Things I Liked About Ecuador: A Brief Retrospective

I've been in Peru less than a week now and surprising myself by how much I am missing Ecuador. In honour of that country and my travels therin, I present a brief retrospective of the best things about the country for me. In no particular order:

• Meeting and having broken but understandable conversations with lots of friendly people


• The amazing variety of jaw-droppingly beautiful landscapes


• The abundance of weird, wonderful and totally tropical fruits


• Most dramatic bus journeys ever


• The fact that there is a street sign or shop in every town, city and village that says COLON in massive letters. Its the small things eh


• Cheap and tasty Rum (Ron), its 'Superior' and its four dollars a bottle.


• Cheap, reliable buses, despite the sometimes crazy drivers who like overtaking anywhere and everywhere


• Surprisingly, lots of good, cheap veggie restaurants


• Natural supplement shops selling products that look like they were made in the 1970s - my favourite featured a picture of Lindsey Lohan and went by the name 'Ultra Vaginal'!

Bizarre random memory:

The poor old man who got onto the bus and proceeded to take down his trousers to his ankles to reveal a cheap and very scabby-looking colostomy bag attached to his body. He then spent the next five minutes lecturing the passengers, squeezing his bag and making his point (whatever it was) and nobody batted an eyelid...