This past weekend I went to the beach with Gabriel (the dude who hooked me up with the stay in Quito) and a few of his friends. All in all, I'd have to say that the Ecuadorian beach is largely the same as any other beach I've been to: there's an ocean and some sand. The interesting parts were getting there, getting around there, the night life, and coming back. So, let's jump right into it.First things first: the buses. I vaguely remember reading something about the long bus rides in Ecuador being very frightening before I came here, but I had largely forgotten about it. The bus was to leave Friday night at midnight and I was told that we would get there around 6 or 7 am. This would be the best so that we wouldn't have to travel at night time once we got to the coast. At first it was cool. I slept for a large majority of it all, it being, more or less, my night's rest. I remember drifting in and out and thinking that the bus was going really fast but I just went back to sleep.
But at 4:30 a.m. I woke up and stayed up. I was still tired but the bus seemed to be going extremely fast and taking sharp curves every few seconds. The road was very rocky and uneven in places and when I looked out the window I could see that we were passing just about everything else on the road. The thing was, the path was just a two-lane road (both ways) in the middle of nothing so when we passed other cars/trucks/whatever we were on that wrong side of the rode. And when he did it during turns...needless to say I didn't get anymore sleep until we arrived there, which was about 6 am. I was starting to drift off multiple times but that just made things worse as I kept being jerked awake by a new turn or at the bus driver honking his horn.
When we arrived it was really early and starting to drizzle. We took a 'cab' to Gabriel's friend's apartment, where we would be staying for the weekend. It was an interesting ride, going on the highway with that thing. They were all over the town and pretty effective, I'd say, if it weren't for the morning rain that was constantly hitting my face. It took us about ten minutes to get to our destination in this cab. We rested at the apartment for a while and then headed out at about 10 am to get food and drinks.The food was pretty good. I had fish and rice. While we ate some kids were selling some kind of drink from a pitcher. They'd go around and pour a little bit in a cup, let you take a sample, and then you could buy a whole cup if you wanted. This wasn't restaurant specific, they'd just go door to door, so to speak.
There are a lot...and I mean A LOT, more black people (Afro-Ecuadorians) at the coast. I didn't really get to talk to any, but I just thought I'd point out that I noticed their existence.
The street by the beach (the boardwalk, if you will) was crowded with vendors, cars, bikes, taxis, and, of course, people. It was a place of great diversity from the foreign tourists (I saw someone with a Redskins shirt on and considered making that DC connection but thought better of it), to the local people spending a summer weekend at the beach, to the vendors trying to make a living. The common theme of everything being cheap was continued strongly here, with sunglass vendors selling nice ones for two dollars a pop. I got bottle water for about 25 cents a bottle and no meal cost over three dollars (there were the expensive choices, but they were usually something really rare or extravagant).It was really hot. I think it was the first tie in my life that I looked straight up and the sun was right there. I remember at one point it was cloudy and I could still feel the sun beaming on me. Not just the heat of the day, but the sun itself. This had its advantages though, like the water not being cold. I swam for a good little bit but I think that I like the Jamaican beaches better by far.
That night we decided (or more so others decided and me, being the naive American, just followed along) to go to another beach and spend our night out there. My beach comrades had been drinking most of the day and some were pretty good to gone by the time we set out to leave. We walked out to the main road and it was pitch black. No street lights or nothing. The plan was to catch the bus to the other beach and Gabriel was put in charge of flagging down said bus (here there are no bus stops...you get on bus like you would get in a taxi: anywhere) with the flashlight. Bad idea. Instead of taking his job seriously he used the flashlight to harass other passing cars and before we knew it the bus passed us in an instant, unnoticing of us. Needless to say, someone else was put on flashlight duty.
We didn't know how long it would be until the next bus came so when a mini-bus stopped for us, we took it. Thing was, it was full inside so we had to climb on top. I wasn't too much thrilled by it but there were bars on the top and it looked like it was meant for people to ride there. In the city it felt like I was manuevering a car in grand theft auto because I had a clear topside view of all the other cars and people in the street. Once the truck/bus passed under a low tree branch and we had to duck but that was about the extent of anything out of the ordinary.
When we got off the bus we had to walk down the longest alley of life for about twenty minutes. We finally got to the boardwalk and it was a pretty lively place. We ate again and I remember that one of Gabriel's friends, the guy that owned the apartment, seemed to be really good at bartering. He sweet talked one of the waitresses to get a cheaper meal and he would usually be the one to talk to people at the different restaurants to find the cheapest choice before we ate down to grub.
Then we went over to an outside club, I guess you could call it. It was really nice. They had a great bar and they sold visually pleasing drinks that were all dressed up with different kinds of fruits, a dancing area, and a sitting area. It was right on the beach. It was a pretty cool night, for the most part.
The rest of the trip was pretty much the same. Our bus left the next day (Sunday) at 4 pm. I was thinking that this time it would be better because the stretch that had me up the morning before we would be taking during the day time on the way back. I don't think I could have been much more wrong in that assumption. This bus driver was more insane and I didn't think it was possible. He would honk at ANYTHING in the road. It would be a perfectly good driver in front of us, going a respectable speed, and this big mammoth of a bus we were on would come up behind it and honk it out of the way (two lanes, two ways, mind you) and then swerve past it.
