Hey Kids! well, not rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail will keep ME from getting to Cuenca, but I am getting ahead of myself.

I spent two nights in Banos, having a really great time doing all of the many touristy things there; relaxing in the baths, going canyoning (which is, you know, only rapelling down 100 foot high waterfalls), going out to dinner, and going out for drinks with friends from the hostal. After sitting down and seeing how much money I spent in only two days, I realized I had to get OUT of that tourist trap. So Sunday afternoon I trudged up the hill to Ambato. Getting through Ambato I decided I wanted to keep going up into the mountains to see the city of Guaranda. Supposedly a beautiful colonial city, I have heard that it was nice to "walk the streets and eat the delicious cheese that the Bolivar province is famous for..." but Sunday around 5:30 at night I still had not found a decent (quiet where no one would see me) place to set up my tent. Seeing a church up ahead, I stopped this guy my age on the street named Christian and asked if he knew the Padre of the church. Well, on thing led to another and after one Padre, one drunk uncle and 3 aunts I was sitting eating rice and chicken with members of Christia´s extended family. The mom and dad (Patricia and Patricio) were the guardians of the high school, meaning that they cleaned at night and made sure that noone broke in. They let me sleep in one of the nice warm classrooms! I chatted with them and their daughter about Alaska and my life, and conked out around 9:30, pooped from all the uphill.

In the morning, even though they said I should stay all day and just take a bus to Guaranda, I continued up the hill. Christian mentioned that the volcano Chimborazo was right where I would be biking, and sure enough by mid day all of a sudden there was a volcano where before there had only been clouds. pretty cool. Actually freezing, I wore my hat and gloves. Kept going through the barren, red otherworldly country untill I passed the road to Riobamba, my next destination. I started going down the steep descent to Guaranda, and then thought to myself, " you are going DOWN, to a town where the only reason to go is cheese, and you are somewhat lactose intolerant. Hmm, and you will have to go back up this steep hill sometime soon..." As I was going down the hailstorm sealed the deal, and I stopped short of Guaranda and threw up my tent against the elements somewhere off the road.

The next morning I woke up ion cloud, unable to see the road 20 feet away. Awesome, but I wanted to get to Riobamba for this supposedly really awesome train ride down La Nariz del Diablo, the Nose of the Devil. The train was to leave the next day, so I needed to get into Riobamba that night and get a ticket. So, packed up, put on my little red flashing light on the back of my bike, and started going to Riobamba. 5 hours and a lot of SNOW later I was freezing and soaking wet, so I had to stop for something hot at a restaurant close to Riobamba. The Hot Chocolate turned into corn, soup, and tea before I felt warm enough to keep going, so I finally rolled into Riobamba around 2 pm. Where I was promptly whisted into the Hotel Imperial (4$ a night!) by two crazy traveling jugglers and their two babies! This family (guy from Peru, girl from Brazil, one child born in Colombia and the other in Ecuador) traveled around juggling on the streets and living in hotels. They were crazy and interesting, and reminded me a lot of hippy/juggler friends that I have back in the states. I stayed up long anough to have salchipapas with them at night (friend potatoes and sausage, amazing) before conking out in my hotel room. The guy, Martín, had biked around South America for THREE YEARS on a single speed bike.... I felt pretty decadant with my 27 speed.

Well, in the morning the amazing train ride to Alausi (where the Nariz del Diablo begins) was full, so I ended up taking a BUS to Alausi. It was weird putting my bike on the top of this bus. The guy kept saying "muy seguro, muy seguro" very secure, very secure, but when we finally got to the town with the train and I climbed back on top of the bus to look at my stuff, I was SHOCKED to see that it was all still there; my bike was tied down, but all my other stuff was just sitting there in a tire. Yikes. I made it a bit more secure (locked it down with my bike lock) and then climbed down to explore the city. I couldn´t get a ticket for the "amazing" train ride untill 1 o clock, and I had arrived in the town at about 9. neato. I met this nice German woman named Fia, and we wandered around the very pretty city for several hours, trying all sorts of crazy exotic fruits and complaining about the amount of other Germans that were there (we were pretty much in tourist central) untill we finally got on the train. About three or four months earlier (according to rumor) a Japanese tourist had his head cut off by riding on the roof, so we weren´t able to do that, but all the seats on the train had good views of the valley. We started down the bumpy tracks ready for the ride of our lives... and were a bit underwhelmed. Actually completely underwhelmed. For 7.80 we paid to go down a mountain and back. Neato. It was pretty, but I had done mountsins just as steep on my bike about two days earlier. Whooooooo. I stayed on the same bus to get here to Cuence, and the road goes down the very same Nariz del Diablo. Great. I had a big dilemma deciding whether to stay on the bus or ride from Alausi to Cuenca, but it really wasn´t that expensive, and I do want to get to Peru sooner than later, so I stayed on. I don´t think I will ride on a bus again if I can hel it because A) I got really carsick, B) I actually feel safer biking, and C) we went through some beautiful countryside that I really would have enjoyed more from a bike seat than a bus seat. Anyways rolled into Cuenca after dark, which made me a little uneasy, but this guy from a hostal was giving free rides to a 4 dollar per night hostal, which suited me just fine. Hopped in this car with a total stranger (after yelling to some people in a restaurant his liscence plate number) and ended up at my very nice hostal with a HUGE room and a kitchen for such a low price! Some pasta and veggies for dinner (which is seriously probably the best meal I have ever made) and conked out.

Woke up this morning with the sniffles (darned snow) but set out to explore this city. And WOW. within three blocks of my hostal there was an amazing modern art museum, several ornate churches, beautiful colonial architecture, a Panama Hat shop (Panama hats are actually made here in Cuance, who knew?) and LOTS of culture. I wandered around several markets, museums, churches all day long, and now it is seven thirty at night and I am here writing this! I am going to spend tomorrow night here too, just sort of relaxing in this city (after doing every touristy thing I could get my hands on today) and hopefully seeing a show or something Friday night. If anyone is going to come to Ecuador, definately come to Cuenca; this beautiful city is definately the cultural center of this country (well thats only my opinion, but after only one day here I like it quite a bit). then I am going to head out Saturday morning to the South. After doing quite a bit of MEGA touristy things (Banos, that stupid train) I think that I am going to be camping for quite some while: My bank account could sure use a break. Actually don´t know then next time I will update, definately in Lima Peru, but that will probably be in about 3 weeks or a month.... so yeah. probably sooner though. Hope everyone is well! Ciao!