Sing me a song about Ecuador...

[ANDREI] Yes, we arrive in Quito and yours truly tries to impress the locals with a burst of that Euro-pop classic, I'm sure you all know the words..

The only incident during the short (2 hour) hop from Lima to Quito was the fear that one of our dorm-mates had made off with one of our guidebooks (instead of any of the other more valuable items too bi to fit inthe safe!).  Thankfully, our fears were unfounded and the book duly found amongst the plethora of junk we have packed for this South American adventure - we are truly novices in this caper, surrounded by guys and girls with an average age of 22.  Our faith was restored in those lads.

Yet again, the airport experience was faultless.  Departures at Lima was a breeze and we got through all the usual stuff at Mariscal Sucre Airport, Quito with no trouble.  Zero queues and zero stress.  This part of backpacking is great - pur impending bus and train experiences have alot to live up to.  And the cattle-class that is the low-cost fares game in Europe seems thoroughly insulting.

Altitude sickness doesn't seem to be a problem so far.  I only got a few stirrings when I saw the Guagua Pichincha Volcano looming in the near-distance, behind the city - in the words of that Dark Lord of the Sith: "most impressive" (yes, I'm sad).

Our taxi was waiting to whisk us to the Posada del Maple hostel in the New City, and I'm glad I tipped the fella - I cunningly dropped my wallet in the back and he returned it an hour later while I incurred Kerry's wrath!  Ouch.  No sympathy from my sister.  The hostel itself is a family affair - clean and our own room has an en suite bathroom (costing the 3 of us US$9 each per night) and includes a hot breakfast!

We also started to sort our Galapagos trip out.  The tour operator, Happy Gringo, were round the corner.  These guys were a recommendation by a certain Gordon Duffus (who would have thought a Geordie, er sorry, 'Boro lad would prove to be useful!).  HG were a friendly lot, with advice and free coffee to dish out.  We fly out there next Wendesday.  Meanwhile, our travels will take us on day-trips near Quito until then (the Equator is 16km North of here).  After that, wee plan to return to the coast at Guayaquil then venture back to Quito via Cuenca, Riobamba and the Cotopaxi volcano.  Anyone fancy joining us?