely with a big roof terrace, high ceilings, a cute kitten and brilliant wifi! It was in the centro historica and had lots of restaurants and shops around as well as a lovely park across the road.

1900 hostel 

The hostel had free ceviche making on offer with their Peruvian chef, and whereas I'm pretty sure I know what encompasses the tasty dish (raw fish, lots of lime juice, chillies, coriander and onion) I really wanted to have the opportunity to see exactly how it is prepared. Unfortunately I was struck down with another dodgy tummy and felt really weak. The pharmacist was however pretty happy to handover some pretty impressive medications so I took these with the hopes I'd be ok to go on the free walking tour that afternoon (also organised for free through the hostel). Thankfully by the time it was 3pm I was feeling a bit better.

Lima santa Domingo church 

The walking tour lasted about three hours and we were taking around the historic centre and real Lima by a lovely Limean girl called Alice. I was surprised to learn that Lima has a population of 10 million people, one quarter of the whole population. She was hilariously amused by Eimear's fair skin pointing out how white she was. She brought us around the city showing us the impressive gold clad churches, presidential palace, Santa Domingo market, the old post office and square where locals gather to sing, dance and sample to local street food puddings and food. She explained the Spanish and Argentinian influences and even brought us to where you can buy the best 'churros' in Lima. We also sampled a traditional rice pudding desert topped with a thick, sweet sauce made from plums called Mazmorra Morada. She also brought us to a church that was built over a graveyard (as all the churches in Lima were) but this one had open catacombs where the bones of the indigenous people could be seen through the grates and some people had also thrown money down.

Chifa meal in Lima 

Later that night, I was feeling a lot better so we decided to try out some 'Chifa food' (Chinese/Peruvian food). We found a row of Chifa restaurants and wandered into one questionable looking establishment, there was one Chinese lady there who seemed to be taking orders, cooking and serving all the food. We didn't really know what a lot of the food was on the menu and even Spanish Dict on our phones didn't help much, she also didn't seem to speak Spanish (or didn't understand our poor pronunciation) and definitely didn't speak English. After much deliberation we all ordered what we thought were relatively safe options. I had a massive bowl of chicken, noodle soup followed by chicken, vegetable noodles. I was literally overjoyed to see the plate piled with cabbage, broccoli and peppers (it's pretty worrying that vegetables could make me so happy).

The next morning we checked out of 1900 backpackers and left Lima for our next destination, this time only a four and a half hour bus journey, easy!

Next Stop: Huacachina, Peru
Food/Drink: Peruvian ceviche, tequeños (cheese empanadas), traditional Peruvian rice pudding with peach sauce (mazmorra morada and arroz zambito), Churros in Lima. Chifa (Chinese/Peruvian) food in Lima, $2 for two course menu of huge portions (and even better, lots of vegetables). Pisco, traditional Peruvian liquor made from distilled grape wine, Pisco sours and chilcano (traditional peruvian drink of pisco, lime bitters and ginger ale).
Stayed: Misfits hostel, Mancora. $8 including breakfast.
1900 backpackers hostel, Centro historica, Lima, $8-10 including breakfast.

#23 New Years madness in Montañita

After a couple of quiet days in Cuenca and Alausi, Riley, Amy, Michelle, Hannah and I geared up to head to Montañita for New Years celebrations.

Montañita is a typical surfer town, quite popular with backpackers but also with young South Americans coming for holidays or for the weekend to party and surf. I wasn't sure if I'd love it but thought for New Years why not?! And Montañita seemed to be the place where everyone I met along the way was heading for New Years as well. I'm usually not bothered with New Years but the stories of the beach parties and crazy surfing traditions at midnight appealed. The main one I had heard about being at midnight on New Years where all the surfers run to the beach with their boards, chant in a circle and run into the water to catch the first wave of the new year...in the dark.drunk.hundreds of them! SAFE. I was also getting to the stage where I wanted to stay somewhere for more than the standard 3-4 nights. I randomly stumbled across a blog writing about the small town of Mongloralto, about 3km South from Montañita. The couple who wrote the blog had stayed in a locally owned lodge the owner Luis had an organic farm and a lovely courtyard with outdoor kitchen. I had emailed Luis back while I was in Quito and he gave me a really good deal for a double private room for seven nights. Seeing as most of the dorm rooms in Montañita were  booked and the remaining were really pricey I booked it straight away! Luis also didn't seem to mind my friend Hannah coming to stay in the room for three nights over New Years. When we arrived in the sleepy town of Mongloralto and at Tagua lodge I was really happy, it was so quiet with only three other rooms, Luis, his girlfriend and their one eyed cat. It was also a luxury to be able to unpack and actually hang clothes up! Funny how quick you become accustomed living out of a backpack full of creased clothes.

