Into Ecuador....
Hello to you,
Lynn and I are both well and hope you are too. Did you like the photos I added yesterday? Most of them refer to the last travel report that I wrote but the "Devil's Nose" railway pictures are relevant to this report. So, if you haven't looked at them yet, then scroll down and take a look!
So, where are we now? Well, we are currently in the city of Quito, capital of Ecuador. It's been 3 weeks since we left Mancora in Northern Peru and so this is what we've been up to in that time and where we've been to on our way to Quito....
We had 2 more days left in Mancora and our beautiful beach-side hotel before we were due to press on with our trip and make our way north and into Ecuador. The day before we left Mancora Lynn lost her prescription sunglasses in the sea which means that in the space of about 10 days we'd both managed to lose our sunglasses. Rather careless of us, I know! So, now we both sport cheap sunglasses that cost us about 2 quid each from the market - non-prescription of course, so neither of us can see a thing anymore whether we wear them or not!
Incidentally, whilst in Mancora we worked out that we are about 500 quid over our budget so far for this trip and made a decision that we would try and recoup a bit of this over the next few weeks.
On our last night in Mancora we went to an Italian restaurant imaginatively called "Italian Restaurant" and then the next day we were off back down the coast of Peru to the city of Piura. The bus journey was marginally more comfortable than the one we arrived in Mancora on, but only just. It was a stiflingly hot day, we were sat on the sunny side of the bus, the air-conditioning didn't work and the horror movie with the volume on full blast nearly drove us insane but my seat wasn't broken this time and so that was a blessing atleast.
We only spent one night in Piura and that was one night too many. We stayed at the really cheap "Hostal Moon Night" and even at only 5 quid a night I can tell you that it is atleast 4 quid overpriced. Bright blue and stark as a prison cell, it was not a place I shall look back upon with fond memories. We actually had a private bathroom too, but if you can imagine a room twice the length of the toilet and just as wide with a shower and a sink in it too then you're quickly grasp that it was not the sort of place where you'd take the Sunday papers for a quiet moment on the throne. If you sat on the toilet (which had no seat by the way) then you had to brace your knees on the wall opposite just to fit in! At 09:30 the next morning we very nearly fell over each other in our haste to get out of this place and off to Ecuador.
It took 8 hours to get from Piura in northern Peru to Loja in southern Ecuador. The bus journey was pleasant, border formalities straight-forward. We had been told to expect no more than a 30-day visa when crossing at this border but we both emerged from the office with "90 days" written onto our visas so that was a nice surprise and saves us from a boring morning spent getting them renewed later on.
Loja: What can I say? Loja has to be the most boring place I have ever been to in my life. Imagine Swindon without any of the good bits. "But Swindon doesn't have any good bits" I hear you mutter. Well, all I can say is spend a couple of days in Loja and then tell me which you prefer. Imagine Swindon, Redditch or any other boring urban town. Now take out all the leisure places such as bars, clubs, sports centres, cinemas etc so there is nothing at all left except houses and shops. Make all the buildings run-down. Now change all the good shops you would normally visit for shops that sell out-of-date food, cheap plastic kids toys and shoes for a dollar a pair. Change all the nice restaurants for greasy cafe type fast-food outlets. Now try and spend 48 hours there and have fun!
My travel diary entry for Wednesday 2nd August, 2006 reads as follows:
"The highlight of my day in Loja was a visit to the laundrette to get my washing done. Says it all really."
My travel diary entry for the next day, Thursday 3rd August, 2006 reads as follows:
"Today was better than yesterday because I purchased my bus ticket out of here. We are heading to Cuenca, 5 hours to the north. I can't wait to be able to visit a restaurant again where if I buy a drink it doesn't come in a paper cup with a lid and a straw sticking out the top!"
We arrived at the city of Cuenca mid-afternoon on Friday 4th August and left on Monday 7th. In a budget-reducing exercise we excelled ourselves yet again with our choice of accommodation by checking into Hotel Pichincha and taking a private double room for 4 quid a night. Unfortunately we weren't the only occupants of this room whilst we were there. It's 22:00 and we're in bed...
