It’s been a week with no internet access from any of the hostels since I left Otavalo, and today I sit in an Internet Cafe quickly getting used to the Spanish keyboard layout. So what’s been happening this past week and what I’ve been getting myself up to.

From Otavalo it was a short bus journey to Ibarra, the capital of this province. I was a bit wary at first of arriving here as I couldn’t find a map of the town for the life of me and none of the hotel or hostel booking weeksites have any listings for Ibarra. It was all a little odd, but made the more clear once I had arrived. 

Ibarra is pretty much a city. A nice city, I did like it, but that’s it. There’s a lake about 4kms away which I walked to which ended in disappointment. It’s hard to stack up against the lakes around Otavalo, however the locals seem proud of it as I noticed when the nice old lady sitting next to me on the bus out of Ibarra pointing enthusiastically towards it. Si, lagos. 

The one good thing out of Ibarra was a bar and grill run by an expat Canadian. I ventured in on the first night and ended up staying until they closed, chatting and drinking the night away with the owner. It was simply just nice to have a conversation! The next night I returned – Ecuador vs Chile football final was on. Every booth was reserved, even half the bar stool were reserved for the owners friends. The owner pointed out the corner of the bar, “You can sit with the German¨.

Turns out this German had been an expat for 23 years. Usual story, met a girl and stayed here ever since. He’d already had several beers and shots of tequila waiting for the game to start (two hours beforehand), and started explaining to me the fine craft of being a butcher. Turns out he was also a twice German motocross champion from 30 years ago. 

Sadly Ecuador lost 1 nil, much to the joy of one booth of Chilean supporters cheering across the bar. The guys along the bar I was sitting with laughed away in good humour, which may have had to do with the 3 bottles of whiskey they polished off and were still going strong when I left. And to top the night off the German, Kurt, paid for my drinks and bid his farewell.

I had been planning to travel to San Lorenzo next, however both the bar owner and Kurt warned against going there. It was too close to the Colombian border and kidnappings weren’t unheard of. So scrapping that plan I decided on the 9 hour bus ride to Esmeraldas. 

The next morning I hit up the bus terminal. After some very confused attempts to buy a ticket to Esmeraldas, it turns out they only leave at 7:30pm. The ticket lady looked at me and said, San Lorenzo? Ah screw it, why not. San Lorenzo it is.

One night was enough. I have to agree with my friends back in Ibarra, this place isn’t somewhere you want to visit. Maybe just to check it out for yourself, but it’s far from nice. Dirty streets, a feeling the place was more of a slum than a town on a river. After that night was over, the very nice owner of the hostel (I think she was just glad someone was staying there) directed me to the park where all the buses leave from. In fact some guy she knew (well I think she knew…) walked me there and made sure I was on the right bus for Esmeraldas. 

The Lonley Planet has failed me a fair few times so far. It seems as though Ecuador is changing so fast, building and rebuilding, opening and closing, that a book published only less than 2 years ago has a lot wrong. The bus drive to Esmeraldas said 5 hours, nope it only took 2. The buses all stop and leave the main plaza, nope there’s a central terminal now. Stay in these hotels, nope they closed. To be fair, changes like that makes things a little more interesting and fun. 

Esmeraldas has a reputation for being dodgy. And boy can you feel it as soon as you step out onto the main road. There’s just a vibe here, and it helps when a stranger walks past and announces “Welcome to the Murder City!”. I’m pretty sure that’s what he said. Their Spanish gets so fast and jumbled it can be hard to understand, or easy to misunderstand.

Only a night in Esmeraldas and it was off to the beach restort township of Atacames. This is the place the Ecuadorians go to for the beach life. There’s hotels and hostels littered along the beachfront, along with tropical huts to serve beer and cocktails. I’m here in the off season, so the normally rowdy nightlife is a minimal. I’d say at least three quarters of the cocktail bars are closed and the sun only poked his head out a couple of times the past few days. Still it is warm, and there’s familys on the beach enjoying the waves and boat rides.  

I had only booked for three nights, but decided to add on another 3. After being surrounded by nothing but mountains back in the Andes it’s a relief to be next to the ocean. Conversely when I said this to Kurt back in Ibarra he took to opposite opinion, he grew up in the Alps so to him if he can’t see mountains there’s something wrong! 

Sadly this morning was a bit of a downer. In the morning I headed to the beach and started walking further away from the main tourist drag. Just enjoying the morning and the sound of waves, I ended up in no mans land with not a soul around. On walking back I heard something behind me, and turning around some kid was reaching for my bag. On being caught he drew a broken bottle in his hand, waved it around and demanded my bag (in Spanish, so I assume that’s what he was saying). After he grabbed my bag and ran off I was left standing there dumbfounded that I had just been robbed. 

So no photo edition of the blog because I don’t have a camera anymore. There weren’t many photos on the memory card, as there haven’t been that many things to photograph. When I got back to the tourist strip, I grabbed a beer and watched the ocean running over what had just happened. Next I wandered into town and looked to see whether there was an electronics shop selling digital cameras.

First time I’ve been robbed. And on a beach with a broken bottle. First time for everything I suppose!

There are several smaller beach towns around Atacames, and Kurt even suggested skip Atacames altogether and just go to the small towns. If only had I listened to that advice! With Christmas and New Years creeping up I’m planning on sticking around the beaches, probably with Sua being the next stop. 

Christmas lying on the beach sounds about right.