This was always going to be a boring day! Travelling days always are. 

The bed was really comfortable but I managed to develop a bad headache overnight, so didn't sleep that well. Breakfast was a vastly better experience than last night's fiasco!  It was a buffet, so I had a made to order omelette with no cheese, which caused some raised eyebrows from the chef! The fresh fruit was outstanding -  strawberries,  sweet pineapple and three sorts of melon. The coffee was on steroids and took a whole jug of milk to go a couple of shades lighter.

So, back in my room, I packed up my belongings, I was feeling a bit nomadic by now! Then I decided to go and get my lunch as I'm not prepared to be fleeced at the airport. I had noticed in the s***ty Mall that there was a sandwich place so off I trotted. The mall was still rubbish in the cold light of day but I bought a turkey baguette which had 490 calories, I was reliably informed - to go!

Bloody thing had cheese in it!!

After checking out, I hung around the lobby waiting for the airport shuttle to leave at midday. This was one of the main reasons for picking this hotel, I hate having to pay for cabs, that and the cookie!

I had already checked in for my flight at the hotel and printed my boarding card at the hotel, another good reason to book Doubletree, but in order to get the baggage tags I had to do it all over again. Then it was on to security. Miami airport being Miami airport, there was only one guy checking everyone from two lines. Why have one person checking and two lines you may ask? Answer, it makes the queue look shorter!

Then, somehow it appeared that I had been randomly selected to bypass the body scanner so I jumped the interminable queue and-  yay-  three and a half whole hours to spend in my least favourite airport in the world!

Miami airport is vast and likes to keep everything to do with navigation of said airport completely secret. This was how I managed to be on a transit train going in completely the wrong direction, heading away from my departure gate. There were no signs to say which transit was going which way. So a very jolly train trip ensued when I saw most of the Airport From Hell.

Once at the gate I started to look around for fellow Llama Travellers (my travel company). Everyone spoke Spanish and looked like an extra from an Indiana Jones movie, a bit Incan!! Even when the flight was called, it was all in Spanish, so I didn't have a clue what was going on.  I waited for the small children and wheelchairs and then went through to the plane. Nobody seemed particularly bothered that I was wandering on board.

It was an American Airlines 757 with so much room between the seats, it must have had a 40 inch pitch, whereas your average transatlantic seat is around 31 inches. Why do they give you more space for a shorter journey?? It defies logic!!

Ah yes, the beef stew and yellow rice that I ordered ........ not on this flight it would appear. The flight attendant had no idea about how food was ordered online and said it was chicken or rubber, sorry, ravioli. Chicken it was then!

There was a movie shown on the flight, the old fashioned way, on screens hanging from the roof, ooh and free drinks. Yowzer!

The seats were like sitting on a pile of library books, so a lot of people were stood up for most of the way.

It was strange watching the moving map as we came in to land at Quito. We were still at 2600 metres when the wheels kissed the tarmac! Obviously it was using the sea level air pressure setting for the map, not the airport air pressure. Technical stuff, but remember I used to work in air traffic control when I had some colour pigment in my hair!

Quito airport is a year old next week and is very swish. I was met, very efficiently by Alfredo from the Andean Travel Company and whisked off to my hotel. There was only me, some others had arrived earlier in the day but were off to overnight in the jungle the next day so had retired to bed early.

It took around 45 minutes and I learned quite a lot about Ecuador on the way. Its main industries are oil production- started off by the Americans who built the bridge into Quito for their construction traffic. This is now woefully inadequate and a new one is being built with great urgency. Also they export roses, fruit, tuna and shrimp, then comes tourism, although this is growing fast, mostly Americans and Australians.

I also discovered that Ecuador lies along a fault line and is overdue for a huge volcanic eruption-  not whilst I'm here, I hope!

My room is basic with an ensuite. The shower is in permanent darkness as the curtain cuts out the light from the 25 watt bulb. The sink has a crack in it. But the sheets are clean and the bed is comfortable-  and I am knacked!

Having just looked through all my paperwork that Alfredo gave me, I noticed that they have missed off my tour of Quito for tomorrow. 

So it's bed for me .... 

 Whoa what's all that noise? Ah, that'll be Dora The Explorer on next door's tv and the occupants having a bit if an argy bargy whilst using Dora to cover up their argument!!   

Hmmm, change of rooms tomorrow maybe?

Night night ! X