A strange little town, that got stranger the longer we stayed. On the surface it is a nice little town, charming, set in the hills, a good place to stay and relax a few days. We got a room out of town in this little mini tourist resort of sorts with a pool and hot tubs and sauna.. way too posh for us normally but we got a deal because the dorms were all full. We wandered back into the main square and started noticing something... there were mostly gringos in all the shops and restuarants. And not just a few adults here and there, but whole families of expats running amok. Turns out, more and more people who visit Vilcabamba just decide to stay. Which makes for some tensions in town between the locals and ... read more

After only five hours on a bus from Quito, I threw in the towel and said forget Cuenca! I felt awful and it just didn't seem worth it to continue another 4 hours. We stopped in Riobamba and got a little hotel room right down the street from the bus station. And you know what? It was AWESOME! The room was the cleanest yet, and we laid around watching tv and eating chocolate icecream cake for dinner Oliver went out and got me for dinner. It felt like a mini vacation from our vacation, haha. Sometimes it is so nice to just forget the plan and do whatever you please. Hurray for Riobamba, hurray for chocolate cake!... read more

Hello hello hello! We are getting back on track with the updates after spending four glorious days in the jungle. We were both excited about the trip, but a little nervous. We expected it to be a hot couple of days, with lots of biting insects and the like, and overall we thought it wouldn't be the most relaxing part of the trip, but important to round out our view of Ecuador. Boy were we wrong! The weather was excellent, very hot in parts (the three hour jungle trek comes to mind) but never unbearable. and the bugs... there were more bugs in Quito than in the jungle! We began by taking a three hour bus trip from Lago Agrio to the Cuyabeno Reserve entrance. We got to meet up with our group, two wonderful ladies ... read more

Lago Agrio, the jumping off point for our jungle adventure. Also the site of the worst hostel yet. At only $5 a night, it was NOT a bargain. Can't wait to leave in the morning for our four days of roughing it.... read more

We got a wonderful hostel with a courtyard full of hammocks and flowers. There is even an outdoor fireplace to celebrate Oliver's birthday! The Saturday market was intense, so many beautiful things to buy, so little room in our packs. We went up to animal market, which is a much more local activity, and saw all sorts of creatures, from chickens and guinea pigs to kittens and giant hogs. They were in every sort of container imaginable. Some were horribly crowded and ill treated, while others were carried in their owners arms and looked to be fairly content. Very interesting indeed. I had a crazy time trying to prepare for Oliver's 27th birthday, and after sneaking things into the room behind his back, I finally hinted very strongly that he needed to take a shower already, ... read more

Buses buses and more buses. Also some trolleys thrown in, for good measure. Not stopping, heading straight to Otavalo to escape the big city. ... read more

What a relief after Puyo! The bus trip to Tena took half the time they quoted us, so we didn't even know we had arrived. We kept asking where the next bus to Tena was, and they kept telling us, "aqui, aqui". Lame tourists. We got a lovely hostel with air conditioning and then had a dousing rainstorm that we ran through to get some lunch. The gutters filled up and the streets were awash with water and we coudln't have been happier! White water rafting is on the agenda in the morning. Hurray for Tena!... read more