Hotel Santa Ana Cuenca

... half an hour. Finally we reached the tip of the glacier at 5000 metres, probably the highest I will ever be unless I decide to climb Everest... what a view! We could see the whole valley below and it was an achievement to make it that far. It is possible to do overnight climbs to the summit, however it wasn´t remotely feasible for us given that we´d been at sea level less than two days before. Even people who have been at altitude for weeks can still suffer vomiting and headaches at ...

... met the artisan cutting coins in Banos, Christie and the children have shown a greater interest in all sorts of coins. We were there about half an hour before I persuaded them that we should go and see some more historical buildings. I think I have become obsessed with taking pictures of all the colonial buildings and churches wherever we go and there was one on a hill overlooking Cuenca I was keen to visit. El Turi was too far to walk so we caught a Taxi. I was keen to ...

... hike (due to the fact fog comes in about 4pm and you cant see bugger all).<br>The park was beautiful, sort of reminded me of Scotland. Lots of small lakes, ponds and streams, some boggy moors, rocky mountains and stunning scenary. Good to hike around in the mountains alone, plenty of time to think and relax. I dont know why, but since Colombia I cant really be bothered mixing with people in hostels. I guess you just go through phases ...

... from Santa Fe to San Cristobal when we were still scanning the ocean for Whales, up popped three unmistakable fins, &#8216;Dolphins&#8217; Christie shouted. Again, we watched as the fins disappeared under the surface, popping up again a short time later but very quickly the distance between us and them had increased and it was hard to see them.<br><br>We arrived in San Cristobal around 4pm. The harbor was full of boats, and there was a small beach near to where we were headed to dock ...

... bars drinking wine (Stomach sorted and I'm back in the game!)<br><br>One really interesting place we went to- of course ALL the churches we went in were very interesting too.. mostly- was the town museum. Lots of catholic relics and statues, of a massive variety of skill and material. Then the most interesting floor detailed the history and diversity of Ecadorian culture. Which in a country which contains coast, desert, jungle and volcanic mountains is as you'd ...

... nature has been treated poorly but that we agreed to treat it better in the future. The four of us had to face different directions with arms outstretched. Alfonso´s niece took burning incense and moved it along the outline of our bodies. The remainder of the tour was spent listening to music played by Alfonso and his grandchildren, dancing, and an attempt by me and the others to grind corn into flour for this tea mixture that we had before departing. <br>The third day in Cuenca Zac was ...

... last night and managed to find the liquid form instead. All in all, the costs were not bad and Ryan and I were highly satisfied with the medical care Abby received, with the exception of the lab tech who drew Abby´s blood - all I can say, is, send her back to school.<br><br>The weather here in Cuenca is cool - it feels like mid October in Edmonton, some mornings, and since the houses here don´t have heating, we wear a lot of layers ...

... production (or rather sale) of Panama hats, the white/cream woven broad brim hats with distinctive black band, favoured for sun protection by the workers on the Panama Canal - hence the name of course.<br><br>There were numerous hat shops though we were particular taken by one old gent who it seemed had been making these woven hats since the beginning of time - not the Panama hat variety but the narrow brim kind ...

... I organised for Jacqui the really cool Spanish teacher at Secret Garden to organise to make the potato and avocado soup which Milli so desperately loves, and I got some pan con queso (cheese bread) and some chocolate biscuits from the bakery down the road and we had an early birthday lunch for Milli with most of the staff, and Ambross (a guest who has been around so long he might as well have worked there).<br><br>That night of to Finn McCools for our farewell drinks ...

... called Ingapirca. Its highlight is the Incan ruin that lies a short distance above. I stayed for a couple days and explored the site, which has what is believed to be a solar observatory as its main feature. But for me the real highlight was the pair of llamas that are tied down with fairly long leashes on the premises. At first I thought they were free roaming llamas that chose these ruins as their home... but it took me but a few moments to realize ...