Blogs from Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 100

It’s 5 am and still dark. As usual I have managed to procrastinate sufficiently on writing this blog that it’s the day before we leave Quito and its got to be now or never. Never mind, as work colleagues will attest, dawn has always been a good time for me to be creative and /or productive dahlings, ever since getting up at this time to write overdue English essays on what I did over the summer or copy pictures from the Encyclopaedia Britannica for geography projects due at 9am that day. So here goes… Leaving Vilcabamba was tough and we had several crap days afterward struggling with travelling, buses, crummy hotels, bad weather and not enough people to talk to. But we withstood the storm (literally) and got to Baños - a quaint little town who’s ... read more

Ecuadors hoegsta topp!!! Den snoeklaedda vulkanen, 6310meter,Chimborazo. daer var vi igaar!! Vilken kick! vi tog bussen tidigt fraan Quito, aakte soederut i 4 timmar till staden Riobamba. Kaend ocksaa som ¨Sultan of the Andes¨. I staden bor 126.000 personer, en ganska traditionellt gammaldags stad med Ecuadors stoersta ¨tjurfaektningsarena¨. Vaelframme i Riobamba ringde vi vaenner till Luis och Susanna som lovat att ¨ta hand om oss/visa oss¨the highlights. Det som vi verkligen ville se och uppleva var Chimborazo. Saa efter telefonsamtalet saa var vi helt ploetsligt hemma hos Junior Daniels familj paa familjemiddag. Fick mumsig potatis/kycklingsoppa somfoeraett och kyckling och ris&pasta daerefter. Tur att vi aat ordentligt! .....foer sen bar det ivaeg mot toppen av Chimborazo! En aeventyrlig faerd uppaat bergen med Daniels 4 wheel drive jeep. Det blev allt sandigare, dimmigare och ... read more

Will update what we have been doing on arrival in Cuenca, but just to let you know, there will be no pictures for a bit as the camera met a watery grave. already! ... read more

This is Jen calling! helloooo! yes, Baños is Spanish for Baths you know, and unlike Bath in Blighty, the water is heated by a very very active volcano. as if! We didnt have time or the stomach to head up to the crater to see the lava, but we prob will next time, when we can actually read the danger reports which are in Spanish. Sorry for no pics btw, this cafe doesnt have the bits we need. The craziest thing was the permanent smoke rising from the mountains around the volcano, it seemed like smoke but we hope it was just evaporation! And who would have thunk it; chilling on a volcano one day, then hop on a bus and head six hours downhill, past waterfalls at least 100 METRES high and in the words ... read more

Thursday 19th May 2005 : Goodbye Latacunga, Hello Banos Got up and left the Residencial Rieles without looking back. Had hoped to get breakfast nearby but all the places open seemed to double as greasy chicken joints and I walked past them all. Entering the bus terminal we were waved straight on to a bus for Banos, I thought. Once underway it became clear it was only going as far as Ambato where we could catch the Banos bus. Getting off the bus in Ambato the conductor showed us exactly where (just across the road) to pick up the Banos bus. As we reached the departure point there was a heated debate (by the conductors) about which was the best/next bus available. We were shepherded to a bus and sure enough it set off after a ... read more