Solo Gringo

The plane out of the Galapagos finally left at 4:15pm. It was scheduled to leave at noon. The mainland is one hour ahead, so I got to Guayaquil at 7pm. My original plan today was to head back to the main island in the Galapagos, do laundry, maybe go see some giant tortises in the wild, and have a beer and watch futbol. But after being told I could switch my flight and be in Guayaquil by 2pm, I figured I would just come here and spend the day site-seeing and doing laundry at half the cost.

And then I arrived at 7pm. I didn`t really know what to do once I arrived, so I quickly found a quiet spot in the airport and flipped through my Lonely Planet guide to find a hostal that was near a laundry and a cyber cafe, and maybe near something nifty. Thing is, most tourists skip Guayaquil. And after arriving at my hostal and then walking down the main strip for 30 minutes, I see why. It`s just a big, dirty city. There is nothing unique about it. At least not at 8pm on a Sunday night. I did not see one gringo on my stroll down the avenue and almost everything was closed. Except this one cyber cafe, several ice cream shops, and a KFC. And so here I type. Back in my room sits a large pile of dirty clothes, because the laundry closed at 5pm. Tomorrow I plan to hit the laundry early, then maybe walk around and see if the city looks any better during the day. At some point I will hit the bus station to see if I can get a bus to Cuenca late tomorrow afternoon. That city has much more promise. And my travel buddy from Quito said she would meet me there. It has to be a step up from Guayaquil.