Monpiche though, definitely a hole. A beautiful hole, but one that dragged me down, beat me up and luckily I surrendered soon enough that I didn´t have to recirculate. My first view of Monpiche was in the back of a truck winding through some jungle roads. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A black sand beach shining with micah. The perfect wave (so I was told, I have been surfing less than two weeks, I have no idea what a perfect wave looks like). Sleepy little beach huts everywhere and Tracy Chapman playing in the distance. After less than 48 hours I essentially ran out on the back of a motorcycle, shoe-less, with ten dollars in my purse and my face salty from tears and lack of showering. As soon as I left the town limits things began to look up and have been going that way since.
I normally would not have left a place so fast, even if it did take my shoes and my soul. I am a glutton for punishment and had planned to have stayed a few days longer, except for a serendipitous email. Suprise! Caitlyn and Nick, as a very last minute decision, decided to come to Ecuador for their spring break! So, dedicated friends that they are, they hopped on a night bus to meet me at the beach after traveling for over 24 hours already. I had just escaped a mountain of miserable in Monpiche and was headed back to Canoa. I was shoe-less, but excited to see my good friends in this growing little beach town.
As things should go I got lucky and missed a miserable 12 hour bus ride to Quito that poor Aliye and Adam found themselves on. Instead I got a last (and sweet) taste of the beach and surfing. The night before Merry and Nick made it to Canoa, I met some nice local folks. When we met up the next day, this time three Americans instead of just one, they insisted on giving us the full tour, and driving us everywhere in their car. Canoa has two main streets and is about four blocks wide, so the driving turned out to be more of a hassel, but the sentiment was nice.
The next days mainly consisted of breakfast surfing and cocktails, ending in a night bus back to Quito. The bus ride was slightly miserable, but I have had worse. Having not been able to get ahold of Adam for the last few days I decide to head to Latacunga anyways, hoping to run into him on the loop. Five minutes after checking into this super cool hostel in Latacunga Adam greets me, jaundiced and swaying, in the doorway of my dorm room. We both accidentally ended up in the same place, and good thing too. I guess Adam had been sick and sleeping for the last two days straight.
Original plans to hike the Quilotoa loop have been postponed, mostly due to lack of shoes and general health reasons. Adam and I headed to a clinic, he got some meds, and hopefully he will feel better soon. I have a sneaking suspicion Adam likes me bringing him tea and juice and crackers in bed, and if it weren´t for his yellow skin I would say he was faking. For me, I am enjoying connecting to the world a bit, drinking the unlimited coffee and tea at the hostel, and just the general cool weather of the mountains. As always, plans are changing quickly and I feel the pressure now more than ever as I pass my two-week mark.