San Andres Cuenca

... to stay on during the next big travelling adventure, where ever that may be...). <br>I´ll get to see lukas again in Geneva which will be very nice indeed, we can remind eachother of the good times - the dodgy generator, the jungle jeep, the termites...what fun!<br><br>We left Baños on Sunday morning headed for Cuenca where we were planning on spending a few days. We got there about 4pm and really struggled to find anywhere to stay due to the festival that was going on. We ...

... the train station and went out for dinner nearby. We wanted to catch the train down the famous Nariz del Diablo (Devil´s Nose) the next day but we soon found out it doesn´t go from Riobamba anymore so we had to catch the bus to Alausi the next morning, two hours away. When we got there we were told the train was full and there wasn´t another one until 5pm, but Nath and I couldn´t wait that long. (We have since discovered that you can´t sit on the roof anymore which was most of the ...

... as this was more a bus on trainrails than an expected train... The journey went through the Andes, via different small villages. We had the chance to have a closer look on the local people. It was a totally different kind of Ecuador than we have seen up until now in the cities, a different culture. Most of the people live on agriculture, Not the agriculture we know from now, but the one of 70 years ago. During the 3 hours lasting journey, we saw 1 machine and ...

... streets, colonial buildings and a small Inca ruin. There is also a beautiful cathedral and a large souvenir market. All of the above occupied our time and we managed to see them all in one day which was great!<br><br>It was also remarkably calm compared to our recent stops in Peru. Its a big place but people seem so calm and relaxed and there almost seems like there is nothing going on! Traffic goes ...

... with a wooden walkway. It was well built and consistent with the style at other sites. There was obviously good planning and investment here. When we first got to the top the lake was hidden behind a wall of mist but after a while this dispersed to reveal a lake about 500 metres in diameter with lush vegetation on the banks. There was a walkway around the rim which I followed a couple of hundred metres. From here I could just make out through the misty cloud the rugged coastline ...

... br><br>The journey was long and fairly uneventful. I met an English musician, Steve, at the border as we completed the formalities and we got chatting. Largely because I'd been starved of company I went against my better judgement and stayed in the Peruvian border town of Tumbes for one night instead of jumping straight on a night bus to the city of Chiclayo, where there were a few things I wanted to see and do. And that's where it all went so very wrong...

... stove, kitchen stuff and had 2 beds made&#8212;one of which already broke! We had a beautiful little dining table constructed with 4 chairs. I&#8217;ve cleaned both sides of the apartments. We are currently having the larger apartment painted (kitchen and cabinets). We&#8217;re putting a new roof on the 6 habitaciones in the back. Curtains are being made (after 2 trips to Loja to purchase fabric). We are planning a trip to Cuenca to purchase tile, as it&#8217;s ...

... The hostel, Casa del Barranco, was really attractive. We had paid the rather audacious price of $13.66 each per night, but it was definitely worth it. As we entered there was a sizeable central foyer with chairs and tables, and pastel coloured frescos and decorations on the walls. The owners I think were a mother and her two sons, all very friendly and helpful. We had booked a triple, but it wasn't free so they gave us a family room - a double bed on ...

... iglesias there, the parques and another art museum(some modern stuff i took pictures for you mom). lunch was great too, except eddie drank both our juices and proceeded to feel the after effects for about 3 days...no bueno.<br> cuenca was great though and we thought we could def live there for a while, it was so charming and tranquillo, pero there was a great nightlife as well. everything was lovely and then we left in the morning for loja.....

After the footie game, i had less than a week left in Ecuador. Under new (and contently revised) regulations there is little i could do to extend my tourist visa, and certainly not for free - and i didn´t really want to, it was time to move on.<br><br>Peru is the next one down on the list, and i decided to break up the journey in Cuenca in the South of Ecuador - a chic medium sized ´city´ with lots of colonial stuff, students and ...