Latin America - 2005

August 8th On August 8th, 2005, after I AM, Jesse and Brie picked me up at my house for a trip to Miami where we would catch a plane to Costa Rica. They are planning to stay for 9 days. As for me who knows? I may be gone 3 months, I may be gone 4 months, or more. Right now I’m concentrating on the next 9 days with Jesse and Brie to see things in more concentrated fasion, so we are hitting many spots pretty quickly. We arrived at the airport and set out to find a rental car – 4x4. They were all pretty expensive – butt the main problem was finding a vehicle with full insurance coverage. To do this (and avoid a $1000 deductable for damage or $1500 for a stolen vehicle) we needed a credit card with $1000 - $2000 available, which neither of us had. Actually, I’m glad because it would have cost us about $200 apeice for 9 days. We decided to just bus and taxi it around. We decided to stay the first night in Heredia as it would be a better place than Alejuela and and closer to San Jose if we decided to head their for some nightlife (we didn’t). Jesse had been in the Navy so had seen some of the world outside the US but Brie had never been anywhere but Canada so I wondered how she would take it and to what extent she would experience culture shock. She took it very well and it was a nice experience for all of us walking around Heredia. Our first restaurant experience we had tacos Costa Rican style and their first taste of Imperial which is pretty good beer. We found a nice hotel and settled in. It was a bit chilly being up at a higher altitude so Brie bought a sweater in town and we hit some bars. Everything was going to be pretty cool as I saw they were enjoying themselves and the local food. I was glad they took to local culture in such a positive way, so I knew it would be a good trip for them.

August 9th Nobody had an alarm clock and they worried about getting up in time. I seem to have an internal alarm that almost always wakes me up before the time I want to get up. We decided to get up at 7AM and I remember waking up and just lying there not wanting to get up. I lay there for awhile thinking it must be pretty late and that it was probably like 8 or 9 and I got up to look at the clock and it was only like 6:30. I smoked a cigarette on the porch then went back to bed but said “fuck it! I’ll take a shower” but I realized I didn’t pack soap or shampoo so I went to the store and bought some then went back to take a shower. Jesse and Brie got up soon after and we set out for a place to eat breakfast. We ended up at a typical little Costa Rican breakfast of Gallo Pinto – rice and beans – and they enjoyed it as they seem to enjoy all the food and eat plenty of it. I personally don’t care much for Costa Rican food and have a hard time getting it down. We went to find a bus and ended up me talking to a taxi driver who offered a price of 25,000 colones to San Carlos. I wa thinking it was $13 but it was really $50. I remember thinking we could just hire a cab and go everywhere for those prices. We got to the bus station at San Carlos and it was like a giant shopping mall with a ???? We looked and the bus schedule said the Bus to La Fortuna was at 12:30 so we thought we had time to kell so we went looking for beer but then we saw a bus leaving for La Fortuna and this was before noon. The bus ride was not bad at all. We had heard horror stories about the condition of the road but apparently they had improved it – at least to La Fortuna. We ended up in La Fortuna and had an Imperial at a local bar near the bus station. They decided they wanted to stay in this resort called Los Lagos, which had a view of Arenal, a wet bar (literally – a heated pool bar with bar stools in the pool). It had water slides and crocodile, frog, and butterfly farms. It was quite a place. At $140 a night it should be. We ate at the restaurant there and headed to town where we got good and drunk at the first place we stopped upon arriving at La Fortuna. A girlds soccer team was there from the US playing Costa Rican clubs. The volcano was not erupting that night on our side, at least. Apparently it had switched sides where the lava was flowing in recent years and we couldn’t get a straight answer about when the last time it was that it had erupted. We went back to the hotel and watched the end of “The Last Samurai” and crashed so we could wake up early the next morning to hit the zip line tour.

August 10th We got up early and had our free breakfast at the restaurant at our resort. We still ended up waiting until after 11:00 to go on the trip. We had to wait for three other people. A Norwegian girl and another couple from I know not where. Its started raining when we got to the beginning of the zip lines and would rain for pretty much the whole tour, which sucked because I wanted to take pictures and had to protect my digital camera from getting wet. It was 15 different lines from platform to platform – some as high as 600 feet above the ground. Some were so slow you had to pull yourself the rest of the way but most were so fast you were told to use two hands to break your speed and not go crashing into the platform like the Norwegian girl did once and span almost all the way around. This one couple was having a terrible time and it was obvious they weren’t having much fun. On the very first jump – which was the easiest in order to get you accustomed to it, she freaked out and had to ride tandem the rest of the trip, and at some point in the middle the husband lost his helmet and split his head open, and he too had to finish the trip tandem. We had to check out by noon so we had time after the zip tour was over to hit the pool bar before leaving the resort. We had fun the night before sampling some of the local mixed-drinks, but today we were content to down a couple Imperials. We got a good camera shot of the three of us in the pool with Volcan Arenal in the background. I think that’s the photo I’ll use for the Costa Rica page on my website. We headed back to La Fortuna to find the next bus would head toward our destination until 5:30. We had lunch at a local restaurant and I had breaded sea bass that they catch in the local Lake Arenal. It was as I am not the biggest fan of Costa Rican food. We decided to take a taxi in the direction of where we were headed around Lake Arenal. The Ranger Station at Arenal National Park, this was the side the volcano was supposed to be flowing lava now. I guess the peak lava flow was from 1998 – 2000. When I was here in 1999,, I never went but Allan did and said it was great. The cab was apparently not a legal cab and on the way he was following way too closely to this bus when the local cops on a ticket writing frenzy stopped a vehicle ahead of us causing the cab driver to make an abrupt stop almost hitting the bus in front of us. The cop gave him a disgusted look and wrote him a ticket. He asked if he was a legal tour operator and he explained he was not giving a tour so I was thinking he was getting a ticket for being an illegal cab but he said no and tried to pretend it was because Jesse and Brie didn’t have seat belts on and it was obvious he was trying to get us to pay the ticket. But the ticket said something to the effect of it being a bad stop. He got us to the viewing station and apparently he was mad we didn’t give him extra for the ticket. We took a nature trail for awhile that led to the road leading to the look-out point. Once there we sat and viewed the volcano with all the smoke at the top rising and falling and rocks falling. We could see dust and hear the loud sound of rocks falling and we wondered whether if it had been dark if we would have been able to see the glow of lava. We started waling back to the main road where we had been told the bus would be by to take us to Nuevo Arenal, and eventually Tilaron where it was as far as we could go that night. Jesse and Brie had decided on snorkeling the next day which is supposed to be really great on Isla Tortuga – where I had been 6 years earlier. To do that we would have to get to Puntarenas. That would be our destination from Tileran as no buses would go any further than Tileran that night. While we walked up the road, a Dutch family with two young girls gave us a ride to the main road where we could catch a bus. We weren’t even thinking – because they were heading back to La Fortuna – that it would have been better to ride back with them where there would be something to do – rather that wait over an hour on the side of the road. The park closed at 4:00 and the next bus wouldn’t be by until after 5:30. We waited and flagged down vehicles until someone gave us a ride back to La Fortuna. We hung out at a bar/restaurant where we could watch for the bus but ended up missing it anyway, somehow. I went to the bus stop to ask and found out – at the same time Jesse and Brie were approached by a local girl to learn the same thing – we had just missed the last bus. We were also informed by both parties that we could catch a cab and chase down the bus – which we did. We chased the bus at high speed down the winding, climbing, and falling road till we managed to overtake the bus and get on. This is apparently where the roads new improvements ended and where it finally lived up to it’s atrocious, pot-hole-ridden reputation. The ride to Tileron was a nightmare and we finally arrived in Tileron late that evening. Tileran was the roughest and rawest town we had been to up to that point and Jesse suggested I should have my whacking-stick handy. The first hotel we tried appeared to be not much more than a brothel so we took the next best choice. Little rooms with bugs which was apparently the last straw for Brie as she wouldn’t have anymore of the cheap no AC no hot water cheapy hotels anymore. We did find a good Chinese restaurant which apparently impressed them in the fact that I ate nearly my entire plate. They had marveled at how little I ate on all our other meals. We made a great effort the next morning to be at the bus stop and not miss our bus to Puntaranas the next morning.

August 11th We caught the bus from Taleran to Puntarenas this morning and it helped that a local guy I was talking to also was headed there. I talked to him on the bus a while. He used to be a fisherman in Puntarenas but tired of it and was now ????. We arreived in Puntarenas that morning/afternoon and by that time they had decided to just find a nice beach and I told them Puntarenas was not it. We ate breakfast and I had a flashback of Puntarenas 6 years ago with Tony, Curt, and Wendy and how much fun we had that night. We decided that Montezuma would be a nice beach to stay and a two hour ferry ride could get us to the Nicoya Pinensula. We headed to the ferry dipot I Puntarenas. It was wre I headed out with my group 6 years ago on our boat ride to Isla Tortuga. We waited for the next ferry and drank a beer while Brie bought a pair of sunglasses but had to return them because they were the exact same pair she had already bought – so she exchanged them for a pair that were the exact same ones Jesse had. I waited in the line to buy tickets and then we took off. Slammed a few Imperials on the way there. We arrived in Paquero quiker thatn we thought, partly because Paquero port looked like a tiny speck on the big rock – but it was Paquero. We immediately hopped on the bus and headed for Montezuma. When we arrived I was so tired and hungary I was feeling hypo-glysemic. I had only eaten French toast and a small breakfast in puntarenas and it was too much carbs and sugar and too little protein and fat for me. I was in a really bad mood and was shacky and had no energy and for the first time I saw Jesse take charge and just go talk to the hotel and guide people himself. They had at that point broken away and become completely independent of me. At the tour place where they wanted to book a snorkeling tour, they were told the hotel Lys when they asked of a good place to stay. We booked and they wanted to take a quick swim but I needed to eat so I went off to a restaurant to get some food into my body. When I came back they had gone off to a waterfall. I walked up that road and ???? barefoot – and tore up my feet. We met up later. I eventually drank some beers at the hotel next to our place. I met Jesse and Brie and wanted to upload the shot of us in the pool in La Fortuna with Volcan Arenal in the background. We traded cards because we both had Cannons with the same card. I was able to upload but couldn’t put it on my page because I couldn’t access my html files for some reason. I met them again and we traded back our cards.

August 12th I got up today and headed for the waterfall, this time with my shoes on. I heard this loud roaring sound similar to the monsters on the show “Lost in Space”. It turned out to be monkeys in the trees and I took some pictures. These would be the last pictures I would take for awhile because on the march up the mountain to see the waterfall I kept going hoping there would be an easier access. There wasn’t and I sweated so much I ruined my camera. I finally headed back and took the original trail to the waterfall and had to navigate around rocks and water and use tree branches and roots to make it there. By the time I got to the waterfall my camera would not respond at all. There was a local guy there who asked for a cigarette then asked if I needed anything. I said maybe later and eventually headed back. I got back and went swimming and tanning and another guy was there with Jose and asked me again. I said later. I swam and tanned and drank a beer and decided I wanted some coca. They weren’t there at their tents but another guy was and I got some coca. I did a line and took a shower. Later Jesse and Brie came back and I offered Jesse some but he was paranoid about Brie – who has never done any drugs in her life. When she went to take a shower we did some and we ended up doing it all night and I ended up getting another gram and later at the bar up from our hotel we got another after having been drinking together for awhile. He said Brie knew that he was still keeping it discreet. We ended up hanging our after Brie wnt to bed talking politics and Hugo Chavez until 4:00.

