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Welcome back amigos, we have another slapped-together installment for you. This time from the middle of the world - Ecuador!
You may recall from our last blog that we left Brazil a little dispondent following the loss of some precious memories in the form of a memory card with lots of photos on it. Little did we know that things were about to get worse.... enter thief with knife who slashes Luke{s bag and steals his passport during a bus trip from Quito to Riobamba. Yay! Thankfully we didn´t catch him in the act, otherwise who knows what a cornered, knife-weilding crim would have done. Of the week we had set aside for travelling in Ecuador, half of it was unfortunately spent in Guayaquil trying to sort out travel arrangements and a replacement passport. More on that later...
* Quito and Surrounds: Home to musical buses and strong women.
At 2850m above sea level, Quito is quite literally breath-taking, as was the view of the mountains and the old town from the balcony of our hostel, "The Secret Garden". Can´t say that we enjoyed the acoustics of the place, though. It seemed as though every 19 year old who wanted to hit a club at midnight felt compelled to stop directly outside our room and squeal excitedly on top note. This seemed to be repeated at various times between 2 and 6 am as our fun-loving friends returned each night along with their "hilarious" tales from the night. I´m making us sound like old kill-joys, aren´t I?
One of the highlights of our time in Quito was our trip to the Otovalo markets, at whuch many indigenous Ecuadorians sell their wares. The animal markets were hilarious. Apparently guinea pigs are a delicacy in these parts - who knew? It was also apparent that Ecuadorian women can multi-task supremely well. Picture a 5ft woman with a baby strapped to her back, her shopping balanced on her head, an upside-down chicken in one hand and an ice cream in the other. That´s skill!
We made a quirky observation while in Quito. They have electric buses, which may be great for the environment, but they create a potential safety hazard as people may not hear them coming and may step out in front of one by mistake. Not to be stumped easily, the Quiteños have decided to strap speakers to the outside of the buses and play elevator music. "La Cucuracha" and "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer" were our favourites.
* Dark Times in Equador: Following the aforementioned bag-slashing/ passport stealing incident, we made a magical mystery tour of Riobamba´s various police stations until we found the correct place to obtain a police report (on the 3rd attenpt!). Our favourite police station, however, was really just a temporary jail. It consusted of a shabby room with a tiny jail cell to one side.. The cell was occupied by two sorry-lookimg crims who were being visited by their bogan girlfriends at the time. We made sure to use our most polite spanish to excuse ourselves and push past to speak with the cops. Even skanky hoes deserve a little respect. Finally, with police report in hand, we high-tailed it to Guayaquil to try and sort out an emergency passport at the "Honourary" Australian Consulate, where we met two of the loveliest, most helpful people we have encountered to date. Apparently "Honourary" consuls are regular people (usually local business owners) who provide consulary services for little or no financial gain (our government gives them a nominal sum to cover their costs). The Ecuadorian Honourary Consul runs a paint factory in the outer suburbs. So there we were, filling out forms amidst posters for various new paint products. We even got to eat lunch uin the staff canteen with about 30 to 40 factory workers. Is that a good consulary service or what?
As things stand Luke has a document which allows him to travel to Peru, where an emergency passport can be obtained ahead of our organised tour in Peru. Fingers crossed until the next installment! No more "character-building" set backs please!!!
- comments
dave naylor hey Guy's, .. you're not getting too old in the tooth are ya? surely the latin america time means you party all night and siesta each day to recover... no seriously... love the blog, hope the passsport situation- is sorted promptly.. dave
Louise What a shame you had your passport stolen! Not fun.
Nat and Mal Bad luck about the passport - and real shame your travel in Ecuador curtailed because of it. You'll see Guinea Pig on every menu in Peru......Mal didn't rate it!
michelle egan I'm with Dave, why aren't you two out there partying as well and getting home at 6am to sleep all day.... How long you been married now?? Sounds like you had a bit of fun when sorting out the passport so all good in the end.. what do they say..."not much you can do about it so enjoy what you can"... enjoy . cheers M x0
Cathy Fitz So watch out down the track when some moustachee-oed "Guido the killer pimp" (complete with fried guinea pig sewn into the false bottom of his suitcase) tries to slink into Australia as one Luke Edmond Sutton...................keep up the good work guys
Greg Connolly This latest blog is conspicuously short on caipirinhas and mojitos.... It's time to redress the balance kids! And remember that back in brisbane your rodent meal options will be a bit limited. Is the guinea pig stew at backpacker friendly prices? Is caipirinha the drink of choice with capibara? Nice work keep the news coming.