Beijing Royal Palace Apartment Ibarra

... in front of them (perhaps so they could sit next to us), What are their intentions? What if they are robbers? They’ve been glancing at us frequently. Oh man, why did I listen to them? Okay, God, I need your help here. Two men. Pretty strong-looking and sneaky too. Please protect us and give us wisdom.” Ania and I began devising plans about what to say to these men… Let’s say we are going to meet our husbands in Otavalo…let ...

... make the pilgrimage every day. The setting is very pretty and there are several viewpoints in the area for getting the best photo of the church. However, I was weighed down with my 15kg+ backpack and was also short on time so after about an hour I had to continue with my journey to Quito.<br><br>It was a largely unevevntful affair which included waiting around on the border, waiting for a taxi, waiting for another bus.... I got rid of my Colombian pesos at the border ...

... goodbye to people I've spent the last 6 months with. I've made some awesome friends and some will be moving to Melbourne for a few years so I'll get to see them again, and also when I travel the UK I'll see heaps of them there as well. And in a few days I'll be flying to Miami, partying it up with Shannon, going to Orlando, partying it up again with Shannon and a few people from my trip (it's Jay's birthday), and then partying it up in Vegas with Shannon. Hmmm, do you think we like to party?! - Hell yeah!

<br><br><br>Arriving in Quito is an experience as the city lies in a valley that itself is 3000m above sea level. Quito is flanked by huge mountains, leaving us in no doubt that we were in the Andes! In each direction the surrounding mountains loom over the city. Quito has a beautiful old colonial town which is dominated by La Basilica that overlooks the entire city. Dividing the north and south of the city is the statue of the Virgen de Quito perched high on a hill in between ...

so i started working today at Hospital Pablo Suarez. it is a free public hospital. i started work in the ER. there are two girls here from the U.S. unfortunately, it is their last week. lindsey is a college student that has been here since january. michelle is pa student from d.c. michelle actually came here when she was in college and spent 7 months in quito. she ended up meeting her husband here and they ...

... lifestyle shift is complete with a 7am bell clang announcing the start of 1.5hrs of yoga before brekkie. More often then not i roll over and savor the extra sleep, but every few days i do give it a shot - it´s pretty good actually :-)<br><br>So...how much longer here? No idea. Probably a week or so more, then it´ll be time to hit the beach, explore a bit more of Ecuador and then head back to see how things have moved on. And after that i really should get moving - Peru perhaps?

... the charming old part of town and climbing to the tippy top of the beautiful Basilica. This involved multiple stairways and a few rickety metal ladders, with the reward of a 360 view of the city and a bit of vertigo. Quito is a strange mix of old and new, with the fanciest "gringolandia" area we've seen yet and a very party vibe (which, a little spooked by robbery ...

... bus ride t* h** neighb*rh**d. We meet s*me *f h** friends and they pr*ceed t* sh*w me ar*und the m*untains. We hit a few t*wns, then t* an inactive v*lcan*. G*t really c*ld up th**e, ears p*pping, headache, wh*le thing. S*, *n the way back t* the bus st*p, h** friend sees a little pickup truck parked next t* s*me dudes h*use and we st*p th**e. He is angry, inspecting the truck, saying it was in an accident. I didn't kn*w exactly what was g*ing *n, didn't care ...

... interest and respect. And it`s not even that. It`s the woman who works in the cafe where we were having breakfast and a little girl walks in, one of many dirty faced children that wander the streets trying to sell chewing gum and lollies, and this woman just draws her away from us, talks to her and gives her a lolly. But she is one example. Maybe we were spoiled in Perucho at the farm when we got to meet all those wonderful people - it`s definitely the people ...

... all the jobs were being filled with foreign volunteers. He was in no position to offers his services for free. I took his details and sent him on his way with an inflated sense of hope that maybe, just maybe I knew someone in immigration to look the other way. I didn´t have the heart to tell him that things work so differently in Australia. He seemed so desperate. His wife was scared of Australians. "Look" he said, "there really nice"...... already preparing her for ...