Iris is a British lady of considerable character and pluck, on a 23 week
\n overland expedition from Quito in Ecuador to Caracas in Venezuela. After
\n this, she plans to do a 3-month voluntary placement in Ecuador, and then
\n visit Central America for another overland trip between Panama City and
\n Mexico City, ending up with perhaps another 2-month voluntary placement
\n somewhere in South America again. This amazing journey will take Iris
\n one year. Here is an extract from Iris’ journey notebook.<\/p>\n
30th<\/sup> November cont.: Cuenca<\/b><\/p>\n Onward, ever onward, to Cuenca. By the time it had reached 1845 and we One of our amusements, rather unkindly but not intended so, was our 68 Kindly, our policeman, Paul, who was sitting sideways on behind Judith Eventually, after many small disappointments as one large town vanished Today, the rain has vanished and it is quite sunny in Cuenca. We had I think this first week is being used to break us in gently to the rigours Today in Cuenca I have just walked round the city centre, looking at
\n had been on the road for 11 hours we were all becoming increasingly impatient
\n to arrive. Darkness had descended, quite a lot of the time, after leaving
\n our lunchtime site, it was raining heavily, and for hours we had had to
\n make our own fun in the back of the truck, playing cards, some of the
\n lads giving us a selection of the music they had brought on mini discs
\n and mini disc players – most of it being quite presentable – Robbie Williams,
\n Abba, Kylie, to name a few, although when a Turkish member of our group
\n produced a CD of Turkish music, the reception was somewhat mixed, and
\n when someone produced a couple of CDs of Australian folk songs, there
\n were a lot of jeers, even from the Aussies amongst us, about songs like
\n “Tie my Kangaroo down sport!” or “Waltzing Matilda”
\n and others of that ilk. <\/p>\n
\n yr old, Judith, my room-mate in Baños. Poor Judith, she had been very
\n jet-lagged when she had arrived in Quito, but she had had four nights
\n to recover, so everyone was very amused when she proceeded to fall asleep.
\n She was sitting with one of our younger men (Matt is about 33, I would
\n say, and he is a quiet man) and he had an inflated neck cushion and had
\n dozed off leaning against the window (the seats are like public bus seats,
\n there are no head rests and support ends at just below the shoulders)
\n so poor Judith was lolling back with mouth wide open, catching flies.\n <\/p>\n
\n decided she had to be given a cushion and so a sleeping bag, rolled up
\n in its sack was produced and placed strategically behind Judith’s head,
\n which seemed successful, but as the sleeping bag roll was in a large empty
\n cavity between Judith’s front-facing seat and Paul’s side-facing seat,
\n every movement of the bus sent it sliding away from Judith, or Judith
\n sliding away from it. Another sleeping bag roll was produced but then
\n Judith would gradually slip between the two rolls! Then it was decided
\n to wedge the sleeping rolls in place with a water bottle and this did
\n the trick but then Judith found Matt’s shoulder and snuggled up to him!
\n This just went on and on throughout the day. Both Matt and Judith would
\n wake up at intervals but gradually both (Judith more than Matt) would
\n drop off into slumberland once more and the whole pantomime would be played
\n out again, very much to everyone’s amusement!) We reckoned Judith slept
\n for at least seven of the 13 hours we were on the road!<\/p>\n
\n into the darkness to our rear which had been mistakenly identified by
\n us as our destination, we arrived in Cuenca and got to our hotel. But
\n we had all to share 3 or 4-bedded rooms, although that is par for the
\n course when so many have to be accommodated in large city hotels. I shared
\n with three other ladies – Alison, Eren (our Turkish lady) and Judith,
\n and after we had all got settled we went off across the road to an Italian
\n restaurant for a meal (as our last meal had been some 8 hours previously
\n on the side of the road), however, at 2130 we were not too keen to eat
\n anything too much and Judith and Eren just had soup and a roll, and Alison
\n and I had pasta.<\/p>\n
\n a light breakfast (rolls and jam and scrambled egg) and then I decided
\n to go my separate way. Judith and Alison and Eren wanted to go to an archaeological
\n museum out of town, but I wanted to wander around on my own. Unfortunately
\n Eren is ill today, being sick and feeling poorly so in the end we left
\n her in the hotel room bedded down. I don’t know what she had eaten and
\n neither did she, that had made her sick, but it is not diarrhoea, just
\n sickness, so hopefully, she will be recovered by tomorrow for our next
\n 366 km journey to Punta Sal where we will be camping on the beach for
\n 3 days. <\/p>\n
\n ahead of us – the jungle trip and the Inca Trail – so some long journeys
\n have to be faced and some hotels are used so that we are not faced with
\n too much hard work putting up tents every time we arrive at a destination,
\n and camping to show us what we are in for when there are no hotels to
\n stay in. So think of me on 1 Dec 02 having to face putting up a tent after
\n a 12 hour journey!<\/p>\n
\n the local shops and populace. I got to a little square and realised there
\n was an art museum there so went in to have a look round. The young security
\n guard, who watches over everyone coming in, got me to sign the book and
\n put my passport number and name in the book and then was determined to
\n practice his rather limited English on me. Anyway, to cut a long story
\n short he ended up giving me a guided tour and I asked him if I could take
\n his photo, but although he agreed he was determined the photo was going
\n to have me in it as well, so I obliged him, when he produced a young friend
\n to do the honours! After the guided tour I told him that I was returning
\n to Ecuador next year for maybe two stints of 3 months and 2 months and
\n asked him for his address so that I could not only send him the photo
\n but also perhaps visit him when I return. He is a university student working
\n as a guard at the museum during the day and has another evening job as
\n well to bring in the money while he is studying. He is at Rio Bamba university
\n and hopes to travel round the world when he has finished his studying.
\n He is about 18, I would say, and demanded that we kiss each other on the
\n cheek before parting to show our new-found friendship and the hope of
\n it continuing in the future, so I obliged and insisted we do it the French
\n way of kissing on both cheeks! Then as I left, he ran after me “I
\n don’t know your name! What is your name?” And I said: “Francisco,
\n you have it in your book, remember, I signed in?!” And he was so
\n relieved!<\/p>\n