The house in Riobamba part 2, the living room and the kitchen. September 28, 2006

The house in Riobamba, my room and the dining room. September 28, 2006

Riobamba, downtown. September 27, 2006

The highway entering Riobamba. A politcal rally ensued. We just kept driving. September 27, 2006

Inca walls at a former Hacienda near Cotopaxi. Now coverted to a small chapel in a hotel. September 27, 2006

Cotopaxi. The Fuji of Ecuador. September 27, 2006

The road out of Quito, September 27, 2006

One of many orchids at the botanical gardens in Quito, September 26, 2006

The Worker's Compensation Board clearly doesn't hold much sway in Ecuador, September 26, 2006

Hotel Quito lobby, September 26, 2006

Quito's Old City at night, September 25, 2006

Plaza San Francisco, Quito's Old City, September 25, 2006

The view east from Ross' room at the Hotel Quito. September 25, 2006

After taking two immodium last night I felt much better. I slept heavily from 10:00-4:15 then we sprang into action. We were in the van and on the way to the airport by the time 4:30 rolled around.

***

We had the immense privilege of enjoying standing in six different line ups before we were seated on the plane. First up was the check-in, which seemed to speed up as we went along. Next was to pay the departure tax ($31.60; I think a significant portion of the Ecuadorian GDP comes from this tax alone). This was followed by the interminable immigration line then a passport, boarding pass, bag search line to get into the waiting area. Finally, we got to the baording line and we were on our way. All in all, we stood in these various lines from over an hour (which is pretty quick, really, it just doesn't seem that way at 5:00 am) and basically had no lounging time from wake up to boarding. I guess we timed it just right.

***

We're currently flying over what I believe is Nicaragua. Looks pretty great. Maybe some other time I'll visit.

We flew alongside what looked like a rather large hurricane a little ways back (probably around Panama). Holy crap those things are huge. Remind me not to get trapped in one.

***

They're showing of the X-Men movies (I think it's the newest one). I can't even begin to describe how little I care to watch it. I think I'm going to drink my tea and take a nap.

***

That was a nice little doze. Perhaps I'll do it again in a bit. I think we're over the Yucatan Penninsula now. Sweet, sweet Mexico, I've missed you.

***

It's interesting to note that the height we're flying at (arond 1200m above sea level) is considerably less than half the altitude we were living at in Riobamba (2950m).

***

Ugh. If I thought the process in Quito was bad, Houston somehow managed to outdo it. They made us claim our luggage, enter the U.S. through immigration, recheck our luggage with the same airline, then go back through security. We didn't have to do all that on the way down to South America. What a pain. At least they were fairly quick about it. It took slightly longer than an hour. Oh well, it's not like we're in a hurry. Only 6.5 more hours until boarding time. I think I'll go for a wander.

***

We went for lunch at the airport E terminal food court. Lunch was pretty good for an airport food court, but what was remarkable about it was the fact that playing live music for us was an Andean folklore band, panpipes, charangos and all. Maybe I can get one of them to tune my charango for me... Actually, they were pretty bad. Maybe we got spoiled in Ecuador, but these guys sucked.

***

I went to find an internet kiosk somewhere in one of the terminals in the hopes of typing up the blog and checking email. I wandered for quite a while, realizing along the way that I could probably wander the airport for my entire layover and not go down the same hallway twice while still seeing the exact same things over and over again. I did finally find a place, but at 50 cents a minute and a 10 minute minimum, I decided to wait until I got home.

***

I've seriously explored every possible nook and cranny in this airport and we still have 3 hours before boarding. I just want to go home.

***

Thankfully, we finally got to leave Houston, almost an hour late due to an undisclosed delay.

I'm a little irritated with the airline for not providing free headphones for the movie like they did on the last flight. $5 seems a little exhorbitant, especially seeing as how they advertise the movies as being "complimentary." Oh well, I wasn't that eager to see "Akeelah and the Bee" anyway.

Regardless, we're finally going home. Somehow, though, our seats didn't match up on this flight so I'm sitting towards the back of the plane while Ross and Jim sit together near the front. That's fine. I got to meet a rather pleasant woman named Nadina who does recruitment for VCC in Latin America. She's on her way back from Colombia and Mexico.

***

And I'm home. What a long day. I'm so happy to see Laura and Jon.

We got back to the apartment, hunted through the knickknacks and all went to bed.

The trip is done. It was awesome, but I'm ecstatic to be back.

Stay tuned for pictures...

I slept late today. All the way to 7:05. It strangely feels like I slept most of the day away.

I've actually got a bit of a hangover this morning. I didn't think I drank all that much last night, but apparently it was enough. It should pass come breakfast, though. It's pretty mild.

***

I don't think there's much on the agenda today other than making sure we're completely ready to go and some final stops to pick up souvenirs, etc. Time to get it all started.

***

Well, we went to the mall. The mall in Quito is just like any other mall; awful. At least they had a good bookstore. I can now say that, with the exception of Antigua (which I'm pretty sure doesn't have a mall), I've been to the mall in every country I've visited. I'm not really very proud of that.

***

I spent the day finishing picking up knickknacks, eating the largest burger known to man and having stomach problems. That sentence describes the entire day rather well, actually. We went for dinner at a restaurant on the top floor of a building. It was quite nice despite the fact that I could only bring myself to have the consommé (it was very flavourful broth, though). then we all went to bed to await our 4:15 wake up call.

Finito en Quito.

I'm up early once again. I'm not sure why I continue to comment on it. It's just how it is. I'm sitting out on the porch swing outside my room at the hotel, looking at the scenery as the sun increasingly brightens the landscape.

