Next stop on our trip down the Andes was Cuenca lying in the Southern Highlands, we had decided to skip the train ride 'the devils nose' in Riobamba. The last I had heard was that you were no longer able to ride on the roof, which was the main drawcard. From what I have read on other peoples travelblogs it seems that a couple of Japanese tourists were decapitated a couple of years ago (more recent than my guidebook) and the train has been replaced by a tourist bus on traintracks sort of thing that no longer allows roof riding. It was only 5 hours on the bus from Baños, but it felt like a lifetime. It felt like two lifetimes for Deb as she once again was dying for the toilet on the bus (why ... read more

We have been having a wonderful time here a Secret Garden Cotopaxi, we had seen a leaflet about this place at another hostel and the setting looked great, and we haven´t been disappointed. We have decided to go over the budget a little here but has all been well worth it. Heading south from Quito to the hostel again we had a clear day and could see the brilliant volanoes. The hostel is set just outside the National Park Cotopaxi in the quiet countryside and set with the most amazing view of Cotopaxi which has you just mesmorised. We have spent three days here and really enjoyed and savoured, the food has been brilliant. Set at 3500m it wasn´t as cold as we had been expecting, our room was nice and the fire kept it warm ... read more

Border formalities done and another spectacular Andean road took us through to our first port of call in Ecuador, Otavalo (2500m). We had a lovely colonial hotel (even cable TV for a bit of premiership football), and the town itself is of medium size, and set brilliantly with massive Volcan Imbabura (4621m) behind the town and separating it from the town of Imbarra. The Friday we arrived we were wrecked and decided just to have something to eat and get to bed, we did encounter a street parade of the finalists for the Queen of the Yamor festival which was starting the next week. The town itself is full of indigenous in their brilliant and bright clothing and velvet hats. Many of the women have babies tied to their backs by a blanket. The best ones ... read more

Our journey in to the coffee region was a long one, but well worth the trip. We were on the overnight from Bogota, this time we had a blanket that Deb had bought to keep us warm and it definitely did the job. The bus went over a mountain range of the Andes so it was very much a slow paced bus. Up an then down, and the rising sun on the way down also brought the towns of the coffee region below in to view, in Armenia we caught the colectivo bus to Salento. Salento is a much smaller town than the other coffee towns of Armenia and Manizales so we decided on Salento. It is a nice attractive town, very small but set in lush green and there is a lookout at the top ... read more

Bogota is one big city! Set strangely at 2600m it was much colder than we had expected. Our hostel was a bit of an ice-box which meant most free time was spent in the bed trying to stay warm! Our two days in Bogota were very relaxed, being a Sunday and then a holiday on the Monday we probably didn´t see it at full speed. We stayed in the historic area of La Candaleria and went for a bit of a walk, looking at all the shops, plenty of fast food (rapido comida), took in a view from a very tall building. On one side mountains and the other 180 degrees was buildings as far as the eye could see! There were plenty of street performers and a crazy Guinea pig game in the square. Plaza ... read more