"Lynn, are you feeling itchy?"
"Yeah, a bit. Why?"
"Cause I feel like a million creatures are crawling all over me."
Yep, we had bed-bugs? Fleas? Mites? I don't know what. What I do know is that we were sharing our bed with something. Or should I say some things and they were causing me to writhe about scratching every patch of skin I had. Too stubborn to check into better accommodation we spent that night and the 2 following nights sleeping fully dressed inside our silk sleeping bag liners with the pillows wrapped in towels and fleeces. I didn't suffer anymore thankfully but Lynn still had itchy bites all up her arms and legs as a result. Still, at 4 quid a night we were recouping some of our overspending in Peru so it was all for a good cause!
We left Cuenca on Monday 7th August and headed 6 hours north to the town of Riobamba. We checked into "Hotel Tren Dorado" which at 12 quid a night we hoped was going to be a bit better than the last place. Thankfully it was a million times better and we had 3 thoroughly plaesant nights there.
The main reason we, and most other tourists, stop off in Riobamba is to take a trip on the "Devil's Nose" railway. We bought our tickets on Monday soon after arrving and at 06:00 the following morning we're walking through the gates to the railway station to grab our places on the train.
A short history lesson: The "Devil's Nose" Railway originally ran between Quito and Guayaquil (on the south-west coast) and construction started in 1899. It was dubbed "The Most Difficult Railwayline In The World" due to the impossible terrain that the railway had to pass over and construction was finally completed 66 years later in 1965. The line starts in Quito at 2,850m (9,100ft) and finishes in Guayaquil at sea-level. On the way it passes over a high point of 3,600m (10,500ft) and also has to negotiate a near vertical cliff face called "The Devil's Nose" inwhich the only solution to getting up and down seemed to be by creating a series of 'switch-backs' carved out of the cliff face and allowing the train to zig-zag it's way backwards and forwards from top to bottom or vice versa. In 1998 the Pacific tropical storm "El Nino" destroyed much of the railway and lack of funding has prevented it from ever being rebuilt, however a section of the line from Riobamba to just after the "Devil's Nose" cliff face was not destroyed and so the train operates today, 3 times a week, on this section only and mainly takes tourists back and forth to experience this amazing feat of engineering.
So anyway, where was I? Oh yes, we arrived at the train station in Riobamba at 06:00 to find 8 carriages. The 2 at the back are traditional passenger carriages with seats and the other 6 are cargo wagons and any passengers wishing to travel on these have to climb the metal ladder at the end of each wagon and find a nice, comfortable spot on the corrugated tin roof. We wanted to travel on the roof like most others for the experience and also for the better views. The train leaves at 07:00 and places fill up quick hence our early arrival at 06:00. We managed to claim a good spot on the roof furthest from the locomotive which we were advised to do if we wanted to avoid getting covered in oil and diesel fumes. By 06:15 the wagons are filling up really quickly and by 06:30 they're all full. We leave at 07:00 all wrapped up to avoid the chill and slowly leave the town behind for the green hills beyond.
Within minutes of leaving Riobamba vendors are squeezing between seated bodies and making their way down the length of the train selling snacks and sweets and drinks. Amongst their wares are big bags of lollipops. "Para los ninos!" (For the kids!) we are told by one vendor. It soon becomes apparent which kids he is on about as we start to pass isolated shacks in the middle of nowhere. Scuffy kids peer out from doorways as the train trundles past. These families are so poor. The shacks that they live in we wouldn't even keep animals in back in England for fear of a visit from the RSPCA! Most have no electricity or running water and if it wasn't for the passing train I'm sure most of these kids wouldn't see another person outside their immediate families for years at a time. At the sight of the train and the waving gringos many of the kids venture out from the gloomy doorways and chase after us waving and smiling. I'd say atleast 75 percent of the food and drink bought from the vendors ends up in the grateful arms of these kids and it had to be the highlight of the trip for me to see these childrens faces light up as they catch a lollipop thrown from the train. Needless to say, Lynn and I bought a bag of lollipops - and thus also inadvertently doing our bit for Ecuador's future dentists I guess! Still, it was great fun and the kids loved it and so did the parent's actually as many of them would shout a "Gracias!" to anyone who threw something to them or their children.
