Hey all,

just backtracking here. so will be a short entry. basically arrived in Quito after a lovely 40 hour flight including transit times with no sleep...i tried but it just wouldnt happen!...i managed to pin down some fellow English speakers from England that were on my plane and we shared a cab to our hostels..they got off before me and i continued on to the Old Town in Quito. On the way to the hostel we managed to pass a group of young guys being felt up by police against a wall. i thought this was a good thing to see within my first couple of hours of being in South America as it really put my mind at ease! hehe seeing as this was quite an attraction my cab driver decided to stop right in front and watch the whole ordeal for at least 5mins. just around the corner we finally found my hostel so got out with my bags to find that noone was there. so got back in the cab and went round the corner to another hostel..which was lovely. i got a single room to myself which was lovely and clean and it felt safe there. oh and they had hot showers...bonus. i met a guy in the common room who told me of a couple of muggings that had happened recently in the next street. so i was so scared i didnt want to go out for dinner...anyway i plucked up some courage and took myslef out there and had a lovely plate of rice and potatoes for dinner at the place just across the road. after we went for a walk up the street for a little look around. i chatted to the dude that worked at the hostel and he offered to take me to the bus stop in the morning which was fantastic cause that bus terminal is a jungle! he carried my bags and organised the tickets and even made sure was sitting on the right seat on the bus...lovely guy. thank god he helped me...when i was getting my ticket one of the men at the ticket booth thought it would be a good idea to stand about 3cm from my face and continue to stare at me for about 5mins! i looked around to see if anyone else thought this was strange but even my buddy from the hostel didnt look sideways...oh and i remembered reading in my trusty lonely planet that i shouldnt be suprised if people in the Andean cultures stare...so i sucked it up. anyway managed to make it to the next stop. THE JUNGLE.......