Casa Bambu Quito

... stolen down here. 2 ideas actually.

#1 You might have heard about this idea from me awhile back. We need a device, you hook up a small tower to a computer with a USB cord. On the tower are little pods where microchips sit. When the microchips are in the tower connected to the computer, you log onto a central database and register the microchips with a website, giving the microchip a coordinate (lattitude and longitude ...

... without mosquitos and cockroaches. We have booked the Cotopaxi tour with Gulliver travel agency in the Mariscal District, recommended by fellow travellers. At first, we didn`t find the office, so we went to other agencies. These were all very expensive and couldn`t give us a clean explanation what we were going to do on this tour. We already gave up and were looking for a nice place to eat, when we found Gulliver traveller agency. The differences ...

... observation in different levels of involvement. F. ex. James Spradley in his article "Doing Participant Observation", he divides it into 5 levels, from nonparticipation to complete participation. However, here in Lumbisi during participant observation I’ve found that not only should I define my level of involvement, more importantly I should define what kind of participation I’m practicing. I’m here living with a local host family, working in projects for ...

... well-to-do locals out shopping and having a good time, particularly lots of families. We also saw lots of police and although we stood out as tourists, we didn’t feel worried about our safety at any point, despite many guidebooks saying that Quito is a dangerous city.

We reached Plaza Grande and saw the impressive Palacio del Gobierno (Government Palace), before heading to the enormous Basilica del Voto Nacional. A friendly custodian took us on a short tour of the church ...

... you´re bringing in plants, food, or the like. They did scan me with a thermal imaging machine to see if I had H1N1 though. Go figure...

From the aiport it was off to the hostal where Vanessa (my sister) was waiting. It was a smooth, and short ride, Quito airport is right in the town (when you land if you´re looking out the window it seems like you´re going to land on somone´s house!). Boy did I sleep well that night!!

Nice easy start to the day breakfast in the hostel. There is some minor maintenance to do to the bikes and then we head for the cable car, the Teleferiqo up the side of Volcan Pinchicha. It runs 2.5km to the 4100 metre (13500 ft) terminal at the top. After that you can walk up to the very top at 4700 metres a 4 km walk ...

... company´s office. We were getting conflicting instructions from several people. Eventually we did find the office (a hieous little kiosk containing a grumpy sarcastic woman) and went to buy our tickets. She told me that the bus was in fact at 8.45pm, not 45 minutes earlier as we had expected, and that it stopped at Puerto Lopez, about an hour away from Montañita, and not our destination itself. Fair enough, we thought, though as it was only just after 7pm it meant we had to sit about ...

... its texture and plain taste – apparently Julia who was the tour guide for both the free walking tour and this one, told us Ecuadorians do not like any other type of cheese. She bought her friends some from Europe and they hated the tastiness and the mould on the blue cheese!
We stopped next for a classically cheesy photo op – we were looking at a dormant volcano and a lake near it - but there was a boy in traditional dress next to a llama and though he couldn’t look ...

... take note! As for the game, Quito won 2 - 0. After that we jumped on the bus to our next destination - the cloud forest village of Mindo. There was one last thing to see on our way to Mindo - the monument marking the equator. After 112 days we were finally back in the Northern Hemisphere! Here are the pictures... http://www.flickr.com/photos/caroline_l ittle/sets/72157618130147003/ Next stop Mindo!

... to cars as cyclists take to the street for the bimonthly ciclopaseo. Cyclists ride all, or part of the route - from the airport, through the old town and into the southern parts of Quito. After the cyclists had ridden past, I smiled politely at a cowboy-looking guard that rode past on horseback. Before I knew it, as I crossed the road, he trotted back, lifted his hat to greet me and called me a "princesa bonita" (pretty princess). I laughed. He ...