Well, here I am in a Hacienda (a ranch to you and me) 3 miles from the equator and also 6km from the highest point on earth (if you take into account the curvature of the earth!) 

So todays jaunts, well to start with I have been horse back riding on a crazeee horse in some amazing countryside with views of snow capped volcanos and also running around a bullring with a Swedish girl who is quite possibly madder than me trying to avoid a bull, whilst posing for photos. 

Luckily for us and the people on our tour group, the mayor of Cayambe also owns the Hacienda that we were staying in, which meant that we were very very privaleged to be able to attend the local bullfighting festival, something that takes place only once a year in a purpose built wooden stadium, and sit in the mayors box! Now, to all of you reading this in absolute disgust and on the verge to writing to Anne Robinson to complain, let me just say that here in Ecauador they dont kill the bulls or even harm them all they do is wind them up a bit by waving bits of red cloth in their faces. In fact its the people in the bull ring that get hurt NEVER the bulls.

Anyway, to cut a very long story short, after a few tiny beers and lots of egging on from the local (more than slightly tipsey crowd) both me and Irja my Swedish traveling friend decided that we should do something for the equality of women in South America (?) and ended up in the bullring with a live bull with nothing but a full bottle of beer that I had just bought to protect us!! Now in our slightly¨non lucid¨ state we decided we had a point to prove! In South America only boys and men are allowed in the bull ring but never women, that is unless they go in the same category as the boys in the under 10 year old group! as if!!!!! Fortunately for us lots of drunk boys showed us how to protect ourselves from the bull! phew!! (but to be honest we were complete scardy cats! and the bull was never closer than 30 feet to us!) THEN, they announced the boys under 18 category (which obviously has a less angry bull than the grown up man category!) so off me and Irija trotted but this time with someone from our Hacidena (to the absolute disgust of our tour leader who is sill grumpy with us!) the same guy who was later that day riding one of the bulls in the ring (crazeeee man!) you´ll see the pics! I am slightly ashamed to say though that there we were in the middle of the bull ring with a live bull charging round and knocking people over while we 2 of only only 5 gringos in the whole arena having our pictures taken and posing for the cameras and TV whilst being fed beer and like a right pair of girls !!!! (what an amazing day!) I going to remember the adrenaline if nothing else for the rest of my life!!!!

............and did we do anything for the equality of women in Ecuador? LOL errrr maybe not!!