I wish I had known about this place before. Even the shower rocks.

***

We drove for a long time alomg that same windy, dirt road through what were the most beautiful mountains and valleys I've seen on this trip. I guess we were saving the best for last.

We stopped for lunch at Hacienda La Ciénaga, near the main highway. It's a truly pretty place with lovely cozy rooms to stay in. The lunch was good and was highlighted by a local band playing Andean standards mixed with 60s pop songs on pan flutes, charangos and a guitar. They were quite good, really loud, and right next to our table.

After lunch, we said goodbye to José-Luis as he went to the highway to catch a bus home to Cuenca then continued on our way to Quito.

***

We're at a nice hotel in the Mariscal (Quito's tourist zone) and we had a really tasty Thai meal for dinner.

After dinner we went to a couple of bars. The first one was a rather trendy seeming place. We had a few beers the moved on to an Irish pub. It was awful. We tried to order a beer from their menu called Llama Negra, which Ross says is pretty good. However, our waitress returned a few moments later to inform us that our choices were Pilsener or Coca-Cola. Adding in the fact that a strange smell emanated from Ross' chair, we chose option three and went to look for a different place to drink.

We ended up at the British pub we went to when we first arrived in ecuador. Ross and I had pints of bitter and Jim had a Guinness. It was much better and the first time we've seen an actual selection of beer to choose from in many weeks.

We've actually decided that this pub, La Reina Victoria, is the new archaeologist hang out in Quito. So, if you happen to be an archaeologist in Ecuador, come here. There may or may not be other archaeologists there when you go (there aren't many archaeologists in Ecuador, so likely not), but it's the place to go.

***

I've come to the conclusion that Quito makes me nervous. I feel vaguely threatened and on edge here. I haven't felt that way anywhere else in Ecuador, just Quito. I don't like it. Quito has some great stuff, but I'll be happy to not be in it for too much longer.

We were up and out of Riobamba by just after 7:00 this morning. We made a quick stop on the edge of town for Ross to mark the location of a Puruhá site on his GPS (I'm thinking it's time to get myself one of those; a map nerd just isn't complete without one), then headed north.

It was a clear day as we hit the high point of the highway just outside Riobamba, making distant Cotopaxi visible as well as the closer volcanoes of Chimborazo, Tungarahua and Carihuayrazo. We cruised through Ambato and up to Latacunga where we made a quick stop. Despite my earlier disparagement of Latacunga as a viable place to visit, it's a rather pretty place. I would definitely spend a day or so there. It's not touristy, but if I want that, I'll go to Baños. If I want a pleasant, well maintained old city, Latacunga is on the list.

After Latacunga we turned off the main highway to make the ascent up to Quilotoa. Along the way we turned into a small place called Pujili. There we drove past a lovely colonial church and former Ecuadorian military dictator from the 1970s, Guillermo Rodriguez Lara. Jim waved at him and he waved back. I was under the impression that ousted military dictators tend to flee the country, not settle in small towns to wave at tourists from a white Mercedes SUV, but I guess I was mistaken.

We actually ended up, further olong our drive up into the mountains, at a little inn and former hacienda run by the nephew of Lara. He invited us in for coffee, informed us of his tour and hotel business, gave us some homemade cheese, told us about his family history and showed us around. It seems like a great place to spend a few nights; very comfortable and cozy.

We continued up the hill to Tigua, just above the former hacienda and home to the people the hacienda used to rule. The town, of an indigenous population, has a fair bit of bitterness towards the hacienda and would obviously prefer it if the Lara family would leave (as a side bit of intrigue, the father of our driver, Galo, used to be mayor of Riobamba until Lara came to power and replaced him with one of his cronies). Anyway, at Tigua, they have some beautiful and very colourful local art, a small piece of which I bought.

After that, we finally made it to Quilotoa and, before descending into the crater, had some very good quinoa and potato soup. This was oddly the first time since getting to the Andes that I've had quinoa. You'd think it would be more prevalent, but it's not. Ross says that it's a class. The people in the cities don't want to eat indigenous food. How ridiculous.

Anyway, we climbed down into the huge and beautiful crater. It's apparently still active and erupted last in 1797 (the same year the earthquake destroyed the original Riobamba that the stuff we were analyzing came from). I'm not even going to attempt to describe the crater further. I took pictures. I'll buy postcards. The climb down was pretty easy, despite occasional slipperiness due to sand on top of rocks. Coming up, the weather started to turn on us. It took a while and we had a bit of rain, but we made it out before the fog hit.

Next, we drove through what had become a downpour along a really winding, dirt road through the steep mountains for about an hour until we got to our evenings lodgings.

***

This place is cool. It's completely eco-friendly and has honour system snacks and beverages. All the guests eat together at 7:00 (soon). I really like this place. I'm currently writing this up in a loft bed in a room heated by a wood stove. The manager, a guy named Buffalo, is really helpful and the entire place just oozes friendliness.

***

Dinner was amazing. Ginger carrot soup, moussaka, rice and beans, and tzatziki. We could (and did) have big servings of seconds. Afterwards, everyone (and I mean everyone staying at the hotel, about 12-15 people) hung out in the common room and chatted. It{s a rather idyllic place with a community spirit and great views. They grow a lot of their own food and buy locally what they can't grow themselves, use self-composting toilets, and use rain/spring water for showers and general washing. It's brilliant. Why can't more places be like this?

Laura, I need to bring you here. It's called the Black Sheep Inn. It rocks.

***

I went up to my room last night and was stopped short by the stars. I must have stayed out for a good half an hour, if not more, just standing and staring at the twinkling sky.

Well, one more steam bath and some breakfast then I'm off to Riobamba to move out of the house. It's all coming to an end now, isn't it?

