Update

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Day 50 out of 270!

We are all getting on very well, no upsets & still having a great time. So what we have we been up to since my birthday:-

We left Quito on the 9th & got a lunchtime bus to Banos. Banos is known for its active volcano & thermal baths. Unfortunately, the volcano is covered in cloud most of the time, but we did manage to see it a couple of times & once it emitted a cloud of ash. The baths are pools of very cold, hot & very hot with mineral healing qualities. We went at the weekend, so sat with all the locals & got a few stares!

The hostal is Banos was very nice. We had rooms over looking a waterfall which you could look at whilst laying in bed & our first duvets since we have been away. Tina & I sat on the roof one day sun bathing. It was really hot, but then started raining. Very odd, sunbathing in the rain & getting covered in ash all at the same time.

On monday we hired bikes with the plan of cycling 61k over 2 days to a place called Puya, staying overnight along the way. We got to the place we wanted to stay the night on day one (Mache), but the one & only hostal was closed. We cycled back to Rio Negro & stayed in a lovely hotel with jacuzzi & steam cabinets right next to the river. You had to spend 10 minutes in the steam cabinet & then straight into the river. Miles lost 2 stone!!

The following day we started our cycle. my bike sounded like it was going to fall apart any minute & sure enough it did. We phoned the bike hire people & they said it was not possible to bring a replacement. We decided to spend the day at Mache where we walked north of the road to see 6 of the 8 waterfalls (5k) & then after a couple of drinks, south of the road to another 2 waterfalls. Very nice. The restaurant owner took us all & our bikes back to Banos in his truck.

On wednesday we caught an early moring bus to Cuenca. It took 7 hours. Beautiful scenery along the way & quite a few edges! For anyone that has seen the internet pictures of the roads in Bolivia, these were not far off! We saw a few crosses on the side of the roads where people had gone over.

I didn´t like Cuenca. Didn´t feel safe there & it just didn´t feel right. I was the only one who felt that way. In the evening during dinner, the floor started to shake. The glasses & pillars were all moving for about 20 seconds. Scary. Tina asked the waiter if we were ok & he said no & they all ran outside or to the window. A minor earthquake apparently. Miles said I had a sixth sense about what was going to happen. I wanted out of there asap.

We are now at Guayquil airport about to fly to the Galapagos for 8 days after spending one night here. Very excited.

Must go now as about to board. Update again soon.

Sorry still no photos - our pentax download disc has got scratched so we can´t look at our photos at the moment. Miles is on the case.

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Photos

Sorry Toby
The best I can do so far!

The roads
Scary!

Comments

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sounds fun
still sounds like your all having fun, no dicky tummies!!