We're back in Ecuador now after spending a few days at the beach and a really nice week in the highlands of Peru. After a grueling 30 hours of bus travel (cramped, sweaty, yelling Peruvians, and a broken bridge), we arrived in Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca ('White Mountain Range', Andes) at around 3am. From Huaraz, we did a day hike 'almost' to Laguna Churup ... the altitude (around 14,000 feet) really got to us (me, Emily) and we ended up just walking around the mountainside, which had some spectacular and satisfying views anyway. Next we went to Caraz, a smaller [View Full Entry]

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Entre Baños et la frontière péruvienne, nous ne savions pas trop où nous arreté.. Après avoir étudiés la carte, nous avons décidé de faire un arret à Riobamba et Cuenca. Le seul attrait pour nous à Riobamba, c'était sa proximité avec le parc national de Chimborazo (6310m), montagne la plus hate d'Equateur. Nous voulions faire une excursion dans le parc et peut etre meme monté jusqu'au glacier. Un circuit qui nous avait été recommendé, c'était la descente depuis le refuge jusqu'à Riobamba en vélo. L'agence de location de VTT nous proposait un prix trop élevé (env $40 par pers.), surtout qu'i [View Full Entry]

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We were up at 7am for breakfast at 730, for our car ride at 8. Breakfast was uneventful and the taxi came by at around 815. We hopped in the car and made the long trip across the island to Baltra. On the way I told my mom I was going to pull a local "no gracias" when it came to paying the ferry guy 80 cents...she saw it done on her ride last week, so now I am going to try it. We made it to the ferry to cross the canal...very cramped. The guy started working his way around [View Full Entry]

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After a quick breakfast I took a taxi and asked to be dropped off at Puente San Felipe where apparently I can catch a bus at the Pan American highway to Cuenca. I was there at nearly 8:30am and waited for a good hour! Such luck! When I paid the $8 fare the bus conductor tried to stiff me, I gave him a $20 and gave me $2 change and quickly moved on to another passenger, I wasn't born yesterday I am aware of the "oh i did not notice how much bill you gave me " trick, I pursued him [View Full Entry]

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23.10.2009 17:55 Corazón... ... ist ein huebscher Brauner, den so leicht nichts aus der Ruhe bringen laesst, gehorsam auf die Befehle seines Besitzers hinter ihm reagiert und die zaghaften Steuerungsversuche seiner unerfahrenen Reiterin konsequent ignoriert. Hoch zu Ross und eher kartoffelsackaehnlich als stolz gehts von Vilcabamba aus in Richtung Podocarpus-Nationalpark. Fuer die ersten 15 Minuten ist der Sattelknauf mein bester Freund, nach 30 Minuten bin ich entspannt und geniesse die Panoramen der Landschaft ringsum, nach 5 Stunden weiss ich, warum die Anbieter von [View Full Entry]

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This chapter of the travel blog will be a nice short one for 2 reasons. The first being that I've already been to Ecuador once before heading north to Colombia and secondly as a result of going North I don't have a great deal of time to get to Cuzco in Peru. I don't like making too many plans or sticking to time and dates, however you need to book the Inca trail in Cuzco at least 3 months in advance of going and I've already paid a lot for it, so I'm getting there by the 22nd October one way [View Full Entry]

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Hello familia and friends! Finally, the blog post you´ve been waiting for. Last time I wrote from Ecuador, I said I´d fill you in on Vilcabamba and Cuenca. Suffice it to say, Vilcabamba is so beautiful and relaxing. I really enjoyed my time there. I hope the pictures do it justice. As for my trip to Cuenca, it was such a treat to visit my grad school friend, Tammy. My time with her was so rewarding and spiritually enriching. I wish I could see her more often. (BTW, as I type this, I am in the home of Tammy´s friend, Glen [View Full Entry]

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Zumba es la cabecera cantonal de Chinchipe, la tierra de la chonta y la guayusa. El río Mayo Chinchipe atraviesa el cantón de norte a sur. En este lugar se descubrio la cultura MAYO - CHINCHIPE DE HACE 5000 AÑOS [View Full Entry]

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Short for two reasons: a) We only stayed three days, swiftly despatching the (rather twisty) 700 or so miles from the Colombian border to the Peruvian border. b) The people. They're tiny. Even smaller than the Guatemalans. Not much else to report, except we crossed the equator, so I suppose in some sort of strange way, we've reached the half way mark, again. Also, temporarily suspending twenty years of vegetarianism, I ate a mouthful of Guinea Pig. Frankly, it's not tempted me back to full time meat-eating. Next stop, Peru. Adios! [View Full Entry]

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So after Banos we took the bus down to Cuenca...officially the worst bus ride yet. The farmers are still striking over plans to privatise water so buses are avoiding certain parts of the country. This means that getting enywhere involves long complex routes scaling mountainsides. This would have been fine if the ecuadorians were skilled road builders. Unfortunately they are not. Even more unfortunately I managed to get a seat not only over a wheel for ultimate bump-sensitivity - but also opposite the toilet which appeared to use its own cess pit to flush..mmm. 12 hours later i stumbled from th [View Full Entry]

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