Part 2...

Good morning...

Ow. Last night turned into more than just one drink... I ended up back at 5am but not sure when the other two came back... oh well!

Ok, so our Spanish lessons have gone really well. Certainly more confident about speaking and trying to talk in Spanish, rather than giving up the moment they speak English. Actually, what am I saying, of course I give up if they speak English..!

We are staying in a nice hostel in the Mirascal part of the city in Quito. It´s the new part, but actually brilliant to live in, as it is geared up for travellers with internet cafes (with cheap phone calls), convenience shops, a supermarket, and lots of Spanish schools. Went to the old town of Quito on Sunday, and it was nice, pretty... but didn´t do anything for me! Very Spanish, with gothic churches and so on. I´ve got used to the colourful cities in Mexico, where the buildings are painted vibrant colours, which brighten up even a dull day. Unfortunately when we looked round Quito Viejo, it was a grey day and started raining, so wasn´t nice for photos.

Which brings me onto the weather... we are sick of it! Luckily today I am writing this and the sun is shining, but the weather here is freezing! We arrived and it was 18 degrees celsius... it´s gone down to about 10 at night, but after coming from Panama city which was 30-35 degrees, it´s a bit of a shock to the system. Probably something to do with Quito being nearly 3000m above sea level... So I have been very sensible and invested in a coat (if Mum was well she would´ve made sure I didn´t leave home without one!) I got such a good coat for 22 dollars (sooooo warm), that the other 2 have got exactly the same coat in different colours... It will set us up for Peru.

So been mooching about the town really, trying to run errands, trying to sort stuff out, watching copious amounts of films (judging by last night that is far safer and cheaper!)

Visited the Guayasamin Museum and the Capella de Hombre de Guayasamin (his chapel). His paintings are absolutely stunning. It´s easy to find images on the internet if you want to have a gander: I think I have fallen in love with his work. His art is indigineous expressionism, and he paints social, cultural and political issues that affect the social underclass. Absolutely love his work (unfortunately he died at the turn of the 21st century), so have been gawking for a while there while the other 2 sorted their stuff out. I am a little obsessed, and luckily the art galleries let you take photos, just without flash, so have got quite a few pictures!

We are going to the equator today (if J gets out of bed), and then heading to Huayaquillas tonight on a 12 hour bus journey. I messed up with the tickets but I will let Hayley tell you about that! Luckily we´re going to where we want to on the Peru-Equador border tonight, but will just arrive a couple of hours later... we will then get another bus 4 hours to Mancora in Peru, and head to the beach for the day before making our ways to Lima... and then to Cusco for the dreaded Inca Trail... (I didn´t realise at the time that you can take a train up there... not pleased with H and J for making me walk it!)

Ciao for now,
Alice xxx