... wait a second.

After our wonderful last beer in Cuenca we shoved off for Guyaquil this morning at 7:00 AM and arrived. A short taxi ride into the center of the city dropped us on the curb to begin the ever present search for someplace to stash our stuff for the night. One hotel was $30. Seriously.. we didn´t win that much at the Casinos. So we walked. And to my delight Jon ducked into one that starting at $10 a night was at $8 five min later. For a centralized place to stay for a night, I was okay with $8. I stayed out front as Jon checked on the room to see that it was to our liking. All the while I noticed the neighbor store owner with a smirk on his face. Not too irregular for folks looking at me while I´ve got my pack on and I´m standing around 4 other bags. Soon after he disappeared his buddy appeared and he too had a smirk. I just thought they were jerks and when Jon came back we went to the room.

The place smelled like bleach. There was no carpet. The beds are hard. There is a full length mirror in the room. The shower is only cold. The elevator holds just Jon and all our gear. The place smells like bleach again. There is a rotating fan on the ceiling. It´s hot. The sheets are really clean. There is always a guy cleaning rooms it seems. Funny, the room next door was occupied when we arrived and now it´s not. Funny, the room is occupied again. It smells like bleach again, the guy is cleaning. That room was just occupied.

On our way out we passed a couple who had just checked into the hotel. A nice looking older gentlemen and a younger, smiling woman, dressed for the dance. He was eager to get to the room - perhaps he wanted to get out and see the city as soon as possible.

Jon and I returned to the hotel to drop some stuff and noticed our new neighbors had already checked out. I guess they didn´t like the accommodations. Perhaps they weren´t in Guyaquil for that long. Perhaps.... wait a second. What Kind Of HOTEL IS THIS!!!

People laugh, I laugh, every time we walk in and out. Two young American men, proudly, energetically, ducking into the Hotel Liberadador, the Guyaquil version of Notel-Motel.