Quito... again

After Cotapaxi it was time to have a few lazy days to recover, relax and watch as many World Cup games as possible!! For three weeks I had dashed around Ecuador and so I was really looking forward to some time out before I flew back to Colombia.

I had left a bag of washing with the hostel before my Cotapaxi expedition so was looking forward to once again having a backpack full of sweet-smelling clean clothes. Unfortunately when I got back to the hostel and went to pick them up, I was given some apologetic looks and the owners wife proceeded to explain that there had been an accident while washing my clothes. I soon discovered that half of the clothes I had given them had been returned to me covered in bleach marks...including some of my favourites!! It was so annoying as these clothes form most of my possessions for a whole year - north face, oakley, animal t-shirts etc... oh and a brand new disco shirt I had only bought recently in Colombia and worn only twice! Que Rabia !!

The expense was one thing but i was more annoyed about the hassle of being forced to spend time clothes shopping. I REALLY hate clothes shopping. Its even worse when you are in a strange land with unfamiliar shops and where the t-shirt fashion looks to me like someone has vomited down the front and the back! After a while I soon relaxed about the accident and treated it as a lesson learned and only to backpack in future with clothes that I wouldn't be too upset about if they got ruined. Worst things could have happened to me and also the hostel had offered to pay me compensation (although it was only after hours and hours of negotiation with the hostel owners would i actually see any of this compensation).

I already wasn't a fan of Quito (see previous posts) and this experience just compounded that. I felt very happy on the last morning leaving the hostel in a taxi bound for the airport and excited to be returning to Colombia.