Famous for one of the most important daily markets in the Andes where the vendors sell the usual woolen/Lama clothes, weavings, paintings, jewellery & Montecristi hats. Stu couldn`t resist and bought himself another one, but this time in straw colour. Good job too as a few days later he left his other one on the bus - whoops! He was not a happy boy about that.After wondering the market we went for a short walk to the next village of Peguche, famous for its w...

We travelled most of the day and passed through some gorgeous scenery, villages full of wooden houses on stilts, rolling green fields, and a more Asian looking countryside than anywhere in else in S.America.I had to ask the driver to slow down as I really scared, but he simply laughed and told me "esta bien" (its fine). Hmmmmm!We arrived in one piece and rushed out have a look at the town.On route we bumped into Janelle (who we`d met in Cuenca) and ...

On the bus ride to Mindo we stopped to help an overturned jeep. The Ecuadorians loved to drive fast and this time it proved too much. It took 12 men to twist and turn the jeep back onto its wheels before we could continue our journey. When we got to Mindo we spent about 20mins being sent in opposite directions in search of our hostel.Another Equadorian trait is that they hate to admit they don`t know where something is, so just like the Argentinians did, they ...

We arrived to a very modern and new bus station. It was a 30 minute taxi ride ($10) from the hostel which was in between the old and the new town. The hostel was amazing, Casa Bambu, $20 for our own room with a bathroom and a v.comfy bed. It also had a massive roof terrace with amazing views, pool, table tennis and fusball table, 2 kitchens, a tv room!We went for dinner in the new town area of Maricolor (AKA Gringolandia) where we were met by trendy bars pump...

When we were close to Quilotoa the family who we were sat next to told us that we should get off, but the bus driver insisted that we were not there yet. Thinking the driver would know the best place to drop tourists we stayed aboard. When we finally got off the bus we were met by 2 local who we asked (along the driver) which direction our hostel was.The local proceeded to take us there and after 15 mins of walking up a hill to nowhere we began to get suspiciou...