March 16th 2009 - Arrival in Guamote

I woke up by far the most tired and hungover I have been the entire trip. I started packing, had a good laugh at an email from my Uncle Matty (the boys are so cute!) before staggering upstairs and managed to be a little sick over breakfast. I forced down a little eggy bread and a coffee before getting on the bus in not my finest state. The journey to Guamote was one of two halves. The first half was one of frustration because I couldn’t sleep but I really wanted too! But after a toilet break, half a bottle of Cola and Maïté’s Ipod playing Jo Jo, Soulja Boy and Busted, I was in a brilliant mood and feeling right as rain!

The hostel Inti Sisa is very nice, especially the bed rooms where twelve beds were spread out across a huge attic and with a little roof balcony. The project here which we got to see offer self-sustainability for the locals and so, after lunch and some lovely chocolate made with Ecuadorian beans but Belgium expertise, we were shown around the grounds a little bit by Bruno the Belgian.

The afternoon was quite relaxed, some people went for a walk but as I wasn’t in the mood I just watched a couple of movies, wrote in my journal and tried to do some sit ups. A nice, simple chicken rice dish for tea led onto more movies and a lovely Josefine massage. Before going to bed I took the opportunity to stare at the stars and, when my eyes adjusted, I was astonished. There were so many and they were so beautiful.