One of the easiest border crossings so far! They even have elctronic print outs for the vias in your passport-very snazzy.

All was going well until we changed buses over the border from Tumbes, Peru...now I know why there are so many bus crashes in this country. I could have done a better job...teh driver did not knwo what breaking around a corner was, and when he did find the breaks he slammed them on so hard we all nearly flew off our seats!

Anyway we eventually got to Cuenca, the 3rd largest in Ecuador..full of colonial charm. I´ve spent today walking along the River, looking at museums, more pre-Inca ruins and lots of churches. The main interesting thing about Cuenca is this is the home of the famous Panama hat. A simple white straw hat with black ribbon that was worn by builders and traders from Ecuador when working on and going through the Panama cannal. Some stupid American president (roosevelt I think) thought that they were obviously from Panama, hence the name. A good hat (only the round style) can be rolled up and passed through a wedding ring, handy for travelling I suppose. They´re made of straw and depending on the type of weave, can take between a few days and 7 months to make...I brought 3-such a bargin (they have the dollar here!)