Last week we were still in Banos so we decided to rent some bikes to bomb downhill towards the Amazon basin to check out the waterfalls. Pailon del Diablo is the main Waterfall and you can actually go and stand behind the torrents of water flowing over the edge. However there was no magical place behind the waterfall just a damp wall and lots of sprayback..damn you Disney films.

After three days in Banos and we were on the road again heading for Quito. I was a little aprehensive about heading there as I had heard that it was quite dangerous and you basically shouldn't headout after nine pm. I hadn't been told to be 'home' before nine since I was about fourteen so I was not overly impressed.We stayed in old town Quito as it is a bit more authenic. The gringo area in new town is pretty much the same as Leciester Square in London - no joke! Obviously there are some places you don't go but that can be said for any city. Overall though the locals are quite nice and tend to be helpful even when I ask questions in pigeon spanish.

Quito is famous for it's altitude (c.2800m) and it's proximity to the equator. First thing that I hit was the altitude, walking about is generally fine but you would feel it when walking up hills/steps. It's uncanny how out of breath you get after a few feet! We decided to climb a mountain called Rucu Pichincha (4680m) in preperation for our climb of Cotopaxi the next night. Technically it was more hiking than climbing, still that didn't stop me gettig altitude sickness on the way back down. Basically it's like a really bad hangover - thumping headache and feeling quite nauseated. In this case a breakfast roll or a dirty chinese takeout won't solve your woes. A couple of hours kip and the next day I was good as new. (I also tried coca tea but that was not much use)

Cotopaxi is a snow capped volcano (last erupted 130 yrs ago)about an hour or so south of Quito. Claimed to be quite an easy climb - this was not the case! Transport to 4500m and you have the climb the rest to the summit to 5890m. The climb was to begin at one am with the aim to reach the summit in time for sunrise. When we got to the refuge at four pm it was a glorious day and just as we were chatting about the plan for the night a stupid snow storm blows in!! Still determined to go our guides rudely woke us up at twelve to get going. All wrapped up and ready to go we set off. Within ten minutes we had a layer of ice covering one half of our clothes. Suffice to saw we didnt reach the summit, conditons were horrible (my crampons saved me from blowing away like a tumble weed a few times). We were facing about three hours more of climbing/scrambling up fifty degree glariers. We stopped at 5518m. I can honestly admit it was probably one of the most physically demanding things I have ever done in my life. It was a bit disheartenig having to turn around but at the end if the day I was delighted to have attempted it.

We took a trip to the equator, pretty uneventful place but pretty cool to be at zero lattitude and hop between the two. Highight for me was my awesome cartwheel over the line and thanks to Pete for his excellent capture of it!

So another country down and I have now moved onto Colombia. Staring down south in a place called Cali. Just after getting here so I will let you know how I get on soon. Think we are going to some coca plantations.. sorry I mean coffee plantations tomorrow!

Hasta luego