And then when night did come, around 6:30, we were still in those twisty turney roads. I was closer to the front this time and could see out the driver's window. When we took those turns in the wrong lane (to pass another vehicle) I kept wandering what if a bus coming our way was doing the same thing, but in the lane they were supposed to be in? It was unsettling but I saw that when this did happen our driver saw the other's headlights in advance and pulled back accordingly. But on one occasion we were passing two trucks that were bumper to bumper and I was thinking, once were half past them, that it would be too late to pull back now. And I do think that it was during a curve.
I stayed awake almost the whole time. I had planned to beforehand, though, and read my book, although I was frequently looking up to make sure we weren't about to die. Soon after I drifted off I woke up to find us stopped and pulled over on the side of the road. We were there for about an hour and I didn't know what the problem was, but it got really hot on the bus, windows fogged up and all, and people started getting off to sit outside for a little bit. Shortly after we were off again I heard a loud pop and I think it was one of the tires. We stopped again and ten minutes later it was instructed that the people in the back of the bus come to stand in the front and then we continued. This plan did not put my mind at ease at all but we continued on slowly and ere in Quito in about two hours.
The next stop for me is San Miguel this Sunday. Bad news is, though, is that I will be taking that same trip, probably longer, at night again. Leaving at 7 pm, I think. A friend of Jenny's from San Miguel came to stay this past Monday and he's going back Sunday so I am traveling with him. I have been mostly chillin this week, almost finished the first draft of my book (writing the final chapter tomorrow) and saw The Dark Knight today. I am excited about my trip, not looking forward to the bus right, though, to be perfectly honest. I think it's the most dangerous thing of life but, hey, that's what prayer is for, right?
We didn't know how long it would be until the next bus came so when a mini-bus stopped for us, we took it. Thing was, it was full inside so we had to climb on top. I wasn't too much thrilled by it but there were bars on the top and it looked like it was meant for people to ride there. In the city it felt like I was manuevering a car in grand theft auto because I had a clear topside view of all the other cars and people in the street. Once the truck/bus passed under a low tree branch and we had to duck but that was about the extent of anything out of the ordinary.When we got off the bus we had to walk down the longest alley of life for about twenty minutes. We finally got to the boardwalk and it was a pretty lively place. We ate again and I remember that one of Gabriel's friends, the guy that owned the apartment, seemed to be really good at bartering. He sweet talked one of the waitresses to get a cheaper meal and he would usually be the one to talk to people at the different restaurants to find the cheapest choice before we ate down to grub.
Then we went over to an outside club, I guess you could call it. It was really nice. They had a great bar and they sold visually pleasing drinks that were all dressed up with different kinds of fruits, a dancing area, and a sitting area. It was right on the beach. It was a pretty cool night, for the most part.
The rest of the trip was pretty much the same. Our bus left the next day (Sunday) at 4 pm. I was thinking that this time it would be better because the stretch that had me up the morning before we would be taking during the day time on the way back. I don't think I could have been much more wrong in that assumption. This bus driver was more insane and I didn't think it was possible. He would honk at ANYTHING in the road. It would be a perfectly good driver in front of us, going a respectable speed, and this big mammoth of a bus we were on would come up behind it and honk it out of the way (two lanes, two ways, mind you) and then swerve past it.
And then when night did come, around 6:30, we were still in those twisty turney roads. I was closer to the front this time and could see out the driver's window. When we took those turns in the wrong lane (to pass another vehicle) I kept wandering what if a bus coming our way was doing the same thing, but in the lane they were supposed to be in? It was unsettling but I saw that when this did happen our driver saw the other's headlights in advance and pulled back accordingly. But on one occasion we were passing two trucks that were bumper to bumper and I was thinking, once were half past them, that it would be too late to pull back now. And I do think that it was during a curve.I stayed awake almost the whole time. I had planned to beforehand, though, and read my book, although I was frequently looking up to make sure we weren't about to die. Soon after I drifted off I woke up to find us stopped and pulled over on the side of the road. We were there for about an hour and I didn't know what the problem was, but it got really hot on the bus, windows fogged up and all, and people started getting off to sit outside for a little bit. Shortly after we were off again I heard a loud pop and I think it was one of the tires. We stopped again and ten minutes later it was instructed that the people in the back of the bus come to stand in the front and then we continued. This plan did not put my mind at ease at all but we continued on slowly and ere in Quito in about two hours.
The next stop for me is San Miguel this Sunday. Bad news is, though, is that I will be taking that same trip, probably longer, at night again. Leaving at 7 pm, I think. A friend of Jenny's from San Miguel came to stay this past Monday and he's going back Sunday so I am traveling with him. I have been mostly chillin this week, almost finished the first draft of my book (writing the final chapter tomorrow) and saw The Dark Knight today. I am excited about my trip, not looking forward to the bus right, though, to be perfectly honest. I think it's the most dangerous thing of life but, hey, that's what prayer is for, right?
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