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Our first stop in a new country and we stumbed across a big festival of the Virgin of the Cisne which meant the whole town was packed with Ecuadorian tourists and there was hardly any room at the inn for us little backpackers.
After scouring the streets for ages we ended up having to check into a four star hotel at a stinging $65 night. Ouch! But not so bad, we had a comfy bed, mini bar and cable TV, we even managed to persuade the management into giving us a discount on discovering there was no hot water...! Welcome to Ecuador!
Celebrated our new digs with a slap up meal of traditional super noodles and fried egg in a little bar followed by a cheeky bedtime beer and some excellent people watching in the plaza.
In the morning we ventured out to hit the parade and watched alongside hundreds of Ecuadorians as the statue of the virgin was carried around the square followed by a procession of people all chucking rose petals and chanting.
It was quite moving and really quite sombre, not quite the festival spirit we were expecting but interesting all the same. Afterwards we explored the town and sampled some of the local delicacies of Ecuador. Mouth drying delights include humitas, quimbolitos and empanadas de verde...all kind of corn based snacks that seemed to suck all the available moisture from your body. Parched...need agua!
In the evening we headed out to a bar but were too afraid to go past the blacked out windows so settled for a good few bottles of vino tinto in a local pizzeria before finding ourselves necking with the kids in a local student hangout.
Back on the bus by mid day on route to Ecuador's gem - the world heritage town of Cuenca....
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