Hey Folks,

So here's the second week of the trip, and the final bit of catch up for the blog.Enjoy!

Jacquie and I, after spending Sunday night in Quito, got up early Monday morning and headed to Laguna Quilotoa, a crater lake about 4 hours outside of Quito.After spending most of the morning on buses, we arrived at the lake around 2pm to find most everything fairly fogged in.It was a bit unfortunate, since we only had the one night on the lake, but we figured we might as well go for the hike from the crater rim down to the lake, out of hopes that it would clear up.As it turned out, the fog had a tendency to sink down into the crater and then lift out again, clearing everything for a gorgeous view.So despite the fog, we still managed to get some stunning views of the lake.

Then as we're walking back we got stopped by a man in a truck who asked us if we wanted a ride the following morning to the nearby community where there was easy bus access.Now, our plan up until then was to get the 6am bus that the Lonely Planet claimed existed. So we mentioned to the guy our plan and he told us, "oh no, there's no 6am bus, the bus actually comes at 5am."Thinking that this guy was just playing us so we would rent his truck, we went to the hostel and asked the lady what time the bus came and well, according to her too there was no 6am bus.Not only that, but the 5 am bus didn't exist either.No, the bus ACTUALLY came at 4am in the morning?.or was it 3am?She wasn't totally sure?.(welcome to Ecuadorian communities where people always want to be helpful regardless of whether they know anything about what you're asking?).Either way, I think I heard a bus pass at 4am and they were both right, there was no 6am bus, so we eventually got a ride with the guy and made it to our next destination?the communities!

So last Tuesday Jacquie and I went around the communities so that I could do my final goodbyes to the kids and so that Jacquie could see where I have been working.Our first stop was Cruz de Arenal, the location of the Japan House school, a community building, a few houses, one or two stores, and not much else.It's a lovely community with great kids, but it's isolated, small and there wasn't much to do but say a goodbye and be on our way.

Then from Cruz de Arenal we headed to Pulinguí San Pablo/Chorrera/Casa Condor/Condor Wasi/ (all the same place?take your pick of the names) where I lived with Marcial and Kalindi for the first 7 months of the project.There we ate lunch, did a quick tour of the communities, saw the cabin, met the kids, did a goodbye, and caught the Condor down to Pulinguí Centro, where I lived with Olmedo and his family for the last 2 months.Pulinguí Centro is a much nicer community than the others in my opinion.It has a lot more people, a warmer climate, and the family with which I spent my last two months, who are amazingly welcoming and nice.So we spent the night there with the family and then went to Tomapamba on Wednesday to do a goodbye with the community.

The goodbye in Tomapamba was one of the highlights of this trip so far and my time in Ecuador really.From the beginning this community has treated me really well.They've invited me to participate in community celebrations, fed me well and have always been really friendly and welcoming.That and the kids are amazing.All they told me the last time I was in the community was that they wanted to plan something to do for a goodbye.When I arrived (with Jacquie there as well of course), I found that they had planned a whole mini program complete with performances by the kids, speeches by the community and the kids, and a few going away gifts.I said a mini speech, thanked them for their hospitality and for welcoming me to their community, and gave them a small gift of appreciation (a book written in English, Spanish and Kichwa, that describes a traditional story from the area). The fact that they went to the work to plan the mini program I found was very thoughtful and a touching way to finish my time with community. That day was one of the highlights of my year here and I only hope I get a chance to return one last time at the end of this trip.

From Tomapamba we returned to Pulinguí for the night, before going to the market in Guamote.We had heard the market was one of the best in the country, but ended up being a bit disappointed.I guess mainly because of the bad weather, it wasn't as large as we were expecting.Although it was still a really neat market, I found Otovalo and Saquisilí a bit more exciting.But then again, maybe I'm just turning into a bit of a market snob, because it still was really cool.

Right, so then Thursday night we met up with Adriaan, another friend from Pearson who's been in Ecuador for about a month now, so that we could all catch the train to el Naríz del Diablo (the Devil's Nose) the following morning.So we got up at 6am Friday morning, ready to buy tickets for the train, only to find that there was a landslide of some sort and the regular train couldn't make it up from Alausí (about 2 hours to the south).What we could do, however, is take a bus down to Alausí and catch the train there which would take us on the last and most impressive bit of the journey where the train switchbacks down a near cliff, or something like that.We weren't so confident about this option though, seeing as how there was already a mudslide on the "safe" part of the track?who knows what would happen on the Devil's Nose?

So we scrapped that idea, went to Baños, found ourselves a really nice (and of course cheap) hostel, set up camp and headed out to get samples of the sugar cane toffee they make in the town.After a loop around the town we head up on a hike to the view point, stopping along the way to buy a beer from a lady named Olga who had an adorable daughter and was extremely open to talking about what she grows in her garden and her family?another definite highlight from the trip.

After finishing the beer we continued up the hill to the lookout over the town where we had lunch and decided to hike down the other side of the hill in search of a future UWC student who lives in Baños.Unfortunately there was a fork in the road and it took us abour 10 dead ends and an hour of hiking to figure out we went the wrong way, but we did eventually make our way to his house.Actually while we're on the topic of dead ends, I should say that I don't think I've seen so many dead ends in my life.It looks as if someone was trying to build a road or two down the mountain, but never completely finished, which isn't surprising considering the hill seemed to turn into a sheer cliff for a hundred meters or so just below the various pieces of unfinished road.

Anyways, we made it down the hill after a couple hours just to find we had to cross the river and head back up another hill in order to get to this guy's house.But man was it worth it.He was a really cool guy and his parents run a lodge just outside of Baños that's absolutely gorgeous.One of the nicest places I've seen in a long time.He'll be going to the Costa Rica College by the way.

So after meeting him we went back to the town, ate, hung out in the hotel, showered (HOT showers?WOW) and hit the sack reasonably early so we could get up and bike down to Puyo (61km away) along the "Route of the Waterfalls."This was my 3rd time doing the trip and it never loses its beauty.The scenery along the highway is gorgeous and the waterfalls are awesome.I will be putting up photos on the website if I have time, although my camera just couldn't capture the beauty of the mountains.

Unfortunately though, about half way through the trip, Adriaan's tire popped.Not a big deal really, just a quick tire replacement on we were on our way, except that after 30 meters, the spare tire popped as well and we didn't have any others.And then none of the buses wanted to pick us up, so we eventually got a ride in a truck with two guys who were on their way to a c*** fight in Riobamba.The car almost broke down part way along the trip back to Baños, but after a few offhand comments and a couple beers at the mechanics, we were on our way back to Baños where they dropped us off?but not before inviting us to the c*** fight and pointing out the fact that Jacquie wasn't white.Jacquie wasn't too impressed by the two guys, mainly because she got awkwardly stuck in front with them while Adriaan and I sat in the back with the bikes.We both found it a very amusing trip though.

So, last but not least, that night we made our way back to Riobamba to try and catch the train again.So we got into town around 9pm, made our way to our sketchy $3 hostel, ate some French fries and hit the sack.The next morning we got up at 6am, went to the train station and they were only running two small cars, which were already full with a tour group.Once again we could have gone to Alausí to try and catch the train from there, but they wouldn't sell us any ticket for the train in Riobamba and there was limited spacing on the train in Alausí, so we figured rather than busing it down there just to find out the train was full, we might as well just stay in Riobamba for the day.And so here I am finishing my report for Pearson and doing major catch up on the blog.

In two hours Jacquie and I will be catching the train to Huaquillas so we can then cross the border into Peru where we will spend 2 days on the beach in Tumbes before heading to Lima to meet Preeti on Wednesday.

So until next time?