Riobamba
ECUADOR | Friday, 12 June 2009 | Views [74]
We arrived from Quito after a four hour journey and ate a very late lunch while waiting to be picked up by our couchsurfing friend Wladimir (yes a russian name is quite common in these parts apparently). He grabbed us and another couple and we headed to his house and out to pizza for dinner where we met two more couples who were to join with us for the weekends activities.
Saturday early in the morning (got up at 4am would you believe!) we headed off to a hot pools, nothing spectacular or particularly hot but we sat in them along with some locals until the sun tried to rise but was beaten back by the fog... Home for breakfast then we went by bus out to a little place in the middle of nowhere where we hiked along a river and up into the hills. Carol thought she was dying on the first uphill leg which was constant but she survived and we had a great time clambering over mudslides and swollen rivers to reach our goal.
The trek took 4 hours and we returned to the small village and ate roasted Guinea Pig for lunch.
Sunday we were taken by van out to the foothills off the local mountain which we have forgotten the name of temporarily - Chimborazo. We mounted our trusty steeds here and went for a 3 hour horse trek to another hotpools. The ride was great and enjoyed by all, got a few canters in and Kent's arse felt like hell for a week after despite the hotpool ending.
On the journey back to Wladimirs house we went up the mountain in the van, by the Ozzy couple's altimeter we were at 4200 mtrs, as you will see in the pics when we finally get them on here. It was icy and we all jumped out and had a snow fight! Imagine that! Right on the equator!!!
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