August 13th We woke up early and speaking for myself, I felt like shit with 2-3 hours sleep and a cocaine hangover. We had to catch a boat to Jaco but they wanted too much because we were only 3 people. We ate breakfast at the same place I ate before and tried to find a boat ride there by the original boat ride travel agency lady flagged me down saying she found two more people who wanted to go. We waited for awhile with we finally left after 11:30 on a bumpy boat to Jaco. We ate pineapple and eventually made it to Jaco. We didn’t waste any time on the beach. We caught a cab to Jaco Central and ate at a Mexican restaurant called Pancho Villa. We walked around and I mailed several post cards at an internet café and then had a couple beers at a bar while Jesse and Brie went walking around. The buses arrived and we had a time of finding the one to Quepos nearer Manuel Antonio – our destination. It was a standing room only bus for us most for most of the trip and we finally arrived at Quepos. We set out to find a cab to Manuel Antonio and got one for 2000 Colones. It was dark and Saturday and the place they had chosen was booked. We started walking and all the places were either full or too expensive. We walked to the main road and a street hustler accosted them saying he knew of a good hotel. We walked awhile till I found a place I wanted to check out. I went there but they kept going with the guy. They had a good deal at my place - $50 for three people. I waited for a long time and they came back. They said they had found a place and booked it for $60 double. I was tired, angry, and needed to find a place so I marched off looking for a place on the Quepos to Manuel Antonio road which was narrow and winding and with no shoulders in the pitch dark and they followed me as I fouound booked hotels ad too expensive hotels along the way till I told then they didn’t have to follow me so they headed back. I ended up walking forever and stopped at a bar and had a beer and relaxed. I ended up walking all the way to Quepos. I found a place finally on the outskirts of of the main drag called Cernes or something – I was just so glad to finally find a place. My feet were torn up from the long wet walk in sandals. I walked around town and found Quepos Central. I ate at a place that had karaoke across from the bus terminal. I drank only 2 beers and went back to my hotel and crashed. August 14th I woke up and walked to town and ate breakfast – fruit, eggs, bacon, and toast, with a coke. I took the bus to Manuel Antonio and stopped at the Marlin restaurant and had a coulple beers. It was there I read my Lonely Planet book and found a couple motels that were very cheap. One was right near the restaurant I was at. I went there – the Costa Linda – and found they had a room for $10. I took it then walked to where Jesse and Brie were staying. The Chinese lady there said they went to Manuel Antonio Park and that the Park closed at 4:00 PM. I went back and swam at the beach but it was raining. They say it rains even during the so-called dry season here. I ate and drank and walked back up to Jesse and Brie’s place and they were there hanging out in front of their hotel. They were waiting for the Chinese lady to drive them to El Avion – the 1954 US bomber that Olly North and them had set aside for the Contras in Nicaragua just before the scandal broke out. The plane never made it out of the hangar in San Jose and the bar owners bought it for $3,000 and turned it into a bar and restaurant. We drank Guaro sours and other drinks. An American couple from Southern California stopped by for awhile. We drank a few more then had the bartender call a cab. When we got the short trip back to Manuel Antonio the cab driver wanted 1800c! We argued for a long time when some guys came over smoking pot. They were trying to sell me a block and Jesse and I both took some tokes. Jesse doesn’t smoke and it had been years so he was laughing his ass off. Brie – who has never done any drugs – started freaking out and getting him to stop laughing. I got them to try cerviche for the first time telling them they could not leave Costa Rica without trying it and he liked it a lot. Afterwards Jesse had to buy a joint from the guy and we walked off and smoked it and Jesse gave me the roach and we took off for our respective hotels. August 15th Today we were supposed to leave for San Jose – or Cartago as Jesse and Brie had planned. I got up early and packed and went down to get my laundry which I had put in the day before and was supposed to have been ready by 6-7 AM. It wasn’t, so I waited and got it at 9:20 when the bus left at 9:30 I headed down and Jesse and Brie were walking up to my place. They had decided there was nothing to do in the San Jose area and that was alright with me. They headed off after I ate at the Marlin and I spent the day at the beach walking to both ends and laying out and swimming and stopping at the local cheap beach bar and hitting the big waves. There was this Chinese girl I tried to talk to but she wasn’t interested. It had rained all the day before so I tried to get as much sun as possible before it rained but it didn’t rain. Consequently, I got too much sun. I was drinking at the Marlin about 5:00 when I saw Jesse and Brie. We agreed to meet up in an hour and a half. I went back to my place they headed to the beach where a beach soccer game was in progress. This chick in a bikini joined the game and was kicking ass. She stole the ball from this guy and headed down and scored a goal. I headed back and Jesse and Brie were at the Marlin dinking 2 for 1 at happy hour but they were tired and wanted to head back to their hotel. I ended up hanging out and going back to my hotel where I had taken the fan out of room #22. The asked me about it and I told them my fan was broken. There was this German group there. Two in room #22 and a single girl in the other one. I gave them their fan after the hotel guy promised me another one. I ended up talking to the German people and we hung out later at the Marlin. August 16th I woke up today with a hangover. Went down and met Jesse and Brie at the bus stop. I tried to change money with no luck. We caught the Bus to Quepos on the 9:30 bus where we learned the 12:00 bus to San Jose was sold out and we bought tickets for the 2:00 bus. With much time to kill, I went to the bank and changed my last $300 in $US. While I was in the bank, Jesse and Brie went to the Dos Locos bar/restaurant and started drinking. I met up with them and had breakfast there. We then went to the restaurant across from the bus depot where I ate the night I stayed in Quepos and that had karaoke. We waited there the whole time drinking and eating pizza – Brie. I later ordered a Guavo Sour and the bartender didn’t know what it was which is often the case. I explained it to him and he made it. Jesse was watching and dedided he wanted one too. We headed for the bus and caught the San Jose. The only real road to San Jose leads to Puntarenas so we had to retrace all the way North through Jaco and beyond and arrived in San Jose later that evening. From the Coca-Cola bus station we checked out the Lonely planet guide for hotels and found two cheap hotels close by and headed off for the Hotel Nuevo Alameda and booked. We walked around town looking for an ATM and we decided to head to _______ which was a large collection of mostly small bars where I had been 6 years ago. We ate at a Mexican restaurant _______ but afterwards, Jesse and Brie were tired and took a cab back to the hotel. I stayed behind and hit a few of the little bars including a heavy metal place playing Twisted Sister and Guns-n-Roses and I got 600c Guavo sours served by a guy in a black trench coat. The cabs at the gate wanted 2,000c but I got one out front for 1,000. August 17th This was Jesse and Brie’s last day. They got up early and walked around then knocked on my door before checkout so they could store their stuff in my room. We all walked around San Jose while thy did last minute souvenir shopping. – Trying to find something for Francine. We stopped in the bar about a block from the hotel and slammed a few, then they hailed a cab. I went with them because I though I could get dropped off in Escazu. He said he had to go first to the airport which was ok cuz they needed to catch a plane. When at the airport I said goodbye to them and the driver wanted the same amount to go to Escazu so I went to the buses, but the buses from the airport didn’t go to Escazu but back to San Jose so I had to go all the way back, then catch a bus to Escazu. I caught an Escazu bus but it went to San Rafael first, then I caught the bus to Guachipelin. It was do different from 6 years before and I almost didn’t recognize it. The Cantina was closed and a huge hospital complex was where open ranchland used to be. I found Ana’s house but nobody answered. A man on a bicycle came. I asked him about Ana Badilla and I couldn’t understand much of what he said. I thought he said Ana was at work and wouldn’t be off till later so I caught a bus back to Escazu. I ate a nasty hamburger at this place in Escazu trying to get the feeling back but the old saying, “you can never go back” really hit home. Everything was different and the friends I had with me those 6 years ago weren’t there and it became apparent that it is the people you are with that makes a place special. Just like “a picture is no good unless you’re in it” like Jesse said. I caught a bus to guachipelin and I didn’t even recognize most of it. There was this huge wall around an area that was just land and the cantina was closed. I wasn’t even sure I had gotten off at the right place. I walked up to Ana’s place and was surprised to find the steep incline to here house up the mountain still there. Even then I wasn’t sure even standing in front of her house. It took awhile for me to be convinced that this was in fact, the same house I has spent 6 weeks in, 6 years ago. Still there was no answer and no one appeared to be home. A man and a woman were climbing and the man with a bicycle I asked if he knew Ana Badilla. I had a hard time understanding his Spanish as I said, before. He had mentioned something about the neighbor. This time when I came back around 8:00 there was still no answer or appearance of anyone home. I went to the neighbor’s door and knocked. She took me to the place in-between their two houses which I realized had not been there before. Ana answered the door and I asked in Spanish – so you remember me. She did but she was extremely drunk. She was telling me she can’t believe I was there and she thought she was dreaming. She was hugging me and kissing me. We were watching a soccer match between Cost Rica and Mexico which Mexico eventually won. She and Leo had split 3 years ago and she was living by herself. I was aroused but I felt sad in a strange way. I drank a few beers and she called Leo and we agreed she would call me the next day and we would all meet up at 7:00 PM the next day. She called a cab and I went back to my hotel. August 18th I got up and walked around and ate breakfast at Taco Bell. Aftarward I walked around looking for a bar and found a Chinese Restaurant. I was drinking an Imperial and wishing I had eaten here instead. I ordered the Taco Chino which is a Chinese eggroll dish and I got 4 with sweet and sour sauce. The were very good but I couldn’t finish them and I took 2 to go. I went back and waited for Ana to call and she did and I planned to meet them at 7:00 PM. I went to the La Barata bar where Jesse and Brie had their last beers before they left, which is on the same street as our hotel, a block over on calle 12 next to the bus station to Alejuela. A guy there bought me a beer and I played songs on the jukebox like Shakira and a meringue mix. When it came time to go to Guachipelin I found a bus to Escazu and got off on one of the main strips and went to a liquor store to buy a small bottle of Johnny Walker Red for Leo. I then waited at a stop where bus after bus passed me by for like an hour. I finally became fed up and walked to a more central location. They have this weird thing sometimes where I have to pass the money to the driver through the window directly behind him and he gives me the change the same way. They become angry and refuse to complete the transaction any other way and I have never seen them make anyone else do this, even when they need change. Maybe it’s a Gringo window. I finally made it to Ana’s and the three of us talked about old times with our limited communication ability. Leo speaks no English and Ana speaks less than I remember of her. Perhaps my Spanish has gotten better, but it still sucks. She ordered a pizza which she loves but she says she has maybe once or twice a year. They make little money and I was telling them they should come work in the US like the Mexcans. We took pictures and I became tired and caught a cab home. Leo was living in Santa Ana with his girlfriend and the 20th was his birthday and he invited me there. They gave me his number and the address of his mother in Matagalpan, Nicaragua with instructions of how to call him. I was supposed to take a bus to Santa Ana and call and he would pick me up. August 19th Today I woke up as my first day without Darvocet. I had had only one a day the previous two days and 2 a day the two days before that but I was still withdrawing and I decided that day I would not do much. I walked around forever looking for a Chinese restaurant to eat as that was all I could stomach. I walked forever and couldn’t even find the one I was at the day before for the Taco Chinos. I bought a bottle of water and after some time walking was accosted by a very drunk/drugged out/ or just plain crazy guy who walked across the street to, lo and behold, a Chinese restaurant. I had chicken chow Mein there and later the same crazy guy came in and sat at a table with some guy trying to eat. The guy moved and the waitress called the cooks who came and tossed the guy out. I went back to the hotel and was reading about the Hotel Rey where large congregations of prostitutes hang out and where I had been 6 years ago with Tony and Curt. I headed there just to check it out. On the way there I ducked into a bar called the Yankee Bar where all the clientele were old Americans. I had three Guaro Sours – which they never heard of either – and then hit the Hotel Rey. The prostitutes are aggressive and intimidating to a certain extent. I sat at the bar where I could observe single women sitting alone at tables scattered throughout and some stood