We were up with the alarm at 7am and before we knew it we had said goodbye to what had been our home for the past month and were hailing a taxi. After a little bartering between Neil and the taxi driver we hopped in and set off towards Quatumbe bus station.

Once at the bus station we were waved over by a friendly lady at the counter who wrote on the bus number as well as the platform number for us. Because we were early (Neil's prefered way to travel!) we headed back downstairs and got some breakfast. We each had 2 eggs, a cheese sandwich, a juice and a hot drink which was delicious and filling for the tidy sum of $3.50! Bargain!

After filling out tummies and emptying our bladders we ended up sat on our bags at the platform waiting for our bus, The bus turned up and we hopped on, bizarrely being shown to different seats to those that were on our tickets by someone who we didn't think worked for the bus complany but hey ho we had a seat each and that's all that mattered.

We enjoyed a beautiful 6 hour journed to Tena only interupted by the many local passengers getting on and off and the numerous hawkers trying to sell us everything and anything! At the toilet stop we bought some casava chips which were delicious.

When we arrived in Tena we got off the bus, collected our big bags and walked out of the bus station. We only realised we'd walked the wrong way when we asked a lady in a local cafe to help us. we walked up the hill towards our hostal as directed our bags feeling like lead as we were not used to carrying them after a month in one place! We found the hostal easily enough, were given a room and headed out to try and find the tour operator we'd booked our Amazon trip with but after walking around 4 blocks twice we came back to the hostal to check we had the correct address. The website and e-mails said we did so we assumed it must just be shut. The only problem with this was that we hadn't had a solid confirmation of an English translator or a time to meet at the office (if we could ever find the office!)

We were totally confused about what to do, so we did what we do best and went for some food while we mulled it over. We returned to the open air cafe where the lady had previously given us directions from and had a delicious kebab each, salad, casava and a drink for $3 for both of us! I couldnt believe how cheap it was.

We wandered around the homely town of Tena, having an ice cream along the way before returning to the hostal. Here we looked at a different guide book and found a different address for our tour operator. We have however decided to give up the ghost and head to Banos tomorrow to get an Amazon tour from there instead. Fingers crossed we can get a bus tomorrow!

We got up early and walked to the address we had for our tour operators, but as it was still closed we went to the bus station and got a ticket to Banos leaving in less than an hour! We rushed back to the hostal, packed our bags and got back to the waiting bus with 15 minutes to spare. Once on the bus I closed my eyes due to a terrible headache and looked forward to arriving in Banos!

Its great to be on the move again! xxx