After 5 hours on our now numb backsides on the roof of the wagon we pulled into the town of Alausi where a further 10 billion people tried to cram themselves inbetween the already squashed passengers on the roof. By the time we left Alausi we were so tightly wedged in that if a giant hand had plucked the train off the track, turned it upside-down and given it a good shake no one would have fallen off!
From Alausi it's a further 1 hour to the top of the "Devil's Nose" cliff face. 20 minutes later and we reach the bottom where we stop for about 20 minutes before going back the way we came, this time up the cliff and back to Alausi. At Alausi the train journey ends and everyone gets off their very tired arses and takes one of the many buses for a 2 hour journey back to Riobamba. That is everyone except Lynn and myself. We went down to the end of the station platform, up a small staircase, along a deserted corridor and into a small office at the end:
"What happens to the train now?" we enquire of the stationmaster inside.
"In about an hour it will return to Riobamba" we are told.
"Can we travel back to Riobamba by train if we want to?" I ask.
"Sure, if you want" replies the stationmaster a little perplexed as to why anyone should want to spend a further 6 hours sat on the roof of an uncomfortable train when they've already seen everything on the way here and they could be back in Riobamba by bus in a third of the time.
So, we purchased our return tickets, made our way back up the metal ladder and made ourselves "comfortable" on the now completely deserted roof of one of the wagons. By the time we left we had been joined by 4 other weirdos, masochists, train afficionados or whatever they were and eventually chugged into Riobamba station at about 18:30 in the evening. We were cold, filthy and my bum was so, so, so, so painful. I swear, I never thought I'd be able to sit down again without wincing but it was an incredible journey and going back on the train was worth the additional pain due to the incredible scenery we got to see for a second time.
The next day (Thursday 10th August) we catch a bus to Banos (pronounced Ban-yos) a couple of hours north-east of Riobamba. Banos is in one of the most volcanically volatile areas in the world and we wanted to get a glimpse of Tungarahua Volcano (8km from its crater to Banos town centre) which had erupted on July 14th. Banos was on a state of high alert when we arrived due to the fact that experts predict that Tungarahua could explode again at any moment. Yellow arrows had been painted down the streets showing people which way to run to safety in the event that lava should start to spew forth. It's mad! We checked into "Hotel Plantas y Blanco" which, if there was one, would definately win a prize for world's most stupid hotel name. Translated, it means "Plants And White Hotel". Basically, all the walls are painted white and the rooms are full of potted plants so that's where the name came from but if you ask me it's still the most stupid hotel name I've heard of even if it is apt.
Anyway, name aside, "Hotel Plantas y Blanco" is really nice. They have a naturally heated steam bath on the top floor so Lynn and I book ourlselves in for a deep cleanse on both the days we're there. On our last night in Banos we head up to a good viewpoint so that we can see Tungarahua Volcano but unfortunately there is too much cloud about and we can't see anything. We can hear the volcano though - huge thundercracks and rumbles as the volcano boils and bubbles 3 or 4 kilometres from where we stand. I ask the guide when was the last time he saw lava explode from the top of the volcano. He looks at his watch and says "4 hours ago!". I can't believe it! Why didn't I see or hear anything? I'm rather diappointed when we descend back to Banos and tomorrow we'll be leaving without even having had a glimpse of this gigantic volcano that's about to explode.
Saturday 12th, August and we head 4 hours north from Banos to Quito, the capital of Quito. A further note on Banos though before I move on to Quito: Last Wednesday Tungarahua erupted quite spectacularly and one person was killed and a further 60 people are still missing. Banos has now been evacuated and the roads have been blocked off and no traffic is permitted into the area.