around making seductive eye contact with me when I would walk by. Even at the bar I was approached by one briefly and another woman with her friend. She was very persistent and I talked with here awhile. I bought here a Fanta and she was rubbing and kissing me for a long time and it was very difficult to resist. She finally realized I wasn’t going for it and left. August 20th This was the second day I woke up with no Darvocet and I felt good actually. I didn’t get much sleep last night, tossing and turning even after turning in early. I was awake at 7:30 and got up around 9:00 and used the hair dye I had bought yesterday. It was a 45 minute female application and I was surprised that it didn’t dye my skin at all. I can’t believe that it hasn’t even been two weeks since we left. I did what I had planned the day before. I dyed my hair and went to eat at the place I had been the day before, that had traditional Costa Rican food across the street from a big church and the mural of the lemon-lime soda I had taken a picture of 6 years before. I was determined to have a traditional Costa Rican breakfast and choke it all down. I ordered Gallo Pinto with egg and tortillas and I ate it all – with the help of a Pepsi to wash it down. I went walking around down Avenida Central down its cobblestone brick upscale walking searching for the bookstore I had seen the day before trying to find a Lonely Planet book for Colombia and Venezuela with no luck. I went to the -------- which Lonely Planet advertises as a 24 hour bar and drank 2 Imperials. I then went to the barber shop down the road from my hotel and got the quickest haircut ever – and a good one – for about $2 (1000c). I went to my favorite bar down the street on calle 12 and had a couple of Imperial grandes with a female bartender there. I put a couple Spanish songs in the juke box which I had no idea what they were. I was supposed to go to Leo’s birthday party tonight at 7:00. I continued to do what I had planned and looked up a bookstore and the internet and set out with my uploading equipment. I found the bookstore at the Omni center which was reputed by Lonely Planet to have guidebooks. They had mainly Costa Rican guidebooks and one Venezuela but they also had South America on a Shoestring which, of course, also had the Guyanas for c8,000 so I bought it and headed for the internet. I had a difficult time finding it but eventually did. I couldn’t access my ftp but managed to get in hotmail and answer some emails including to Mike Rules to get his address. I then started home but had to hit Taco Bell that was next door here and had a ????? I was very tired and wanted to go home and take a nap so I wanted a coke for some caffeine. I stopped at the Mercado which was like a Costa Rican souk where Jesse and Brie had tried to find a gift for Francine. I had a coke and a jello and ice-cream dish. The girl was talking to me and later gave me a sample of flan, which is awesome – I love flan. I went home to take a nap but didn’t really.. I just watched more Spanish music video channel and read my new South America book trying to get ideas of what to do next and how to do it. Started to think seriously about how to include the 3 Guyanas into my trip and it appears to be difficult. At about 6:00 PM I left to catch a bus to Santa Ana where Leo lives. I was supposed to call him from Santa Ana when I got off. I took the Escazu bus to San Rafael – I though – I ended up going all the way to somewhere. A lady recognized I was lost and told me how to get the bus to Escazu at the McDonalds where I could catch the bus to Santa Ana. I did that but passed right through Santa Ana to the end of the bus route – many miles past Santa Ana – twice in a row I did that! I got my fourth bus and finally got off in Santa Ana and went to a phone but for some reason I didn’t have Leo’s phone number. I had Ana’s number and the address to Leo’s mother in Matagalpa but not his phone number. I tried to call Ana but no answer. I walked to a bar and started drinking Imperial. The young bartender kept looking at my dictionary and I asked her what she was looking for and she told me that there was this American guy named Michael that she liked a lot. I left eventually and tried Ana’s number again but no luck so I caught a bus back to San Jose and almost got off way too early. I wasn’t having much luck with buses tonight. I went to my local favorite bar and had an Imperial Grande then headed back to my hotel to write and watch Spanish music video. August 21st I don’t know what to think of today. On the whole, there was bad st???? that made it bad and doesn’t sit with me cuz I’ve been there before on both sides. No one likes to be wrongly accused of something and I’ve been on that side. On the other side of the coin if you feel you’ve been ripped off and have a main lead and can’t think of any other possibility it seems you’ve got to do something. I woke up today planning to go to a travel agency to check on flights to somewhere in South America after deciding it would be better not to waste time and money busing to and through Panama when it seemed it would still be costly to get to Colombia from there. I walked around town seeing a ghost of the town that had been with stores, half of them closed and realized it was Sunday. Hardly any traffic on the road. Even the restaurants were closed and I walked far down Ave, Central past where I usually do and I finally found where all the Chinese restaurants were – but they were all closed. I ate at a place and walked back across the busy highway and set out for the travel agency slowly realizing what I had already expected – it was Sunday and they would all be closed – they were. Realizing I would be spending at least one more day in San Jose I did what I had to do. Hit the bar around the corner from La Bareta where I had been the night before. The one that had karaoke. I drank 3 Imperials and was thinking about calling Ana when I went back to my hotel and when I got there there was a message from Ana. I drank a beer there and set out for a phone and to scope out the laundry situation. After realizing it was Sunday, I would have to stay in Costa Rica longer. I knew I would need more money as I was out. I went to the ATM and my card wouldn’t work! Déjà vu of my last trip overseas. I went to my hotel and lo-and-behold – after asking about changing travelers cheques which he said would be very difficult – I found $1,300 US. I exchanged $100 for ½ colones and ½ dollars. I walked around and bought a phone card and stuff and went to La Bareta and two guys who worked at a bar in Pavn near Escazu struck up a converstation with me and it eventually went horribly wrong. I don’t know if it was me or it was them but either they are pieces of shit thieves, or I am a piece of shit false accuser. My money came up missing and I didn’t know what else could have happened. The one guy who didn’t speak much English making a lot of gestures as he stood between me and his friend and bumped and leaned into me many times and when next I reached into my pocket my money, but for c2000, was gone when I had at least c10,000 more when I sat down. Its possible it fell out of my pocket or something but at the time I was convinced he took it and I made a scene and the police came. The cop walked to the hotel with me to talk to the hotel guy and I switched the other $50. I had called Ana and told her I was leaving Costa Rica. I need to call her again and talk to Leo. I walked to one of the Chinese restaurants I had seen earlier and ate chicken Chow Mein and to try to use my credit card to see if it would work and it didn’t. I decided I had to hit the internet and see why, so I did. I read my email and tried to access my ftp again to no avail and totally forgot to check my credit card. I went to Chelles for a beer and to another internet and got phone numbers for both my credit card company and my web hosting company. August 22nd I woke up with a hangover. I drank 4 beers in my room last night and watched the video channel and filmed some things. Today I was mainly concerned with sorting out my credit card problem and getting a plane ticket to somewhere in South America and doing my laundry. I did all three – sort of. I ate breakfast at Taco Bell and drank three beers at the bar around the corner then went back to get and drop off my laundry at a place across the street from the Mercado. I went to an internet café to call my card company and after all kinks of calls, transfers, and hassles, I got my card reactivated. Apparently I put he wrong PIN at the ATM and it was deactivated. I got wrong information about getting a new PIN over the phone. Apparently I can only do it by calling from my home phone. I called home to say happy birthday to Carrie but no one was home. I drank a couple at the Chelles bar and went to the travel agency and bought a one-way ticket to Bogota for like $383. I had c600 chop suey at this self serve place nearby. I got my laundry then got ripped off by some guy from Puerto Viejo for buds. When I got back to my hotel the guy said he got off at 7:20 and asked me if I wanted to go to the bar. I hung out with Oscar – the guy from my hotel, and we went to La Bareta and got drunk. We talked in Spanish all night. He’s pretty cool. I have to leave for Bogota tomorrow. I’m packing now. Sometimes l love just being here. Here! What’s Here? Just traveling and being there. Sometimes I hate it. I called home and talked to Carrie wishing her happy birthday and Mom briefly and Dad a bit about workman’s comp and bills and stuff. This is my last night in Costa Rica – for now. People are poor. Oscar workds 12 hours a day – 7 days a week for $70. I told him to come to America and work illegally like the Mexicans. August 23rd Woke up today knowing I was headed for Bogota, and Colombia. And South America. Caught a bus to the airport for c290 and everything – from there went smoothly. Now I’m in Colombia. Its hard to believe. An American woman from Minnesota who has been living here for 10 years bummed a smoke from me and she told me it was best to catch a cab after I askeer about the bus. I went to the taxi stand and told her my general destination and she printed a paper with the price of 15,700 pesos(about $6-7) and a cab driver took me to the Platypus, which Lonely Planet described as the most popular place for backpackers. I paid 23,000 a night for 2 nights then went to an expensive restaurant called Sanalejo and had chicken and 3 costenas. I had 2 club beers at the airport. I then went to this bar with a projector shining heavy metal and hardcore videos on the wall and posters of Ozzy, Iron Maiden, KISS, Metalica, etc. all over. The next bar had more American mujsic and I drank two beers. I’m looking forward to discovering Colombia. I’m listening to a loud conversation in the room next door. They are all talking about how easy it is to get women in South America. August 24th What a day! Got up and went walking around cold Bogota as the only idiot in tee-shirt, shorts, and sandals. Its not like I don’t stick out as it is but I was anxious to get some warm cloths, and at least not look too much like a freak. I walked a long way before finding little clothing stalls but that wouldn’t take credit cards. I had a little cash, enough to buy first a shirt here and some homemade shoes that were more like bed-time sandals. Then I was out of money and the pants store didn’t take credit cards so I figured I’d change some travelers cheques but every bank I went to wouldn’t do it and when I found one that did, it was 2:20 and they stopped at 2:00. I walked around forever looking for a pants store that would take credit cards till I finally found one and bought some jeans. I was so far lost from my hotel and I didn’t want to go anywhere else till I made it back to my room, counted what little cash I had left, and figured our if it would be possibleaa to get more money tonight. The girl at the hotel said there was a place nearby and I went but I needed a photo copy of my passport which I got a block away. Finally, I got my checks changed. I ate at the Internet café/restaurant/liquor store where I used the internet last night. I made a few emails there including to give Dad the in for to get me a PIN so I don’t have to go through that again. It seems I always have card problems when I travel and that today, coupled with my usual habit of wandering from my hotel and being lost in the city walking around aimlessly looking for familiar landmarks till I finally stumble upon my hotel. Actually that is one of the best things about traveling as you get to see more of the city but it can be annoying at the time. I havn’t had any alcohol yet today and its after 5:00 PM. I think it’s the longest I’ve gone so far. I think I’ll hit some of those rock bars tonight though. – I did hit them. One, cinema type café for a 2 beer beginning, then the other two I went to last night! I think I’ll stay 3 more days here in Bogotá, then I’m thinking about 5 days in Cali before I head to Ecuador. August 25th I went to pay for three more nights but they have a reservation for the 27th so I could only pay for and stay 2 more nights here. I walked around La Candelaria and went to the Casa de la Moneda which is a collection of Colombian currency since the early 1800s and the Donacion Botero which is an art museum where I saw paintings by Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Chagal, and many others including a huge collection of the art of Fernando Botero – he likes to make everyone and everything fat including birds, horses, and guitars. All the human faces are the same making me think they are self portraits. I then ate lunch at Cerv… and walked to the plaza de Bolivar and took pictures of old colonial buildings and churches surrounding it. I want to go to the church on top of the mountain. I went to another metal bar near my hotel and they had many pictures of metal bands especially KISS, and one of the Ramones. I came home then went out again to find the bar in the ???? ???? but ended up going to the big screen wall bar with the sweet chick who liked my dictionary or seemed to be amused by it as she always laughed when I pulled it out. No one had change for 20.000 so I went to the next place and had a ______ for the first time then went to the internet café/liquor store/restaurant where I always go and had a Club Colombia beer so I could change 20.000. I then went to the bar where the guy with the Diocide shirt worked. I sat at the bar this time and looked at the cocktail menu. I drank the special – two hot wines for 5.000 and then the Cabeza ----- for 10.000. This totally hot Cali chick came in named Paella or something and we chatted for a long time but before that a cigarette girl with a guy can in selling Pall Malls in a very elaborate way. I turned them down at first but she was so hot I told here I’d buy a pack if I could take her picture. She let me take a picture which I said the guy should be in and she gave me a sample pack and refused to take any money. Later the Cali girl Paella who the bartender knew sat next to me and we chatted for the rest of the night and agreed to meet the next day. August 26th I have the paper. I went to the ?????. Last night I met Paella in the rock bar. We ----- ----- ----- and today I went to Monserrate on the funicular. I walked to the top above the church to get an even higher view of Bogotá. After decending on the funicular I had been dizzy and winded on top from the high altitude – it was over 9,000 ft. altitude. I went to the Casa Museo Simon Bolivar and saw his rooms with all the furniture and kitchen stuff and took one picture before the guard said “no photos”. I then went to this little no-name bar packed with local young people and drank c900 Costeñas. Everyone pretty much ignored me but the counter lady talked to me and told me she had a kid living in Pennsylvania. I recorded videos of the kids singing to the local songs and pictures of this anti-drug message that was pretty funny. I worked my way back hitting another bar before hitting the café T??? where I nmet the girl but by that time I was really drunk since I also had 2 of the 10.000 super strong drinks and the girl said “tu espero” and left. August 27th Today mainly contained of a long bus ride – although the way the Russian-Roulette driver drove it took only 10 hours when the book said 12. I’m staying at the Iguana Guest House. Its been different from the Platypus as there are friendly people here who talk to me. Everything is the honor system here but it was very hot and full of mosquitoes in the room – very difficult to sleep. August 28th Today was Sunday, and even more so than San Jose the town was dead with even most restaurants closed. I went to the K-listo and had a strawberry milk shake and crossed the river to find it even deader on the other side. I walked back and had three beers at the Café Viejo ---- then went back to find Adam from England on the hammock watching TV. He said that yeah, Sundays were pretty dead and there was not much to do but watch TV. He’d been traveling since April 2003. We sat around and watched another Bond flick. I went to this dive café for smokes and a couple Jokers thinking they’d be cheap but they were 2.000 a piece just like the Costeñas at the Café Viejo. I came back and sat with Adam and Alex from Australia and he said my Marlboro Reds were fake from Paraguay and that Paraguay makes all kinds of bootleg stuff and contraband. We watched Poltergueist and Saving Private Ryan. I bought mosquito spray and shampoo at the supermercado. Augusut 29th Today I decided to walk on the other side of the river again to see what goes on during the week. It was vibrant. I stopped first at the K-listo again and had an arapa con Jamon y queso. The arapas are like pancakes made from corn-bread. It was pretty good. I stopped at a guitar shop and they had guitars as cheap as $40. When I got back – oh yeah – I had an orange juice at the fruit juice stand. Thomas, the Israeli guy asked me if I wanted to walk up with him to the mirador with the 3 crosses. The guy there said we should wait till 4:00 cuz its hot so we walked to the Chipi Chape which is a high class mall. Befoe we got there he stopped to eat at the El Reve Pacio and he had a local cena meal and it looked really good. We went to the mall place and it was upscale with McDonalds and a lot of nice looking restaurants. August 30th Got up today at about 10:30. Hans and Violeta mentioned they were going to climb the Tres Cruces and I said I wanted to go again so we all went around noon. First I was walking around trying to find a restaurant and ran into Violeta and we went to a panderia close by and I had a stuffed chicken pastry, a yogurt with cornflakes, and a slice of pineapple. This time I brought a bottle of water but was done before the first plateau – fortunately a guy was selling water at the first plateau but I finished that before the top. I was much easier today and I was ahead most of the time. We stayed a long time when we got there and Violeta took pictures of birds. I talked to the girl at the drink stand and her uncle and she was saying how she wanted to come to the USA and was flirting with me and her cousin was there too but when I told her my age it was kinda different. We took a different route down and met some local boys whe showed up the old coal mine. They led us down some short cuts and it was like 5:30 when we got down. I was starving and feel bad cuz Violetta is cooking dinner and I went out to the taco place they have menus in our place. I had this big burrito and then Alex came by after parasailing and we may go out for a beer here soon. Me and Adam went and got a bottle of Aguardiente and we sat and did shots and I did a line and then some more and some hash. We later got another bottle then this guy from El Salvador came to stay in my dorm room and came out when we were talking about Cuba. I was pretty high and after everyone else went to bed me and him talked late about politics and Cuba. August 31st Woke up late today and ate at the El Breve Pacio and had a huge meal with juice and soup for 3.500. I went to the Chipichape mall to change $300 in travelers cheques at the Banco Colombia and it was very easy. Came back and hung out with Hans and Violetta for a while. Liz emailed me and New Orleans is devastated after Hurrican Katrina. I went to see that girl on top of the mountain again. Did some hard partying tonight with Adam, Alex, Hans, Violetta, the Israeli guy Mor and his Asian/Aussie girl friend Sally. Many bottles of Aguadiente and other goodies. My last photos show 5:30AM September 1st Can’t remember ever feeling more like shit than today. Got up at 1:00PM. Had yogurt cerial and pineapple then went to bed around 3-4. Hans uploaded photos to his laptop and I drank 5 beers and was in bed by midnight. Went to the Taco place and the guy had me tune his guitar. September 2nd Slept too long. Got up at 11:30. Took a shower and went to El Breve Pacio but the almuerza was that dish I had in Bogota so I left. It was a shame cuz I went to the Palador and it ended up being almost 24.000! I climbed the mountain again but the girl wasn’t there. Had a slice of pizza and a Poker on Calle 8 around 14th. I’m so tired. Went to the Forum Club and got busted bringing in the whacking stick and everyone reacted in horror that I brought it. September 3rd Mostly sat in the front room with Hans, Violetta, and Mark – an American from near Columbus, Ohio. We drank all the beer in cooler and I went to the store and bought some Pokers and a small bottle of Aguardiente. I came back and drank with Hans, Violetta, Alex, and Adam and went to their room to smoke and stuff. Earlier, some firl called asking if there was someone here to teach her English and the guy handed the phone to me and I agreed to meet her the next day. September 4th I got up and the girl – Madeline, called and I met her and we took a cab to the Omni-Center, a big mall similar to Chipichape. We walked around and went to a restaurant where I had 2 beers and Madeline had a jugo. The soccer game between Colombia and Uruguay was on and Uruguay was up 2-0 when Colombia scored 2 goals and everyone was going crazy in the bar but Uruguay scored again. We took a bus uptown to a Mall on calle 70 with a carnival with rides. We were looking for this club but couldn’t find it so Madeline took me to a hotel called Panto Cerve or something on Calle 67. Payed 14.000 and we had sex then went on another bus to our area where she caught a bus home and I walked home. September 5th I was going to leave but Madeline was going to call and she had my Spanish book. I ate a cheap Almuerza which was soup, juice, and a fried chicken leg with rice and beans. I had a couple beers before Madeline arrived and she came with a friend and was asking if I had a friend for her. There were these three Israeli guys there and tow went out dancing with us and one was manking out with the other girl and when we got back to the Iguana the girl went to a hotel with the Israeli guy and I said bye to Madeline. September 6th Madeline called today around 10 AM ad said she’d call at 2PM. I went to Chipichape to change travelers cheques and got lost on the way just by missing one street. After waiting in line at the bank I found they didn’t cash traveller’s cheques until 2PM so I waited. I already had Chinese food so I went to McDonalds for an ice cream cone and then somewhere else for a Pepsi Lite. I cahsed $200 and went to the supermercado on the way back and bought hiar dye. When I got back Hans y Violetta had left and left me a goodbye note and the Israeli guy said Madeline called and they were bringing a third friend. They came by and I went with Madeline, her two friends, and the two Israelis to the bar with the tall Jirafes but it was 20.000. We handced ;and then went to another place and I got upset cuz Madeline seemed to be blowing me off but I found out later from one of the Israelis that she has to be home at a certain time cuz her boyfriend in the US calls and gets angry if she’s not there. Mark hung out with us and the two Israelis were supposed to go to San Cipriano the next day. September 7th Mark and them took off this morning and I’m the only one here. Madeline called while I was eatig and the girl here, Claudia, said she’d call back later. I’m happy she called but I still don’t know what to do. We went out. She came at around 5is. We took a cab to a Q-bano sandwich place and I had a typical taste but in a Cuban. We went to a club nearby where the only other couple were old and strange. We then went to a motel nearby – Hotel PanAmericana, or something. The cab home took us to her place first around A18 and C56 south. I hung out with the Israeli guy watching The US Open where Agassi beat Blake in a tiebreaker. Earlier this day I had a fruit drink and then ate at a restaurant nearby and had Carne Asado. September 8th Madeline called and said something about a Piscina. I, as usual, didn’t understand the whole conversation and I went to the grocery store and bought bread, ham, cheese, mayo, mouthwash, mosquito repelant, and bug-sray. I used my credit card and it was a lengthy process. When Madeline came by she took e to this swimming pool complex across the street from the Praga, the club Mark had talked about. I didn’t have my bathing suit. She brought her 1 ½ year old son Alejandro with her and we went to the kid pool with a big hollow fish slide with “Little Mermaid” paintings on the inside. I swam in my shorts. Later on her friend Jilli came by and wanted me to pay but it was late and it wasn’t necessary. Madeline kept saying to me her friend Jilli wanted to be with me and I was getting irritated. We caught a cab and ate at a Frisbee hamburger joint and started walking and I went back to the Iguana to find a whole group of Israelis and a Danish girl. We went out to the Praga after and during drinking a bottle of Aguadiente and me and 5 Israelis piled in a cab and the Praga was dead so we went to another place and then started walking down the Sexta and they were all kind of ignoring me and speaking in Hebrew. September 9th Talked to the Danish girl this morning. Madeline called and we’re supposed to go to the movies later. I need to make some international phone calls. I called Mom and Dad and Readyhosting and Guppys and talked to someone but I didn’t talk to anyone else. Madeline talked to the Danish girl in Danish. We went to Chipichape and saw a movie with Ashton Kutcher. We came back to the Iguana and we’re trying to find a date for Jilliand the guy Daniel from New Zealand came by and we went out to the Praga and it was totally different from the night before. It was packed. Afterwards we took a cab to a love motel with round beds and a condom and Vaseline layed out for us. Sometimes I get angry about Madeline always bringing Jilli along and I have to pay. The movies were expensive – 11.000 apiece and the combo popcorn 2 cokes, a hotdog and a sandwich was almost 20.000, and then she wants medicine cuz she’s worried she’s pregnant. We didn’t get back to Iguana till almost 7:00 AM. Madeline is always worrying about her boyfriend calling. I want to marry her. September 10th I got up after 1:00 PM when Madeline called. The Danish girl sleeps a lot. She’s still in bed now and its like 2:15 PM. I’m glad I bought that bread and meat cuz now I can eat without leaving and its cheaper and better. I want to leave here after this weekend. I hung out and walked to Chipichape and ate at the Falafel place and had schnitzel but it wasn’t very good and I brought the rest home. Madeline called and said she was too tired to go out and said Jilli would go out and she had left her shirt here. I was tired too and planned on just crashing and went to bed at 11:00 PM but Astrid and them had been drinking a lot and woke me up saying “America”, “Florida” and I got up at 12:30 and went to the Praga with them and the Israelis and the new Dutch guy here. Me and Daniel drank two small bottles of Aguardiente and later I drank two bottles of 9.000 Heineken! We came back and John was hungary and we ate the rest of my lunch meat and the schnitzel and some pasta dish. I was out of cigarettes and walked around forever trying to find cigarettes and was stopped by two police on a motorcycle and searched and they wanted to see the pictures on my camera. I bought smokes and came back and crashed. Jon and Arik left this morning. I ate at the Chinese restaurant on AVE 6 and brought the leftovers home which had been giftwrapped. September 11th Madeline called and last night had been the first night we hadn’t seen each other. I told her I had Chinese and she came by later with Jilli and Janet and I gave her the food after heating it up for her. We did the usual routine where she needs a date for her two friends and Daniel was there but was going to meet the girl he met the night before when we were at the Praga. Erwin, the Dutch guy was there and the girl he met the night before he had called with the help of the older Colombian bady who had lived in Miami from 8-13 years old and lived in NY