***

That steam bath seemed a far cry from the last one. I think I knew the routine better than the attendent (I'd never seen her before at the hotel, either; maybe she's new). That said, I still feel pretty good after. Now for breakfast and a bus.

***

They didn't have blackberry juice here. However, the breakfast burrito was awesome.

***

I'm back in Riobamba now. I called Ross and they're in Sicalpa having lunch then are off to see some Inca ruins. Seeing as I'm a good 30 minute bus ride away and that I, too, still need to eat lunch, I've decided not to hold them up by having them wait for me as much as I'd like to see more Inca stuff (and I really would). Instead, I'll go back to the house to get myself completely organized for leaving tomorrow.

***

I went to this nice little coffee shop we discovered a few weeks ago. They have a fairly decent menu, but apparently nothing on it is available today other than a ham and cheese crepe or a ham and cheese sandwich (plus whatever coffee or juice I might want). I went with the crepe.

***

I've come to really appreciate a good cup of coffee since coming to Ecuador. At home, I kind of take it for granted. However, here, a decent cup is not so easy to come by (an odd fact in a coffee producing country). So, when one is encountered, it is to be savoured.

***

I love the casualness of the Ecuadorian work day. Most of the staff here are sitting at a table, smoking and drinking beer while the cook makes my food in the kitchen. I think work should be like that everywhere.

***

I just received a rather sugary looking crepe topped with strawberries and whipped cream instead of the ham and cheese one I ordered (how Norwegian). Also, they forgot to bring me cutlery. I guess there are drawbacks to allowing the staff to drink on the job. I'm going to eat this (it does look good) then go somewhere else for a proper lunch.

***

I finished my sweet, sweet crepe and found a different coffee shop. Immediately upon entering I asked, "Tienes comida?" ("Do you have food?"). I was assured that they did. I have now ordered myself a chicken sandwich. That should hit the spot nicely, I think.

***

I'm back at the house now and, as expected, no one else was home, yet. So, I repacked all my stuff and started to pack up the remainder of the kitchen (the rest of the gang had packed and moved everything else while I was away for the weekend). At 3:00, two guys I've never seen before show up in a truck. They ask me some questions that I can't understand, then go away. A few minutes later, they return with Gladys, the lady who cleaned the house last week. She then proceeded to try to explain to me what they wanted. The explanation failed. I had no idea what was going on. They all left again, but shortly returned, this time with Elva. Elva took charge and managed to get through my tough skull that they were there to move the rest of the stuff to Elva's storage rooms. I can be really dense sometimes.

Anyway, we got it all moved and still the rest of the crew hadn't returned from what was supposed to be a quick look at some nearby Inca ruins.

Well, it turns out that nearby is extremely relative. They apparently drove for 3 hours before they found them. It's supposed to be a pretty great site, though.

***

Well, we're now at the Hotel Montecarlo for our last night in Riobamba. Getting dinner was an issue as we kept going to places that were closed. We ended up at Monaco Pizzeria at around 9:30-10:00 for a very late dinner.

It's time for sleep now. It'll be yet another early morning for our drive to the Quilotoa crater tomorrow.

***

I'm flipping through channels and have stumbled across: 1) a Ramones video, 2) Diff'rent Strokes dubbed into Spanish, and 3) one truly messed up movie involving some naked girl crawling around a meadow, chasing rabbits.

Enough. Sleep

I'm issuing a last call for postcards. I've still got plenty to send and will likely pick up some more in the next few days. If you would like me to send you a postcard from Ecuador (I can always send you an Ecuadorian postcard from Canada, but that seems a little odd), let me know by Wednesday night as Thursday is my final day here. I will most certainly get home before they get to you, but that's unimportant. Just email me your mailing address. Everyone who has sent me their addresses has had a card mailed to them. I have no clue when they will arrive, but they are on the way.

Guillermo

I think I've definitely caught up on my sleep. I probably got a good 11 hours or so last night. I'm still up at 6:00, but it was a really early night.

Anyway, I'm off to the hot springs before breakfast. Should be nice.

***

The hot springs were great, but far more crowded than I expected at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. It wasn't too bad, though. There were still plenty of places to get in the pool.

I met a girl from Wyoming (originally from South Carolina, though) named Katie. She's a professional dog-sled racer and has finished the Iditarod. I have never met anyone who's participated in, never mind completed, the Iditarod. We ended up hanging out all morning, walking up a road outside of town and chatting. She's off to Quito now to meet up with her father before they fly to the Galapagos Islands.

I've really met quite a variety of people on this trip. Nurses, cardiologists and rugby players from Ireland, child service workers from Norway, a rather odd fellow of unknown occupation from Israel, and a dog-sled racer from South Carolina. This has been a very interesting trip. I'm glad I came.

***

Once more, I was the tourist as I flitted about snapping pictures and buying trinkets and postcards. My mandate as forgeign visitor successfully completed, I went for lunch.

Again, I had Mexican food. I'm a complete sucker for it. The place I ate at was so clearly designed to draw in the pseudo-neo-hippie trekker / backpacker crowd. I swear it was transplanted directly from Commercial Drive. The food was good, the atmosphere was comfortable and the staff was friendly. I think, however, I eat with the locals tonight.

***

I've noticed that there are far more women travelling than men. I've also noticed that the women tend to be far friendlier than the guys (this is a broad generalization, to be sure, as I have encountered some friendly guys and some unfriendly girls, but the opposite seems to be the rule). I wonder what it is that makes the guys so standoffish and the girls more approachable.

