Mancora and Ecuador

Quite a lot has happened since our 16 hour set of busrides from Cajamarca to Mancora. Our stay in Mancora was so great that we extended it an extra day. Everybody who could speak English told me that I should go there, and now I truly understand why. The waves were perfect for learning to surf; horses were constantly available for riding; the food was excellent; the hostal we stayed in was perfect for meeting people; in fact, I cant imagine a more awesome place. I seriously have never had so much fun. It was a total paradise, and we met a great group of British people who are, by far, the most fun loving people we have met all trip. We left, however, and it turned out to be a huge mistake. Upon crossing the border to Equador a couple teenagers tried to steal my passport, our bus tried to leave without us, and we had to stop at a ton a checkpoints. Once we arrived in Guayquil, Scott and I decided to be as American as possible in the nice part of town by eating at their state-of-the-art Pizza Hut, where I drank 2 Pepsis with ICE (big mistake). Then we saw the worst movie of our lives... EPIC MOVIE. If you ever see this movie, dont. It is terrible. The next morning I woke up VERY sick. I puked four times in the shower because the ice in my Pepsi was made from Equadorian water. I had just finished my book, Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield, and in the book the Spartans would put all their negative thoughts into a room of their mind and lock the door, never to enter the room again. I tried that tactic with my sickness, and it worked. Scott and I spent the day touring the city, checking out the monuments in Guayaquil, and they were pretty awesome. We then went to this park that is full of Iguanas and turtles. HUGE IGUANAS... they dont even have cages. They just walk right next to you. I didnt eat all day, and we caught a bus to Montanita (BIG MISTAKE). If you ever go to Montanita, DONT! Watch epic movie instead. Montanita is a shitty town full of jackass, fuckups who cant get on with their real lives. Most of the town is run by travelers who quit traveling to braid hair and sell useless trinkets. The place house no spirit, and it has a very out to screw you vibe. The waves were smaller than the amount of fun we had. We tried going into the water, but we saw thousand (yes, thousands) of Portugese Man-o-Wars being washed up on the shore. Our hostal was relatively expensive (9 bucks each) and it was terrible... I woke up in the morning completely covered, head to toe (even under the covers) in mosquito bites. I got revenge on about 20 mosquitoes the next morning, who all were so fat with my blood when I popped them that I felt like I had just donated a pint. SCREW MONTANITA... it is a crappy tourist trap run by tourists. Scott and I left Montanita a day early, even though we had payed for 2 days in the hostal. We caught a 1 hour bus from Montanita to Puerto Lopez. On the 15 hour busride from Puerto Lopez to Quito, not only did they play 4 of the most terrible movies imaginable until 1 AM (including Epic Movie!), Scott also caught whatever terrible sickness I had, on a full stomach. He puked in the bus bathroom a billion times, and since the bus didnt let us bring our effects onto the bus, SCOTT SMELLED AWFUL! FOR 8 HOURS! I think he is better now... he showered and cleaned himself and is now fast asleep in our new hostal in Quito, which is pretty nice. Things are about to turn around and become more like Mancora again... I know it. Perhaps it is good that we have expended all our bad luck before we hit the casino in Quito tonight. Anyway, I am glad that in the past week my trip has definitely developed a high and low. If all of Equador continues to suck, we can always go back to Mancora. BUT IT WONT! Quito looks pretty awesome so far.