Hola! Well, here we are back in Quito waiting to leave for Machachi, south and upwards in elevation to do some climbing around Volcan Cotopaxi. We just got back from Ibarra just north of Otavalo. A much dirtier city than Otavalo and we didin´t see one gringo. Some of the plazas were relaxing and we found some of the best Empanadas ever for dinner one night for around $3.80 and gobbled down 9 of them. The highlight of the trip up was getting outside the cit...

Hello Everyone, From Quito we caught the two hour bus ride (our fourth one!) down and north to a popular textile producing town called Otavalo. Indiginas and the like flock from all over to sell their wares. Definitely the most money we have and will spend in one day by a long shot. But still, it wasn´t your ¨gap¨price tags or merchandise for that matter. We ¨enjoyed¨ a lunch that the woman called ¨papas fritas con...¨, what so...

We landed in Quito last night right on time and are just starting to get our feet on the ground. All of the worries about immigration and customs were unfounded - a line that would have taken days to get through in the US was through in a matter of 30 minutes or less. It appeared that everyone that ¨applied¨ for a visa was shuttled through in a minute or tow. The only word that was said to us before she stamped our passport was, ¨Done.¨ Ea...