Sorry for the belated update – but three days of nonsense in Quito, followed by a hurried departure for the Amazon jungle made it more difficult than it should have been. But here goes:
14 Oct – turned out pretty much how I expected. But this time, wearing suits. Which, of course, made us instant legends. Much drinking, much chatting to fellow travellers, much making of friends/fans. There are many many amusing anecdotes, but I’m not sure of which day most of them belong to, or whether or not they are appropriate for public consumption. I’m pretty sure it was the night of the 14th though that we went to a karaoke bar after our new local closed. Decent crowd of us. Including a very attractive Estonian girl who seemed to think that Kruse was very attractive also. I spent the first hour or so in the back of the pub chatting with the owner. Then, when forced outside – I discovered that a young english boy with us had turned 19 as of midnight. I explained this to the barman, and between us we came up with an appropriate drink. He didn’t make it past two sips. Poor boy. Then, when I got drunk and tired and frightened enough – I introduced the young boy to the Estonian girl, sneaked down the stairs – and caught a taxi home. Slept in Ben’s bed again. Top bunk just isn’t an option in Quito.
15 Oct – we tried to avoid the trap. But it is free rum & coke night at the hostel. And I believe there is a law here about passing on free alcohol. (Although, now that I think on it, I have broken that law several times recently) Anyway – as per yesterday – many amusing events. Not sure which is which. Karaoke bar was closed tonight, however, so we returned to the hostel…
16 Oct – …maybe 5am or so? And got out one of my bottles of whiskey. And a guitar. And a good old sing-a-long. Hostel sells food and drink 24 hours also. Alas, we’d forgotten the rule about drinking “outside” alcohol only in your room. We were in the lounge. Halfway through the bottle, it was confiscated. And fair enough – to be frank. I’d tried to keep the singing to a decent volume – but drunk Ben, and very drunk Irish Russ, and drunk Kruse… well sometimes they forget common sense when somebody starts playing a particularly good song. Then, Russ tried to stand up to talk to some chaps having breakfast. (Yes – it was that time by now) Russ wasn’t particularly good at standing up – and fell over the bar-type arrangement, and sent every single piece of furniture in the other room flying. Every single one. Very lucky that nothing was broken – but that was the final straw with the hostel staff. And again – fair enough. They stopped selling us beer. Even me – who’d tried to fix everything, and clean the mess, and sit Russ down. Even ME! So, we sat around, and managed to get other people to bring us beers. And as more people came to join us, things became more sedate. And Russ went to bed. So things quietened down, and the staff gradually became warmer towards us again. Even sold me a beer in the late afternoon. And helped us organise a trip to the jungle. Probably grinning the entire time – as it would include us leaving that night. Eventually, got one sorted – but the bus left at 11:30 pm. So, the only sensible option was to go to the pub for a pub quiz until that time. More drinking. Everybody very happy to see us – and insisting that we’ll be back after the trip. And, on time, Benjamin, myself, and a scottish girl got on a bus to Lago Agrio.
Was going to include the Amazon trip on this update, but it’s time to go to the bar. Again. But – only a little bit. And the plan is to escape tomorrow. At long last. There will be tears this afternoon in the bar.