High times in Ecuador

Well, we finally managed to extract ourselves from Colombia after 7 weeks there and made our way across the border into Ecuador wondering what to expect. We spent 4 weeks travelling from north to south through Ecuador`s mountainous terrain, ranging in altitude from 1500 metres above sea level to around 3000 metres.

Our first stop was the town of Otavalo, famous for its colourful Saturday market that lines its streets. Here we noticed a big difference from Colombia, with many hardy-looking indigenous people dressed in traditional clothing. We checked out the animal market first, where you can buy anything from a guinea pig (called `cuy` in Spanish, a local delicacy that is eaten spit roasted or deep fried - no I haven`t tried it!) to a horse (from 200 dollars), pig or cow (from 150 dollars). We then moved on to the craft market, where we had a lot of fun bargaining for a souvenir painting and some new threads for the Cat.

In the capital Quito we both signed up for a week`s Spanish lessons - it`s incredibly cheap at about 3 quid per hour for one-to-one tuition. Quito is a city of two halves - the old town (beautiful colonial buildings, plazas and whopping big churches) and the new town (filled with hostels, cafes and bars), and during our time there we enjoyed exploring both sides. We also checked out the `Middle of the World`, where the ecuatorial line passes through the country.

Travelling south to the lovely town of Baños, some sneaky b***** managed to steal our laptop on the bus (from in between Yem`s legs) - we couldn`t quite believe it had happened but managed to quickly sort out a police report etc. I guess it just goes to show that no-one is immune to these devious types, and we will be even more careful in future....

During our stay in Baños, we went for hikes in the beautiful surrounding hills (fortunately the local volcano is sleeping at the moment) and took what felt like a communal bath in the hot spring pools - it`s a real family outing over here with sometime 3 generations joining in the fun. We also celebrated Yem`s 33rd birthday with a slap up meal in a local restaurant.

We enjoyed the `white city` of Cuenca in the south of Ecuador, cooking up some tasty grub bought in the local market and chatting with a local boy Danny, who fathered his first child at 16 (his girlfriend was only 13 at the time!). From Cuenca, we made a brief stop in the village of Vilcabamba on our way to the border with Peru. Known as `the worst border in South America` for various scams, we didn`t know what to expect, but all went smootly even though bizarrely the border posts are about 5kms apart with two towns in between (normally you just walk between one border and another).

We are now in Mancora, a touristy beach resort in the north of Peru with a nice beach and a good dose of sunshine. Yem survived being stung by a baby scorpion this morning, which had made its way into his trousers overnight. When he started jumping around during breakfast I though it must be a wasp, but the little stinger was having a good go at the Cat`s rump! He seems ok now, and will definately be checking his pants from now on!

Love from Peru
Soph & Yem xxx