***

On the recommendation of Katie, I went to the fruit market in search of a spiky orange fruit with a whitish flesh and small black seeds and a texture similar to kiwi. There was no way I was going to be able to translate that into Spanish, so Iwandered a bit, looking at all the fruit stalls for something that matched the description. I saw a small yellow fruit that came close, so I bought it. The lady at the stall told me it was called tuna, a name I recognized as being the fruit from a cactus (not alarge ocean fish, that's atún, and to make matters more complicated, olives are aceitunas and cooking oil is aceite, this language is baffling at times).

I'm eating it right now. It is definitely the fruit Katie described and it's quite good. Just don't mix it with mayo and put it in a sandwich.

***

I shouldn't be, but I'm amazed at how transient this hosteling / backpacking culture really is. I'm about to spend my third night here and I feel like a permanent resident in comparison to everyone else. I don't think there's anyone still here from when I arrived. In fact, I doubt if more than a few people have spent more than one night. Thus, I've found myself having the same conversation over and over again: "Do you speak English?" "Where are you from?" "How long have you been here?" "Are you staying in Ecuador or passing through to Perú?" "What made you choose Ecuador?" etc. Strangely, though, one can get some pretty in depth information about another in this situation. It's amazing how much people want to talk and how instant, brief, yet sincere friendships develop. I wonder if anyone has ever done an anthropological study of backpackers. I'll ask Ross and if he doesn't know, I'll ask some of my anthropologist friends and profs when I get home.

***

One of those horn bands just came by the hostel leading a parade of some sort. They weren't in the back of a truck this time, but it was basically the same music that woke me up yesterday morning. It's really fascinating. I took a littel video of them, with sound, as they went by. I wonder if it will load onto the blog when I get home.

***

The music up here on the terrace at the hostel is terrible. I think tey only have one god'awful cd. If I hear the Eagles, Elton John, the Bee Gees, or Extreme one more time, I'll burst with disgust. I suppose I could leave, but I just opened a beer. Maybe I'll finish it up and go to the pub.

However, the view makes up for the musical suckage. I'll stay until the sun finishes setting, then I'll flee this retro insanity.

***

I've ben alone up on the terace for a few hours now, but there has begun a slow tickle of other people to the top of the hostel. In contradiction of my theory, only guys are coming up now.

***

So, I'm not the only one who's ben here for 3 nights (all my heories are being shot down tonight). There's a guy sitting at another table writing in his journal (it's nice to see someone else doing that, I was beginning to feel like a bit of a freak) who has been here for at least as long as I have. He's also been the friendliest guy I've met, with the exception of the strange Israeli. That's not saying much, though. His inclusion on my friendly list simply means that he says "hi" when he sees me.

***

The lights have come on and the music has gone away. Both are blessings.

***

Oh yeah, the sunset. It was not spectacular, but the sky did turn moderately pink. In fact, none of the Ecuadorian sunsets I've seen have been particularly special. That surprises me for some reason.

***

This town is obsessed with fireworks. It's a constant, yet always startling, BANG! after BANG! While I can appreciate their enthusiasm for whatever it is they are enthusiastic about, it does leave a person a little on edge.

***

For a day when I didn't really do all that much, this is turning into a rather long journal entry.

***

The restaurant I'm at right now has a menu to rival the parrallada in Riobamba. It's pretty clear that they just used a generic translation website to write the English portion as "tacos" translates to "plugs" (mmm, chicken plugs) and "mora," which should be blackberry, translates to "default." Obviously, I ordered the default juice. I skipped the Mexican tonight, though (that hole has already been plugged, to use the local vernacular), to opt for the easily translated "trucha frita" (fried trout).

***

The attempted selling of treats or knickknacks to the tourists is far more pronounced here than anywhere else I've been in Ecuador, with the possible exception of Quito. Just now, a little girl, no older than 6 or 7 came up to me in the restaurant, her little sister strapped to her back, and offered to sell me some sort of candy.

This has happened off and on throughout the trip`, but is quite frequent here. It makes me really sad. I would rather buy them dinner then buy their candy, but in the end I do neither. It makes me feel a bit ill inside. I have it really good.

I look outside and see the kids across the street playing and having a good time and have to wonder why they can be happy and well off while the two that were just here cannot.

I know I can't personally solve all the worlds problems, but I can't ignore them either.

***

I've moved on to a pub of sorts. The upstairs has a little balcony and it has a very comfortable fels.

I noticed as I was walking in that both the restauant and bar I've chosen tonight have the word "abuela" (grandmother) in their names. Coincidence? Probably.

This place has the only Ecuadorian ber I've yet to try of any real quality (Club Verde). It's almost like a Heineken (but not quite).

***

I've ended up back on the terrace of the hostel, talking to a woman from London and a couple from Holland. The woman from England seemed a bit frazzled due to having just arrived in Ecuador a few days ago and being unable to speak a word of Spanish. Plus, she made some questionable choices of places to visit (Latucunga?) and until now hadn't met a single English speaker. The Dutch couple were fun. the girl was very animated and both seemed quite pleased with Ecuador. The conversation followed the template I laid out earlier, but it was a pleasant and relaxing end to the evening.

I just realized that I forgot to eat last night.

***

I'm not sure if this is charming or insanely cruel, but a truck drove around town this morning at 6:00 with a brass band playing songs extremely loudly in the back of it. Combined with the loud blasts of fireworks and it was another early morning for me despite staying out drinking until 1:00 or 1:30. The steam bath I'm about to take followed by a big breakfast should make up for it.

