Well, we were going to leave Saturday, then Sunday... now we finally get our act together to leave this morning, and we are informed that the buses are on on strike. Less pollution on the roads for one day, hurray.... and we get yet another day of bumming around this crazy town. Since we moved out of the house, and into a hostal downtown, the days have all blended together... como Clerks in Quito. There was a medley of interesting folks staying in our hostal.. a hippie tribe from Lima, a bunch of surfers of different stripes, N. Americans, and even my 2 German buddies from Isinlivi showed up. We pay $4 a night. The gritty stories, I´ll have to save for individual ears.
Spending my birthday here was fun, of course. I have a small, but nice posse.. and we ate cake and went out dancing. The tradition in Ecuador, is similiar to the wedding cake tradition in the US... getting it smashed in your face, sometimes gently, sometimes not, depending on who you is doing the deed. Let´s say on Friday night I was picking icing out of my hair all night.
From Quito, our tentative plan is this: Tena (jungle down 6 hours east), Banos (5 hours south), Cuenca (5 more hours south, old colonial town), and hopefully we will spend a week in Vilcabamba at this quaint little farm, before crossing the border into Peru.
cross your fingers... we will be en route tomorrow.
