Buenos Dias Todos,

Well we have arrived safely in the pretty but wet city of Cuenca. We are planning on staying here for a few days as the thought of more bus travel right now is not a nice one! What we have seen of the city so far is some pretty plazas, cobbled streets, market stalls and lots of shops and restaurants that make up a bustling city. Hopefully if the rain and drizzle stop we will be able to get out and about and explore a bit.

From Peru (after some very long and boring bus travel) we arrived in Loja and spent the night. Leaving the next day we went about an hour south to a very pretty town called Vilcabamba. Here we stayed in some great little cabins about 4km out of the town and relaxed in some quiet surroundings with only the sound of the nearby River Yambala and the native birds. We also did a day trek to the Podocarpus National Park which lay close to where we were staying. However the best thing about staying at the cabanas was the owner cooked us dinner and breakfast which was all hearty homemade food including `just out of the oven` brown bread.

Reluctantly we left and bussed here to Cuenca......

Will update with more very soon.

Love to you all.

Sarah and Shane xx