You would think that after 2 weeks of Spanish school and already having spent more then a month in Spanish speaking South America, we would have been able to understand basic things like how much a room was !
But when we went to Guaranda, straight after finishing our classes, we enquired about a double room in a hostel recommended by LP. What the guy said to us just didn't sound like Spanish to us at all!
I heard him say "Diez" in a way that sounded like they had rooms but it was in a dorm of 10 beds! Gwen and I consulted each trying to understand what he was saying!
But because of our confusion and us telling each other "diez" with furrowed brows, he then said more to us.
We enquired again if the room was a double because we still weren't sure and he said Si and let us look in the room.
When we went to pay, the cost turned out to be $16 per night. We later figured out he was saying it costs $10 per person and then reduced it for us to $8 per person!
Win for our bargaining skills!!
Friday 8 July 2016
Wednesday 6 July 2016
Fresh air taxi
After our "escapade" with the law, we were left at a bus stop waiting to get to Salinas.
We caught the first form of "public" transport that would take us there which was a collectivo (pretty much a shared taxi but a in this case a shared ute).
There was a school girl waiting for the truck as well. When it arrived, the people sitting in the front made some room for Gwen as they saw she had the baby.
I went around the back with the school girl to climb onto the back. It covered so I only realised how full it was once I saw inside. There were 4 men already inside as well as a schoolboy. Also there were 2 crates of what looked like tofu but I presume was a cheese.
The girl climbed inside and sat on the rear edge of the trailer. I couldn't do the same as there was someone in the way. I assumed they might make some room for me but the truck started to roll off.
So I did what I could only do. Hop onto the bumper and hang on for the ride!
Luckily I didn't have to stay in that spot for the entire ride. Just for 15 minutes and then I was able to half sit inside and eventually get all the way in once the men got out - some old farmers that were playing a drinking game while they waited to get home!
We caught the first form of "public" transport that would take us there which was a collectivo (pretty much a shared taxi but a in this case a shared ute).
There was a school girl waiting for the truck as well. When it arrived, the people sitting in the front made some room for Gwen as they saw she had the baby.
I went around the back with the school girl to climb onto the back. It covered so I only realised how full it was once I saw inside. There were 4 men already inside as well as a schoolboy. Also there were 2 crates of what looked like tofu but I presume was a cheese.
The girl climbed inside and sat on the rear edge of the trailer. I couldn't do the same as there was someone in the way. I assumed they might make some room for me but the truck started to roll off.
So I did what I could only do. Hop onto the bumper and hang on for the ride!
Luckily I didn't have to stay in that spot for the entire ride. Just for 15 minutes and then I was able to half sit inside and eventually get all the way in once the men got out - some old farmers that were playing a drinking game while they waited to get home!
Saturday 2 July 2016
A brief encounter with the law
We've spent the last few days in Guaranda - a small town located in the highlands.
It's not really a touristy town but we had to come here to visit the village of Salinas, further up the mountain!
Salinas is a village located high up in the mountains at an elevation of 3500 metres. Our plan was to catch the bus up there but we didn't know the exact location to catch the bus in Guaranda. We started looking for it in the main square but a local women there suggested to go to the main bus station as catching it in the square would be too complicated for us.
On our way there, some police officers stopped us and requested to see our passports. We were both cautious about this but figured it was OK as there were two of them in uniforms, one was a woman, and they had gotten out of a police truck.
So we showed them our passports. They enquired as to where we were going, informed us that the bus leaves from the square only. But requested us to get in their truck as they wanted to take some photos first (we didn't quite understand what they wanted to take a picture of). They told us they would get us to the bus afterwards and reassured it was all ok.
We hesitantly got into the truck and they drove to the police station. The woman officer jumped out with our passports, ran in and then returned to the truck quickly. She had grabbed her phone and used that as we drove onwards to take pictures of our passports.
Rather then taking us back into town, they drove us down the road towards Salinas hoping they'd overtake the necessary bus so we could get on board. It was actually quite pleasant in the end.
