DAYS 33-34 Today started with a 2 hr local bus trip to Riobamba, where we swapped for another 6 hr bus trip south to Cuenca. Long bus trips will become the norm going forward but its the only real option to cover the distances between stops in such a vast continent. The exit out of Banos was another drizzly morning with lots of mist. The start was more rugged mtns, deep canyons, fast running rivers & intense agriculture. Every shade of green was on view giving a stunning patchwork of crops of all shapes & sizes on every square inch of available land along the valley floor right up to the roadside & rising to incredibly high terraces. Usually above the terraces were dwellings on precarious cliff tops. The route was climbing much of the way ... read more

Today has been a fantastic day. Bit of a sleep-in with a 9 am start for various activities. Nearly all of us opted for a 16 km one-way bike ride down the hill initially following the same road in on arrival yesterday. While the road passes through 6 tunnels up to 1 km long we only had to negotiate 1 as external bike paths have been built around the others. We paid for better bikes although they were pretty average & mine had a flat front tyre but still had good fun and dressed in our wet weather gear for the inevitable intermittent rain. The ride follows the Rio Verde (Green River) valley with photo stops at 6 spectacular waterfalls along the way. Each waterfall had some variation of zip line, bridge free fall or gondola ... read more

Day 29 Today we were involved in many of the community activities. Firstly the red die in the seeds of a rambutan like fruit was used for face painting as a bit of fun & as a means to show how it is used in cosmetics as well as food colouring. The red colour is also believed to scare away bad energy. We then walked through their communal farm area to find out about all the characteristics & uses of the various plants & trees & to collect various fruit & vegetables (incl limes, oranges, yuca - a starchy root vegetable used to make chicha, a staple energy drink/food for all the family as well as a more alcoholic drink when left to ferment up to 2 weeks. We also collected various aromatic green leaves to ... read more

DAYS 27 7am mini van pick-up to get to the Quito bus station for a 6 hr local bus trip to Tena which is a hub town for the north east region. Stopped for lunch before proceeding to the jungle. The local buses were one of our security concerns before the trip but were quickly eased. In all cases our luggage will be stored in a separate under bus compartment from start to finish of our journeys & therefore we only have to manage hand luggage. The bus was very comfy & had a wide screen TV playing crap movies dubbed in Spanish, thankfully there was plenty to see out the windows.Once we cleared Quito (both slum & affluent areas) we took a mountain road nth-east through lush country mainly following a pass through massive Andean ... read more

DAY 22 With no firm plans for the day we had a latish breakfast before setting out to soak-up the atmosphere in warm sun. Just what we needed for recovering ills! Pretty happy to get past the outlets with only a minor purchase plus some other essentials for up north. Later found a nice coffee shop & as Argentineans like to do the owner started chatting & it turns out she is a pharmacist & was able to translate names for our exhausted drug requirements with the local brand names & directed us to a shop a few doors away. This was a godsend as previously a pharmacist did not seem to be a requirement in a shop, as most drugs seem to be available over the counter, & therefore you mainly deal with a limited/non-english ... read more