Back again

And so we arrived back to the hostel, feeling a little deflated after our unsuccessful morning.  Determined to do something with our day, we got changed, and headed towards the cable car.  It goes up to over 4,000m above sea level, and gives great views of the city.  There´s also a hike you can do up there, which takes about 2 and a half hours on the way up.  We figured that would be good altitude hiking practice for the Inca Trail, so with our hiking boots on, off we went.

The views on the way up were really good, you could see the whole city.  We got to the top after about 10 mins in our little glass box, and jumped out to admire the view.  You could actually see the clouds moving right in front of you, it was cool.  We had a bit of a look around (they even have an amusement park up there!) and stopped for a bite of Ecuadorian cuisine - mine turned out to be an odd mix of meat, rice, chips, pasta, salad, and two fried eggs.  We headed back out again, only to find that the whole place had clouded over - you couldn´t see 100m in front of you.  We were literally in the middle of a massive cloud.  And that´s when the thunder and lightening started.  And then the rain.  We had a look around for the oxygen bar, where you can get a shot of oxygen to counteract the effect of the altitude, and found to everyone´s disappointment that it was closed.  We headed back to the cars, and, just when we were sheltered inside, began to question the safety of where we were, given the swiftly approaching storm.  And it was pretty windy.

We made it down in one piece eventually, and got a bus back into town.  Feeling like we had failed miserably the entire day, we sat up on the terrace and complained about the guy at the animal sanctuary.  To make matters worse I slipped on a wet step and slid down the stone stairs.  That should make the trek tomorrow even more fun.  I think I should just go to bed now!  The evening will be spent planning for Peru, and with an early night I think!

Right well that's not exactly what happened, after writing the last bit, I went back to the hostel.  Rick and Nikki were getting dinner, but Mike and I decided to go to the Chinese down the road cause we weren't that hungry.  We went back up to the terrace, and were chatting to a few people.  Of course it turned out that everyone was going out, the one night I had to get an early night!  I sat there drinking my orange juice, trying to ignore everyone trying to twist my arm.  Even after Nikki came back from the bar with a glass of wine for me, I still refused.  But then when they all were leaving, I totally caved.  It was a pretty good night in the end.  Nikki, Rick, Sam, Helen, Katie, Myles and I all went to Reine Victoria, and then on to Bungalo 6.  (I realise that you don't know where these places are, but I do.)

The next morning, my alarm went off at 6.45.  I snoozed it, and woke up at 7.30.  Brad had told us the previous night that we needed to be on the terrace at 7.30 for breakfast in order to leave at 8 am.  Myles, however, had told me that we probably wouldn't leave till nearly 9, so I wasn't too worried about having slept in.  Myles also told me that the trek was really good, and that there was a surprise on the way down that was the most fun thing he had ever done.  I was quite looking forward to it.  That boy has some explaining to do...