I ran off to Peru, why not Ecuador?

So the reason it has taken me so long to write another blog (even though I did mention it on my previous post) is because I made the most of some time off given by the programme and my school and went to Ecuador! This consisted of a 24 hour bus drive across the border to Quito. From there we went to Baños and Cuenca and then met some girlfriends in Mancora (Peru) for the weekend to celebrate my birthday.  In between rooftop hostels and long bus journeys, I actually ticked a few activities off the bucket list. In Quito my travel buddy Sophie and I went to 'Mitad del Mundo or for those not Spanish savvy 'The middle of the world' or 'equator' or whatever you want to call it I WENT.  Now there are technically 2 places which both call themselves 'Mitad del Mundo'. One of them has a massive monument and a sign like in Amsterdam which is impossible to get a picture of without having some fellow tourist ruining the shot.  The other is the OFFICIAL centre of the earth (all thanks to the creation of GPS) which is smaller and not as busy but still has a great tour and the chance to balance the egg on a nail which proves more difficult than it looks.

Baños is more of an 'adventure' place where you can do anything from rafting to jumping off of a bridge.  Both of which I did.  Both amazing. Although you can't help but feel slightly uneasy when they ask you to sign a waiver basically removing them from any responsibility if you die. But all in all, they were amazing experiences! We then jumped on bikes and cycled 25 kilometres and down  MANY steps to 'El Diablo' which is a huge waterfall.  THEN we decided to go to the 'Casa del arbol' or as it is also known 'the swing at the end of the world' mainly for the Instagram worthy photos.  It was definitely the cheapest activity costing only $3 entry to go on the swing as many times as I wanted. To finish our day, we went to the baños in Baños which consisted of lots of people wearing different coloured caps on their heads sitting in pools at different temperatures where you couldn't see your feet or legs under the water - perhaps unhygienic as hell but hey, I have done it now.  I also stood under the waterfall and felt rather ethereal for about 3 seconds but also incredibly cold so that 'new experience' was short lived. We were really lucky with the weather and even though we did enough activities to fill 3 days in less than 12 hours, at least it didn't rain.

I would like to say it was all plain sailing - but if it was it wouldn't be travelling would it?
All was going smoothly until we got to Cuenca and we bought our bus ticket after looking at a board in the agency saying the bus left the following night at 11:45pm.  And because I am me, I didn't look at the my ticket. The time it actually left was 9:30pm.  This then meant Sophie and I had to find an alternative route to Mancora which meant going via Guayaquil. It was a faff but we did eventually get to Mancora after waiting in a line for 4 hours are the border (not fun).

Mancora had everything we wanted after our ecuador trip. Beach, bars and happy hour 3 times a day! - it was truly a (un?)forgettable weekend and our 2 friends from VTP met us there to celebrate my birthday so that made it even more special. I swam with turtles too which was truly incredible. I decided to pay the money for some goggles so that I could see the friendly beings underneath me as I spent about 15 minutes expecting to be the main character in a scene from Jaws every time that I felt something brush my leg. Unfortunately, this awesome experience was also tinged as during my swim, some of my money was taken from my purse. But it is fine because they didn't take my passport or debit cards (phew).


So to top it all off, I came home and celebrated my birthday with my host family. We had a BBQ and my Peru mum had put up signs on every object to help me with my Spanish learning (cutie).  My birthday technically lasted 30 hours as we started celebrating it at midnight UK time (6pm Peru time) with cards and cake and then celebrated the start of my peruvian birthday at midnight with opening more cards. The whole act of staying up until then is called 'Quema' or 'burning' to signify the ending of a year and the start of a new (or something more metaphorical than that)  but I must admit I had to nap between 10pm and 12am because I was so tired. It was nice because despite the difference in time and space, I had my real family there on FT and my peruvian family sat around me on my bed while I opened my cards.  At school the next day, I was sung happy birthday in both spanish and english in each class and also given 2 cupcakes, some little presents from teachers and massive hugs and kisses from everyone who saw me with my little '21' badge (courtesy of my parents and sister, Love you).  I went for sushi in the evening and because it was my 21st (and I am truly English) I wanted a drink so my Peru dad went and bought 'Pisco' the local liquor and we sat and drank most of it.  It was really great. Although I wish my family and friends were beside me, mi familia and the school really made an effort to make it the best birthday they could. And thanks to my choice to spend my birthday abroad, I can keep on milking the fact that it is my birthday until December when I can celebrate all over again!

So after hectic 2 weeks, I can officially say I am 21, I have travelled around Ecuador, I have done some stupid stuff (including leaving my bag unattended, not checking my bus ticket and jumping off a bridge) and I am still alive and loving every moment in Peru.

Until next time, Chao

P.S Thank you to everyone who was in my birthday video. My friends and family, you made me laugh and cry and made me feel truly loved and special.  Thank you, I love you all.