Hola, While Emlyn and Bree left for Latacunga, I was left on my own in Quito to post home some unnecessary clothes and some souvenirs the next very early morning. Glad that my backpack is now a lot lighter and more comfortable! I took a bus to Latacunga. A taxi man couldn't find the hotel that Emlyn and Bree stayed the night before. Had to ask around for directions, but as many people we asked were clueless I felt like telling them to go back to primary school and re-take geography! Finally found it, but unfortunately my travel partners were already gone. I assumed they would be on the volcano. At that time, I didn't have the information at all and had no idea how to get to the volcano. A man who works at hotel, he used his superb body languages and I understood completely what he meant of how to get there. I quickly changed to warm clothes and immediately went to the volcano called the 'Volcan Cotopaxi', the second highest peak (5897). The view of Volcan Cotopaxi was fabulous! It felt like it should be one of the wonders of world. I found VERY hard to climb up because it's difficult to breath at the high altitude. It took me AGES to get on the top, to the restaurant which is about 4800m. At every 10 meters, I needed to stop and take a break because it felt like I was running the 20km like I did in Belgium Marathon! When I finally reached to the restaurant, I felt dizzy because I ran all the way up to get climbing over done with! Whereas I was supposed to take time to get used in the high altitude. Had rest for while before climbing a bit higher where there is full of snow! I was on my own and threw the snow to somewhere instead of people! I started to feel more dizzy, so I eventually ran down, feeling like the fastest runner in the world! Half way down I bumped into Emlyn and Bree. Realised they were waiting for me when I was on the way from Quito. They were in the Internet café when Bree has sent her superb postcard. Disappointed that we didn't meet at the right time so we agreed that they carry go up and I look around the town of Latacunga which I haven't been to. Latacunga is a good base for day-tripping to the volcano. This place is a very historical and stunning place to visit. All the streets are narrow with cobblestones - typical of a historical town. When Emlyn and Bree got back from their climb up the mountain, we set off to Banos. On the way to Banos, not surprisingly Emlyn forgot his camera charger; guess where he left his charger? In the most stupid place, a restaurant! How many times has he forgotten his things?! Here is a list of what he has forgotten/lost during this trip: • Passport • Charger - twice! • Tent • Jeans - left it in the coach • Lonely Plant Book - left it on the coach • Shampoo - left it in the hotel!! Perhaps it is a tradition of the Burton family! Emlyn had to go back to get his charger from the restaurant whilst I and Bree continued our journey to Banos. The next day, we hired mountain bikes, which Bree was looking forward to! It was awesome! We rode for 30km and ended down to the massive and BEAUTIFUL waterfall. When we were on the way, we rode the most exciting ride, which Emlyn loved due to his addiction to extreme sport. We felt the adrenaline pumping up and down our body when we rode down the dramatic descent on paved road, riding through mini waterfalls. we got over-excited because the ride was so fast and bumping all the time. We sang ¨vaaaammmmoooossss¨("let's go" in Spanish) it was a great adventure with many gorgeous views, passing several waterfalls, stopping at small villages with sweet little kids! After the long ride, we went back to Banos and went to chill our muscles out in the hot Bath. The hot baths are beside the mountain with beautiful gorgeous waterfall, and it was evening so it was even more beautiful. My god, it was the most relaxing place I have ever been to. First of all, we had to go to FREEZING water and stayed there for 1 min. Yes we had suffer a lot and couldn't communicate at all. The funniest thing was Bree had to put her hands cover her private parts to avoid people seeing her erm..... you know!! Anyway after that we immediately went to the very hot bath and were looking forward to it. But realised it was toooo hot for us. But we did manage to get in and felt like 'MY GOD'! I felt peaceful and hadn't ANY problems on my brain. I just felt too relaxed looking at the beautiful view of waterfall. Since our relaxing beach-treat in Puerto Colombia, we have not stopped moving from place to place, city to city. Long distance bus rides have left our muscles feeling weak and sore all over! Honestly it was just a luxury! One thing that I was disappointed is there were only few fit babes. Something to enjoy for my and Emlyn's wide eyes! Went out to our favourite socialising spot........ the bar. We'd enjoy ourselves and felt so exhausted after the hot bath. The next day, we jeaded south to Cuenca via Riobamba. There wasn't much to visit there, but it was nice to stroll around the town with many historical monuments and old houses. Now it's our last day in Ecuador. Wanna tell you something, Ecuador is a beautiful and a MUST to visit. Personally, for me it's the best country out of the other 2 (Venezuela and Colombia) even though we haven't been to tropical Pacific coast, and the Amazon river. The beauty of Ecuador is that it's three different worlds in one little country: the spectacular Andes, the sun-drenched Pacific Coast and the lush Oriente (the volcano, lowlands and Amazon). We didn't go to probably one of the well known island called 'Galapagos Islands'. We wished we could go there, but with our tight budget, we had to give it a miss. There are loads of backpackers here because it's a perfect country to visit with it's different worlds, offering different things to do with different atmospheres. That's enough, phew! We are off to PERU now! Looking forward to it big time! Antx P.S YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS my homework is finished!