So, onto Quito: We've been here a week now and in that time I have done a mountain bike ride down nearby Cotopaxi Volcano which at 5,897m is the tallest 'active' volcano in the world. We started at 4,600m up it though so it wasn't from the top which is covered in snow. We were about 200m below the snowline when we got on the bikes and raced down. Lynn didn't go, by the way. After her last experience cycling (or not cycling, I should say) down "The World's Most Dangerous Road" in Bolivia she decided to spend the day shopping in Quito instead! I won't go into any detail about the ride, it was good fun but nothing spectacular despite the location. The bikes weren't very good and they put the brakes on back-to-front so the front brake was on the left and the back brake on the right. As a result I decided not to use the brakes and thus preventing myself from pulling the wrong one and ending up in a ditch. Brakes are for girls anyway!!!
Last Friday (18th August) Lynn and I caught the bus to "Mitad del Mundo" (Middle of the earth) and site of the equator. We did the usual experiments to prove we were on the equator by watching water trickle down a plughole in clockwise and anticlockwise directions depending on whether we were north or south of the equator and then watching it go straight down when the bowl was placed directly on the equatorial line.
We've spent alot of time wandering around Quito and we've visited a few museums but otherwise there's not much more to add at the moment.
Tomorrow Lynn and I depart on an 8-day / 7-night trip to the Galapagos Islands. We spent quite a while debating on what standard and length of tour to book before deciding we may never get the chance to go again and consequently booking ourselves into First Class on a luxury yacht at a cost of about 1,000 pounds each for the week!
Yeah I know, the budget's shot to bits by this one but what the hell! I've been looking forward to visiting the Galapagos Islands since Day 1 of this trip and expect it to be the highlight of our year away. We've timed it so that we're there for my birthday too which I hoped we'd be able to do. So, sod the budget this is going to be the most amazing week yet with any luck and we can't wait to get on that plane tomorrow morning!
We get back to mainland Ecuador on August 28th. Have a good week! I hope it's as enjoyable as ours should be.... but I doubt it!
Bye for now,
Rich
Lynn and I are both well and hope you are too. Did you like the photos I added yesterday? Most of them refer to the last travel report that I wrote but the "Devil's Nose" railway pictures are relevant to this report. So, if you haven't looked at them yet, then scroll down and take a look!
So, where are we now? Well, we are currently in the city of Quito, capital of Ecuador. It's been 3 weeks since we left Mancora in Northern Peru and so this is what we've been up to in that time and where we've been to on our way to Quito....
We had 2 more days left in Mancora and our beautiful beach-side hotel before we were due to press on with our trip and make our way north and into Ecuador. The day before we left Mancora Lynn lost her prescription sunglasses in the sea which means that in the space of about 10 days we'd both managed to lose our sunglasses. Rather careless of us, I know! So, now we both sport cheap sunglasses that cost us about 2 quid each from the market - non-prescription of course, so neither of us can see a thing anymore whether we wear them or not!
Incidentally, whilst in Mancora we worked out that we are about 500 quid over our budget so far for this trip and made a decision that we would try and recoup a bit of this over the next few weeks.
On our last night in Mancora we went to an Italian restaurant imaginatively called "Italian Restaurant" and then the next day we were off back down the coast of Peru to the city of Piura. The bus journey was marginally more comfortable than the one we arrived in Mancora on, but only just. It was a stiflingly hot day, we were sat on the sunny side of the bus, the air-conditioning didn't work and the horror movie with the volume on full blast nearly drove us insane but my seat wasn't broken this time and so that was a blessing atleast.
We only spent one night in Piura and that was one night too many. We stayed at the really cheap "Hostal Moon Night" and even at only 5 quid a night I can tell you that it is atleast 4 quid overpriced. Bright blue and stark as a prison cell, it was not a place I shall look back upon with fond memories. We actually had a private bathroom too, but if you can imagine a room twice the length of the toilet and just as wide with a shower and a sink in it too then you're quickly grasp that it was not the sort of place where you'd take the Sunday papers for a quiet moment on the throne. If you sat on the toilet (which had no seat by the way) then you had to brace your knees on the wall opposite just to fit in! At 09:30 the next morning we very nearly fell over each other in our haste to get out of this place and off to Ecuador.
