We returned to Quito for one last time. Our bus from the jungle got in very early, but the kind lady at the hostal let us into our room. I think she felt sorry for us sat outside waiting in the dark at 5am, reading our books by torchlight. We needed to finish them, so we could change them at the English Bookstore. The owner of this shop has a brother who lives in Silver End and he knows Braintree really well, so we had a long chat about Essex. 
Once we were stocked up on books and clean clothes, we headed for the bus station again and caught a night bus to Atacambes. This town is on the north-west coast of Ecuador and is well known for being a lively beach resort. However we were looking for peace and quiet, so we caught a bus straight to Playa Esconida (Hideaway Beach). Our limited Spanish let us down here and we took a very long time to go a very short distance, however some kind locals didn't give up on us and made sure we got to the beach.
The place is run by a Canadian lady who bought the land 20 years ago and she has built an environmentally friendly resort with huts and a campsite. We decided to go for the camping option which was beautiful apart from the sandflies. They thought we were very tasty and bit any skin not covered or sprayed with insect repellent! The restaurant food was delicious and caught fresh from the sea, but to help us save some money we decided to use the wood provided and cook our breakfast and lunch on an open fire. Mr Greenhead loves making fires, so he was in his element.
We spent a week here camping and relaxing. There were caves to explore, hammocks to lie reading in, the sea to swim in, board games to play and the local towns (Tonchigue and Sua) to walk to along the beach. The best part about the beach was when the tide was in it felt like you were on a desert island, cut off from the rest of the world. We met a mountain climber from Chile whilst we were here, who was practising one of his hobbies - slacklining. It is a bit like walking on a tightrope, but we were only 1 metre from the ground - hardwork but lots of fun. By the end of the week outdoors, we felt refreshed and ready for the long journey from Northern Ecuador to Southern Peru (several thousand miles).
Our journey started with us sitting on top of a cattle truck, that was being driven very fast. The buses then got increasingly more luxurious as we travelled from Tonchigue to Esmeraldas to Guayaquil to Lima to Cusco. The journey took 4 nights in total, with 3 spent in a bus and one in the Flying Dog Hostal, Lima. The best entertainment were the buskers from Tonchigue, the best bus station was Guayaquil (delicious sandwiches), the most films watched was on the bus to Lima (27 hour journey) and the comfiest seats were on the way to Cusco (leather, reclined 140 degrees). This journey involved us crossing the border back from Ecuador into Peru. They have built a brand new border crossing, but obviously run out of money and could only afford one member of staff. It took 2 hours for our bus to go through customs!
Finally we arrived in Cusco, Southern Peru. We hadn't booked a hostal but our taxi driver knew a good place near the centre of town. He was very kind, phoned ahead and got us a discount. Then when we arrived Mr Greenhead realised he had stayed here when he visited Peru 10 years ago - what are the chances of that! Cusco is at an altitude of 3400 metres above sea level, so it took me couple of days to get used to the thin air again. The jungle and beach are both at sea level, so it had been 3 weeks since we had been so high. We spent the time planning our next adventure - The Salkantay Trek and trip to Machu Picchu.
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