After it was clear they weren't going to find a bus on the drive, they dropped us off at the split in the road where one path is the road to Salinas and told us we can hail the bus.
The thing that topped the whole experience off is once we got out, the woman officer asked if she could have a photo with us!! I think we were the only tourists she had ever seen!!
It's not really a touristy town but we had to come here to visit the village of Salinas, further up the mountain!
Salinas is a village located high up in the mountains at an elevation of 3500 metres. Our plan was to catch the bus up there but we didn't know the exact location to catch the bus in Guaranda. We started looking for it in the main square but a local women there suggested to go to the main bus station as catching it in the square would be too complicated for us.
On our way there, some police officers stopped us and requested to see our passports. We were both cautious about this but figured it was OK as there were two of them in uniforms, one was a woman, and they had gotten out of a police truck.
So we showed them our passports. They enquired as to where we were going, informed us that the bus leaves from the square only. But requested us to get in their truck as they wanted to take some photos first (we didn't quite understand what they wanted to take a picture of). They told us they would get us to the bus afterwards and reassured it was all ok.
We hesitantly got into the truck and they drove to the police station. The woman officer jumped out with our passports, ran in and then returned to the truck quickly. She had grabbed her phone and used that as we drove onwards to take pictures of our passports.
Rather then taking us back into town, they drove us down the road towards Salinas hoping they'd overtake the necessary bus so we could get on board. It was actually quite pleasant in the end.
After it was clear they weren't going to find a bus on the drive, they dropped us off at the split in the road where one path is the road to Salinas and told us we can hail the bus.
The thing that topped the whole experience off is once we got out, the woman officer asked if she could have a photo with us!! I think we were the only tourists she had ever seen!!
Thursday 30 June 2016
Montañita
So back when we were in Buenos Aires, we decided to scrap our original itinerary and head up north to a warmer climate.
I thought it would be nice to stay put for a little while learning Spanish, ideally by the beach. After a bit of research, we found Montañita in Ecuador as the best option.
It was a big effort to get there. There weren't any direct flights to the nearest city Guayaquil from where we were in Uruguay. So we ended up taking 3 flights and a 3 hour transfer to get to the town. But it was nice to hit 25+ degree temperatures and even nicer to be by the ocean!
The town itself was ok. A little too much a young party town with lots of young twenty somethings looking to party all week long.
We stayed in the Cabañas owned by the school we registered with. It was a really nice environment as they had a pool and lots of tropical plants making the garden area a lot cooler then outside.
School was tough but quite good. I still think my Spanish is crap but there is definitely an improvement. School did get fun when my classmate started talking about wanting to kill the school intern - who she'd been seeing - because he was sleeping with another student who she was friends with! The atmosphere in the Cabañas wasn't the same after this happened.
The best thing about staying there was taking Aatya swimming almost daily in the swimming pool. It felt at the end she was back to the level she reached at the end of her swimming classes. I just hope she doesn't forget everything again in the next 3 months.
We discovered as well that Aatya is scared of the ocean. Maybe it's a natural thing to be scared of it but she would cry every time we tried to put her down to get her feet wet.
We've left Montañita and probably at the right time. We spent 2 weeks there all up and it was starting to feel past its expiry date. I guess when you visit the same restaurant 3 times, it's time to go.
Here are some of pics including a really fantastic sunset!
I thought it would be nice to stay put for a little while learning Spanish, ideally by the beach. After a bit of research, we found Montañita in Ecuador as the best option.
It was a big effort to get there. There weren't any direct flights to the nearest city Guayaquil from where we were in Uruguay. So we ended up taking 3 flights and a 3 hour transfer to get to the town. But it was nice to hit 25+ degree temperatures and even nicer to be by the ocean!
The town itself was ok. A little too much a young party town with lots of young twenty somethings looking to party all week long.
