‘A Hoard Of Men With Guns Came Into The Bar, Screaming At The Guys We Were Sitting With’

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By Orla Faughnan

A couple of years ago while travelling around South America, my friend and I ended up in Quito, Ecuador. On our first night in the city we ventured out to explore the local nightlife.

All the bars around the main tourist areas were expensive – particularly for us, being on the most shoestring of all backpacker budgets – so we ended up in a dive bar away down a dark alley.

In hindsight this was probably our first mistake!

So we came in, sat down and ordered a couple of beers, the bartender keeping his eye on us closely. After a while we were approached by one of a group of guys who were sitting at the table next to us, asking us to join them for a drink.

As they seemed harmless enough we sat down with them and started chatting. We didn't even think anything of the bartender coming over to the table and asking us if we were alright, nodding towards the guys we were sitting with.

I can safely say neither of us have ever run so fast in our lives

About an hour or so later there was a loud crash and a hoard of men with guns came streaming into the bar screaming at the guys we were sitting with. Before we had even a second to think about what was happening we saw the bartender pull a shotgun out from under the bar and hop over it.

He's shouting to us to run away as he pulls the shotgun on the guy nearest to him.

I can safely say neither of us have ever run so fast in our lives, we didn't stop until we were safely back in our hostel. We heard stories of a police raid the next day, but to be honest we have no idea what happened, only that we were lucky we got out in one piece!

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