Tagua lodge kitchen 

That afternoon Hannah and I walked into Montañita along the beach, stopping off at a hostel called Kamala about five minutes from mine to see a friend Hazel who had been volunteering there. It was a really cool place, backing onto the beach with a pool, table tennis, pool and volley ball. Three of us then strolled the rest of the way into town to Amy's hostel where we stayed and had a few drinks, meeting the people that were in her hostel. We also went and got some food in one of the hundreds of places lining the crowded streets. I went to one of the local street food places and took advantage of being beside the sea, getting grilled fish, salad, plantain and the biggest side of rice and beans for $5.

The next day, New Year's Eve, we had a day on the beach, body surfing/getting knocked out by waves and getting geared up for the night. Later that night after getting ready for the celebrations Hannah and I headed back to Maoi hostel and met the others and had a few drinks and of course the obligatory game of 'ring of fire'. We headed down to the beach at about 10.30 which was already crowded full of people drinking and dancing. There was no official countdown but at midnight what can only be described as absolutely treacherous, amazing carnage broke out! Indeed hundreds of surfers flooded the already packed beach with their surfboards, chanting messily in a circle before sprinting for the pitch black sea, there were thousands of fireworks going off all along the beach, they were being thrown everywhere. Random bonfires were being lit everywhere with people running around them and jumping through them along with everyone hugging and shouting a mix of 'happy new year' and 'Feliz año' in Spanish. At about 1am we headed to a club called Caña grill and somehow managed to get into the jammed bar where danced there until the early hours....best New Years in a long time.

New Years pre celebrations 

Live drummers 

On New Year's Day we went to a pool party a friend had told us about in Kamala hostel. It was a pretty chilled out affair actually with a DJ playing, volleyball, card games and swimming in the sea. We wandered onto the beach at about 6pm and watched the first sunset of 2017 on the beach with everyone and after five of us went for an impromptu meal on the beach which turned out to be pretty special. It was a local little kitchen on the beach. I actually think they were closing up but when we asked if they could feed five, the man there said his mum could make us fish, rice, plantain and salad for $4 each. When we agreed he pulled a table and chairs out under a small cabaña in the middle of the deserted beach and we ate the fresh fish with big beers while listening to reggae and local regatone. We went back and had a few more drinks before calling it a night after our first day of 2017.

New Year's Day sunset and beach dinner 

The next day we had planned to go to Isla de la Plata (the poor mans Galapagos) for a day trip. I knew when I woke up the next morning I wasn't well but decided to brace the walk into Montanita to see if I got any better. By the time I got into town I knew it wasnt just a hangover and I retired to bed for the rest of the day....thanking god had a private room! By 7pm I had managed to keep down a Powerade and 7 crackers. Random tummy bug, we established it wasn't the lovely fish on the beach as no one else had got sick.

The next day feeling slightly fresher we went for round two of the island. Five of us took the hour bus journey from Montanita to Puerto Lopez at 7.15am costing $2.50. The others had already booked a tour so I tagged along. We paid $35 for a full day including lunch. The boat journey took an hour out to the island where we then did an hour long trail around Isla de la Plata with our guide who knew everything about all the birds and animals inhabiting the island. We saw lots of blue and white footed boogies with their babies, 3cm large hummingbirds, storks and lots of other birds. The island was very dry with not much....and the heat was almost unbearable but the scenery and the birds were worth lathering on the factor 50 for. After the hour long walk we were all ready for some food and snorkelling. We got back on our 'amazing' boat and had some sandwiches and fresh fruit for lunch before heading to the snorkelling spot around the back of the island. Snorkelling was definitely the highlight, luckily we were one of the first boats there. Our guide came snorkelling too and swam with us pointing out the sea turtles, starfish, sting rays, many beautiful fish and eels. It was hands down the best snorkelling of the trip so far.

Eimear and Kirsty arrived later that day and it was great to hear about their real Galapagos trip! The next three days consisted of swimming and sunbathing, eating fro yo, recovering from New Years and the tummy bug and unfortunately saying goodbye to Amy, Riley, Michelle and Hannah as we all parted ways however with plans to meet back up in Asia in a few months time.

Next Stop : Mancora, Peru
Food/Drink: street food - burgers, marinated chicken kebabs, local fish, rice, beans and plantain. Frozen yoghurt! You can get pretty much any type of food in Mancora. Kamala hostel for drinks on New Year's Day. Caña grill on New Years night.
Stayed: Tagua Lodge, Mongloralto. A quiet, locally owned place with a few private rooms about 3km outside of Montañita.

