Highlights: Shopping for art
Travel: Flights from Quito, Ecuador, to Los Angeles
Pictures taken: ?
Favorite photo of the day: TBA
Happy Valentine’s Day. Store displays, flower vendors, and even the TV lineup are persistent reminders of me being single now.
I got up and showered. Then i packed and by 9 i was out the door and walking toward the market that Victoria had pointed out to me the previous night. It was too early for most of the vendors though. I then had “breakfast” at KFC. I don’t think i have eaten at one in the last 10 years. They had good fries and i wish i could order buckets of their original formula chicken skin.
Vendors had been setting up in the nearby park so i walked through looking for original art and masks. Most were sstill setting up so i moseyed back to the artisan market and still less than half of the shops were open. It was a lot of the same stuff: t-shirts, alpaca stuff, jewelry, weavings, leather goods… nothing caught my eye. Across the intersection i went into a shop and found a decent quality and designed mask of a wolf head. The price tag was $28. I also saw some religious paintings that i liked too. I picked one that was priced $75. I inspected them both well and started to bargain. I had another $28 mask added and ended up paying $115. They removed the painting from the frame and wrapped the masks while i got out some money form an ATM.
Then i carried those back to the park and found three small original paintings that i liked. He wanted $45 each. He asked what my offer was and i said $100 for all three. He didn’t think that long and said OK. Damn. I should have said $80! He bagged them up and i headed back to the hotel. I repacked and checked out of Los Alpes.
If i’m ever staying in Quito again i’ll stay there. The only bad thing i can say about it is that they allow smoking in some areas of the hotel.
For $10 i got a taxi to the airport. I was smart to keep the copy of my old passport and a copy of the police report with my new passport (along with the new immigration paperwork). Twice they were looked at and read. I was treated with a little more kindness after they read my story.
An uneventful flight from Quito to Guayaquil that then bounced to San Jose. I had a connection and had to change planes. I figured i had 45 minutes or so to board so i went to the bathroom and got a meal from Burger King. Then i went to my gate but hardly anyone was there. I checked the arrival and departure board and i was at the right gate. But it said my flight had already departed. Oops! I was quickly re-ticketed and immediately boarded a flight to Guatemala. I arrived at LAX at about the same time if i had not missed that connection – just before midnight.
I went through the US customs and walked over to the domestic terminal. It was cold out. I got my ticket for my Alaska Airlines flights – the first boarded at 5:50 AM. I tried to go through security but was turned away after being told that they boot anyone at 2 AM that is in the secure area. I found a bench and tried to sleep. It wass too cold. All i had was short sleeved shirts. I lay there with goosebumps and near shivering.
Valentine’s Day has never meant much to me. It does now. I will forever be more greatful for someone to hold me, love me, and keep me warm! It is awful to think back on how relatively indifferent i was toward Valentine’s Day.
Highlights: Emergency passport, Virgin statue
Travel: Taxi rides.
Pictures taken:?
Favorite photo of the day:
(Please excuse these sentences – I was writing some things in the present and others in the past so things are a bit messed up!)
I woke very early; before 5. I tried to sleep more but after an hour i got up, showered and packed. I got online and ate breakfast downstairs. Breakfast was bread, tea and juice. I checked out and paid for my laundry – about $36 total.
I looked into trying to do a tour on Friday but there were not any i was interested in – i’ll have to be my own tour guide tomorrow.
I took a cab toward the Independence Plaza and the cab driver talked me into driving up to Virgen de El Panecillo for views of the whole city. It was worth the $20. Afterward i had him drop me off at Independence Plaza. I walked around there for a while with my bag on my back. Then i took a $3 taxi back to the area my other two places have been and checked into Los Alpes Hostel.
It’s amazing.
The rooms are spacious and nicely furnished with eclectic art. The communal living spaces are incredible. And to top it off they have more than one computer available for use!
The price is almost twice that of my last place but the neighborhood is quieter, there is a police station just around the block, and the accommodations are A+. I caught a cab to go back to the embassy but forgot to bring my debit card and the embassy address with me. I also forgot to bring the hotel address. But i brought the journal that i was writing in so i had the addresses of the other places that i stayed and it is just a few minute walk between them. I just have to hope that i don’t need moneyat the immigration center. Drat – i probably need my police report anyway.
I’m #710 and have 9 people in front of me. Time stamped at 1:46.
My distinctive goatee got me knowing smiles from the security teams.
I got my passport without a hitch and they gave me a slip of paper with the address i needed to go to. I took a taxi back to the hotel, went to the bathroom, picked up my ATM card, copy of the police report, address for the hotel, and my camera. A $2 cab ride got me to the immigration station.
M158 was up when i was handed my M194 que slip at 3:34.
On the ride here my driver bought a single cigarette from someone at a stop light. People sell fruit, phone chargers, hand towels… just about any thing. A lot of fruit, veggies, and lottery tickets along with gum and water.
