More about Ecuador...

Anyways, so after Banos, we went to Riobamba. The intention was to take the Devil's Nose Train...but it was full. The cool thing used to be to ride on the roof which was supposed to be amazing views, etc. Not only was it full but I also heard someone got decapitated 2 years ago so...that's that. We chose to simply spend the night at a gorgeous hostel and just see a little of the city the next morning.We also saw a cool market :)

From Riobamba, we headed to the coast of Ecuador! I was very excited to visit Puerto Lopez and Isla de la Plata. We had to spend a night in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, because the bus station people did not recommend us traveling at night with all our luggage. It's frustrating when you arrive thinking you are going to get somewhere that night, and for the staff to take one look at you and say...No, too dangerous. Manana...tomorrow. But, just gotta roll with the punches. Anyways, so Thursday morning we headed to Puerto Lopez. Seeing the coast made me feel very happy :) The day we arrived we found an awesome beach hostel, Sol Inn, and then after some good food, ceviche...not only was this beautiful looking but also quite delicious. Also got magically acidic as we ate, haha. Our first ceviche in Ecuador, though. SO our first day we simply enjoyed a beautiful day on the beach.

The following day we spent the day visiting Isla de la Plata. Also known as the poor man's Galapagos. Anyways, so we took a boat out which took about an hour and a half, and then spent a few hours exploring the island with a guide. I really enjoyed walking around and seeing the island and making new friends...blue footed boobies! Anyways, it was a great day and later we all went back on the ship and had some lunch, some people snorkeled...just an all around awesome day.