Friday, September 1st
This morning we thanked our friend Juan for hosting us since there was a chance we would leave for Guayaquil today. Juan's parents left for the beach last night so Juan was kind enough to put together some breakfast for us. He left, and Alexey and I went into deliveration about what to do today. There was a slight chance that my Mom, who was going to fly today from Guayaquil to Boston, would actually get delayed until Sunday. This would mean that if we went to Guayaquil ASAP, we would be able to meet up with her. Unfortunately, she was at the airport and would not know if she would stay until Sunday until about 3PM. Given this, we decided to take the next bus to Guayaquil and hope that my Mom got delayed.
We packed and got ready quickly. We sent an email to Juan telling him our decision and left the apartment complex. After a walk we took a taxi which drove us to the bus station. There, we realized that the bus was leaving and the next one would be in 1 hr, at 1:30PM. So we bought two tickets in Transportes Ecuador and went to eat. We have been fascinated about how popular the "Almuerzos" are! They are really cool.. normally consist of a soup, a main plate and a drink.. all for about $1 to $1.75. We found one such plate near the bus station and took advantage of the time, and the prices. After this, we hopped on the bus.
The ride was long. At least it felt that way since we were so excited to reach the final destination of the diaries! We passed through some amazing landscapes which made us realized that we were in the middle of the jungle after all. The weather went from cold to hot and then to super hot and humid. After making stops at Santo Domingo, Quevedo and Babahoyo, the bus pulled into Guayaquil. The bus terminal here is under reconstruction so it dropped us at a makeshift terminal in front of the airport. My brother and his wife were there waiting for us at arrival.
After pertinent introductions, we went to my brother's apartment in EntreRios. We did this because he had brought this mini truck in case we brought with us large luggage. So we went home to drop our bags and to change cars to a more appropriate one. We then took off for a quick tour of the city center and then went to eat in the Las Penas neighborhood at El Galeon de Arthur. This, my native city, has undergone a massive overhaul in the last few years. If you see pictures of what it was like to live here about 10 years ago and compare it to the city that it is now, you would not believe it. Now, at least there are cool places like the boardwalk (Malecon Simon Bolivar), Las Penas, etc. etc.. that you could come and enjoy.
So we eat to the tunes of some bad musician but had plantains the way they are meant to be done :) Also, we were very tired at this point and after picking up our car, we went home to rest. Tomorrow we would try to head to the beach and see the Pacific once again!! Yoohooo!!
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