when she was 33. She was in college and couldn’t meet him till the weekend so he went out with us and we all walked around Chipichape but Madeline saw some people she knew and didn’t want them to see her there with me. She told us to ask the two gringos down below us if they wanted dates and Erwin yelled down, “hey, you guys want some women” or something. This other gringo was there and we went over and it turnds out he’s a guy with the gringos.com web site and wrote a book about meeting Colombian women. He got rich in real estate and was divorced from a Colombian woman. We all went to a club and ordered a pitcher and the guy left. Madeline was telling me her boyfriend in the US was not the baby’s father and I became angry and depressed. Weh we got a cab back to the restaurant on the Sexta I wasn’t talking much to Madeline and we ate but she didn’t. We walked back to the Iguana but I walked ahead with Yanet talking to her and we sat around the table and Madeline was talking to Astrid. We hashed it out and I gave her my home number and she said she was hungry and didn’t eat at the restaurant because I didn’t invite her. She said she would call me the next day and since my attitude and I was leaving the next day, I thought maybe I wouldn’t hear from her again. September 12th I knew I wouldn’t be able to cash my checks until 2:00PM so I didn’t get up too early. Astrid, Daniel, and everyone but Erwin and the guy from Madrid left today. I cashed my checks and ate a Big Mac at McDonalds in Chipichape and came back to settle my bill and Madeline called. She wanted to see me off at the bus station so I waited. Then she called and said she’d have to get a cab so we went together and she gave me a keychain and was very affectionate with me and I felt bad at the way I had acted. She stayed with me on the bus all the way until it was ready to leave and I felt so much in love with her. I arrived in Popayan around 7:00 and got the Hostel on the card they have a stack of in the Iquana. When I singed in I saw Astrid’s name in the book and her stuff on the bed in my dorm. I went walking around with a German girl, Anne. We had a beer and I had a slice of nasty pizza. Astrid came back and we went out for a beer with a Swiss couple from Zurich and a couple who he was from London and she was from Sydny to the bar _____ from the lonely planet with the vinyl records. We had a good time drinking Poker Beer and telling travel stories. The Swiss told of a Dutch guy who got on a three pilgrimage bus from Damascus to Tehran that stopped at every Mosque, and a highjacking where they asked if there were any Israeli’s and the one Israeli guy was taken off into the woods where he was shitting a brick buy they only wanted to know how to operate the Israeli made rifles. We went back and had a teeth brushing party. September 13th Astrid got up and said goodbye and “I’ll see you in Ecuador”. I’m kinda sad cuz I may not ever see her again. I hope I do. I told her I may stay another day but I got up, ate breakfast, walked around a bit and had a snow cup in the park, and left for Pasto. About 22km. from Pasto the bus got stopped by the army. We hsll had to get out, put our hands on the bus to be searched, and our luggage too. I caught a cab to the Koala Inn and when I got there the Swiss couple was there. They went out for dinner and I went to a bar and they showed up there too. We talked about possibly meeting the next morning at 9 for the bus to Quito. September 14th I didn’t get up until 9:00 so the Swiss couple had already left. I ate breakfast there and caught a cab to the Bus Terminal. It was a short ride to Ipiales and from there I caught a cab with three other people to the border. I waited in line at the border forever and it didn’t seem to move. I changed my Pesos to $US and walked across the border into Ecuador and caught a mini-bus to Tulcan. They have their own coins and use Sacajawea dollar coins which are very well worn. When I arrived in Quito I was starving and ate a Bistec at the terminal which wasn’t too bad. I was starving. I caught a cab for $3.50 to the Bambu but had to walk around a bit to find it. I was worried about finding a vacancy but when I walked in at 8:30 PM the Swiss couple was sitting there eating. There’s a store around the corner that sells huge beers for 70 cents and food and everything else. I drank only one with them while they talked to the Philipine girl who lives in California about mountain climbing which they will do. Went to bed and there was a girl from Papua New Guinea. September 15th Got up and ate at the Auberge Restaurant and used the internet to write back to Daniel and Ulyses from Cuba and look at Spanish schools. I went grocery shopping at the store around the corner. I was talking to Christian from Cologne, Germany and he’s here as a medical intern. I drank a beer then went to the restaurant next to the grocery store and had a decent meal – the food is not too bad here in Ecuador. I came back to the hostel and a Colombian girl from Medellin named Pamela was there and when I mentioned I had signed up for Spanish lessons she offered to teach me and we talked for a long time and drank her bottle of Rum with the Liverpool guy and Tim – the English teacher from California and this other guy. Me and Liverpool walked to the store to buy another bottle of rum and when we got back played a dice game of “ones and fives” to see who gets 2,000 first. Later I went to the roof with Pamela, Liverpool, and the other guy. September 16th I woke up at 8:00 to be ready for my Spanish lesson. I’m hungover and took the 2 hour class. All my cloths are in the laundery now. Adam from the Iguana is here and staying till Tuesday, then heading back to England soon. I stayed on the hammock and got some sun and talked to the Dutch guy who bought and is building a hotel in Canoa that will be called Coco ____. Pamela came over and asked if I wanted to walk around town with her and her aunt. They were looking for a hotel cuz their room was reserved and they had to leave. We went downtown through the park where indigenous people were planning a protest. We went to a camera shop where Pamela bought a camera. We went to an old church and took a bunch of pictures in the park and when we were heading back Adam, Paul, and the Dutch guy were heading to a British pub for happy hour and we joined them walking all the way back downtown again and drank several pichers of beer. We took a cab back and the three of us ate at the restaurant by the store. We came back to the Bambu and drank beer and Adam was real trashed and was talking about my whacking stick and asked me to get it and everyone there including Juan had a negative reaction. September 17th I got up around 10:00 AM and the Papua New Guinea girl, Tamil, was still in bed and we talked. Pamela and her aunt came over and didn’t seem too interested in talking to me. I went to the store for groceries and they were there but it was kind of like the cold shoulder. I set out to buy a notebook and chap stick. The notebook was easy to find but they didn’t have the medicated chopstick and I walked all the way downtown to find some other kind. While I was there I decided to walk around a bit. I went mostly the same places I went with Pamela and Blanca the day before. I ate a shwarma and as I was heading back through the park I ran into Pamela and Blanca and we went back to town and walked around and they did a lot of shopping for presents and called her mother for money to get back to Medellin. We ate at the American Deli. We came back. I had lost my notebook when taking a picture of Pamela and bought a new one at this spiraling mall with like 10 levels. After returning they got a room for the night in the dorm with Adam and Paul from Liverpool. Juan, the guy who works here had a call that his cousin was killed by his girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend. Later he got a call that his cousin was alive but his girlfriend was dead. Tamil was planning to go to a gay bar with friends but they cancelled so we planned to go to a club and Pamela too. When we were about to leave Adam woke up – about 11:00 PM and he went with us too. We went to a club Cali something and ordered a ½ bottle of Aguardiente but neither me nor Adam had much money so I put it on my credit card. We were dancing but Pamela was dirty dancing with Adam and I was upset and we ordered a large bottle of Aguardiente. I got sick and we left for another club in Gringotown with a casino. Adam’s a gambler and I spent my last $10 on nickel slots with a poker game. We went to the club and this girl accosted me and we were dirty dancing and kissing and she was going out and I was joining her but by the time I got out the door she was gone. Tamil was off dancing with others and I got sick of it all and started walking home. It was daylight by the time I got home. Adam arrived shortly afterwards. Apparently he was in the bathroom when I left and the girls thought we both had left and took a cab and Adam walked home too. They had actually arrived home before we did and were already in bed. I had a ling drunk talk with Adam about Jews, America, the girls, drugs, and money. September 18th I didn't get up until after 1:00 PM when Tamil got up. Pamela and Blanca came back with Marco and we talked a bit but she went up to her dorm where Adam was and stayed there for hours, then they left. Now they're back and we're eating soup. I don't know what to think about women and I was very depressed even until now as I sit and wonder what to say or do. I barely left the table today as I recovered from the night before and my depression. I walked to the store to buy 4 beers - all that I could afford but I finished my Spanish homework and did a lot of studying. I went to bed early - around 10:30. Tamil had come back earlier with a bunch of new CDs. Jessica from South Carolina is in my dorm and she was here. The couple from the Netherlands came back from climbing some mountain. September 19th I woke up at 8:20 today when Tamil got up and me and Adam walked to the bank to change travellers cheques and did some food shopping at the fruit market. I arrived back 5 minutes late for my Spanish class. Pamela and Blanca were there. I did my lesson and my homework shortly afterward. Pamela nd Blanca came back and were happy because she got her money from her mom. The are now staying in room no. 3 and then they left. I was drinking beer with Christian and we decided to go on the roof but then it started raining. Then the power went out after it started raining. We went to the roof and I invited Pamela and Blance up there but then Pamela was sitting right next to Christian and they were bundled up with blanket together and Tim was up there too and he smoked my out and gave me a big chunk. I was so hight I went straight to bed early. September 20th I got up today at 4:00 AM. I practised Spanish studying until Yadiera came by for my 11:00 AM lesson. Afterwards I walked to the Amazonas to buy cloths. I bought a lot in the same Almacen I had been on Saturday with Pamela and Blanca, then went to the AArtesans and bought a pair of long pants for $5. I came back and put my new cloths on and threw out my old black shorts. I went to the internet and responded to an email from LeRoy and wrote an email to Madeline. I really hope she gets it and I really hope she likes it and I really hope she writes back. Now I'm going to do my Spanish homework and study. I sat with Christian who was also doing his homework and Adam and we did mostly talking and I eventually finished. Adam caught a cab at 7:30 for the Airport where he's heading first to Madrid then back to England. Tim came down and we went out - Tim, Pamela, Christian y yo. We went to a bar and then me and Tim walked somewhere else to get something. We were up all night partying and Pamela and Christian were really close and I'm really sad. September 21st Got up before noon. Had my lesson at 2:00 and I've been cooking black-eyed-peas all day with bacon and onions. Nobody liked them but me. I went upstairs with Christian, Pamela, and Blanca and I was tired and didn't say much and they were saying things about me in Spanish. I went out with Tim to the Mariscal to get things and these two cops stopd us for ID and Tim didn't have one or any money so I had to pay a $20 bribe to the cops. We got a bad deal and the cooking stuff didn't work. September 22nd Did my Spanish lessons at 10:10. Afterwars I went to the Mitad Del Mundo - The Equator. I didn't go to the museum at the actual equator cuz I didn't know where it was. I got back and the New Zealand girl and the Israeli girl Ari were there and I showed them the pictures. Pamela and Blanca were leaving for home that night but they didn't tell me and they lied. She has a very bad attitude toward me and Christian is the same. Ari asked me if I wanted to go traveling with her since she just flew from Tel Aviv alone and didn't want to travel alone. I said yes and went up to the roof to give Christian and Pamela my email and web address. I never said goodbye to them. Pamela and Blanca left late that night after I went to bed. There was a nice old guy who showed me the yellow free bus that dayto get to the Mitad Del Mundo. He was trying to learn English and had a small English book. I think his name was Hector. September 23rd I woke up at 7:30 for my 8:30 Spanish lesson. The Swiss couple from Papayan and Pesto had arrived early that morning. Pamela and Blanca were gone. I had my lesson and told her about the Rossetta Stone. I said I'd sent her a copy. Said goodbye to Paul. Tamil was there and I was sad and wanted to say something. I gave her my email in the room and when I said boodbye she got up and gave me a hug and her email. I hope I see her again. I never saw Astrid again. I paid my bill and said goodbyer to Juan and me and Ari left for Latacungta. Juan ran down cuz he thought I didn't return the key. We walked down to the park and caught a cab to the terminal. I was sad leaving Quito for all the girls I blew it with. Pamela, Tamil, Jessica possibly. I have to change. The trip to Latacunga was beautiful and we could see Cotopaxi(sort of) to the left. We arrived early and walked around with our Lonely Planet Books and eventually found the Hotel Amazonas and the Amazonas near the Mercado. The Hotel was nasty but $3 apeice. We headed for the fiesta cuz our timing had been perfect. I read the night before that the Mama Negra festival was on September 23-24. It was cool. Whe we got to the parade of constumed dancers and brass bands playing the