Hello!!!!! It seems like I have been here for a long time, and have yet to tell many people what is going on. I left Quito last Wednesday to try and make a trip to the coast before going back into Quito to see some friends who are studying there. Here is a rundown of the last several days:

Wednesday: After being in quito for two nights getting everythign organized and getting my bike all ready to go, I left when the sun came up Wednesday morning wanting to get out of the city before the traffic became to crazy. I had plans of going to the ¨Mitad del Mundo¨a sort of park norht of Quito right on the ecuator. Well, a couple of crazy wrong turns later I was definately out of Quito, but not anywhere near that park. Oh well. I thought that there might be a sign when I crossed over the ecuator, or something, but there was nothing. So now I am in the northern hemisphere as if nothing has changed. As I was zooming down the hills outside of quito with the sun shining and the breeze in my face, I had a giddy "Am I actually here!?!" moment which was really fun... a little while later during my THREE HOUR hill climb to Tabacundo, where to my suprise the road was closed, not by a rockfall, but by protesters. One of the ways that people here protest something (I think in this case bad water in a certain area) is to block the roads, with electrical wires, burning plants, lots of dirt, rocks and glass... and at every one of these roadblocks were about 10 people just sitting and waiting. I though that I woud have to turn around at the first one, but at every singls one was a person saying that I could go through. I must have passed about 40 of these roadblocks on my way from Tabacundo to Otavalo, where I spent the night. On one of the downhills there were about 1000 people, indigenous, mestizo and others walking down the hill after work to their homes, because the busses were not running with the roads being closed. I camped near the Lago de San Pablon in Otavalo, and talked with several indigenous kids and adults who were there. this first night I hardly slept for fear of being woken up and robbed, but I only had about 10 dollars nyways, so it wasn´t that big of a deal.

Thursday: woke up safe and sound, and started biking hrough another hot desert-like area. I definately had breakfast this morning, something which I skipped the bday before and realy felt. During the day I passed several people who always shout "!Dale! !Dale!" which pretty much means "Go Go Go!" I like these shouts more than the odd stares, but people usually do it when I am going up a hill, so I just smile and whine "No..." and they laugh. Changed today from a desert into a more fertile area, and I camped in the yard of an abandoned house in a valley along the Rio Mira, near Gradual. These first two days I was too pooped to do anything at ngiht except sleep, but this night I boiled water from the river and had a warm dinner. At night, there were blinking lightening bugs outside my tent.

Friday: Today was the day of the cloud forest, and let me tell you it was HUMID. I know these aren´t exactly revelations (the andes being steep, the cloud forest being humid) but it was pretty ridiculous. I like this kind of area more, because I don´t get as thirsty as often, and it is amazing seeing the clouds rolling along the road. The jungle was so loud with the noise of the bugs, and as soon as a lumber truck screamed by, the bugs would roar back for a couple of seconds after it passed. Kind of creepy. Getting down into the Esmeraldas area, there are a lot more Afro-Ecuadorean people, instead of just the indigenous, white and mestiz population in the interior parts. I camped off the side of the road near Calderon, and this night I could hear the buzzing of hundreds of malaria-carrying mosquitos outside my tent as I tried to sleep. I keep the inside a bug free zone. but it was still a little worrisome. As far as my health goes, I feel great! I am careful about the water that I drink, and always have bugspray on when when I see bugs around. The only thnk that is pretty bad is my sunburn. My nose and lips are very red (also from windburn, I think) but maneageable if I trade in my helmet for the ever-stylish, never-touristy Safari Hat that I have. The worst part is the small of my back, between my pants and where my shirt rides up when I go downhill. This part is so burnt that it is swollen, because I don´t think I noticed it was burning (or even that it could) for about 3 days. Oh well, I am being more careful now.

Saturday: Kind of a long day today, because I wanted to make it the 90 kilometers to the cool and supposedly cheap hotel in Rio Verde. Saw monkey, snake and lizard roadkill, but none of the real thing yeat. The birds and butterflies are also amzingly colorful. Passing through many tiny villages all selling bananas and Coca-Cola, most with everyone carrying machetes (!) to cut back the jungle as they go about their business. Finally made it into Rio Verde, and after finally finding my hotel by the beach, I jumped in the ocean. the hotel was a little too expensive for my liking, but I wanted to be on the beach and after camping for three days I though "why not?". So I drank coconut juice straight out of the shell, ate a pineapple for dinner, and watched the sunset from my hammock. A very beautiful night, even though I was little lonely when the sun was setting.

Sunday: After a woderful set breakfast of eggs, bread, hot milk and coconut juice, I started going from Rio Verde into the bustling city of Esmeraldas for the sole purpose of using the internet and doing this.... but all the internet places are closed on Sunday, so it was bit of a wasted trip into a too-big city. Not totally wasted, because I got to see some soccer and eat some ice cream, and make some very important phone calls to some people I missed a lot, but I still would have rather not climbed all the way up those blasted hills for no internet. So, started towards Atacames, and slept on the top of a hill in a tiny little jungle clearing, not wanting to pay for a hostel here. Now in Atacames, I have visited the ATM and spent about 2 hours on the internet here so far. I am going to spend tonight in the town of Sua, which the Lonely PLanet guidebook describes as a friendly fishing village with a mellow bay, and tomorrow I will start my trek back up to Quito. I know that it is going to be mostly uphill, but I thinkl I can make the 300+ km in about 4 days, if I leave pretty early each morning. In Quito I have several friends studying there now, and it will be great to see them!