Bobs Travel: November 2013

I am not on it. I had second thoughts as the price of $180 seemed too good to be true and i figured it is probably a small boat that I would not do well on.

I thought I might be out there money but got a refund less $30.

I am no we leaving tomorrow on a much nicer boat and for one extra night/day. I return Sunday and fly to Bogota and then head to banos.

The new cruise is $750 last minute deal. They had am even nicer boat for 8 days for $1400 but that might be overkill and it does not leave until Sunday so I would not return until December 6.

Misc observations
For some reason in some areas such as bocas del toro most grocery stores are owned by Chinese
Train stations have signs indicating the current station AND the next station

I have some others but they will either be written alomgsdide pictures or they have been forgotten since I did not post at the time.

After a couple of long bus rides and two taxi rides two fellow travelers and I arrived in quito.

We arrived around 4 am and when we got to the hostel we were told no space. On hindsight it may have been that they had only 2 beds. After driving around for a bit win a second taxi we eventually found a hostel with space. It was $14 instead of $10 but included a nice breakfast and they let us sleep the first night for a few hours free.

The hostel was in a good but noisy location. Saturday night we changed to a hostel in old town where my good friends Dom and kenia are staying.

Four gals were staying at hostel vibes, which was full. I went to visit them and saw there was a pub crawl Friday night. They invited me to join them. When I arrived at the hostel the "boss" said I was not allowed even in the lobby because I was not staying there and therefore it was illegal.

I came back for the pub crawl and he said I could not join them on the pub crawl because that was also illegal.

We asked where they were starting and he said the pubs would not let others in , which made no sense. He also lied to me about where they were starting so I never met up with them. Coincidentally the two guys I was traveling with were at the bar where the crawl started.

First day here I walked around old town and stumbled on a city celebration with a live big band and native dancers.

Yesterday we went to the center of the world. There are actually twin. The real one is about 150 meters from the original. We then went to See pululuhau volcano. It looked just like SF...fogged in. We decided to come back the next morning since the bus ride was cheap, though it was over an hour each way. It was nice but probably not worth the time.

Lots of beautiful buildings.

It is great fun to travel with my friends Domenico and Kenia. We hope to meet again somewhere in Peru.

Heading to the Galapagos, which should be great fun. I am no sure if I am going to do a cruise or just some day trips and self guided things. Galapagos is quite expensive I am told.

I was also told that most people get sick on the 2 hour boat rides between islands. Bring that I am prtone to motion sickness I am probably going to feel the effects.

So far I have only bought a one way ticket there since I am not sure how long I will be there.

I will try to upload some photos but I am on a bus on the way to the airport and don't know what to expect for WiFi on the galapagos.

WS uploading pictures on the bus and we arrived before it finished. I thought it would continue when I had WiFi again but looks like I need to start over.

Very confusing at the airport. Need to buy a Galapagos entry card first but u kept bring told different places to go.

All set now with some snacks and motion sickness pills. Board in 15 minutes.