#22 The incomplete Alausi trip and an Impromptu Cuenca visit

From Baños five of us, Hannah, Michelle, Amy, our new friend Riley who we met in Baños and I decided to go to a small town called Alausi. Eimear and Kirsty had booked a Galapagos trip over new year so they headed off for that adventure. The main reason for going to Alausi is to travel on the 'Nariz Del Diablo' or the devils nose train. An old train built during the 1900s to link the city of Guayaquil to the capital of Quito it was closed in 1997 and now comprises of a 12km stretch of railway skimming the cliffs' edge. Subsequently it has turned into a tourist attraction where you can complete a scary two and a half hour round trip with an active derailment on every journey and an hour stop off in a small town called Sibambe.

We took two buses from Baños:
Baños to Riobamba. 1 hour 30minutes. $2
Riobabmba to Alausi. 2hours. $2.30

The hostel we were staying in was about a ten minute walk out of town and was located on a farm. It was owned by the cutest little lady called Beatrice who lived in the main house with her family and we were the only other people staying there. It felt more like a home stay than a hostel. When we told her we had come to ride the railway she advised us to get our tickets that evening, unfortunately the ticket office had already closed that evening. The next morning we got up early to walk up to the ticket office bypassing the many barking dogs and hissing geese in the small town to buy our tickets...we were there bang on seven and were told that there were NO tickets left until the 2nd January (five days away)....S***! I guess with it being the Christmas holidays it would have been wise to book ahead but we hadn't thought of this. With the train being out of the equation and Alausi not offering too much else we had a 'family' meeting, a coffee and decided to go to a colonial town called Cuenca about four hours South that morning. We bought our tickets whilst we were in town for $6.25 and went back to grab our bags and tell Beatrice we were leaving (even she was surprised that the train was booked up for so long).

We got to Cuenca that afternoon and took taxis to a hostel called Bauhaus. It was a really nice hostel with a good kitchen, breakfast included and film rooms. It was also pretty Central. We spent the afternoon wandering around the city, admiring all the churches, park squares, artisan and sweet shops and food market where we went for late lunch. In the market called Mercado de 10 de Agosto where stands with whole roasted pigs were laid out surrounded by potatoes, vegetables and corn. A 'plato' (plate) cost about $4. I opted out of the pulled pork but tried a bit offered to me by one of the elderly ladies serving it up and couldn't get over the amount of salt on it! There were plenty of other choices from ceviche, to seafood soup (embollado), chicken and meat. They also had really good fresh juices for $0.50-1. We also came across the cutest little sweet shop with tiny handmade delicacies from coconut sweets, to small macaroons and cones filled with cream..all handmade by nuns none the less. How can you not indulge! They each cost anything from 25-55 cents.

Th next morning, Amy, Hannah, Riley and I decided to go to National Park Cajas, about an hour outside of Cuenca. We trotted off after breakfast to get the bus. When we got to the bus station we bought our tickets and only after realised the bus wasn't for another hour...fail. After pleading/arguing with the women at the ticket desk to give us a refund in Spanish she reluctantly gave in (I'm not sure if it was my persistence or my horrendous Spanish) but it worked. We then managed to negotiate with a taxi man to take us to the park for $5 each, three dollars more than the bus. We got there by 10.30 and proceeded to the information office where a lovely Spanish speaking lady asked us to sign in with passport details and talked us through the routes. None of us seemed to want to sign up for a gruelling five hour plus hike so we opted for the first route, the pink route that would take about 4.5hours...we thought we could do it in less. She advised there was no need for maps as the trail was all signposted. We set off and for the first hour, despite lots of mud the trail was straightforward. That is until we stopped seeing pink markers on the rocks.......uhhhhh ohhhhh. We did however see blue markers...a 6.5km trail and obviously not what we were supposed to be on. We carried on, cutting through other trails hoping that we hadn't added on another few hours to the hike and were totally confused when the trail lead us back onto the main road into the park.....nowhere near the information office but actually at the park entrance. Hey ho....we thought we could grab a bus back to Cuenca from here and that two hours of hiking was adequate for us. After about forty minutes a bus came along. The public buses in Ecuador are a lot different to the chicken style school buses in Central America and are actually coaches. When we got on the bus driver, and his ticket inspector told the four of us to sit down between them (in about a metre space) as the rest of the bus was full. They kept the door into the coach closed so we squished down and sat up the front of the bus like little kids in the cockpit of a plane except we were in a coach and we're in our late twenties......we sat sandwiched like this for about half an hour until some people got off...we departed to let the people out and then got back on, grabbing the comfy reclining chairs with the rest of the passengers.