***

That was interesting. I feel completely invigorated. It was an alternation of being enclosed in a box full of hot steam for 4 minutes and wiping oneself down (up, actually) rather methodically with a cloth dipped in ice cold water. We did that 5 times, broken up in the middle by sitting in a tub of cold water while massaging my own belly, just below the navel in a clockwise motion (as per the instructions) while the attendent (José) splashed water over me. It ended with a thorough hosing down with a power sprayer. All in all, it lasted about 45 minutes and, while at points I wished it would end sooner, I feel great now. Just hungry. I've ordered breakfast, though, so soon enough all will be well.

***

My food is arriving in small stages. I now have blackberry juice (so good) and a little cup of cane syrup. All I need now are pancakes and coffee and I'm ready to go.

***

The scenery here is beautiful. No longer am I in the high, dry hills. Everything is green and covered with plant life. The mountains are steep and crowded together. A waterfall trickles down the side right next to the town. There's a weird abandoned space ship building not far away. I can't wait to go wander. I've been advised by the Irish to go on the waterfall tour. I may very well do that. I also think I'm going to take advantage of the cheap massage place. This is a pretty luxurious spot, and yet nothing costs that much.

***

Breakfast is a more crowded scene up here. Due to a lack of tables, two girls have been seated with me. They're also from Ireland. In fact, they're from the same places as the other girls (Tipperary and Limerick), but they don't know each other and are onlz vaguely aware of the others presence (they picked out the Irish accents, but never saw the other girls). How odd.

***

My breakfast was huge. A heaping plate of pancakes, fruit and yogurt. It was satisfying.

***

The waterfall tour is on the same kind of bus that the trip up the hill was last night (a sort of open air safari type thing called a chiva, not to be confused with a chivo, which is a goat). The trip was pretty awesome. It was a three hour tour (everyone, sing along) and I spent it hanging out with an rather interesting guy from Israel named Amit (again, spelling is only a guess) and two Norwegian girls named Elizabeth and Elisa. We went across a canyon on a cable car, got drenched by a waterfall as we drove under it and saw a spectacular waterfall called El Paílon del Diablo. To finish it all with a bang, Elisa and Elizabeth decided to partake in the bridge bungee jump on the way back into town. It was all good fun.

***

The people who live here are constantly sweeping. Sidewalks, store floors, the streets themselves. That volcano is a pretty inconsiderate neighbour sometimes.

***

I went for a wander after catching up on internet and ended up running into the Norwegians again. We went to a Mexican restaurant where the chimichanga is pretty good (although the girls had chocolate crepes - I don't think I understand Norwegians all that well). They're heading off on the volcano chiva ride (again, not a chivo ride, that's different) I took last night and we made extremely tentative plans to meet up later.

However, I went back to my room and fell asleep. I guess the late night, beer, early morning, and activity finally caught up with me. I hope they're not too upset with me for standing them up. So far, Norwegians seem pretty unpredictable and I hear their grudges are brutal.

***

This has been a tough blog to type. For some odd reason, the 'y' and 'z' are switched around on this keyboard (although you'd never know from looking at it) and some other things are a little off as well. Thus, if something looks a little odd in my typing, blame the keyboard. It hates me.

I woke up really early this morning. It was probably 5:00 or so and I couldn't get back to sleep. I had planned to sleep in, maybe even all the way to 8:00, but it wasn't to be. I tried, though. But come 6:45 I couldn't handle lying in bed any longer and I got up.

I had a quick breakfast, read a few chapters in my book and completely packed up my room, stripping it down completely. I'm now all set for both the weekend and next week.

José-Luis and Ross came downstairs not long after I did all that (I guess I'm the only one with problems staying asleep in the morning). I hung out a bit with them then, around 9:00ish, I went downtown to drop off my last load of laundry, to be picked up on Monday when I get back from Baños. I plan to spend the rest of the day wandering around Riobamba one last time, looking around for a new bathing suit (I have one, but I hate it and I need one for Baños) and making sure I'm completely caught up on emails and blog before I pick up my camera (fixed or not) and head to Baños.

***

Well, I did all I set out to do, and finished my book, too. It's bloody hot here today. This place (Riobamba)is so dry and dusty I can fel the moisture being sucked out of me. Even winters in Calgary didn't leave my lips so chapped.

I got my camera back. It works, mostly. I can't use the zoom anymore as it makes an awful grinding sound and goes completely out of focus. Despite only a partial fix, fixing, I still ended up having to pay $45. I'm hoping that the fact that the place I took it was a certified Sony place means that my warranty is still good because I plan to take it back in when I get home. Oh well, at least it still takes pictures. I'll just have to get really close.

***

I'm now sitting on the bus to Baños. It hasn't left Riobamba yet. Actually, the motor isn't even running. The bus is pretty empty right now so I wonder if we're just waiting for it to fill up a little more before we go.

***

The volcano, after a few days of quiescence has started smoking again today. Perfect time to go see a town perched on the edge of it, don't you think? The fact that the buses are still running there is reassuring.

***

So, it just kept erupting throughout the bus ride. In fact, it seemed to get worse. I ended up sitting next to a couple of German tourists named Utid (that's what it sounded like, anyway) and Sara. They've been in Ecuador for two months and figured, like me, that it was now or never to go to Baños. Watching the smoke billow thickly from the top of the mountain as the bus drove relentlessly closer was unnerving. We were all agreed on that. Their Spanish was way better than mine (what's with all these multilingual Europeans? We're so lazy in North America) so they asked the Ecuadorians on the bus if there was any danger. They all seemed unconcerned and even a little amused by the worried gringos.

The ride only took two hours and was marked by four things, two of which I've already mentioned (multilingual Europeans and a giant smoking mountain). The other two were a turn away from teh main highway to follow a winding cobble road for half an hour and a truly terrible movie. I was too busy gawking at the mountain to pay much attention to the cinematic travesty and escaped mostly unscathed.

