Hostal Chasqui Otavalo

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Having spent whole day travelling in the truck the next stop was Tena....white water rafting town. At this point I have a confession mum.....I found out before I started the tour that the tour that is 6 wks ahead of us and ends in Rio for new years encountered a little problem here. One of the ´guests´broke their ankle wwr, and was flown home, but I didn´t feel the need to let you know about this until I´d left and safely done the rafting. We´ve already ...

... a bridge, the bridge across a deep narrow gorge. The gorge probably close to a 100metres across. The spires of the church were almost level as you approached but then there were steps as you descended to the entrance. The walls of the pathway down to the church were consumed by small placards left there over many years by pilgrims who claim to have witnessed miracles here. There must have been a thousand or more.

There were plenty of pilgrims, and as we arrived they were ...

... by 4 or 5 regional bus companies. There are two large, connected concrete buildings there which house, on the outside but under cover, 10 or so almuerzo restaurants with outdoor tables, and artesania vendors. But the real treasures are to be found inside the buildings. One building is filled with stalls selling all the produce and fruits you could want, attended by local ladies, and occasionally gents, just waiting to make the best deal possible. The problem ...

... it, up hill. A little like going up to Ipiales, we felt we were never going to get there, it seemed to take ages to cover the last 5 kms. This is guinea pig eating country. All along the road are signs for Cuyes Asado, roasted guinea pig, or signs for the selling of guinea pigs, large and small, for eating or breeding. We looked after a guinea pig for a friend once and just like a dog, she would greet me in the morning with a quite loud 'wheeep ...

... my name and passport number, ignoring the feelings I had (perhaps I was overreacting, I thought). After filling out the paperwork and as we began heading upstairs, the man warned us, “No se puede cancelar (you can’t cancel).” Once we reached our room, Ania blurted, “I can’t picture myself sleeping here at night.” "Oh my goodness, I feel the same way too!” I said. “Okay, I think our mutual feelings tell us ...

... getting overcharged from the phone cabin lady. We got back part of our money (1 dollar) and moved on - weary about getting overcharged again.

The others were kind enough to wait for me and we headed out, no longer on the earliest of starts. We took pictures on the rooftop, and Danni parted ways. Aden and the three of us caught a twenty cent bus to Quiroga and caught a ride in the back of a pick up truck, and paid the two dollar park entry fee just outside of ...

We returned to Otavalo after our travels through Ecuador for a few days of R&R before heading up to Colombia. Our first day back dawned with drizzling skies, which put our plans for a morning horseback ride on hold. Luckily, the afternoon cleared up enough to allow us to mount up. The ride was very pleasant- about 2 hours through the hills above Otavalo. Since I was deemed the most "experienced" of the group (despite the fact that I haven´t ridden more than a ...

... packages home - it is incredible how much stuff you pick up after 3 & ˝ months living out of a back pack. We packed up our stuff and headed to the post office. We were shocked to find out that we actually had 16Kg to send home - to give you an idea how heavy this is, our back packs only weighed 15Kg each when we checked our baggage in at Heathrow! Not only were our back packs considerably lighter, our pockets were too! It was worth it though ...

... a nasty ear infection, perhaps exacerbated by the 3000m altitude. Rather than see a doctor, I decided to take advantage of the fact that chemists here dole out anti-biotics without a script. But after a few days, there was no improvement so off to the doctor I went.

While examining the bulge in my throat the kind hearted doctor gave me the biggest fright of my short life thus far:
"Es casi un tumor."

Stop.

Ever ...