and then there were two...

Hola everyone!

As of about 6 days ago I have been lucky enough to join lovely Jill way down here in sunny Ecuador and it has been absolutely wonderfull!! My tour guide has been just suberb - we have managed to find our way to many very interesting and unique areas, have eaten great food (including fruits that neither of us know what to call) and caught a few very interesting rides along the way.

Late Saturday night I arrived to meet Jill at the airport without a hitch and we found our way to a lovely little cafe/hostel in the heart of Quito. After an excellent breakfast the next morning we were off to the Teleferico cable car that took us to the top of Mt. Pichincha which is just outside the city. There we enjoyed the view and the street food kebabs. We found our way down and into the old part of the city for a great meal on a rooftop patio surrounded by the city lights, churches and the sounds of the city.

After a visit with Jill´s host mom Martha on Monday it was off to Papa Gayo hostel located in the magnificent hills around 20 kms outside Quito. There we enjoyed the surroundings, went for a few walks, ate some wonderful food and headed out on a hike Tuesday morning to Mt. Pasechoa. With a group of eight other touristos we ascended this beautiful peak right to the top. The view was superb with Mt. Cotopaxi and several other grand mountains in the surrounding area. From there you could also see Quito in its entirety. Simply spectacular. After dinner and another evening at Papa Gayo we were off on an epic journey on Wednesday morning.

After a nice breakfast an a short walk out to the highway we managed to flag down a taxi who took us to  the bussling little town of Latacunga. We managed to catch an early lunch and a local bus headed to Quilotoa Laguna. For the next hour and a half we careened, swerved, honked and more or less raced through construction zones, around cows, dogs and children, and bumped our way to a little village and magnificent volcanic lake. Again, the only word I can think of to describe it is stunning. Needing to get back to Latacunga and on to Banos for the night, we headed out to the road leaving town at around 3 in search of a lift. Since the days busses had long left, we managed to catch a ride with a family in their small car for the 15 kms into the next largest town, Zumbahua. From there we hopped in the back of a little truck taxi to get to the main highway and managed to catch another Bus/Racecar back to Latacunga. As it turns out it was probably the worst day to travel in Ecuador as well since it was the begining of their national holiday celebrating ´the day of the dead´ so traffic was horrendous. Arriving in Latacunga after dark (around 7) we managed to find the highway where the Banos busses stop and jumped on (literally, the busses like to start moving while loading passengers for improved efficiency). Tired, bums a little sore and quite hungry - we arrived at our wonderful lodging in Banos at around 10. What a day!

So, today - after a long hike above the hills of Banos, we are surrounded by the sounds and smells of the Ecuadorian holidays. It has been absolutely wonderful. We have been blessed with superb weather, wonderful people and a little good luck. Jill has absoluetly impressed me with her keen guiding... you would never know she has only had 2 weeks of spanish lessons. She arranges our transport, barters for taxi fare, pays for everything and has just been the best travel partner a person could ever ask for. We are doing great and have been capturing may pictures to share and stories to tell when we get back.

Hope all is well at home!!

Love,

Ian and Jill