a.k.a. "Thieving pricks stole my backpack"

We had to relax, didn't we? We're currently in Cuenca, in Southern Ecuador, which is a lovely city with green squares, fantastic old architecture and an uncommon lack of stray dogs roaming around. Perhaps this is why I put my backpack on the floor under my desk, rather than chaining it to my ankle and swallowing the key like I usually do...

We'd just written an email exclaiming how we'd had no problems with crime at all so far. I figured our luck couldn't last for ever, but I thought it might last longer than an hour...

While sitting in one of the million internet cafés, a clean cut looking businessman asked me if the newspaper on the counter was mine, (or words to that effect). In the time it had taken me to translate this in my head and say 'no' (admittedly, at my current rate of translation, this gave him a window of around a day and a half), his accomplice (who I never even laid eyes on) walked out with my daypack, containing my jacket, sketchbook, lots of other toys and - worst of all - my camera case.

I didn't realise what was going on at the time - in fact, I didn't realise until half an hour or so afterwards.

So, over the past few days we've visited our first Ecuadorian police station (exactly as expected), every camera and outdoor store in the city, and dealt with hopeless travel insurance peons. Travel insurance - is it not reasonable to assume that a company offering this service has procedures for people who are travelling?. "Just post us out the original police report and we'll get back to you in 10 days." Very helpful, thankyou.

On the brighter side, I should get a spanking new camera (Ironically, I was posting on the net about the dirty mirror in the camera while it was being nicked - an effective, if unconventional means of cleaning it) and lens first thing tomorrow morning. However, this is Ecuadorian 'first thing tomorrow morning' which means we should have it sometime next week. Another plus, we've had extra time to sample a good proportion of Cuenca's hundred-or-so icecream parlours. I think it's only appropriate to end this story with...

"...and then we all had icecream!"