It took 8 hours to get from Piura in northern Peru to Loja in southern Ecuador. The bus journey was pleasant, border formalities straight-forward. We had been told to expect no more than a 30-day visa when crossing at this border but we both emerged from the office with "90 days" written onto our visas so that was a nice surprise and saves us from a boring morning spent getting them renewed later on.
Loja: What can I say? Loja has to be the most boring place I have ever been to in my life. Imagine Swindon without any of the good bits. "But Swindon doesn't have any good bits" I hear you mutter. Well, all I can say is spend a couple of days in Loja and then tell me which you prefer. Imagine Swindon, Redditch or any other boring urban town. Now take out all the leisure places such as bars, clubs, sports centres, cinemas etc so there is nothing at all left except houses and shops. Make all the buildings run-down. Now change all the good shops you would normally visit for shops that sell out-of-date food, cheap plastic kids toys and shoes for a dollar a pair. Change all the nice restaurants for greasy cafe type fast-food outlets. Now try and spend 48 hours there and have fun!
My travel diary entry for Wednesday 2nd August, 2006 reads as follows:
"The highlight of my day in Loja was a visit to the laundrette to get my washing done. Says it all really."
My travel diary entry for the next day, Thursday 3rd August, 2006 reads as follows:
"Today was better than yesterday because I purchased my bus ticket out of here. We are heading to Cuenca, 5 hours to the north. I can't wait to be able to visit a restaurant again where if I buy a drink it doesn't come in a paper cup with a lid and a straw sticking out the top!"
We arrived at the city of Cuenca mid-afternoon on Friday 4th August and left on Monday 7th. In a budget-reducing exercise we excelled ourselves yet again with our choice of accommodation by checking into Hotel Pichincha and taking a private double room for 4 quid a night. Unfortunately we weren't the only occupants of this room whilst we were there. It's 22:00 and we're in bed...
"Lynn, are you feeling itchy?"
"Yeah, a bit. Why?"
"Cause I feel like a million creatures are crawling all over me."
Yep, we had bed-bugs? Fleas? Mites? I don't know what. What I do know is that we were sharing our bed with something. Or should I say some things and they were causing me to writhe about scratching every patch of skin I had. Too stubborn to check into better accommodation we spent that night and the 2 following nights sleeping fully dressed inside our silk sleeping bag liners with the pillows wrapped in towels and fleeces. I didn't suffer anymore thankfully but Lynn still had itchy bites all up her arms and legs as a result. Still, at 4 quid a night we were recouping some of our overspending in Peru so it was all for a good cause!
We left Cuenca on Monday 7th August and headed 6 hours north to the town of Riobamba. We checked into "Hotel Tren Dorado" which at 12 quid a night we hoped was going to be a bit better than the last place. Thankfully it was a million times better and we had 3 thoroughly plaesant nights there.
The main reason we, and most other tourists, stop off in Riobamba is to take a trip on the "Devil's Nose" railway. We bought our tickets on Monday soon after arrving and at 06:00 the following morning we're walking through the gates to the railway station to grab our places on the train.
A short history lesson: The "Devil's Nose" Railway originally ran between Quito and Guayaquil (on the south-west coast) and construction started in 1899. It was dubbed "The Most Difficult Railwayline In The World" due to the impossible terrain that the railway had to pass over and construction was finally completed 66 years later in 1965. The line starts in Quito at 2,850m (9,100ft) and finishes in Guayaquil at sea-level. On the way it passes over a high point of 3,600m (10,500ft) and also has to negotiate a near vertical cliff face called "The Devil's Nose" inwhich the only solution to getting up and down seemed to be by creating a series of 'switch-backs' carved out of the cliff face and allowing the train to zig-zag it's way backwards and forwards from top to bottom or vice versa. In 1998 the Pacific tropical storm "El Nino" destroyed much of the railway and lack of funding has prevented it from ever being rebuilt, however a section of the line from Riobamba to just after the "Devil's Nose" cliff face was not destroyed and so the train operates today, 3 times a week, on this section only and mainly takes tourists back and forth to experience this amazing feat of engineering.
