Guayaquil - Lima - Pisco.....

Setting off for Guayaquil, we looked out at the fantastic scenery, as our driver jokingly swerved towards his friend in an oncoming bus much to his own amusement, but not to ours!!

Having arrived at Guayaquil we were picked up by our guesthouse owner, who we had stayed with previously and the evening was spent enjoying another good meal. With a twenty-four hour bus journey ahead of us, we settled down to an early night, having booked our accommodation for Lima. Sam was feeling pleased to have located a bar in Lima that would be showing the England, France World Cup Semi Final.

As we waited for the bus, we struck up a conversation with a 63 year old American by the name of Kendal, who claimed to be travelling for the last 10 years. After five minutes of interesting conversation we were relieved to board the bus and get away from his exaggerated tales on an apparently cheaper and better experience than all others.

We took in the Ecuadorian landscape for the last time and "enjoyed" a lunch of chicken and rice followed by a smooth border crossing and then a "gourmet" supper of chicken and rice again! It was at this point that we realised we were slightly behind schedule and not enjoying the films or the hideous loos.

A disrupted sleep forced us all off the bus as we were stopped at a police check point. To E-J's delight, they decided to check her bag! On beginning to open it they decided it was more trouble than it was worth and quickly zipped it back up. We now realised that the kick off for the rugby was going to be tight for time.

"Enjoying" a healthy breakfast of a chicken burger after little to no sleep, we realised we were not going to make Lima in time to watch the rugby.

Thirty hours after leaving Guayaquil we arrived into Lima, both tired, angry, desperate for a shower and a clean loo! On arriving at our hostel we were informed that our room wasn’t ready!! Once inside the room the potent aroma left by the resident kitten was not what we were expecting!! We felt this deserved a decent meal, so over indulged in two huge steaks.

The next day we quickly checked out and headed to Pisco.

Relaxing into the journey, our spirits were lifted knowing that we were not to return to Lima. However, with Sam informing E-J of the dangers that have transpired from the recent earthquake in Pisco, E-J's mood suddenly turned. We both hoped that by visiting Pisco we could help give something back to the people who had lost so much.

On travelling through the centre we were overwhelmed by the magnified devastations and destruction caused to all the buildings, which resembled something similar to a war zone. Exhausted by over 50 hours of bus travel E-J's instincts sent her running into the bus terminal to extend our tickets to Ica. For the rest of the journey we sat in silence humbled by what we had seen.

Sam's comments: With horrible food, an annoying American, a troublesome stomach and missing the rugby, I have to say this trip provided me with an experience I had not prepared for and would rather forget!

E-J's comments: I guess you have to take the highs with the lows. Bring on the highs...