same somg, a local radio DJ stopped me and asked me if I wanted to talk on the radio. I did in my few words of Spanish and he gave me a free CD. Ari bought a 1/2 bottle of Vodka and we drank it in no time. The festival was cool. The dancing parade with a salsa type dance they performed in circles while they marched along. We finished the Vodka and went to a store where we sampled two types of what they called Aguardiente. One was orange and the other was red. They poured us a bottle of the red ad we sat down on the sidewalk in the middle of the busy city and started drinking. Ari would offer some to this guy standing there. We eventually headed back to the festival. We finished the bottle with the help of an old local man there and we headed back to the hotel and after sex she asked me if I wanted to be her husband until the death. When we ate lunch we had almuerzo at a place and two little kids were asking for our leftovers and we gave them the plates and they ate the rest. September 24th We woke up to cold showers and walked down to get mild and bread and yogurt for breakfast. Ari wants coffeee so she had the lady boil us water for coffee then we left for the bus to Quilotia. It was a 3-4 hour ride through mountains and beautiful scenery. Quilotoa was cold when we got there. It was a tiny, almost deserted community of mainly indigenous people. We took a bed in this labyrinth of a place for $2 each, and headed for the Laguna. I wasn't knowing what to expect. We walked through this narrow gorge and came out to a large volcanic lake - fairly circular. We walked down a long way and slid through a sand bankshimy to get to the lake. The way back was tough. Harder than the Cerro de las Tres Cruces in Cali. Ari was really winded and had a harder time than I did. We finally made it up. The first time I did a climb where I went down before I went up. These girls were chiding us to make it up and had us included in their photos and they in ours. We went to the same little place - "The Black Sheep"? Where we got bread and sardined for the climb. We had a couple beers and talked to the indiginous couple there taking pictures of them and their kids. The kids loved the peliculas on my camera - especially of the Mama Negra Festival, and were entertained by them much of the night as I talked to the husband. We went back to our placeand had another beer and talked to the indiginous ladies there. Everyone there paints paintings to sell. It was totally freezing that night and it was like camping outside. I coaxed Ari outside to smoke a cigarette and we waw the Southern Hemisphere stars for the first time in clear brillance. We waw the Milky Wayu band clearly and there were so many stars. I woke up inthe middle of the night to pee and couldn't get back to sleep. September 25th Woke up early with little sleep. The water shut off while Ari and some other girl were in the middle of showers and when it came back on there was no hot water. I only washed my hair and armpits and the coldness of the water burned my head. I don't remember my Alaska bike trip ever having such cold water on my head. It was around 9:00 AM when we were ready and there would be no bus until 1:00. A guy with a truck offered us a ride to Latacunga for $10 total and we talked it to $8. It was so cool. The scenery was great and I had taken all my photos to Quilotoa through the dirty window of the bus. We rode in the back and I switched to my 512 MB chip cuz the other one was full. Along the way we picked up other passengers and when we got close to _________ we picked up a shit-load of indigenous. When we got to ________ everyone got out and the driver wanted us to pay and said he couldn't take us to Latacunga for some reason I couldn't really understand - something about his tires. He drove us to the bus and we took it the rest of the way to Latacunga where we caught the bus to A_____ and yet another to Banos. We arrived in Banos and ther were so many hostels we walked forever checking out the prices and conditions of everyone and I was getting annoyed. Finally Ari talked a guy down from $ an night per person to $4 and it had private bath, TV, hotwater cuz we said we'd stay at least 5 days. I was so tired I didn't want to do anything. We walked around a bit and Ari asked about motorcycles and asked if I was willing to let her ride with me on the back and was I afraid of dying and that she had little experience. We ate at a restaurant and I had a chicken burrito and Ari had spagetti with bacon and she had two cocktails and I had three beers, then we went to the internet. She had given me three Shekel coins and I dropped the one sheckel coin and couldn't find it. We walked around a bit then went back to the hotel. We always had to smoke out of the window cuz Ari didn't like smoking in the room. September 26th Woke up around 7:30 and we boiled some water for coffee in the kitchen then went looking for bread, milk and yogurt drinks. There was no pan to be found so we went back and drank our coffee then headed for the motorcycle place. Thankfully Ari was talked out of a motorcycle when it became obvious niether one of us knew how to shift(or so I said). We rented a 4 wheel ATV and spent the next 9 hours cruising up and down mountains and all around and I had the bast (and sometimes the scariest, when Ari was driving) time I can remember. We stopped for lunch and I had the only thing on the menu the restaurant with Chinese Characters had on it - Chop suey, It was chop suey with beef, pork, chicken, and shrimp. We headed over the San Francisco Puente and it was awesome. We had great views of the Volcan_______. On the way back to the river and the bridge we stopped to walk down to the rio and it was the most magnificent view I can remember. I was thinking "Fuck Costa Rica" Banos and Ecuador are the greatest place for this kind of thing. and its not widly known. I want to tell Jesse and everyone to come here. I took some quality photos of this waterfalls volcanos and everything. We headed for the cascades and climbed up the most awesome waterfall. There were some other people there driving into the water. We cruised around for awhile until it was time to take the vehicle back at 6:00 P.M. Afterwards we went back to the place to rest. I decided I wanted to write in my journal so we headed for a bar and Ari stopped to ask about jungle tours and rafting. Now were at this little place drinking beer and writing and talking and this guy has three guitars for sale. One, American for $100 and one for $65 and another for $85. We went to bed and watched music videos for awhile until Ari couldn't stand it anymore. September 27th Woke up to a cold, cloudy day that turned into a rainy day. Ari wanted us to go rafting at 8:00 but I didn't wake up until 8:30. but since the weather was shitty it didn't really matter. I did my laundry and we went grocery shopping and got a rhama noodle lunch. We'd been using the so-called kitchen to boil water so had ramas while my cloths worked. We decided to go to the hot-springs which was the Virgen _______ that we were at yesterday near the waterfall. It had a very hot, warm, and cold pool and we stayed mainly in the warm and now and then the very hot for 5-10 minutes until about 3:00. The springs were free today cuz of a tourist day but the towel rental was $1. I called home but no-one answered. We went shopping again and got steaks for 60 cents and onions, peppers, and tomatoes and I cooked. We're sitting here on the roof drinking Tropico Serova nasty vodka tasting shit. After we killed the vodka we went out to the _________ bar where Ari had a long island iced tea and I had a couple beers. I took pictures of the posters on the wall of Shakira, She Guevara, Curt Cobain, and others. I tried to show Ari how to dance Salsa but she was too drunk. We went to the Goodbar and had a drink and asked about certain things they couldn't do. September 28th Woke up and Ari had left her jacket at one of the bars last night. We went and rented bicycles to ride to Puyo and it was difficult. We were against the wind most of the time but had a great time stopping at waterfalls and stuf. The views were just too good here. We stopped at a cable car that pulled us across a gorge to the other side and more water rapids where Ari went swimming. I was so hungry. All we had for breakfast was bread and fruit drinks. I was in a deparated search for a real fook reastaurant and we didn't find one till Rio Verde but the steak was so tough I couldn't eat it all. When we finally had a long descent my derailler broke after having passed through San Francisco nd Ari flagged down a pasing truck and we rode back in the back. The guy at the beke shop actually had the nerve to give me a hard time about the bike being broked. We went to the grocery and bought food to make cheese sandwiches. We went looking for Aris jacket with no luck and I called Mom, Dad, and Carrie. Dad has been reading about retiring in Costa Rica. Hard to believe! I used the internet and drank a couple beers on a beach. We're tired. September 29th Got up at 9:30 today and went rafting near Puyos-shell with a bunch of Germans, a Swedish couple and a German? girl named Ina. It was great. On the way back we stopped at Shell to eat almuerza and I was so hungry I ate it all and a banana - they love bananas, the kayak guys and the long hired guy Rick ate it in their soup. Giovanni was driving and was hot so he stopped at the old trail now for bicycles where the water pours down on the road and showered. Later we went to our favorite studyinjg and writing spot a block from our hostel Espera and wrote and stutdied and drank a few beers and I told Ari I couldn't go with her to Colombia and she was mad and we argued a bit. We then went again to look for her missing jacket and it wasn't there. Rici we met on the way after stopping at a bar acrss from the Leprachaun while waiting for it to open and when we were going we met Rici and went to the Leprechaun and he bought a round of Bob Marleys - a flaming shot layered with the colors of the Jamaican flag. We drank awhile then went for a walk and burned one. We went back and I was so tired I swore someone slipped something in the drinks and Ari had to help me back to the hotel. September 30th We woke up today and packed and I went to the post office to mail three post cards. We ate breakfast at a place close by and I had the Americano with scrambled eggs and ham and bread and butter, coffeee, and juice. We paid the bell at the hotel and left for the bus to Rio Bamba where we were supposed to catch the train to El Diablo. It was the worst road ever on a bus. It looked like a trail of dirt through the mountains and we shared things with the kids in the back of the bus who gave ARi a sugar cane and I drank a couple shots of their green juice that tasted like vinager. These three little girsl sat with us in the back and they were cute. We got the hostel across from the bus station and I went to cash travellers cheques but they wouldn't take them cuz they had gotten wet and were all ruffled up. We went to the train station to find the bus train to El Diable but it din't leave till Sunday. We decided to leave Rio Bamba if we could get out money back from the hotel byt they wouldn't give it to us so we stayed so I dyed my hair and we rested. The owners were really nice and helpfull and fixed the plapper in the toilet. They told us of a place to relax and drink cae near the park. Now were near the park drinking hot-chocolate and a peice of chocolate tort and the cerveza Ari accidentally ordered when she meant senisera. October 1st Got up and we walked across the street to the Saturdy market with crates of chickens and everything else. We went and I had desayuno at a place and I drank both glasses of tomato juice whcih was pretty good. The owners of the Hostel were really friendly, especially the woman and they were from Cali, which I told her was my favorite place and she was very happy. Made me miss Madleline and teh Cali girl happy warmth. Very sweet. We walked around and Ari bought a jacket for 5$ and we grabbed a cab to the Terminal and caght a bus to Cuenca. The scenery was very beautiful and Alausi was pretty with a huge statue of Jesus in the center. I had to pee really bad and finally did. We arrived in Cuenca after dark and ate at the terminal. I had Pollo apanado and it was like a huge shnitzel. A man was handing out cards to his hostel and we took his card for the Casa Sol which wasn't in the Lonely Planet. It was $5 including breakfast and the guestbook had many Israeli entrys praising the place and the price which made Ari happy. We walked around the central park and had Margeruitas at this place. We're both too tired to hang out at discos even though its Saturday night. We bought a couple beers to go and are now back at the Casa Sol. October 2nd We got up and ate breakfast of scrambled eggs, bread, coffeee, and juice here at the Casa Sol. We decided to go to Ch________, which along with G______ and Sigsig were supposed to have colorful indigenous markets. We went to Ch___ first and had many jewlry shops with famous for earings. Art bought a lip ring and we hiched a truck to Sigsig which was a great view. There was not much there. They were closing down the markets and we met a couple with a lonely planet book who were thinking the same thing. We took a bus back to Cuenca and it was the crowdedest bus I'd ever been on. Everyone paked in like sardines. When we got back to Cuenca we were starving and the Sushi place we wanting to go to was closed so we went to the Chifa but Ari didn't want it so we went somewhere else and I had chicke noodles with no soy sauce and Ari had chicken with mushrooms. We had a couple beers and went to the chinese internet where calles to the US were 12 cents a minute and china was 8 cents. I bought a Chifa recipe book and love poems book in Spanish in Sigsig. I used the internet and the couple from Guppys who always asked for me emailed me and I emailed to Liz for here birthday on the 4th. I called Mike Rules and he was freaking out to be called from Ecador. We walked to the Blue Monday bar and drank some beer then walked to the river when I think we were at the broken bridge. We headed back to the Casa and Ari couldn't sleep cuz bugs were biting here so she slept in her sleeping bag on the floor. October 3rd Got up around 10:00. Since I think I was slipped something in Banos I havn't been able to sleep well. We ate, stored our stuff, and Luis at the casa gave me a sleeping bag to use on our trip to parque nacianal Cajas. We