Guesthouse El Lago Imbabura

... three rooms at the side of their house, and a back room where they served us food. And bathrooms with the best showers ever - the best I´ve had for 2 weeks anyway as I could actually acquire both hot water and enough water to wash with at the same time! Dinner was a feast of traditional foods straight from the backyard (not the Cuy yet) and afterwards two local men came by to show us a traditional celebratory dance - done at weddings, fiestas, all types of ...

... crop here, as well as every manner of vegetable. It's amazing to see the fields laid out on the mountains, usually at a 45 degree angle. Of course farming here is done the old-fashioned way - by hand and foot - without benefit of the farm machinery we're accustomed to seeing in the States. It's also organic farming - no one uses chemicals to control weeds or pests. As a result, we get organic fruits and vegetables at an amazingly cheap price.<br><br>Speaking of fruits ...

... wheeep'. How bad would that be, just about to bludgeon (or whatever they do to guinea pigs to kill them) one to death and it looks up at you and starts 'wheeep, wheeep, wheeep' ing, never say never, but ............... We've also seen our first herd (pack, group?) of Alpacas, but actually they were in Colombia on the way up to Ipiales, I just forgot to mention them before. As we got closer to otavalo we saw more and more Indians wearing their ...

... especially when there are mudslides that wash out the road). However, instead of muddy pits along the way, now everything is covered in a thin layer of dust, it´s that dry. the wind stirs it up and I found that if you take a camioneta (riding in the back of a truck) it helps to hold a cloth over your mouth and nose (and eyes for that matter, although then you miss the spectacular view). And I might add, that it is one of the best views I´ve ever seen ...

... of the street intersections, he took us there, to the outskirts of the town. We entered Hostal Ecuador, but were surprised to find no one at the front desk. Should we ring a bell? I thought, but realized there was none. After about a minute and a half, a man abruptly appeared from another room. The man did not smile, had an expressionless face, and a cold presence about him. I indicated that we needed a place to stay for the night, and suggested that we ...

... the Ecuadorian lady suggested a bunch of things for us to see and do during our time in Ecuador. She also showed us where her sister lived in town, and where her mom lived, and showed us where it was in relation to the town church so we could find her mom&#8217;s house on our own. She told us that if we needed anything, or had any problems with anything, we could go to her mom&#8217;s or sister&#8217;s houses and that they would help us with whatever. <br><br>Latinos ...

took the bus to ot*v*lo tod*y, * city th*t h*s *n enormo *rtis*n m*rket on s******y. on thursd*y however there is n*d* to do. seriously the streets *re empty. EMPTY!! *nd the pl*ce we´re st*ying in, our room is seriously 5 ft x 5 ft *nd h*s gr*fitti on the w*lls (only * little bit) *nd the w*lls *re dingy. i me*n it´s in * secure *re* (don´t worry mum) but the pl*ce is * hole. we *re only st*ying ...

... wares - the women resplendent in there black skirts, beautifully embroidered blouses, huge gold chains &amp; strange folded cloth hats, the men in white ¾ length trousers, poncho, ponytailed hair &amp; felt hat! It was a fantastic sight! The market sold everything from traditional local paintings to happy pants for the travelling crusties - we had a great morning and it was well worth the visit! After buying a few bits and bobs it was time to send ...

... winkel met televisies en daar werden samenvattingen van het Nederlandse voetbal van vandaag en gisteren getoond. Grappig! En nu nog snel even naar de supermarkt en een taxi scoren terug naar het hotel. O ja, ik heb bij het verhaaltje over Quito en de jungle een paar fotootjes toegevoegd. --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- --------------- Yesterday and today I spend the night in a kind of fairy ...

... took us through San Pablo to an equator marker which was surprisingly cool. It was a massive sundial with a 30 foot cylinder in the middle to catch the noon light. This was not the big monument you see in the media, because we were on a less traveled road. But it was staffed by a volunteer who was deeply passionate about the equator. We bought a world map from him that shows the world the "right" way; East on top ...