Hotel Milan Cuenca

... we found a hotel from our guidebook to stay at and then went for a wander about the city to the beautiful Iglesia Santo Domingo, Parque Vicente Leon and the impressive government building. There wasn´t really a lot to do so we labelled some Galapagos photos and had an early dinner at a recommended restaurant, where we got chatting to some French Canadians for a while.<br><br>The next morning we set off on the 11am bus for Chugchilan, one of the towns on the Quilotoa Loop, a beautiful ...

... After lunch we walked along Avenido Gran Colombia towards the Plaza de San Sebastian. We passed yet another incredible church, Santa Domingo, which was open and we went inside to yet again be awed by the amazing decoration inside and the obvious adoration by locals. The streets along and running off in several directions were wonderful colorful and colonial buildings and colonial buildings. Uenca was quickly becoming my favourite among the cities we have visited in south ...

After finally deciding to drag ourselves away from the relaxing and rejuvenating town of Vilcabamba and 2 fairly painless bus rides later (anything is easy now compared to the border crossing transport) we made it into Cuenca early evening. We settled into our hostel and wandered around the city and found a great place to have dinner. <br><br>Cuenca is the 3rd largest city in Ecuador and wait for it, is again a UNESCO ...

... only had two tables to seat four people and a smaller two man table. A gentleman sitting alone at one of the four person tables made room for us.<br><br>The prices were reasonable, most dishes at $6 each, Jody has his usual Hamberguesa, Niamh a pasta vegetarian, Christie Ceviche, and I had a Lasagne. We were served by a young lad while his mother knocked up the food. The quality of the food was unexpectedly stunning, incredibly so. We paid $27, including the tip and went home to retire.

Nothing to exciting here just spent the better part of our three hours in Cuenca on the floor of the bus terminal waiting for all of the ticket sellers to open. It started out like a good idea we would catch an early bus in Vilcabamba and make it to Banos early on Monday morning. However being in such a laid back place in the mountains we were unaware of the transit strike that occured over night. As such we ...

... me in front of it).There is also a sulfur pool in the park that we visited. I stuck my feet in but did not get much further. The stench was really strong and it leaves this slimy film on your skin. We also went to a beach in the park, Los Frailes beach. It was absolutely beautiful and the water was warm.<br>The second day we met at 9 am for a tour to Isla de la Plata with about 13 other people. It is sometimes referred to as the "poor man´s galapagos". Because it is so expensive to go ...

... lineup of ecuadorians waiting to buy fresh camarones (shrimp), sea bass, tilipia and lobster tails. The river down below has the kids so excited because we brought fishing gear from home and have yet to use it in Ecuador. Apparently you can catch trout in the Tomebambe - as soon as the kids are better, you know what we´ll be doing!<br><br>Tomorrow will be a busy day. Ryan and I are spelling one another off to take spanish lessons at Amauta ...

... hats being made! The traditional Panama hats are pressed 5 times to retain their shape, the most expensive of which (retailing at $400 - apparently this place only sells 4 hats of this quality per year) can maintain its shape after being rolled up for 2 weeks. <br><br>After offering up a couple of prayers for the safe journey home of our Panama hats, we hit the road bound for Loja and then onto Vilcabamba.<br><br>

... ate a pizza and admired the view that we had all to ourselves, until Milli realised she left her red hoodie at Finn McCools. <br><br>Realising it 2:30am, I raced up the road to grab a taxi hoping to get back to the pub before it closed. That area of Quito is pretty dodgy at that time of night, and while I was waiting for a cab a guy came over and demanded money from me. I said no. He however, was quite adamant that he was getting my money, he pushed me, and I could ...

... descent down into the valley the town was stunningly beautiful. When we arrived, however, we found that it was in fact a mini ghetto. I was actually worried about drive-by shootings as mini gangs of teenagers roamed the streets; the police presence only seemed to heighten the intimidation!<br><br>An English speaking hostel owner started to advise us about the train in the following morning before shepherding us into his hostel... big mistake. The place ...