I´m back

Well after being marooned in the civilisation free world that is the mountains here, i am back with lots to say, but promise not to say all of it! So after hellish 23hr journey, involving unhelpful bus drivers refusing to let me off at bus terminals and breakfasts of chicken and rice (note to self, never ask for breakfast in small towns without first clarifying what constitutes breakfast!) finally arrived at the little haven of peace, serenity and chocolate brownies that is the black sheep inn. Its right in the middle of nowhere but has amazing scenery and is run on really great eco-friendly principles. And so enthusiastic are they about these principles that i even found myself getting excited about permaculture and composting toilets (dad, be warned, i have lots of ideas for how to turn the farm into an eco-dream!!!!)

So ended up staying there for 5 nights whilst I hiked, ate aforementioned chocolate brownies, rode horses, explored cloud forests and contemplated my navel/the mountain scenery. Bliss. Even completed a 5 hour hike back from this amazing volcanic lake which, given we were at 3500m was no small task, especially the nasty climb up out of a big gorge at teh end of the hike. Fun walk though this aside and got a great insight into how people live out here - basically with difficulty, lots of walking and LOTS of children!

But finally managed to drag myself away (i think the fact i had to leave on a 4am bus contributed to my extended stay) and made my way on another epic bus journey to thi stiny town called Salinas which turned out to be amazing. It is famous as it is basically a town of co-ops and it has been incredibly succesful at running itself to generate more money/empowerment/self esteem for the local population. And whats great is that it is possibly the friendliest place I have ever been in and most people seem very content with their lives, and the majority of young people choose to stay there (the hostal is built and run by a co-op of young people even!). Luckily for anyone who loves me back home, it was unfortunaltely rather (for that read amazingly) cold after about 1pm, otherwise I would at this moment be looking for an ecuadorian to marry so i could stay there!

however, as you will have guessed from this entry, I finally left and re-entered civilisation today and am currently in the rather bland town of riobamba before i head off to cuenca tommorrow for inca ruins and colonial architecture. hurrah

Oh, one thing that has been amusing me for a while but i always forget to mention...am loving how popular sponge bob square pants (or bob esponja as he is known here) is. Every manner of disposable good has been festooned with his image and my current favourite, beating the rather dull matresses and backpacks, is teh bob esponja range of ice creams!!!!