A grand day of shopping in the OTAVALO market of Ecuador(one of the biiggest in S.America) enticed the three lads...and about a hundred other gringos. We noticed more extranjeros in two days than four months in Colombia. ¨How much money did your parents give you?¨ said a surley yank teen to the other. Not what we expected but a fine time none the less.
We continued on, once again rising closer to the stars with our arival to QUITO. By the next day the brothers had done some extra shopping to the galapagos and so we parted ways...I packed the bag and made it to the hills of LATACUNGA.
As quickly as I said good-by in Quito I had gained two new local friends Juan and Alex. After a few beers and some local insight into the country´s history....From 1995-98 Ecuador and Peru fought in a small war over Amozon forests and the Galapagos islands which were quite rightly Ecuadors. The conflict ended to Ecuadors victory but due to bribery and corruption Peru obtained a large part of Ecuador´s Amozon basin, taking a 1/4 of teir land and changing the political map once again. To say the least, the relationship between the two makes for a great football match......I was invited to stay with Alex and his family in Tababela, a neighbouring town next to Quito. So we returned for a weekend of fun and amazing hospitality provided by his family.
BANOS: which means bathroom, a touristy city amongst live vocanoes and rolling hills provided my entry point to the Amozon basin. I booked a three day Amozon tour complet with rafting, biking, landslides and a funky stomach bug...
I returned to Banos with the mixture of Amazon exploring European travellers and found a bus going north..once again returning to Latacunga to hang with my mates. To follow was another bout of amazing acomodation and laughs in Tababela and then a blast of a 21st B-day bash for Alex.
And now I have parted ways with my sarogate Ecuadorian family for the Colonial style streets of Cuenca. Back on my own I have two weeks until my Brisbane housmate Didier arives in Lima. So The plan is to put my hamok to use and swing my way down the Peruvian coast...anyone for a pisco sour?