So anyway, where was I? Oh yes, we arrived at the train station in Riobamba at 06:00 to find 8 carriages. The 2 at the back are traditional passenger carriages with seats and the other 6 are cargo wagons and any passengers wishing to travel on these have to climb the metal ladder at the end of each wagon and find a nice, comfortable spot on the corrugated tin roof. We wanted to travel on the roof like most others for the experience and also for the better views. The train leaves at 07:00 and places fill up quick hence our early arrival at 06:00. We managed to claim a good spot on the roof furthest from the locomotive which we were advised to do if we wanted to avoid getting covered in oil and diesel fumes. By 06:15 the wagons are filling up really quickly and by 06:30 they're all full. We leave at 07:00 all wrapped up to avoid the chill and slowly leave the town behind for the green hills beyond.
Within minutes of leaving Riobamba vendors are squeezing between seated bodies and making their way down the length of the train selling snacks and sweets and drinks. Amongst their wares are big bags of lollipops. "Para los ninos!" (For the kids!) we are told by one vendor. It soon becomes apparent which kids he is on about as we start to pass isolated shacks in the middle of nowhere. Scuffy kids peer out from doorways as the train trundles past. These families are so poor. The shacks that they live in we wouldn't even keep animals in back in England for fear of a visit from the RSPCA! Most have no electricity or running water and if it wasn't for the passing train I'm sure most of these kids wouldn't see another person outside their immediate families for years at a time. At the sight of the train and the waving gringos many of the kids venture out from the gloomy doorways and chase after us waving and smiling. I'd say atleast 75 percent of the food and drink bought from the vendors ends up in the grateful arms of these kids and it had to be the highlight of the trip for me to see these childrens faces light up as they catch a lollipop thrown from the train. Needless to say, Lynn and I bought a bag of lollipops - and thus also inadvertently doing our bit for Ecuador's future dentists I guess! Still, it was great fun and the kids loved it and so did the parent's actually as many of them would shout a "Gracias!" to anyone who threw something to them or their children.
After 5 hours on our now numb backsides on the roof of the wagon we pulled into the town of Alausi where a further 10 billion people tried to cram themselves inbetween the already squashed passengers on the roof. By the time we left Alausi we were so tightly wedged in that if a giant hand had plucked the train off the track, turned it upside-down and given it a good shake no one would have fallen off!
From Alausi it's a further 1 hour to the top of the "Devil's Nose" cliff face. 20 minutes later and we reach the bottom where we stop for about 20 minutes before going back the way we came, this time up the cliff and back to Alausi. At Alausi the train journey ends and everyone gets off their very tired arses and takes one of the many buses for a 2 hour journey back to Riobamba. That is everyone except Lynn and myself. We went down to the end of the station platform, up a small staircase, along a deserted corridor and into a small office at the end:
"What happens to the train now?" we enquire of the stationmaster inside.
"In about an hour it will return to Riobamba" we are told.
"Can we travel back to Riobamba by train if we want to?" I ask.
"Sure, if you want" replies the stationmaster a little perplexed as to why anyone should want to spend a further 6 hours sat on the roof of an uncomfortable train when they've already seen everything on the way here and they could be back in Riobamba by bus in a third of the time.
So, we purchased our return tickets, made our way back up the metal ladder and made ourselves "comfortable" on the now completely deserted roof of one of the wagons. By the time we left we had been joined by 4 other weirdos, masochists, train afficionados or whatever they were and eventually chugged into Riobamba station at about 18:30 in the evening. We were cold, filthy and my bum was so, so, so, so painful. I swear, I never thought I'd be able to sit down again without wincing but it was an incredible journey and going back on the train was worth the additional pain due to the incredible scenery we got to see for a second time.
