Ecuador- Thanks for making me feel tall!!!!...

Yep, you read correctly- TALL
Upon arrival into Quito, I noticed two important things:
1) I am taller than around 90% of the population- male and female!!!, and
2) It gets bloody cold at night in Quito!!!
It was a shock to the system to have to wear long sleeves!!! But having said that, I didn't really mind- the days in Quito were sunny. And for a big city, Quito is GORGEOUS! The hostel I was staying in was next to the old city, and from it's fifth floor bar, there was the most AMAZING view of the city! The old buildings, cathedrals, churches, plazas were all soooooooooooooooo pretty! And the people are incredibly friendly! (In one particular case, TOO friendly!.. Yes, a bloke grabbed my boob when he was allegedly going to look at my necklace). But they are lovely people nonetheless!

I spent my days in Quito wandering the hills of the old city, and testing out my Spanish bargaining skills at the market.. I got into the swing of it eventually, and bought the CUTEST bag! (Along with other bits and pieces!) I walked up the 300-plus stairs to Parque Ichimbia which has an amazing view of Quito. And then hoofed it up to the statue of the virgin on El Panecillo (yep, more stairs).. So I was looking forward to a snooze on the bus overnight to Guayaquil after a day of stairclimbing..

Unfortunately the bus to Guayaquil was CHOCKERS, (and full of kids, no less), so there wasn't a heap of sleep to be had. Added to that was the fact that the bus arrived in Guayaquil at 4.30am!!! So I had a wee kip at the bus station before sorting out my bus ticket to Lima.

The guesthouse I was staying at in Guayaquil was right on the Malecon- a gorgeous area along the river. And so in 24 hours, I tried to cram as much of Guayaquil in as possible! For some reason it seemed like a good idea to walk up the stairs (uh huh, I know!) to the lighthouse at Santa Ana.. Only 450-odd stairs... But it was worth it! The houses there are painted in a rainbow of colours, and the is an amazing view of the city from the top of the hill. (And the added bonus of a pirate-themed park for the kids!)

Following that expedition I decided to see as many of the plazas and parks as possible. Parque Bolivar was my fave though- it has iguanas wandering around in it! And a pond full of turtles! It was cute watching the turtles climb over the ledge into the second part of the pond!.. And also watching the looks on toddlers' faces when parents put them down next to the iguanas for photos!

So after an early night, I was all set for my bus to Lima (all 24 hours of it!)....