Hotel El Meson De Las Flores Cotacachi Imbabura

... to see this after so long on the bus :(!!

It was hot, incredibly windy and really dusty which didnīt help my temperament. The landscape currently looks semi-arid - they are waiting desperately forsome rain season, which my guess is this wonīt be until a few more months??

Anyway, after a quick non-visit to the animal market we walked into town to where the real market was taking place and refreshed ourselves with some coconut juice from one of the ...

... ones. The mountains are steep and rocky, while the valleys are green and fertile. This is a major rose-growing region here, and the valleys and hillsides are dotted with white plastic covered greenhouses containing millions of roses which will be shipped all over the world. Land not given over to rose growing is dedicated to frutas y legumbres - fruits and vegetables of every sort imaginable, and then some. Mother Nature has imbued this entire part of Ecuador with ...

... and still only like $2 for a 2 and half hour trip. We got back to quito and caught the most ridiculous taxi, this guy had done it all up with stickers and flags and lights behind the fan grills and big bright lights on the roof and disco ball. I didnt get it, it was still a taxi... Anyway, back to Jeans and we hadnt eaten so we had to eat what was there, dinner of veges with 2 sides of veges, not my idea of dinner but i was so hungry i had to eat it. Then to bed.

... in bread, I liked the grapes but the other was a little odd. We went home to the village and had a shower then dinner with the family. They had two small children, Allison who was adopted and Seina, they were gorgeous, especially dressed in their traitional dress. Most women in the village dressed traditionally but only some of the men. Slept alright that night only was woken by the dogs barking.

... up at Kahyda's house for a movie and a great desert. Elizabeth, Diana, Juan Carlos, and Diana came over, and with Kahyda we all watched the movie and had a good evening. They all left just a bit ago, so here I am, writing a bit before going to sleep. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight for the long trip tomorrow. Anywho... with some luck, I should be updating my blog in Riobamba next... a new town, wow.. go figure... but I *will* be back to Guayaquil.

... town and from what I saw, it is. I got a taxi from the airport to a hostel at about 1230pm. There was a lot of craziness going on, and what appeared to be a lot of drunk driving or maybe Ecuadorians just suck at driving. The neighborhood where my hostel is is suppose to be a safer area of the city, but I didnīt think it looked all that safe. I ditched my bags and asked the receptionist if the bar across the street was ok for tourist. I donīt think she understood me well, but ...

... made a bee line for the highlands today. The bus station in Guayaquil is huge, but clean and well-organized, so we managed to get ourselves on the right bus. During the first hour we passed banana and cacao plantations, and scruffy little tropical towns and we stopped several times so that various vendors could come aboard and present items for sale (sliced pineapple, huge ...

... Quayanquil we were there. We perused the menu and decided on the "Doble Grill". We sure were surprised when a portable grill came out with 2 steaks, 2 huge pork chops, 6 sausages, and a foot of intestine...not exactly what we were expecting from the double grill... After Charis helped out a local family with a picture they bought us both desert! Great day. Tomorrow, the Galapagos!

... They were brightened even more when we stepped into an air conditioned mall, complete with supermarket and food court. It was like being back home. We've been here for 2 days now, and tomorrow I'm off to the Galapagos Islands. I'm really looking forward to 5 day of doing nothing but look at big turtles and sea lions. I can't wait. PS. I think my memory card has some kind of virus, so no photos until I manage to get it fixed!

... the next morning. The climb itself was probably the most physically demanding thing I have ever done in my life. About an hour what we had been told was to be a 6 hour ascent, I genuinely thought I was going to faint/vomit from exhaustion. It didnīt help that the first part of the walk was a steep hill (curious that, it being a volcano...) to be climbed in the pitch darkness. Day break was pretty amazing though as we gradually became aware of the amazing scenery we had ...