Ecuador!
We had an early start today, to try and make it to Cuenca, in the highlands of Ecuador.
Adios to Mancora, which I enjoyed but wasn't blown away by. It was fun but just seems like a bit of a gringo town where everything is overpriced, apart from the S/.8 menu del dia, which is always a winner. That said, we splashed out on a tex mex restaurant last night. We had made plans to eat with Leo, Gil and Michel a few times but always ended up missing them for some reason. This time we finally made it and we all went in search of lobster. It seems like it's intent on evading Ciaran and I as we couldn't find it in the pueblo. Will we get it anywhere on the trip? Anyway, instead we ended up with an amazing Surf and Turf at El Aji, including the best steak I've had since we went to Santa Maria del Sur in Battersea last August. To entice us in the owner gave us 'a tour of the menu' and told us the portions would be massive and he wasn't exaggerating.
After that we all went for a drink before Ciaran and I headed off to be ready for our early start. Just as well as Leo had been to see 'Franco' for what I think was her daily dose of coke and once she got it she was off like a shot, so it wasn't really a emotional goodbye!
I thought we had said goodbye to the long bus journeys for a while, but today came in at a surprising 11 and a half hours on the bus.
We chose to go a long way round - for most people heading to Ecuador from Mancora, the natural route to take is heading directly North to the border. However, the border crossing at Huaquillas has been described as 'harrowing', notorious for the time it takes to cross and the numerous scams you might encounter. So, instead we decided to cross at La Tina by travelling back South to Sullana, where we would take a connecting bus to Loja in Ecuador and then another one on to Cuenca.
Adios to Mancora, which I enjoyed but wasn't blown away by. It was fun but just seems like a bit of a gringo town where everything is overpriced, apart from the S/.8 menu del dia, which is always a winner. That said, we splashed out on a tex mex restaurant last night. We had made plans to eat with Leo, Gil and Michel a few times but always ended up missing them for some reason. This time we finally made it and we all went in search of lobster. It seems like it's intent on evading Ciaran and I as we couldn't find it in the pueblo. Will we get it anywhere on the trip? Anyway, instead we ended up with an amazing Surf and Turf at El Aji, including the best steak I've had since we went to Santa Maria del Sur in Battersea last August. To entice us in the owner gave us 'a tour of the menu' and told us the portions would be massive and he wasn't exaggerating.
After that we all went for a drink before Ciaran and I headed off to be ready for our early start. Just as well as Leo had been to see 'Franco' for what I think was her daily dose of coke and once she got it she was off like a shot, so it wasn't really a emotional goodbye!
I thought we had said goodbye to the long bus journeys for a while, but today came in at a surprising 11 and a half hours on the bus.
We chose to go a long way round - for most people heading to Ecuador from Mancora, the natural route to take is heading directly North to the border. However, the border crossing at Huaquillas has been described as 'harrowing', notorious for the time it takes to cross and the numerous scams you might encounter. So, instead we decided to cross at La Tina by travelling back South to Sullana, where we would take a connecting bus to Loja in Ecuador and then another one on to Cuenca.
Comments
Post a Comment