***

Upon arriving in Baños, the two German girls sought out the closest and cheapest hostel they could find.I followed behind to check it out but decided against it due to the strong chemical smell of the place.

Instead, I left them to their pungent budget lodgings and sprang for the extra $2 per night at a hostel in town that was recommended by the old guide book.

I clearly made the right choice. This place offers steambaths (it costs extra, but not much), has a roof top terrace with honour system beer, free internet (for 30 minute intervals on very slow computers), hot showers, and apparently huge breakfasts. It's pretty great.

I'm sitting up on the terrace right now, drinking beer and listening to the conversations around me as I write. There are three people speaking French across the room and three English speakers nearby with Irish accents. It's really multinational here, what with the German girls, the French speakers, the girl down in the lobby talking on the phone in what I think was a New Zealand accent, the three Irish girls, and me, the Canadian. In fact, I don't think there's a single Ecuadorian to be seen right now.

***

They're playing Christmas music, jazz style, up here. How odd.

***

I've booked myself a steambath for tomorrow morning at 8:00. Chances are, I'll be up long before that.

***

It's still warm, but no longer dry and dusty. It's most certainly humid here. In replacement of dust, however, I could feel bits of volcanic ash falling on my face as I walked to the hostel. It's a peculiar feeling.

***

So, once again, I have a room wth three beds. As it's not a crowded place right now, what with the erupting volcano and it not being the tourist season (is the tourist season anything like deer season?), I think they gave it to me as a private room when normally, they would not.

***

I ended up hanging out with the Irish girls after talking with Laura until the internet place closed. Their names are Sinead, Vanessa and Martha. We all went on a night bus tour of the volcano with a bunch of other tourists to a spot overlooking the town. It sounds more interesting than it was. we didn't see any lava or glowing rocks being fired into the air due to the huge cloud of ash obscuring everything. There was a kid who acted as our tour guide, but he spoke in such rapid Spanish that only the completely fluent could understand him. Then they started a bonfire and it began to feel like a high school camping trip. It was weird.

After that, we felt like we needed some beer s we found a bar and plunked ourselves down for a few hours of drinking and discussing Ecuador, Ireland, canada and a variety of other topics. All in all, it was a good night.

The three of them are headed off as far south as they can get tomorrow (probably Cuenca) the will head down to Peru. It's a whirlwind tour of the Andes, I guess.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

***

My camera still won't work. We're going to bring it to a camera shop to see if they can clean it out.

***

Moving the artifacts out of the house was far easier than moving them in. For one, there were no stairs to negotiate. For two (?), there were less artifacts due to putting some in a museum display and the disposal of some others. They are now all in storage at the museum in Sicalpa.

The best part about moving the artifacts was transporting the giant, egglike pot that José-Luis reconstructed. Jim and I rode in the back of a pick-up truck with it to Sicalpa. Many people stared and gawked. One man pointed and yelled angrily, for what reason we aren't sure. One woman took pictures. It was fun.

After packing our dinosaur egg pot (actually, it was a giant storage pot for grains or chicha or some such thing) into the museum, we did some fun bureaucratic things then had lunch.

Cuy!

It was pretty good. The freshly roasted one was far better than the one which had likely been roasting for a few too many hours. Jim compared eating cuy to picking the meat out of chicken feet. That seems about right. It tasted good, though.

The place we ate at was basically a wooden shack beside the highway to Guayaquil. It had dirt floors and there was a distinct lack of cutlery and plates. The potato salad which came with our roasted guinea pigs, while tasty, was a little scary looking. No one got sick, though, and the food tasted good so I can chalk it up to another interesting and harmless cultural experience.

After lunch, we offered a ride into Sicalpa to two ladies standing on the side of the road. However, Eduardo, our truck driver, decided to take us all on an impromptu tour of the hills south of Colta Lake. It was pretty, but I think the two ladies were less than impressed with the extra time it took.

***

We got back into Riobamba in the early afternoon and were told by Ross that the work portion of the trip was done. He instructed us to take the rest of our time and enjoy it however we saw fit. Out first thing, though, was to run some errands. I needed to drop off some postcards at the post office and take my camera to a repair shop. Jim needed to buy a train ticket for Riobamba's biggest (only?) tourist draw, La Nariz del Diablo (the Nose of the Devil), a train ride through the mountains to the edge of the drop to the coast. It sounds great, but as I'm heading to Baños tomorrow, I had to count myself out. Ross had a variety of things to do (a full list, in fact), but a top priority for all of us was to phone home.

We got it all done. My camera is being checked out. The place we found is a certified Sony and Panasonic repair shop (how lucky is that?) and the guy said that he'll check it out and I can come in at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. We told him that if it's a simple job, just fix it but if it's complicated I'll wait until I get home to Canada. I hope it's simple so I can take pictures in Baños. I may end up picking up a disposable camera or two if the repair job fails.

***

We sat around drinking beer and eating hearts of palm before dinner. It was a strangely tasty combination. We discussed the plan for next week. We'll move out of the house on Monday and go to a huge volcanic crater, called Quilotoa, on Tuesday, where we'll spend the night. Then we'll go to Quito on Wednesday and spend Thursday in one last orgiastic spree of tourism. We fly home on Friday.

***

We had dinner at a "French" restaurant here in town. The food was really good, possibly the best I've had in Ecuador. It wasn't French by any means, but it was quite nice.

I'm continuously amazed at how cheap food is here. José-Luis and I had excellent steaks, Jim and Ross had chicken cordon bleu, we shared a bottle of wine and had espressos after dinner in what is one of the nicest restaurants in Riobamba, all for $40. That's expensive here. For four people to have the equivalent at home would easily cost 2-3 times that, perhaps more, depending on where one went. And I thought food was cheap in Korea!

