Well, it seems that I have a lot of time to account for but not too much to tell!
Since I got back from Colombia I have been in Ecuador... In the first week back, I went to Riobamba (in central Ecuador) where I stayed a week, visting little towns in the area and admiring the beautiful snow capped volcanos which surround the town... I then went back to Quito for a few days to enjoy the "World cup fever", spending the final in an Italian restaurant with a bunch of cocky Italians (Yes! I am very angry that France lost!) It was a pretty relaxed couple of weeks...
From there I went on to go to Cuenca which I have to say I would call one of the best (if not the best) cities in the country... It is a lot cleaner and more cultivated than many of the other areas that I visited and has some really beautiful architecture. From here I did a number of day trips in the to towns surrounding the area (which in general were not of the most impressive type), to an Inca site called Ingapirca and to Cajas national park which was stunning but freezing! I got to the park at 7am and it was raining (of course! I have adopted the name here of "La Reina de la Lluvia" (the queen on the rains) as no matter where I go it rains while I am there and then mysteriously clears up for my departure for everyone else but me to enjoy...) By the first 15 minutes of the hike that I embarked on I was soaked to the bone and half frozen to death. At the end of the 3 hour walk I was so cold that I could not think or do anything but imagine a nice hot shower so I left... I think that it must have been the shortest possible time spent in the park ever!
From cuenca I went further down south to Loja and Vilcabamba. I did not much like Loja but loved Vilcabamba... It was so quiet and beautiful there surrounded by mountains and as I was recovering from a cold it was the perfect place to relax.
Other eventful news in Ecuador was that volcano Tungurahua errupted, dumping Baños in ash (i had visited the volcano the week before the erruption) which put the whole province into a bit of a panic as there was a lack of water in the area as the ahs had contaminated the water supplies...
I also had my first experience with an Ecuadorian beauty parlor (I can laugh now but let me assure you that there was nothing funny about it at the time!) I went to get my legs waxed as they were starting to look a little manly (perhaps a good thing for here though?) The STUPID woman walzed in and starting trying to wax my legs. The wax that she was using was some kind of wax from the stone age and once she put it on it would not come off so she had to pratically scrape it of my leg and then she blamed it on my hairy legs saying that they were too hairy and that is why it wasnt working. After two hours of her dick farting around on my legs (which still have tuffs of hair on them!) she tried to charge me about double the cost. She also left my legs covered in wax residue which I spent 2 hours trying to scrub off with hospital grade alcohol... I think next time I will pass and leave my lovely hairy legs for all to enjoy!
I am now in Peru in a city called Piura on the coast so keep posted!
Ciao