Not being too disheartened with getting lost 

Riding up front with the driver 

We got back into Cuenca in time for lunch and meet  Michelle at the market again. I had a bowl of Embollado (fish soup) for $1.50. We then had a wander around the artisan markets, admiring all the woven hats that Cuenca is famous for. We also found a beautiful little leather shop where there were cute handmade leather sandals for $30. I've been very careful throughout the trip to not buy too much as it's more to carry but these were lovely and after trying on multiple pairs I chose a light brown, closed toe pair for $27. Cuenca is definitely a place you could get caught up in the beautiful surroundings, architecture, crafts and food! We didn't even get a chance to visit the multitude of museums.

The nuns sweet shop 

Cuenca architecture 

The next morning we were leaving to go to Montañita where we would all be spending New Years. I was keen to see if it lived up to its crazy reputation!

Next Stop: Montañita for New Years!
Stayed: Kila Wasi hostel in Alausi, $8 night for small dorm with bathroom although we had the place to ourselves. Owned by a local family and handy if you're coming to do the train (pre-book the train ahead)
Bauhaus hostel in Cuenca, $8 night including breakfast. Cool hostel, central location.
Food/drink: Embollado in the food market in Cuenca $1-3. Fresh juices for $1. Breakfast in the hostel in Cuenca. Coconut ice lollies...literally cannot get enough of them. Handmade miniature pastries and sweets in Dulceria El Suspiro. I also cooked in the hostel in Cuenca.

#21 Feliz Navidad....a strange Ecuadorean Christmas.

Baños for Christmas

After hiking the Quilotoa loop and camping for the night, the four Ozzies, Amy, Ryan and I all headed to Baños for Christmas.  Eimear and Kirsty would be getting to Baños the next day as well as two other girls we had met in Quito. I was looking forward to celebrating Christmas with new friends from all over the world and we were also all staying in the same hostel.

Baños is a town in the central highlands and is famous for its hot springs, waterfalls, zip lining, rafting and the swing st the end of the world (Casa Del Arbol)! Nearly every tourist who visits Baños gets the standard swing at the end of the world photo...and of course we were no exception.

Needless to say our first evening there we all had a quiet one and settled into the new town. The next day Amy, Ryan and I went to Casa Del Arbol. There are buses that go the twenty minute journey up the mountain to where the swing is located. We decided to take a taxi costing $10, it was slightly more expensive than the bus but was better as it was very quiet when we got there. We could swing to our hearts content without queueing and went on the other swigs and small zip line. It was a beautiful day, we spent an hour or two there, took the obligatory cheesy swinging pictures and managed to hitch back down easily. There is a route to walk down but it is very steep and not suitable for flip flop wear.

Casa Del Arbol Christmas joy 

The girls arrived later that day and for the next day we all decided to rent bikes (Christmas eve). It was pretty cheap at $5 each for the day! We set off at 8am the next morning. Ryan and I were keen to do the 60km cycle from Baños to another town called Puyo at the Amazon edge....mostly downhill (or so I was told).  The other four girls decided to do a shorter (more sensible) route of 20km to the amazing El Pilon Del Diablo waterfall (cauldron of the devil) where we paid $2 to get a closer view of the magnificent waterfall. It was a beautiful cycle with mountain vistas, lots of waterfalls and zip lining offers across the canyon along the way. The girls turned back after the waterfall and Ryan and I kept going hoping to make it to Puyo by lunchtime. However after about 30km I began to realise I might have bitten off more than I could chew so to speak. With the four days of hiking still fresh in my legs my thighs began to burn and did not like the uphill climbs one.little.bit. And once the torrential Amazonian rain came I had decided with myself to stop and get the bus back and leave Ryan to it as I was holding him up anyway. We stopped at about 45km and he patiently gave me a pep talk....we could do it, the majority was downhill and it'll be worth it in the end. Being the stubborn person that I am I decided to stick with it and when I saw the sign 'Bienvenidos Puyo' I actually felt like I had just conquered Mount Everest. No matter what people tell you about the cycle....it is NOT all downhill.

