The words 'cloud forest' don't adequately convey the beauty of this place we are leaving. Every day here we stared out at the forested hills covered with mist. Mist that crept and retreated shyly in the morning hours, only to blanket the area in the afternoon, seeding the clouds and setting the stage for thunderous displays. Displays we seemed to always be at the mercy of. Finding our way back to the safety of our bungalow always felt like an adventure. Today though, we are saying goodbye to our hosts, David and Anna. Such good people.

We left at 9 a.m., conveyed via taxi. We nicknamed our driver "Mario" due to his very fast driving skills. Any slow vehicle ahead was passed in fast motion on narrow roads. After winding our way down through jungle and forests, we hit the main highway and got as far as Quito before making a brief stop at the Cuidad Mitad del Mundo, which translates to "Middle of the World City." This attraction highlights the exact location of the equator and commemorates the 18th century mission which fixed its location. I just plagarized that from Wikipedia. We stood on some steps and read some plaques and then got back in the taxi. We didn't want to pay admission because we had some serious miles ahead of us!

Several hours later, we were deposited at the Hacienda San Angustin de Callo in Cotopaxi province. This was our one big splurge, for one memorable night.

The hacienda was built on the site of a 15th century Incan palace. Remains of the stone walls were incorporated into the main building and courtyard. A couple centuries later it was turned iinto a monastery. Somewhere in there it was the site of the French Geodesic Mission who helped determine the shape of the planet. At the beginning of the 20th century it was purchased by the leader of the liberal revolution who went on to become president of Ecuador. It has been in his family ever since. Enough of back story though.

The hacienda is actually a grouping of buildings of different ages (obviously). The oldest is enclosed within stone walls with a large cobbled courtyard at its center. Various rooms and suites are offered here, all with fireplaces. We unfortunately were directed to a different building, about as far as you could get from the historial things, and with no fireplaces. We loved it though. Our accommodation consisted of a suite with large picture windows set inside wooden casements throughout. The windows had wooden shutters which closed over the glass at night. The walls were at least 2 feet thick. Aside from a large sitting room and library with floor to ceiling books, there was a curving passageway which led to the bedroom and full bathroom complete with tiled sunken hot tub beyond. There was another bathroom as well equipped with a shower. There were large vases of fresh flowers everywhere.

When we arrived, early afternoon, the sun was shining around the clouds. We were surrounded by volcanoes which were all pretty much obscured. It was peaceful and breezy. We explored the grounds and discovered cows grazing in the green fields, as well as banks of flowerbeds everywhere. It was an intoxicating mix, what with the wind, the clouds, the sun, and the beauty everywhere. Also a black cat that followed us into our room and had to be coaxed out.

Shortly thereafter we were served lunch in an original Incan room, with smoke-darkened rock walls surrounding us. The food and service were top notch. We were joined by another couple visiting from San Diego, and it was pleasant to converse with them.

One of the activities on offer was the use of bicycles, so with my encouragement, Bill went off on a little ride. I'll let him describe his experience:

So I went over to pick up the bike, thinking it would be some beat down clunker with semi-flat tires. I was so surprised to see it was a Trek mountain bike with dual disk brakes and front suspension. The receptionist showed me a map of a route to take, so I took it, or tried to take it. I went out the way we came in, but took a different route that skirted a treeline. I saw crops of something growing off to the left, and a mountain beyond them. The road got steeper and I had to stop about half way up for a short rest. I plodded on and got to some ramshackle homes and made a right as the guy had instructed. It was mostly flat at this point, but still dirt. I then made it to the paved road and continued on. There were loads of greenhouses that we'd seen on the way in. I figured I was on the right path. The road started going slightly downhill, which made it easy. I saw several flower workers waiting for their rides home along the way. I didn't pay them much mind as I zoomed along. I continued downhill enjoying the scenery, making turns left and right. After a while, I figured I went too far. I knew I went too far when I came to an uphill switchback, so I turned around. Fearing I might be lost, I soon saw a sign for the place we were staying at. I then saw the turn I had missed. Mind you, this was uphill the whole way. I made the correct turn and soon came upon some huge puddles that we'd crossed by car on the way in. One covered nearly the entire road. Staying as far left as I could, I peddled through the soft grass and nearly came to a stop, but I pushed through keeping my momentum up. I felt like a star for making it past without having to drop a foot in the water or mud. After another half mile or so, I made it back to where I'd started. I dropped off the bike and went back to Lisa to tell my tale. I wondered why I got windened at times. I then went in and Googled the altitude: 9.200 ft. That explains it. Whew!

After his return, we simply relaxed until it was time to return to the Inca house for dinner. We were met with impeccable service and place settings of which we could hardly decipher. While we were dining, our San Diego friends came in and sat down. They were both miserable with bad colds and had decided to "jump ship" and abruptly end their vacation. They were actually flying out that very night, in fact. We couldn't imagine the expense involved, but as one of them was suffering from altitude sickness on top of a cold, it made sense.

Back at our rooms, we discovered that all the shutters had been closed, our bed had been turned down, hot water bottles had been slipped under the covers for us, and a nighttime pastry had been left bedside. There was an oddly disturbing slip of paper to accompany our treat. It read, "One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly." by Friedrich Nietzsche. Odd.

Ignoring that, we filled the hot tub with water and took a decadent bath before turning in. Ah, luxury. Will we meet again? Hope so.