took the bus there and its freezing. We walked around Lagoona Illincocha when it started hailing little pea sized hail, pouring down like rain and we decided to make our way down where there was a ranger station we are using as a shelter. Soaking wet and freezing we sit here now and the ranger there is avout to make us a tea out of some plant he went out and picked. It was one of the coldest nights I've ever spent. ARi cashed out early before dark. I did the same for awhile then got up to pee and walk around the area and take pictures and I cashed out just before dark. We both spent a manly sleepless night trying to keep each other warm to a small extent. October 4th We were up about 8:00 freezing. I washed my hair in the brown water sink. Obviousely lake water. We headed of for Tres Cruces obsevation point and it was quite a climb. Ari has more trouble than I do with breathing. The altitude is over 4000 meters at the top. We had to walk part of it on the road and the sun didn't really shine all day. When it did for a few moments it was actually warm but the rest of the time it was freezing. Caja NP is a Paramo which is like the tundra in Alaska with swishy mounds of grass and lichen like stuff. Whatever can grow at high altitude and freezing. No real trees. At the tres Cruces its the point of meeting for the Atlantic and Pacific - what I could understand with my measley Spanixh. The trail from the Tres Cruces we took to the end was much easier. Mostily horizontal. We walked through amazing views high up in the mountains looking down at lakes. All we had to eat were crakers, apples, and peanuts and we lost the trail somewhere near where the next trail began and when we found the trail again it was a while before I looked at the compass to discover that we were actually on the second trail and heading for the road. We had discussed and debated earlier and she decided to go the other way on the second trail into the interior of the park and camp another night. After discovering where we were it was decided we'd had enough and were content to hit the road and find a bus which we did. Back in Cuenca we headed straight for a restaurant but the sushi place was closed again. We went to the cafe by the parque where we had margeritas our first night and she had a tipico carne plate and I had the fried trout. I was so tired I had to go back to the Casa and crash. We talked more cuz this was the end of our trail together. I need to go off by myself and don't know where first. Mancora beach, Peru, Guayaquil to go to Canoa beach. I don't know and I'm sad to leave Ari since I like her and we've had a great almost 2 weeks together but I feel like I'm married and I need to get away. October 5th Even after being in bed for 11 hours I was awake at 6:00 and peed and went back to sleep till Ari got up at 8:00. We decided to stay another day in Cuenca. Ari did laundry - I cleaned my backpack of all the vitamins that disolved while we were hiking through Cajas. and we went for a walk about town. We went to the Chinese restaurant and I read about how the bucs were 4-0 and MLB and NHL was about to start and she kept stopping at phones in frustration trying to find a good connection to Israel to no avail. We bought a small bottle of rum and coke and sat down by the river to drink and talk. She's probably headed to the Orient of Ecuador and I'm heading to the beach. I told her I wanted to travel alone for awhile and we could meet up in Northern Colombia. We exchanged email then passed a tatoo parlor where she's getting a tatoo of a picture she drew while we were in Banos. I went to eat at a Greek restaurant and bought a small bottle of Absolute and Tampico citrus punch and am here waiting until 4:00 to go back to the tatoo parlor to meet her. I went to the tatoo parlor to get Ari and on the way I bought her 6 roses for $1. When I got there she was sitting outside. Apparently she wasn't comfortable with the guys work and decided not to get the tatoo. We sat in the parque and finished the rum then bought a bottle of vodka and OJ and sat on a pedestal near a market place and drank. We went back to the hotel and drank most of my bottle of Absolt and went to bed. October 6th Got up around 9:00. Ari was talking about going to the beach with me but on the Bus to the terminal I said I wasn't gonna be in Ecuador for a week so she bought a ticket to M______ in the Orient and I bought a ticket to Guayaquil and we said our goodbyes and parted ways. It was sad. I decided not to stay in Guayaquil but to get as close to Canoa as possible. I caught a bus to Portoviejo for $4 and then from there a $2 bus to Bahia. I am staying in the worst motel of all time. The Pension ________. It is difficult to describe how terrible this place is and I can't believe I paid $3 for it. I had a hamburger across from the terminal and finished my last swig of absolut and will try to get some sleep in this shithole. October 7th Happy Birthday to me! I woke up in the sorriest shithole ever. I bathed in a tub of stagnant watet, then walked to the bus station where they said I had to take a farry ride to San Vicente before Canoa.29 cent ferry ride to San Vicente then 35cent bus and here I am at the Casa Bamba. I ate breakfast but need to get more money. I went to the internet and had 6 email saying Happy Birthday. Mom, Dad, Ulises, Jan, Liz. and Anne. I told Jan about Equador and the Banmba and he wrote back that he'd been here in Canoa. Its cloudy and cool. I walked to the cave but it wasn't a low enough tide. Happy hour is from 5-6:30 and I ordered my drinks right at 6:30. I got really drunk drinking Cuba Libres Especiales - Cuba Libre with Havana Club Rum. I was taling to a guy from Equador who lives in Pensacola and an American in the Peace Corps. I hng out with a French guy and his girlfriend. We went to a bar and played pool here at the Bamba but I was so drunk I couldn't even hit the ball. October 8th Woke up with a bad hangover. I took the bus to San Vicente and the ferry back to Bahia where I was trying to get money from the ATM. I ordered fried shrimp again and everyone had Ecuador soccer shirts cuz Ecuador was about to play Uraguay to see if they would be in the World Cup. I bought a shirt too and walked all around Bahia before returning to Canoa to watch the rest of the game where they endied up in a 0-0 tie. That was enough. I was taliking to the Peace Corps guy and drinking White Russians for Happy Hour. Some of them were up on the terrace playing guitar and singing and I joined in and got drunk again. We went to the bar for a beer and I had a couple more at the Coco Club. My neighbors are Nathan and Juchie. Ari's email was the wrong one so it came back. I hope she writes cuz I have no way to contact her now. October 9th Woke up again with a hangover. I was gonna leave so payed my bill and left and met Nathan and Jackie who reminded me the bus to Quito isn't until after 10:00 at night so we went to the internet and I had fried shrimp again and now I'm back at Bamba while the others are at the beach by the caves. I have a lot of time to kill. I'm older than anybody and not exactly a fit in. This girl Heather is so hot but I think she doesn't like me cuz she always leaves when I come by like last night when we were all playing guitars she was sitting next to me then she moved. Thomas - the french guy said something about its cool to hear americans speak Spanish cuz they always want to speak English. Nathan and Jackie already left for the bus to Quito. I'll wait out Happy Hour. The Canadian guy living in Sangolqui and Thomas went to go burn one. Its around 5:30 and Im seeing the Sun for the first time in Canoa. I sat with Thomas and the Canadian guy drinking happy hour then left around 7:30-8:00 but the last bus left and I caught a ride with a guy and a woman to San Antonio and waited for the bus to Quito which was a bad bus and we had to change and I never got my $5 change back. Made it to Quito to the Bamba at 5:45 AM and am alone in #10. October 10th Was feezing last night and decided to do laundry today. It started out sunny but got cloudy, then rainy, then haily - kiz sized chunks. Nathan and Jackie got here got here, I guess shortly after I did and are here now. I think most of the others have left. #1 bin was full last night but now is all on the table and I fear Tamil is gone. Tim is gone but Yadira told me he was staying at the Casa Oriente and I believe Christian is also gone. My laundry is wet and will be. I'm going to put my one pair of dry pants on. Someone took my ham, cheeze, and mayonasa from the fridge. I accedently had put it in #1 slot and the German guys staying there left so they must have thought it was theirs. Its been raining all day and I made it down to the restaurant by the store I'm having a Pilsen and smoking my Lider cigs I bought in Canoa ayer. I want to go to the internet. I'm sad about Tamil and Ari, and still Pamela, and really Astrid too. What with me and chicks - and Heather. Not taking more pictures in Canoa. Franz is here again. The English girl in Tim's room say's Tim is coming back. I'm thinking of going to that city north of Quito that begtins with an O but the market is on Saturday. I want to see Madeline again. I think I'll walk to the San Francisco market tomorrow to buy souveneirs and I want a guitar. Watched Kill Bill Part II with Nathan and Jackie and the other girl in #1 and went to bed. October 11th I got up about 9:30 and my clothes were hanging on the line in the sun but still wet. I found a couple dry and ate some oatmeal from the table, and cofee. Nathan and Jackie wanted to walk around. I told them of my plan of the market near San Francisco plaza and I went to Banco Guayaquil where I was able to cash the $500 travelers cheque. I coudln't in Rio Bamba. I went to wald to the indigenous market there but it started to rain on the way. My camera was stuck again and there wasn't mcuh of a market. I had a beer at a little place near 24 de Mayo and Cuenca and waited out the rain then headed for near Mariscol where I went to the ______ rock bar where there was this hot chick/hooker who chated me and her friend/pimp was there. I stayed till almost 6:00 and I didn't understand our whole conversation he was big on Cartajena and the chicas there and Colombia and he had a whole list. I left to go grocery shopping and bought bathroom supplies and Doritos and salsa which I'm eating now. I watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin" with Nathan, S____ and ______. Jackie had a cold. Tamil is back now. October 12th I woke up with three other people in my room. A couple with that Australian/Asian girl. I ate the rest of the oatmeal and headed for the Artesian market. I can't believe it but I spent more than $100 including a backpack and souveniers of Ecuador and searched in vain for a mermaid necklace for Francine. One stall had a broken one and one guy said he could make one for me tomorrow but it would be a little carving made from a big tooth. Come to think of it Francine doesn't want animal parts and the strings are made of leather. Its a good thing I didn't get it. Anyway I didn't buy CDs, or a guitar, or more clothes for me. The other girl is here from Canoa and I'm now at my favorite local restaurant by the store drinking Pilsener and preparing to call Yidi, and possibly Guppys. I talked to Brian. I went to the internet and responded to an email Mike wrote and emailed Devon or the first time since leaving since I bouth her a buttterfly. I went back to the Bambu and talked to Tamil and the GTerman girl who was from Berlin. The Canoa gang came by and I had a picture taken of the 4 of us. I was drinking beer and getting drunk and had a feeling I wasn't on the same page. I seemed like an annoyance and Tamil met a guy she really loves who she spent time with on the beach and is now waiting for him to return from Madrid whe is mixed race like she is white father, black mother. She lives in Geruca or something. I really struck out with her. She's here for the flings and amela fucked it up and I fucked up with her. The two chick double cancel each other out syndrome. I can't wait to get back to Cali and Madeline - I hope she still likes me. Quito was a real crush to my chick getting ego - Its ironic. It was there I met the one girl in my life who really loved me and wanted to marry me and I blew her off in a big way. I only hope we are able to make contact again. October 13th Woke up and got up after the Australians lift. The Asian-Australian girl was really friendly when her boyfriend wasn't around, checking out my souveniers from Ecuador and playing my flute, not my skin flute, though. I decided to get as close to Cali as possible over breakfast of the yogurt/cerial stuff and a banana. The other girl that watched "the 40 yar old virgin" with us - taller girl from Texas, not Australian next to me in dorm, talked to me and took the salsa dip I left on the table cuz I'm leaving. Last night Juan invited me up to the private quarters to watch the end of the Ecuador - Chile match which ended in a 0-0 tie again. It was the last game until the World Cup in Alemania. Earlier he invited me to walk up to pick up that little boy at his school and I went to a place I hadn't been, Northeast of the Bambu, but that was yesterday. This morning and I was leaving. I paid up and left, catching a cab to the Terminal. I caught the bus to Tulcan, then a cab to the border, crossed the border stamping out and in unbelievable quckly, then caught another cab to Ipiales to catch a bus to Pasto where I am now. We only got searched once the whole trip and only a little bit. I'm at the koala again. I walked up to the place I was at with the Swiss couple but I guess I didn't notice they didn't serve food. In at La Merced Pizza place eating what they call Lasagnia. October 14th I can't believe I spent over 10,000 at that shit pizza place. It will come to haunt me as I only changed $40 at the rip-off border dickheads. I ate breakfast at the Koala and caught a cab to the Terminal. Trying to stretch my money I rejected the 26,000 bus for a 24,000 one. Sat cannon ball in the back with a bunch of teenagers and behind a screeming baby for 9 hours. How everyone loves to smile at and pretend they love the screaming babies. At Popayan many got off and a lady and her two daughters sat next to me in the back. Trying to buy a cheap donut bread type thing out the window I accidentaly steped on the lady's bare toe. I lo siento-ed . She later tried to say something to me about how bad the donut bread type things were which I didn't