ECUADOR, Montanita, (written from Banos) Tuesday 13th November

I began composing this in a damp internet cafe in Montanita on Saturday. Outside the temporary bar stands pumped out latino music in preparation for what was clearly going to be another big night.
I arrived on Friday evening exhausted from sleep deprivation induced by coldy fluy thing which I finally grabbed by the horns and pummelled with antibiotics.

After a lovely luxurious LAN Peru flight to Guayaquil in an empty plane I landed in the shiny Guayaquil airport and paid too much for a taxi to the bus station, to which I could have probably walked. Dodging the ticket touts trying to grab me this way and that screaming out various destinations, I made my way to the wall of bus company booths, also hollering. I located one offering my destination and hopped on a bus bound for Santa Elena.
I alighted at an intersection outside Santa Elena after a smooth air conditioned ride where I had an isle seat and all the curtains had been drawn, so no hope of an explanation of Ecuadorian scenery from me as yet...
Once at the dusty intersection, numerous men with badges round their necks pointed me to the bus stop that I needed and one of them sold me a ticket. I seated myself next to a policeman and a chicken sauntered up and eyed my quizzically, as chickens do.
They then bundled me onto a rattling local bus, full to the brim, and we bounced off down the road in the direction of the coast. For the next hour we chugged along a pot-holed road through various costal villages, all looking hot and scruffy, people lounging by the road in hammocks with a general air of inactivity. Finally I was shunted off onto the roadside and pointed down a dusty path to 'el centro' of Montanita. Once round the corner I spotted a few bronzed gringos mooching in a dozy sort of way and concluded that I must be in the right place.
I ambled down the main street, past people selling beaded jewellery and bars promising Happy Hours all night, and checked into a hostel. The day was grey and not too warm so I forwent the beach and made friends with a group of Russian guys staying at my hostel, the first Russians I have met travelling... I inadvertently shared my dinner with a Frenchman and suddenly felt too exhausted to have any more conversations with predatory men so slunk off to bed. A fruitless activity really considering all the bars were located right outside my bedroom and I had been promised that they would push on until 4am.
Miraculously, however, I did manage some sleep and awoke to another grey day. After a few hours on the beach I was bored and reminded myself that I often get bored when there is not much to do but lie on the beach so maybe I'd better leave Montanita to the surfers and seek adventure elsewhere.
Having decided this I skipped off to an internet cafe to do some research only to be cornered on the way out by Christian. Christian was one of the Ecuadorian surfer types who had tried to lure me into conversation on the beach, he had been trying to get me to eat a meal with him all day, even spotting me on my balcony where I had gone to ground. Once he'd cornered me for the third time I figured that actually I was pretty hungry and food might not go amiss so consented warily. Some hours later it was 2am and I was dancing with a man about a 3rd of my height in the heart of a local wedding... Funny how things turn out.
Christian turned out to be harmless enough but kept me well watered with beer during our very lengthy dinner (fish, plantains, rice and salad, yum). I politely agreed to have a dance with him and was plotting my escape when he suggested looking in on a wedding that was going on. Now that sounds more like it!
We arrived on the scene to join a group of other loiterers outside the entrance where the wedding could be seen in full flow. People were seated at tiny children's party-sized trestle tables on little stools. The aisle that ran the length of the room was already filling with wiggling bottoms of people of all ages as the music began. The father of the bride came to the door and smilingly waved the outside loiterers inside. The wedding had just become open to gatecrashers.

We stepped in and Christian took me over to table where a jolly faced fat man sat perched awkwardly on his stool next to a tiny little guy whose size seemed rather fitting with the dolly-tea-party set up. They were, it turned out, Christian's flat mates and friends of the groom. Dolly tea party it was not however and, with a wicked grin, the larger of the two signalled to a waiter who produced several litres of beer and set them down. He winked at me and motioned to the pile that was already building up under the table and I came to believe that some earnest drinking was about to commence.
Endless "Salute!", endless cup draining and endless refilling. I was thankful that my female status excused me from participating too seriously in this game although they made damn sure I was drinking and not just holding the glass to my lips. Christian began to look a little wonky and I was relieved to escape when the tiny guy asked me to dance and we joined the wiggling throng of people all of whom moved with such grace and rhythm, age being no barrier. I towered above everybody on the dance floor and received some very odd looks but most smiled at me and my attempt to wiggle away with the rest of them. Such a happy occasion. The only person who did not appear to be all smiles was the surly faced bride who scurried around distributing presents and generally looking preoccupied. I returned to the table to find more beers had arrived and decided it was time to bow ought gracefully. Another dance and then bed. I excused and extracted myself from a hopeful Christian and retired at the reasonable hour of 3.00 leaving the party in full swing and Laurel and Hardy sitting on their stools toasting one another and giggling.

The next day I bid farewell to Montanita figuring that I'd pretty much drained it of its attractions, the wedding being a hard one to beat. I bussed it back to Guayaquil, accompanied by Christian whom I shook off at the bus station and taxied it to my hostel to try and figure out where I was planning on going next. Christian had mentioned Banos as a place worth a visit and a quick browse in a nice Australian girl's LP settled it. I was heading north and back up into altitude again. Ecuador is not a big country and I reckoned that I could probably have a fairly good shot at seeing some of its sights before flying back to Lima in a week so off I set.
Relaxing week for me on a beach? Apparently not.