Had a leisurely start leaving our hotel at 9 AM since we only had a 2 hours drive today to our next stop Ambositra. Was now for the first time going South and again the landscape was changing. Very mountainous part of the country we went through today - but again really stunning scenery. Arrived as planned just before lunch at another nice hotel L'Artisan - so started with a beer at their lovely terrace before ordering lunch. Have read that this town is not known for its food and there are not many good places to eat - so thought the hotel was the best option, which I think we were right about since served us a nice lunch. The hotel was really nice and again didn't have a lot of guests - but for some reason it looked like we made the short draw when it came to rooms. OK we were supposed to have a triple room - but got 2 separate rooms next to each other instead, which was fine - but pretty much felt like we got installed in the 2 stables. All other rooms had proper big windows where our rooms literally had a stable door and then a tiny window in the back - so not a lot of light in there. Anyway was only a stopover and the surroundings were nice - so for sure we could survive 1 night in a stable :-).

At 2 PM Lolo took us in the car for a 2 hour drive around the city, where we made several stops to take pictures and walk around between the locals. (everytime our driver stopped in a market or town, he told us to get out and "buy food" which we really didn't want to do. The penny finally dropped at this point - he meant "by foot"). At this place we mainly saw the real pousse-pousse (not the ones with a bike attached) and the pousse-pousse runners where literally sprinting down the hills - so no idea how they manage to stop with a lot of weight in the back. A very friendly and colourful place, which is also known for all their wood carvings - so did drive a bit outside town as well to visit a few shops with a lot of these wood carvings. Didn't buy any wooden things - but found a few small paintings that I couldn't resist buying - so a few more things to take home. Heather bought a wooden fridge magnet and Dan bought a T-shirt with the saying 'Mora Mora', which we have heard a lot out here and means slowly slowly.

The rest of the afternoon was free to relax and we just stayed around the hotel to get a few practical things sorted and have another beer before it got too cold to sit outside. We went for dinner at 7 PM where the only other couple staying in the hotel literally finished their meal - so were obviously eating early. However our driver Lolo came and joined us for dinner today but that also meant that we were the only 4 people in the restaurant when 2 musicians turned up and played for us. Really felt sorry for them that they had to just play for 4 people - but they did a good job and even played some Beatles songs that we knew - so very impressed. The music left at 9 PM and then the bar decided to call the last round as well - so we were literally only left with the option of going back to our room at 9.15 PM. Was way too early for me - so I decided to have my own party in my stable. Still had some rum left and my iPod - so was dancing and singing for 2 hours with some nice rum and had great fun. Heather and Dan optioned for an early night - but I think I kept them awake since apparently they could hear all the singing - so they might as well have joined me :-).