Wow. Okay, so yesterday I awoke to the most beautiful day yet in Quito - yes, I actually got to see a cloudless sky for the first time since arriving here. And the timing could not have been better, because yesterday a group of us hostel-ers were to hike Guagua Pichinchia and were to be spoiled with magnificient views in part because of the clear skies (a rarity for this trip, apparently). Leaving at eight a.m. or so, we - a group of nine packed snuggly into a kickass, old landrover - winded through some very rough roads (roads I would [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola, I have just returned to Quito after spending a night in the lovely market town of Otavalo. After arriving at around 2 pm with my travel party of six, under my navigating skills and a lonely planet guide we easily found our amazing hostel in the downtown. The hostel had a large cobblestone-floored, open square in the center equipped with hammocks and a firepit, making for a great social setting. Surrounding the square, on two floors, were the various rooms (all occupied by gringos, of course). After settling in to our three two-person rooms (at $6 each person, including a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola, Well a few things to report. The most exciting thing is that two days ago I went on my first mountain biking adventure. It was the kind of excitement that is only possible in a place completely devoid of any safety regulations or a powerful legal system. The day started by piling eight people into the back of a truck, sitting on two inward-facing benches opposing one another. After an hour driving and a gas station breakfast we hopped out at 3500 meters into the snow to gear up and begin our back-road descent. With helmets and knee pads we, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well a few interesting things to report on this rainy sunday in Quito. First off, I am now eight hours into my spanish lessons and can now order food and find bathrooms - two things closely linked in a place with this much food poisonning... Yesterday I spent the day with my spanish teacher, Santiago, looking for a suitable digital camera. Unlike everything else electronics are more expensive than in Canada and usually a few generations old. No camera yet, but I am determined to find one in the next few days. If there is one thing that hostels are fantastic [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola, Many new things to report from the last few days. Firstly, I bought a mountain bike complete with a rear rack capable of carrying my tent, sleeping bag etc. However, a rough bout of food poisoning for the last couple days have kept me in bed and off the streets. Today, however, I'm feeling okay and was able to go for a nice bike ride for a couple hours. I also just finished my first of ten four hour spanish lessons with a great Ecuadorian teacher named Santiago. My history with French and English has allowed me to pick it [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well what a few days... So I left saturday morning from Quito bound for Tena on a six hour (but only 160 km!) bus trip. On this trip I saw the first real poverty I've ever seen in my life, something I had mixed feelings about for sure. One thing that does stick out in my mind, though, is the sight of a little girl sitting in a rickety shack on the side of a dirt road wearing what a Canadian would call rags. She was standing alone, sheltered from the sun, returning my wave with an enormous smile as we [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well folks I'm here at the Secret Garden hostel in Ecuador, sipping a ridiculously low cost beer looking out over the city of Quito wondering what took me so long to get down here. Quito is looking like a fantastic city. It has a strange feel to it, a certain flow arising from the complete unflowingness of each building, street, and restaurant. Today we took a cable car to the top of the dormant valcano which rises from the center of the city. Although clouds blocked the view, it was a great chance to meet some local people and get to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Five more days... Well I'm sitting in my bedroom of my parents' apartment in Toronto counting the hours until I board a plane bound to Miami, en route to Quito Ecuador. After several trips to MEC and practice packs of my gear, I am finally feeling pretty much ready to go, a feeling that easily gives way to anxiousness. The plan (if you could call it that) for my adventure is shaping up something like this: *Get into Ecuador on Jan 5th and check into my hostel (the Secret Garden in Old Town Quito) *Spend a few days acclimatizing to the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today I had my first quiet moment alone with the Rockies and a rising sun. But I'm starting at the end of the story, I have to backtrack four days to the beginning. At the last moment, Monday night, Bryce - a housemate from the Crown House - decided to hitch a ride with me from Vancouver to Kelowna. This was great but limiting in the sense that I would have to only bring with me what could fit on the bike at the same time as two gerth-y guys. So forget the towel. Hell, there's no room anymore for those [View Full Entry]

---

---