After dinner we dispersed to make phone calls or internet (yes, it's a verb now). I called my mom and Laura then went to bed. Tomorrow I get organized and head out for the weekend.

Ecuador must have an extremely mobile population. There are constant buses to everywhere and they're all fairly full. We're currently on a bus to Sicalpa, on our way to figure out museum and strage stuff then go lok for an Inca fortress. The bus ride, about a 30 minute trip, costs 30 cents per person. At that price, I would imagine there would have to be quite a few passengers on every trip to make the running of a bus worthwhile. To restate, this is one highly mobile country.

***

All those adventurous hikes I went on with Andy as a child paid off today.

After a morning of organizing what was to be done about storing artifacts through a mild hangover, and a small break for my first taste of chicha (it's tangy - and as far as I know contained no human remains - I'm going to research how to make it when I get home), we had lunch (which alleviated the final symptoms of my hangover) and headed out to walk more of the Inca road. Our goal this time was to find the connection between the two parts we've already walked/driven (Colta Lake to Sicalpa and Chuncahuan [pardon the poor spelling of that one] to Mocha). As well, we wanted to find that fortress I mentioned earlier, which was suposed to be along the way from Sicalpa to Chuncahuan.

It was one hell of a hike. We trudged across fields, weathered a sandstrom at the top of a ridge, schlepped through muck, balanced along irrigation channels, and slid done slopes. It was great. Now I'm really tired and probably dirtier than I've ever been in my life. Shower. Then sleep.

***

Oh yeah, the sandstorm infiltrated the gears on my camera. I hope I can get it to work again tomorrow.

... and we're done. Ross is in the final stages of drawing the last artifact of the season. It's a hideously ugly, extremely large bowl (Ross is mutteringto himself as he draws it, "muy feo, muy feo" - yes, it's that ugly). But it's the last one, so I felt I should commemorate it.

To get to thispoint, I spent half a day with sticky, glue covered fingers as I did a series of 3D puzzles, aka I put broken pots back together. It was both frustrating and exhilarating all at once. Just like a jigsaw puzzle (and yes, to quote the Simpsons - as I know you are, Laura - you can call me Langdon Alger, who's "very quiet and likes puzzles").

Now comes the pack up and the storage seeking. According to Ross, putting the artifacts into storage is likely to involve a fair bit of bureaucratic paper work and wait time. We may very well not actually get to move the artifacts until Monday. We may move them tomorrow. It's that unpredictable.

Jim is cooking dinner now. He's making some Sambuca prawns. It think it'll be good.

***

So, I'm a littlle drunk right now. Jim's meal was excellent and we drank a few bottles of wine, some rum, and some scotch. It's been a bit of a celebration of finishing. {illegible drunken scrawl}. The conversation was interesting. Jim's friend, Alain, came over for dinner and he was a fountain of information. We learned the various ways of killing a guinea pig (cuy), one method of which he demonstrated on me (I survived... this time). Apparently, José-Luis does a great impression of a murdered guinea pig, but he refuses to do it for us. The conversation logically went to the ways of killing a variety of other animals, from turkeys to horses, to strange foods served regionally, from horse in Loja to mixing human remains into chicha locally. Strangely, none of us were disturned by that. Blame it on archaeology, I guess.

After that, Alain explained to us a variety of phrases in Quechua (pronounced Kichwa, as the language has only three vowels - i [ee], u [oo], and a [ah]). Most of the phrases he told us wouldn't be appropriate to publish or translate here. Plus, I don't remember most of them, but Jim wrote them down in his notebook).

***

This house is really treacherous. It's all tile and marble annd coated in a fine dust due to the wind, lack of moisture, and volcanic eruptions (plus some lacklustre cleaning efforts on our part). Thus, walking in bare feet (as I just did to refill my water) is quite dangerous, especially as I'm on the third floor, the drinking water is on the first, it's dark, and I'm drunk. I made it, though.

No roosters. No yelling. No flutes. No car horns. No church bells. Under such blissful circumstances I spet in all the way to... 7:07 am. I think this country has me trained (or perhaps schooled would be a better term).

***

I looked outside and Riobamba is still brown and yellow. The rain hasn't greened it up much here at all. This must be just how it is up here.

***

It'll be Noboa vs. Correa in the final election showdown. Noboa is a banana tycoon with no particular political platform. Correa is a sympathizer with Chavez and Castro and hates all the politicians in Ecuador. Should be fun.

***

There's a news story on the TV right now at our lunch restaurant. It's not the first time it's been on. It's about a dog in some city or another who is missing his front legs. It's nobody's dog, just a stray. The story tells how the community has adopted it and gives it food, water, and baths. This is a strange and stark comparison to the what Ross told us last night about the stray dogs in our neighbourhood. Apparently, the health department came in and put out a bunch of poison to kill them. It's to make the neighbourhood nicer. I guess it works, as there are less dogs harrasing pedestrians (and they could be pretty vicious), but there had to be a better way. I'm disturbed by this. Contradictions abound.

***

We're so close to finishing up our analysis. There's one context left of the major sites. It's a big context, though. It's going to involve a lot of glueing and drawing (throw in some glitter and it's kindergarten!). After that it's a quick look at a few other bags and then putting everything into storage. I'm thinking Wednesday evening we'll be done analyzing and we'll have it all stored in Thursday.

***

Dinner tonight was interesting. We decided to try a place recommeded by my guide book. The place, as noted by the book, was called Che Carlitos Parrillada. We went the address and found no such place, but a similar restaurant under a different name. Things change, no problem.

