After Mancora we took an over night bus into Ecuador, a new country on the trip! Had no idea what to expect in Ecuador, it's meant to be more developed than a lot of the other South American countries and also uses the American dollar.

First view from the coach window it looked nice, still a bit similar to Peru but with a different culture of buildings and people.

Our first 6 days in Ecuador for New Year would be spent in Montanita, unlike Mancora it was a really cool town a bit like the ones in South East Asia. Full of party goers, hippies and backpackers, the town looked like a cross between Gili T in Indonesia and Phi Phi in Thailand! The town was full of cool little shops, cocktail stands, beach bars, restaurants and beach clubs!

Most of the days we spent down the huge beach that runs adjacent to the town and hostels, and by night pottering around all the night life spots! An $8 all you can drink first night started the week and by the second day most of the gang from Mancora had arrived ready to celebrate the New Year!

Our hostel had a great top floor with sea views but the room had a lot to be desired! 5 people to a room with not really enough floor space for our bags and costing $28 a night each, the most expensive of the trip so far!

The great thing about Montanita for the New Year's Eve party was no pre bought tickets or an expectation to be at any specific clubs or pubs. We started with a party at a friends hostel, moved onto the beach with a group of about 30 of us at around 11.30 where the locals set big bonfires up and all go surfing at the strike of midnight! Fireworks were set off and the beach was packed all night!

Everyone had a great night and it was probably one of the best New Year's Eve parties we've ever been too!

Sad good byes started the following day with most of the group we've had over Christmas and New Year period heading separate ways. Although we have a group of 7 heading into Galápagos together which promises to be an amazing trip! Also likely to meet a few of the other guys up in Colombia.

Ended 2015 seven months into the trip, 13 countries and 3 continents visited so far with many more to go!! Looking forward to a lot more to come!