Well its taken 7 weeks to complete but here is the last blog!! It covers the last stop on the RTW tour Rio together with some statistics, summary of some of my favourite places and also a few pictures of London and that infamous Greek Island of Symi which was really the revised last stop! Rio De Janeriro has got to be one of the most stylish and stunning cities i visited. The beaches must be the longest in the world with soft golden sand, the weather was glorious every day (August is their winter!!) and there are plenty of sights, [View Full Entry]

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The Rough guide rated Banos highly and although I wanted to spend a good few days there a day trip from Quito worked out really well and we had a great time in the town and seeing all the waterfalls. Baños lies four hours from the capital city of Quito; it is a peaceful little city on the slopes of Tungurahua Volcano at 1,820 meters above sea level. This Andean village is surrounded by snowcapped volcanoes and has wonderful thermal springs. The impressive snowcapped volcanic peaks that surround Baños are four in number: TUNGURAHUA (5,061m), CHIMBORAZO (6,310m), ALTAR (5,320m) and CARIHUAI [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone here is the Amazon jungle blog. Make the most of them there are only two more to go!!! I´d been wanting to visit the Amazon since landing in Latin American having heard so much about it. The jungle and Banos were the last two visits in Ecuador and it would have meant having seen everything on the list and spending two months in the country!! Previously the most time I´d spent in one country was Oz and that was five weeks. After putting back my flights to Rio by 2 weeks I set about trying to pick a lodge [View Full Entry]

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Otavalo is a must on a Saturday. The street stalls and the main market are a special sight and its one of Ecuadors top attractions and the biggest market in Latin America. For many years indigenas from all the surrounding villages bring their crafts and produce from the hills for a fun packed day of bartering. You can find anything from food to weaving products, musical instruments, ceramics, clothing, carvings and souvenirs. It was a very successful days shopping and I managed to pick up a jade statue, a great indigenas picture and other bits and pieces. The bartering is good [View Full Entry]

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Cayambe is located on the Panamerican highway and is famous for its Volcano Cayambe, cheese bizcochos ( buttery biscuits that are lovely), famous fiestas and Ecuador´s flower industry. We visited a few of Mety´s flower plantations which was fascinating. Flowers including roses are Ecuadors 4th biggest exports and it was interesting to see how the plants are cultivated and packaged for export. In the centre of town is the leafy Parque Central, lots of biscuit factories and a market. After we drove to Lago de San Pablo which is a stunning lake with views of Volcan Imbabura. [View Full Entry]

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The return from Atacames to Quito was a long and uncomfortable 6 hour bus journey with techno music pumping out the whole way however luckily I had my trusty I-Pod and managed to get some sleep. There is something about bus journey´s in Ecuador they seem to go on for ever...... I checked back into the Cayman hotel where I´d stayed before way back in June on my first arrival in Quito. Fortunately there were still quite a few sights I hadn´t seen and I was looking forward to getting back to familiar surroundings and checking out some new places. After [View Full Entry]

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After the whistlestop tour of South Ecuador I was back on the road on my own and I decided to head to the coast for some R&R as I hadn´t had a good long lazy beach session since Australia. I booked my ticket with Trans Esmeraldes ( USD 8 for a 6 hour bus journey) which left at 6.45am the next day. The plan was to head to Tonsupa first following a recommendation and maybe Atacames after depending on how everything was going. For Tonsupa the only hotel in the guide book was the Playa del Sol which had a good [View Full Entry]

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After having seen the Galapagos Islands I thought there wouldn´t be anything else in Ecuador that would amaze me as much however Latacunga and the trip to Laguna Quilotoa was certainly on a par in its own way and one of the best experiences in Ecuador. Latacunga is a lovely little town with cobbled streets and fab HRB´s. The cathedral lights up a brilliant blue at night and the place has a very cheerful feel about it. The trip to Laguna Quilotoa ( booked with Volcan tours) via stops at Pujili ( for the market) and Zumbahua was one of the [View Full Entry]

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The bus from Cuenca dropped us off on the highway overlooking Asuasi and after feeling lost for a few minutes we trudged down the hillside to try and find the hostal Europa that we were booked into. Alausi is a small town with its fair share of gringo visitors as the Devils nose train ride was running from here instead of Riobamba due to a mudslide or something! There was a great Chineese restuarant next to the hostal which for USD 4 provided a hearty meal of stir fried vegetables, rice, chicken with special fried rice and an orange fanta. The [View Full Entry]

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During Puerto Lopez I decided to tag along with a friend from the Galapagos tour who was doing some heavy duty travelling around South Ecuador ( thanks Claire for the trip and your excellent spanish speaking skills mine were very poor but you´ll be pleased to know are getting better now!!!!). Cuenca was next on the list. From the Puerto Lopez hostal we got the the strangest moto taxi I´ve ever seen then a bus to Guayaquil and then hopped in a taxi to the airport for a 30 minute flight in a tiny propelllor plan (8-9 hours in a bus [View Full Entry]

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