understand and only had a blank stare after all these hours on the bus. I'd been studying my Spanish book all day but it doesn't help in actual spontanious conversation. One of her daughters asked mom something abour me and she said "gringo" "bueno" then it sounded like she said in a low voice to her daughter "malo". I ended up having a conversation with her later and she was real nice. Made it to Cali and there was an ATM right there. I fucked up on the mental calculation under time and stress and got under $100. Ate a meal I was so starving I choked the whole thing down, even the rice. I got a 2,500 cab to Iguana. Its like being back home again. I even got the same bed. Erwin is still here. This American guy named Jamie traveled with Dan from New Zealand through Ecuador and were in Banos about the same time as me and Ari were. I drank like 7-8 beers and smoked and went to bed. Madeline called and I talked to her a bit and she said she'd call tomorrow. October 15th Got up and went shopping at the LA14 Supermercado. Bought tons of veggies and sandwich stuff and stuff to make chicken alfredo tetrazini whatever. Yidi called and said she can't get ahold of Madeline and something about going to some pueblo tomorrow. I hope Madeline calls and wants to come by. What a terrible day. Got 10 of bad quality. Madeline and Yidi took turns calling all day and all night and finally arrived around midnight. Mark and Leigh - two Brits from Manchester and Leigh from Birmingham were waiting for her cuz I said she was bringing friends. They got tired of waiting and left for Praga and they arrived later =- good thing - it was only Yidi who came and the Israeli guy knew them from the first time he was here and said she sleeps around which I basically knew but didn't want to hear. That ruined the night cuz I had a bad attitude and we went to the Jiraffe place and Madeline met us a group of Gringo and Colombians and we took a cab to Juanchita and the Swedish guy was digging Madeline and bought her a flower. A Colombian girl who had a car was friendly with me but I was in a bad attitude, amped up, and very tired and didn't want to dance or talk. I left with her and she only drove me a little way to a cab and I went home to the internet and Thorntree. October 16th Feeling terrible. About my way with Madeline and the after effects. I didn't expect to ever call and she did but I think she's with the Swedish guy. But I guess not. I went to the first bar that I went to when I was in Cali the last time. I drank like 5 beers and returned home and cooked a chicken Alrfredo stuff for Madeline and her sister. Everyone loved it, I got more stuff, was wearing my indigenous hat and after Madeline and her sister left I went out with Don and Jamie to the bar and had a pitcher. They stayed out and I went home and stayed up till 7:00 AM October 17th Madeline was calling a couple of times and then insisted the third time at noon to wake me up. I took a cab to her apartment and we took another cab down to the river and the cab driver hung out with us and it was expensive - like 80,000 for the food and beers, 16,000 and the cab was 46,000. I'm back and Madeline called for going out later to the movies and I'm hooking Don up with Yidi. Madeline and Yidi came by around 10:30 after I'd been drinking with Don and Jami awhile and the dude came by bearing gifts and taling of a party with these two girls. Me, Don, Madeline, and Yidi went to Omni Center and watched a movie called Vuelo Nocturno and me and Madeline were closer than ever and she asked when we were getting married in the cab ride back which was 17,000. I didn't have money and couldn't use the ATM. October 18th Madeline called and wanted me to make the same meal so I went to the store to buy the stuff. She bought Yidi, Yanet, and Alejandro with her and the 5 of us ate and loved it but Madeline got sick after eating, it was too rich for her. We went to Plaza Norte and to the same club we went with Jon and Arick. Madeline was dancing with all the guys and Yidi said to me "cuidar for Madeline, cuidar, protega". It really made me think and realizw how I suck with chicks so I was more attentive to her. Afterward most left and when the new American 0 Mike? was leaving, Madeline ran after him and made him come back so Yanet would have a partner too. The 3 girls split in one cab and the 3 of us caught a cab home. The dude had by and so I was up till after 10:00 AM October 19th Madeline called after noon and I got up, felling like shit with about 2 hours sleep. She wanted to watch a movie and was to call back but I went and crashed and missed the call but she called back and I met her and Yidi at the Unicentro and they were calling Don to get him to come. She was sick again after eating rich foot at the ice cream and dessert there at the centro. Don showed up but the only movie was a Colombian flick called Rosario Tijeras so I didn't understand the words but it wasn't too hard to follow. Madeline had to call the States to get money to pay the phone bill and they went their separate ways. Madeline called and we made plans for the pool tomorrow with her sister Laydi. Smoked with Rob a little. October 20th Madeline woke me up with a phone call at 10:00 AM. Yidi left with Don for the next 4-5 days to Buesna Ventura. We went to Comfundi ___ pools and it was alright but its getting expensive (Madeline) and its not the same. We went to the movies and saw the "School of Superheros" and I couldn't get more money so after the Iguana I give her 5,000 and left. I feel bad. But should I? Is she not playing me? Or is she? October 21st Went to Chipichape today at 2:00 after Madeline called about not having enough money to pay her phone bill. They said something about me changing Travelers Cheques or cash until Monday. I went to the ATM and got 300,000 and met Madeline near Sandwich Q-Bano. We ate steaks at the place there and Alejandro puked. We then went to the place Madelines brother worked painting ceramics. He lost his 1st and 2nd fingers. Afterwards she called Alejandros dad for more money and we went to her apartment where Leidy and her brother's fiance were and her Mon was there and gave me shit when she saw her daughter's photos in the pool on my camera but I wasn't exactly sure what she said. We went to the Supermercado across the street and bough stuff to make the same dish I've been making and had a challenge cooking it in her kitchen with the one little burner, no space, not many pots or utensils and nothing but a butter knife to cut everything up. I pulled it off though and ended up crashing there for the night hafting to hide when one of her Americans called. October 22nd I had hoped and prayed this would be a good day today but it just doesn't happen for me. I'm a slave to my own personality and denial with women, and even though she's playing me I can't be without her. I wake up at Madeline's apartment and took a strange sower. No soap or shampoo but this bottle of like body wash. Her Mother came over and they talked of going to this coffee plantation. We took a cab to the bus station and it would have been like 70,000 for one way and I said no so we all ate. Mom had a Tamale, Leidy had a hamberguesa, and Madeline and I split a carne asada. I was already getting mad about money and it reflected in my moood. I didn't want to leave her so we went to the movies and Alejandro couldn't get in the Jodie Foster airplane flick so we saw Bewitched. We went back to Iguana and I gave them cab fare then the dude showed up and I went with him and as of now I've still been ripped off. I din't get all I payed for yet. But it was enough to be up all night. October 23rd And all day today. Haven't left the Casa. Avoided Madelines calls until Yidi and Don got back. Its an overload. First time I've done this in the trip and the dude just came by to supposedly make things right. We'll see. Fucked up - worst possible scenario - Police! Very expensive. I was set up. Bad news! October 24th Madeline's call got me up at 11:00AM. I checked my credit card and I'm in the red - no more cash. Madeline, Yidi, and Don came by at 3:30 and we went to Chipichape to cash 3 of my last 6 Travelers Cheques. Went to Madelines house with her and then to Yidi's where Don made Chicken Pasta. Even though I said when we left the apartment no others, when we were leaving Madeline had invited Leidy along. I said no and somehow Leidy somehow ended up going and because of Alejandro, Madeleine didn't go and so I didn't go and we were going back and met here other brother Sami and Tito who lives with her. I'm now at the Iguana and on the one hand want to get the fuck out of Cali and on the other hand not wanting to leave Madeline. Even though I only love her for her money. October 25th I spent the day knowing Ari was coming here tonight and not knowing what to do. I went shopping for some food at the LA14. Madeline called but Yidi was already here with Don, her mother, and another girl. They came over tonight and Madeline brought another girl. We went to the club on the Sexta with two Americans - one with a long beard named Eric and a New Zealander named Peter. We danced a little but it wasn't the same and I told Yidi and she told Madeline and I told Madeline and we went to a love Motel but it wasn't the same. I bought her a 18,000 chicken dinner and she asked me for 5,000 to give some guy who needed a ride and I got mad and she told me how her family were begging when she was little and living on the street and begging. Taxied her home then to my place myself when I realized I'd lost my wallet. October 26th Madeline called at 11:30 and I had to get my card reissued and she called again to have me come over and cook but I said I have no money and she told me don't come over, that she'll call. I cancelled my card and had an Almuerza at the original El Breve place on Calle 24 then came back and Adi was here talking about her paragliding and I did some laundry by hand and she went to the internet. This girl, Marisa, was here who knew Oliver and I told her how he set me up and she's in the same business and she gave me something. Adi was obnoxious to everyone and this English guy who came here that she was with in Pasto who lost his wallet to a prostitute got in a yelling match with her. Madeline called and I went to her apartment and cooked and Leidy, Tito's fiance, the girl from last night, and her brother Sami's wife came by and ate then she said I should go home and give Sami's wife a cab ride cuz there were too many people there. When I got back Rob had kicked Adi out. Stayed up all night with the English guy Adi was with in Pasto till daylight and bought pac of smokes and played game of chess. October 27th Woke up at 5:00PM - feel like shit. Madeline never called back but Yidi did and it sounded like goodbye. She said "cuidar". Marisa came by and it was another all-nighter. October 28th No call from Madeline> I got up at 2:30. I called Mom and Dad for money and credit cards. Busy signal from Yidi's house. I'm very sad. Madeline came by with Jaqueline and we went out to the Sexta to the barwe went our first night since I came back - where I have been several times in the daytime like when I recorded that one song. That was the night we met the Colombian and Ecuadorian girl. The Colombian girl was there and we sat together with a French girl and Colombian dude. They left, we danced a bit but I didn't dance with Madeline. Her friend Jaqueline doesn't talk much and I kinda like the other Colombian girl who Madeline's always trying to pawn off on me like when we first met and went to Juanchito and I left with her. We then went to Zapateco of whatever and we couldn't go because Jacqueline has no ID. I was mad and we left to go eat. We ate at a place and Madeline had been dancing with some Colombians and she was very friendly with them and I paid 5,000 to have someone fix their shoes. I gave them money for the cab home at my house. Earlier we - me, Madeline, and Jacqueline, went to the movies and saw "Plan de Vuelo" with Jodie Foster who's starting to look old. There was this young guy standing there at the garbage can on the sexta eating the food in it saying "muy sabrosa" and making a scene giving great complements to how good the food was. It was disgusting, sad, and strange. I went home and got fucked up and that was that. Madeline was reading my diary where it said on the page that I was very sad. October 29th Been partying all day and lately I don't get up till like 2 0r 3. I havn't gone to bed before sunrise in several days. Today was a day when Madeline came by with Jacqueline and I didn't go out with them. It was full tonight. This guy was teaching Salsa lessons including to Madeline. The American-Cuban style with more movements. Colombian Salsa is so much more simple with not much movement. I was too wired to go out so I didn't and let Madeline go out with a group and her friend Jacqueline got picked up by Miguel here. Miguel, I had asked earlier if he could score and he got a friend to come over - Esperanza. It was 2 for a blue note and very good. Me and Marcus from Austria and Esperanza sat there in front of the TV for most of the nigh and of course - daylight. I gotta leave Cali. Nothing here for me and I realize Madeline is only using me even though I can't help it that I love her. October 30 Woke up around 3:PM. After the shower, it’s not so bad but I drank a ½ bottle of Aguardiente last night. I walked up to Chipichape and had a ¼ Libro con guego combe and Ryan and Anne were there. We ate together. I walked home and started partying with German Daniel and Australian Marcus in their room. We called Esperanza and Ky came byand so when Marisa called he blew her off cuz we said Esperanza’s was muy bueno. It took forever. I drank another ½ bottle of Aguardiente, and her shit sucked. Marisa came by with different which was a little better but still shit. We partied all night and I wanted to go to sleep. October 31st Smoked and drank beer but Ky called Marisa and we went to his hotel in the Radisson – nice luxury hotel. We just did stuff and all day we were talking nonsense language to each other which was centered on the Ostrich. We came back and drank and talked our nonsense and got more from Esperanza and headed for the whorehouse where I got a black chick and AHP for an hour. Madeline and Yidi came by to go out but I’d been up two days and said I didn’t want to go out. They were obviousely not happy. It would be the last time I’d see Madeline. She’d been with Daniel since the last time on the 29th. I didn’t want to go out.