We stayed in the Cabañas owned by the school we registered with. It was a really nice environment as they had a pool and lots of tropical plants making the garden area a lot cooler then outside.
School was tough but quite good. I still think my Spanish is crap but there is definitely an improvement. School did get fun when my classmate started talking about wanting to kill the school intern - who she'd been seeing - because he was sleeping with another student who she was friends with! The atmosphere in the Cabañas wasn't the same after this happened.
The best thing about staying there was taking Aatya swimming almost daily in the swimming pool. It felt at the end she was back to the level she reached at the end of her swimming classes. I just hope she doesn't forget everything again in the next 3 months.
We discovered as well that Aatya is scared of the ocean. Maybe it's a natural thing to be scared of it but she would cry every time we tried to put her down to get her feet wet.
We've left Montañita and probably at the right time. We spent 2 weeks there all up and it was starting to feel past its expiry date. I guess when you visit the same restaurant 3 times, it's time to go.
Here are some of pics including a really fantastic sunset!
Tuesday 28 June 2016
Breathing is under-rated!
I guess what goes around comes around. After we got our accommodation upgraded in Colonia, our Airbnb accommodation in Montevideo turned out to be ... unsuitable.
The place was nice enough - our host was an artist and her home was very bohemian. However, after the first night, I woke up sneezing, runny nose and, worst of all, heavy wheezing! It was only after having a shower, changing clothes and most importantly, getting out of the house did I feel better.
We were catching an early morning flight the next morning and according to (website), Montevideo airport is great to sleep in. So we decided to forgo the nights accommodation and slum the evening in the airport before we hit sunnier and warmer Ecuador.
The place was nice enough - our host was an artist and her home was very bohemian. However, after the first night, I woke up sneezing, runny nose and, worst of all, heavy wheezing! It was only after having a shower, changing clothes and most importantly, getting out of the house did I feel better.
We were catching an early morning flight the next morning and according to (website), Montevideo airport is great to sleep in. So we decided to forgo the nights accommodation and slum the evening in the airport before we hit sunnier and warmer Ecuador.
Kimchi in Montevideo?!?
Only been travelling for 3 weeks and already had enough of the South American food (vegetarian food here is pretty poor)!
So when we passed by a Korean restaurant on the bus to our Montevideo accommodation, both of us thought the same thing! Dinner tonight!!
And it was worth it. They not only had proper Korean dishes, they also served us large "side dishes" in authentic Korean style!
Well worth it in Montevideo!
So when we passed by a Korean restaurant on the bus to our Montevideo accommodation, both of us thought the same thing! Dinner tonight!!
And it was worth it. They not only had proper Korean dishes, they also served us large "side dishes" in authentic Korean style!
Well worth it in Montevideo!
Thursday 23 June 2016
Colonia del Sacramento
Is it wrong to use your baby for upgrades?
We arrived in the little town of Colonia Del Sacramento in Uruguay by catching ferry from BA. The town's old centre is a UNESCO world heritage site and it is quite cute but extremely small!
After we disembarked from the ferry, we walked to the hostel we had pre booked a room only to find out they don't allow children (even babies).
However, they were happy to upgrade us to their (much nicer) sister B&B down the road! I should mention I was looking to book the B&B except I took too long to decide and the price rose to be out of our budget! They even put out a travel cot for Aatya!!
Colonia itself is so small, we were pretty much done with the town in about 2 hours!
We arrived in the little town of Colonia Del Sacramento in Uruguay by catching ferry from BA. The town's old centre is a UNESCO world heritage site and it is quite cute but extremely small!
After we disembarked from the ferry, we walked to the hostel we had pre booked a room only to find out they don't allow children (even babies).
However, they were happy to upgrade us to their (much nicer) sister B&B down the road! I should mention I was looking to book the B&B except I took too long to decide and the price rose to be out of our budget! They even put out a travel cot for Aatya!!
Colonia itself is so small, we were pretty much done with the town in about 2 hours!
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