About 15km in 

Le pilon Del diablo waterfall 

We stopped for some much needed lunch in a small comidor and got the standard chicken, rice and salad. I looked like an absolutely drowned rat, even leaving  a puddle of water on my seat afterwards. Thankfully we choose establishments with plastic furniture so the owner didn't seem to mind. After lunch Ryan was keen to go to a little monkey sanctuary on the other side of Puyo (another 8km or so)...my legs were literally like jelly but the prospect of getting the bus back with my bike and dripping wet didn't appeal so I reluctantly agreed and we got back on the bikes and cycled through the dusty town of Puyo, past the markets, road works and bus station to a small monkey sanctuary at the end of a rocky lane. Ryan paid the $3.50 to go in and I opted to grab a coke in a local mans house (I think his driveway was the unofficial car park) and listened to the random Latino Christmas music on the radio). After about thirty minutes Ryan came back looking slightly underwhelmed but glad to have seen the sanctuary and we (I) psyched myself up to cycle back to Puyo where we would get the bus. After about two minutes of us bumping back down the lane Ryan stopped ahead and I knew instantly that the chain on his bike had snapped.....fantastic. We ended up having to wheel our bikes back to the road where we waited for bus to bring us back to Puyo (throwing our bikes underneath the bus), from here we took a taxi...again throwing our bikes in the back of the pick up truck style taxi to the bus station where we finally got a bus back to Baños. Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe it! Thankfully the men in the bike shop didn't try to charge us for the broken chain or the fact that we brought the bikes back at 6pm...an hour late. However don't let my account put anyone off doing the cycle....giving the chance again I would still do it, just maybe a few days later allowing my legs to have a bit of a rest and maybe I would have brought better waterproofs!

Christmas Eve night 

Despite the fun filled day, seeing as it was Christmas Eve we all decided to head out that evening, with about ten of us from the hostel, we all had a few drinks and card games in the hostel before heading out to 'The Leprechaun'. It was a pretty wild night of dance offs, huge shots and mixing with the locals. Needless to say Christmas morning was so different yet so similar to any other Christmas morning at home. Similar in that we all woke up with a hangover. Different in that there were no presents and it was pretty warm outside. The other thing that surprised me about Baños at Christmas is that for such a Catholic country....it felt like any other day. Everything was open, the markets, banks, shops, tour companies...everything. We had decided to have a costume party for Christmas so Amy and I dressed up as Christmas joy.....the Ozzie guys had dressed up as a penguin, banana and the girls had dressed up as presents and a Christmas stocking. The rest of Christmas Day was pretty weird. We decided not to cook as the kitchen facilities in the hostel weren't great so a group of us went to the local market and got a set menu of Yuguarlocro soup (meat, corn and vegetables) served with avocado, dried cows blood and onions. Followed by Llapingacho (potato cake, rice, chorizo, chicken, egg and salad), all for about $4 and topped off with a fresh juice. Once we realised we weren't going to have a traditional Christmas Day we enjoyed the day and there was even a Christmas parade through the town.

Non traditional Christmas dinner 

'Cuy' (guinea pig) at the market 

Christmas parade 

On St Stephens day/Boxing Day four of the girls and I went zip lining in the morning, it cost $20 and included transport from the tour company in Baños about thirty  minutes out to the zip lining and back. It was really good value and the zip lining was really good. The guys that took us were really good fun and professional. We got to go upside down (pretty uncomfortable) and my favourite, the superman! Later that day, I treated myself to an hour and a half long massage and face mask for $20.....such a bargain again. While the others continued the extreme sports and went paragliding.

As we hadn't had a meal altogether on Christmas I decided to cook for everyone that night, unfortunately the Australian guys had left so I went to the market and bought enough (well too much) ingredients to make chicken fajitas, guacamole, refined beans and salad for the seven of us that evening. It was also the last evening we would all be together as the next day Kirsty and Eimear were heading off to the Galapagos and I would be going to another town with Amy, Michelle and Hannah. It was really nice way to end Christmas. We also had a chocolate birthday cake (not homemade unfortunately) for Jesus' birthday complete with candles. He is the reason for the season after all!! We had some drinks and played yet more cards but unfortunately it was cut short as the hostel had a ridiculous curfew of 10pm so we were told to go out or go to our rooms (at 27 years old....at 10pm)...anyway we obliged and headed back to our rooms full of fajitas, cake and rum!

Feliz Navidad!

Next Stop: Alausi, Ecuador
Food/Drink: breakfast in the hostel, made oats ourselves with fruit. The market in Baños is really good for set lunches...generally $2.50 for soup, main and juice. They also have cuy (guinea pigs) served with rice, salad for $4...I declined this opportunity. Baños has really good burgers...we actually got one on Christmas night, $3 from Comet burger. The supermarket and market for buying food to cook.
Stayed: La Chiminea hostel, $7.50-8.50 for a dorm. Really good location, pool and jacuzzi but pretty strict with curfew of quiet after 10pm.