So what better way to spend a Sunday than climbing a volcano...yes that?s just what I did. After returning to Quito from my week at the coast I decided another weekend in Quito was just too much as there?s really nothing happening there, so I booked myself on a day trip to Cotopaxi national park.After an early start we were driven about an hour down the road to board a train that would take us to the national park. The train was similar to the one I went on at Ri...

My final week in Quito was my last chance to brush up on the Spanish skills before I was let lose on my own with the language..!But if I thought the week was going to be uneventful I was far from right. I arrived back from the coast early Saturday morning, safe in the knowledge that I had a hostel booked and waiting for me...or so I thought...because when I arrived the rather smiley, but very unhelpful man informed me that he was very sorry but there were no room...

So time for another change of scenery and no sooner had I returned from the jungle it was time to board another overnight bus for the ten hour journey to the coast. My destination was Puerto Lopez on the west coast of Ecuador...and then a few kilometres further down the road to a purpose-built ecological resort called Alandaluz.This week there were a few more of us from the school - well three students and two teachers anyway! The hotel itself was really nice, se...

After three weeks studying in Quito I decided it was time for a change...and what a change. I managed to find another student at the school who was also interested in a change if scene so we arranged to head off to the Amazon jungle for a week. The school I am at allows you to study in other places in Ecuador, including the jungle, which is one of the reasons I chose it, so two students (me and Peter) and a teacher packed their bags and headed off into the u...

Otavalo is famous for it?s weekend market, where locals flock from far and wide to exhibit their wares and tourists descend to spend their dollars on all sorts of goods, from jewellery and paintings, to tablecloths and of course ponchos!It all gets going about 8am so many people choose to stay the night in Otavalo to allow themselves first look at the goods...but we decided to get up early and catch an early bus to Otavalo from Quito. It takes about 2 hours, depe...