There also are performers at some intersections… jugglers, dancers, etc. And in some places people in wheel chairs either ask for change or sell gum. There is an entire community of people selling things and making money at intersections.
After over two hours of waiting my number came up. The first station could not find me in their system though so i was told to wait for the next desk. I waited for another 10 minutes and then they couldn’t find me in the computer either. Since i didn’t bring my copy of my old passport they were trying to find me just using my name. I asked to use a computer because i could get to my old passport number in just two minutes but they wouldn’t let me. There was an internet place right next door but it was after 5 PM so immigration was closing and they would not let me back in. I would have to go back the next day and hope that my passport number (of my old passport) would do better.
Dejected, i went back to the hotel. I got online and had a brief message from Cena asking me to get online because she needed to tell me something.
She’s going to Anchorage on Valentine’s Day. I get back the day after. Much of the trip i had hopes that she was realizing that she missed and needed me. I tried to keep her informed of my whereabouts and situation during the trip and perhaps because of that she didn’t miss me at all. Regardless, she decided to take a trip to Anchorage to see friends and her male friend of the last few months. Nobody will welcome me home.
I watched TV in my room until 1 in the morning.
Highlights: Arrival in Quito
Pictures taken: ?
Travel: Bus from Montañita to Guayaquil and flight to Quito, Ecuador
Favorite photo of the day: TBA
I woke at about 9:30. I threw on some clothes and went down to the hotel lobby and bought two bottles of water for fifty cents each. I knocked on Levy’s door but he didn’t answer. Guess he isn’t getting one of them!
I took a shower, packed my bag and watched some TV. By about 10:30 i knocked on Levy’s door again. He was up so we went and bought our bus tickets. $5.50 from Montañita to Guayaquil. We then went to breakfast (at a different place than the last few days). I had French toast, fruit, banana juice, and tea.
Highlights: Dancing barefoot by fire, in sand, and in the rain
Pictures taken: ?
Travel: None
Favorite photo of the day:
To bed early means i’m up early too. But it is overcast. So i go back to bed. At 9:00 i look and it is still overcast. I turn on the TV. Since i don’t have TV at home it is kind of a treat to watch it sometimes.
After a while i get up, shower, and dress. I grab Levy and we meet with Angela and Angelica for breakfast. We went to the same place as yesterday -Funky Monkey. The service was much faster even though the same woman was serving. I had the same meal for $3.
Highlights: sun, sand, and surf
Pictures taken: ?
Travel: none
Favorite picture of the day:
We slept in and then checked out of Las Palmeras. The owner has great English speaking skills but the rooms are designed for maximum occupancy. Our room had two bunk beds and a narrow passage to squeeze through to get to the restroom. So we moved to Tabuba which had a great view of the beach. We bought a couple of beers and sat and watched the waves and people for a while.
Highlights: sun, sand, and surf
Pictures taken: ?
Travel: none
Favorite picture of the day:
We slept until almost noon. I showered under the world´s worst shower head with water temperatures varying from scalding to near-freezing.
It was nice and sunny out so i put sunblock on my nose, forehead, ears and shoulders. SPF 35.
We walked the heart of town – booths lining the dirt street selling necklaces, stones, hats, earrings, and all sorts of hippy stuff.
Highlights: Second birthday in South America & having passport, phone and laptop stolen.
Pictures taken: 36
Travel: Flight from Lima, Peru to Guayaquil, Ecuador and taxi from there to Montañita.
Favorite picture of the day:
Happy birthday to me! 35. And i’m waking up in an airport. If all goes well i should be watching the last rays of sun disappear below the horizon of the pacific with a cold beer in hand.
Here i am in Petersburg with the pack that i thought i’d be using for the trip.
On the first day in Seattle i figured out that the zipper on the pack was going to drive me crazy. So i bought a new one at REI for about $100. I knew i needed a pack in the 45-60 liter range but didn’t want it too big and definitely not too small.
Highlights: finding a brass frog, a big clean hotel room
Pictures taken: 4
Travel: nothing significant
Favorite picture of the day:
I changed to a very nice hotel costing well over $100 a night. I needed to charge batteries, do laundry, research the next leg of my trip, figure out mailing stuff home, catch up on blog posts…
Highlights: photographing the Biblioteca Nacional and the 100 sole note, catching a glimpse of the Peruvian President.
Pictures taken: 72
Travel: Flew from Cusco to Lima
Favorite photo of the day:
I got up early… what is it with vacation and all the early mornings? I had a flight at 8 so i got up at 5. I checked my email, grabbed a quick breakfast and ran into Curtis (one of the Canadian guys) and exchanged contact information. They had left earlier than me the day before to get to their rental car and make an 8 hour drive back to Cusco. I checked out and walked down to the Paza de Armas to catch a cab to the airport.
