From Quito to Banos

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So, we spent 3 days in Quito, familiarising ourselves with the altitude and sorting out our two weeks in Ecuador. Quito will be remembered for two smells - delicious fresh fruit and the not so delicious stink of traffic polution. We then headed out of Quito for a three day camping session in Cotapaxi national park. We hired a guide and his mate who looked after us well. We climbed up Ruminahui, a whole 4800m, I got scared and Andy suffered a bit from Altitude sickness, but well worth it for the views. We then moved on to spend a night in Latacunga, a town which sits at the base of Cotopaxi, which has been built and rebuilt everytime the volcano erupts. We didn't hang around there for too long....
Then on to Quilotoa - with our first taste of Ecuadorian buses, and jeeps. We got there though, and hopefully will now board buses with confidence. We went down to the crater lake beach, and neglected the offer of a mule to take us back up. Perhaps a stupid idea. We had a wet day there too, relaxing by the fire, followed by a disturbed night when we thought we heard a gunshot. Which kept us awake, but perhaps they were just shooting guinea pigs in the garden. We are now in Banos, a small spa town which is completely geared up for tourists. Check out Andy in the hot spa!

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Comments

[Sunny]

Hope your radio is working Morris?
Looks like it could be a classic finish in the first test! Your trip looks fab! (was the water that colour, before you got in?) S