Barcelo Colon Miramar Spa & Casino Salinas

... some photos of town, ate tea and studied some spanish in my room before going to bed. Apart from the two other gringos on the bus, I didnt see any in town, probably not hard because i slept most of the day and only went out once, but still good to not see any yanks!

Saturday 26th September
Up at 5am due to the noise from the market. Music, animals and people going mental. I dont know why country people think its normal to be up this early, and to be making that much noise at ...

... and we were able to cycle in our T shirts some of the way, but when the wind blew, boy, was it cold. It was around the 42 kms mark that we finally reached the top, by which time it had just gone 3pm. We could see several roads from our vantage point and it looked as though we were going to be going up and up for a bloody long time, at which point I lost my sense of humour. Then we hit the downhill with headwinds like you wouldn't believe. At one point we were ...

... from all over the world

7. Super speed and agility at dodging cars on streets where pedestrians are considered dispensable

8. Built-in lung filters (I opened the windows one day, thinking I needed some fresh air; all I breathed in were car exhaust fumes)

9. A sixth sense for bad characters on the street and other places, because of the high quantity of ladrones in Quito

Okay, I'm obviously not a super hero, but I think I have learned something very important ...

We stayed in Guaranda for a few nights to access nearby Salinas and Volcan Chimborazo. Guaranda itself is nestled in a valley surrounded by trees including pines not infested by beetles (weird) and cultivated land. En route, you pass through some pretty high elevations and get to see very cool wild camelids, the vicuņas.

Our hotel itself was Skippy-size (who is actually pretty average in height in SA), and definitely not tall enough for me. It ...

I have to admit it. I had a bit of summit fever. Chimborazo was the only mountain left for us to climb and it was the one I had come down here for. Unlike Cotopaxi, Chimborazo is generally reserved for those with alpine experience. It is a big mountain and can be a very tough climb, even though it is not that difficult technically. While Cotopaxi sees favourable conditions and weather 80% of the time, on Chimborazo you can flip a coin to see what ...

... into our hotel for the night. We had to get up at 5 as the train was to leave at 7 and in order to get tickets we4 had to be there at least an hour before hand. We arrived there at 6 to be told that the train wasnt runnin that day but it would be on friday. So we had 2 days to kill before the next train we decided to hang around til the next day to get tickets for the train. We went to buy tickets the next day and were again told that the ...

... strong enough to hold us. Someone asked him to move the last time they were there because the ball was to weak to hold his 40,000 pound sailboat. Right behind the ball we chose were two other balls, one of which looked big enough to damage the boat, and the shore was only 100 yards away. If the mooring failed we would only have seconds to respond! Bill didnīt trust the mooring ball, so we slipped our bridle and motored away. I was just as happy to ...

... today. Even when there hasnīt been blue skies, itīs been warm and breezy and very refreshing! Today itīs sunny and beautiful and pretty hot. Another observation and recent change in Salinas is that there are stoplights now and the cars actually stop for the red lights! There are more paved roads also and Juan and I think the next step would be for the cars to stop at the crosswalks, but baby steps for now! I hope you can all ...

... operation and it doesnīt get any more hands on than here. The value of Ecuador as a travel destination canīt be overstated. Labor isnīt the only thing thatīs cheap here. Ecuador does use the dollar as itsī currency, but thatīs where the similarities end with U.S. pricing. Ecuador is cheap! Every time weīve gone out to a local restaurant, we are amazed at our bill. Appetizers, entrees, dessert and a bottle of wine may run you around $20. Weīve found ...

... of our time fighting off local hustlers trying to sell us everything from pot, booze, seadoos and hotel rooms. If it was the summer, the place would be much livelier and it probably would be more fun, but after a few hours of exploring we decided to continue on to Montanita without staying. The hotel prices were just too much for what you were getting.