Saturday I went to Otavalo, known for having the largest market in the world!I was so overwhelmed by everything though that I couldn't even buy anything!It was definitely overstimulation! The next day I took a bike tour from Lake Cuicocha (meaning guinea pig lake since the islands in the middle look like guinea pigs) through Cotacachi, a town known for its leather goods.There was a Hungarian girl who took the tour with me and we both huffed and puffed our ...

7/8 - 7/10, 7/14 - 7/15 I got into Quito at 5am after taking the night bus.I rested for a little bit, ran some errands w/ my friend Nadia's sister, Esther, who was nice enough to let me stay w/ her, then took the bus to the equatorial line called the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world). The equatorial monument was pretty cool and there were also various pavilions there including an insectarium.I paid $2 to get pictures & video taken w/ 4 hercules beetl...

I went to a small town near the coast called Porto Viejo to stay w/ my friend Freddy's cousins, Sandy and Nancy.It was nice spending time w/ his family.The first day I spent time working w/ Diana, Sandy's daughter on her English - teaching her actions for the vocab like I do in school.She did really well and it felt good to teach again.I went out dancing that night for the first time my whole trip and it was a lot of fun!The reggaeton music was actually very go...

My first night my friend Nadia's sister, Luz and her brother, Luis took me around for a quick night tour of the city and for some tacos & soy milk for dinner!The next morning, Nadia's brother, Luis took me for a nice stroll in Malecon el Salado by the University and then to the southern part of the Malecon 2000 along the waterfront.There we stopped for a humita (like a tamal) and a hayaca (sweet tamal w/ smoother softer dough & chicken inside).I also tr...

I finally made it to Cuenca, Ecuador at 8pm after a total of 46 hours of transit from Arequipa (in southern Peru) to Lima to Tumbes (in northern Peru) over the border into Huaquillas, Ecuador then another 5 hours to get here.I must say it was a character building experience, although one that I don't plan to repeat!I did save myself over $300 though!I stayed in the cute Hostal Paredes that had nice hot water and was about a 10 - 15 min walk from Calderon park in...