The next day (Thursday 10th August) we catch a bus to Banos (pronounced Ban-yos) a couple of hours north-east of Riobamba. Banos is in one of the most volcanically volatile areas in the world and we wanted to get a glimpse of Tungarahua Volcano (8km from its crater to Banos town centre) which had erupted on July 14th. Banos was on a state of high alert when we arrived due to the fact that experts predict that Tungarahua could explode again at any moment. Yellow arrows had been painted down the streets showing people which way to run to safety in the event that lava should start to spew forth. It's mad! We checked into "Hotel Plantas y Blanco" which, if there was one, would definately win a prize for world's most stupid hotel name. Translated, it means "Plants And White Hotel". Basically, all the walls are painted white and the rooms are full of potted plants so that's where the name came from but if you ask me it's still the most stupid hotel name I've heard of even if it is apt.
Anyway, name aside, "Hotel Plantas y Blanco" is really nice. They have a naturally heated steam bath on the top floor so Lynn and I book ourlselves in for a deep cleanse on both the days we're there. On our last night in Banos we head up to a good viewpoint so that we can see Tungarahua Volcano but unfortunately there is too much cloud about and we can't see anything. We can hear the volcano though - huge thundercracks and rumbles as the volcano boils and bubbles 3 or 4 kilometres from where we stand. I ask the guide when was the last time he saw lava explode from the top of the volcano. He looks at his watch and says "4 hours ago!". I can't believe it! Why didn't I see or hear anything? I'm rather diappointed when we descend back to Banos and tomorrow we'll be leaving without even having had a glimpse of this gigantic volcano that's about to explode.
Saturday 12th, August and we head 4 hours north from Banos to Quito, the capital of Quito. A further note on Banos though before I move on to Quito: Last Wednesday Tungarahua erupted quite spectacularly and one person was killed and a further 60 people are still missing. Banos has now been evacuated and the roads have been blocked off and no traffic is permitted into the area.
So, onto Quito: We've been here a week now and in that time I have done a mountain bike ride down nearby Cotopaxi Volcano which at 5,897m is the tallest 'active' volcano in the world. We started at 4,600m up it though so it wasn't from the top which is covered in snow. We were about 200m below the snowline when we got on the bikes and raced down. Lynn didn't go, by the way. After her last experience cycling (or not cycling, I should say) down "The World's Most Dangerous Road" in Bolivia she decided to spend the day shopping in Quito instead! I won't go into any detail about the ride, it was good fun but nothing spectacular despite the location. The bikes weren't very good and they put the brakes on back-to-front so the front brake was on the left and the back brake on the right. As a result I decided not to use the brakes and thus preventing myself from pulling the wrong one and ending up in a ditch. Brakes are for girls anyway!!!
Last Friday (18th August) Lynn and I caught the bus to "Mitad del Mundo" (Middle of the earth) and site of the equator. We did the usual experiments to prove we were on the equator by watching water trickle down a plughole in clockwise and anticlockwise directions depending on whether we were north or south of the equator and then watching it go straight down when the bowl was placed directly on the equatorial line.
We've spent alot of time wandering around Quito and we've visited a few museums but otherwise there's not much more to add at the moment.
Tomorrow Lynn and I depart on an 8-day / 7-night trip to the Galapagos Islands. We spent quite a while debating on what standard and length of tour to book before deciding we may never get the chance to go again and consequently booking ourselves into First Class on a luxury yacht at a cost of about 1,000 pounds each for the week!
Yeah I know, the budget's shot to bits by this one but what the hell! I've been looking forward to visiting the Galapagos Islands since Day 1 of this trip and expect it to be the highlight of our year away. We've timed it so that we're there for my birthday too which I hoped we'd be able to do. So, sod the budget this is going to be the most amazing week yet with any luck and we can't wait to get on that plane tomorrow morning!
We get back to mainland Ecuador on August 28th. Have a good week! I hope it's as enjoyable as ours should be.... but I doubt it!
Bye for now,
Rich
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