The menu was easily the most entertaining butchering of English translation I have ever seen (and I've seen some pretty good ones). The offerings included "Head ribs of the grill and gears," "Fillet of Language," and "Cremate of mushroom." To top it all off, the music was this Casio organ stream of various Latin American standards. I asked what it was and I'm going to seek it out. It was pure awesomeness. The food itself approached mediocrity, but the sheer weirdness of it all made it worthwhile.

Wow, was I ever right. At 5:30 came the bells. Then at 5:45. And again at 6:00. After that the choral singing began. We managed to stay in bed and partially asleep through all that, though. It was the air raid sirens that finally got us up at 7:00. I'm pretty sure we're not being attacked, though. The sirens went off once, paused for a few minutes then went off once more and that was the end of them. I'm not completely sure waht they signified but I think they were the notification that the election polls were open. It's a rather uninformed and wildly speculative guess but I'll stand by it until shown otherwise.

***

I had an absolute blast today as the King of the Tourists. I visited markets while wandering the streets of old Cuenca while taking a whole schwack of pictures. The highlight of my day was visiting the Barraca Panama Hat Factory. The word 'factory' makes it seem large. It isn't. They get the unfinished hats from weavers in the area and finish them for sale. They had a museum, of which I was given a personal guided tour by a tourism student named Joanna fromt he University of Cuenca. I now know, in a very basic way, how Panama hats (which originated here, not Panama) were made in the past and how they are made now. I was so fascinated by it all that I bought myself a rather stylish brown one (probably the closest I'm ever going to get to an Indiana Jones hat). Strangely, they also had a little shop with Ecuadorian coffee for sale. They gave me a free sample of espresso, which is a great way to become my friend.

Immediately after leaving the hat shop I had an interesting encounter with a man from Holland. He flagged me down and complimented me on my new hat in Dutch. When it was clear that I had no clue what he was saying to me he asked me, in Spanish, where I was from. When I told him, he switched to English and asked if I spoke French. I get the feeling I could have said my native language was Cree or Tagalog and he still would have been able to converse with me. Anyway, he explained to me the reason that he addressed me in Dutch is that he thought I looked Dutch. I've never had anybody tell me I look Dutch before. In fact, I'm not even sure what particular features make one appear Dutch. He told me his story about how he ended up in Ecuador and we chatted for a bit and moved on.

***

I really like Cuenca. It's old, it's pretty, and the people are friendly. I truly hope to come back again some day.

***

It's so much greener down here at the south end of the highlands. There are more trees and the fields themselves are lushly verdant. It's lovely. I'm not sure whether it has to do with the geography or the fact that it has rained recently. Seeing as it has also rained in Riobamba recently, I can check it out as soon as this bus ride is over. It'd be nice is the yellow and brown of the central highlands has turned green as well.

***

This land where the fields meet the clouds astounds me. Farmers of the vertical, groundskeepers of the sky. No peak, no ledge, no slope goes unproductive nor unoccupied. This is truly the source of nourishment from above.

***

Judging from the music being played on the bus I think someone forget to tell Ecuador that it's no longer 1999. Also, that this is an intercity bus, not a disco.

***

Cameras are for when words cannot describe. Poetry is for when a camera cannot.

***

The steep valley as we approach Chunchi exposes such amazing views. The town itseld is perched precariously on the side. A small blue church clings to the precipitous drop just below the town. It's colour is starlingly vivid next to the yellow-green hills and the white-red of the town. This country has yet to fail to startle me.

***

It got dark really quickly after Alausi. Thus, I'm unable to tell if it's any greener here than before, so my ponderings must await confirmation (or the opposite).

Upon getting back, there was a note from Ross saying that, as it was late-ish, dinner at Pepe and Elva's was out for us and we were on our own for dinner. So, as Jim went to Andinatel to phone home, I meandered my way downtown (a far shorter walk than I had imagined) and am now awaiting the arrival of a pizza and a hot chocolate.

They're showing the election results on TV here. Apparently, if there is a run away winner (over 50% of the votes), the election is set. However, if it is a close race, the top two finishers have a run off election against each other (a battle to the death would be more entertaining, but I guess I don't get a say in politics here). From the stats just shown, it looks like a three way race. I have no idea what the election issues are or the platforms of the main candidates (but I do know their names). One thinf is for sure, I'd vote for the candidate who would have let me have a beer or two this weekend.

***

I love incongruous music pairings. The pizza place just played Bob Marley followed by INXS followed by Nirvana. Maybe it's a dead singer medley...

Ecuador seems to specialize in coming up with unique and various ways to wake a person up early in the morning. I've been shaken from slumber by roosters, car horns, yelling, and now extremely insistent and apparently directly outside my hotel room door, church bells. For a country where nothing opens until 9 or 10, they sure like to make certain everyone is awake by 6:30.

***

At the backpacker type places, everyone seems to know each other. All these people from all over the world seem to cling to each other. I don't think it matters what country you're in, the foreigners conglomerate. I feel a little out of place among them. For one, they all seem to have developed a rather rapid connection from having encountered each other in different spots around the country while I've never seen a single one of them before in my life. It seems very cliquey. Secondly, I'm clearly not the most social person in these situations, as evidenced by the fact that I'm sitting, writing in my book instead of inviting myself to a table. It's kind of a circular thing - I feel out of place because because I'm not involved and I don't get involved because I feel out of place. There's also the realization that I don't necessarily need or even want to become involved in that little world, and yet I somehow feel like I'm missing out on something. I hate to feel like there's something eluding me, even if it's something I don't particularly care about. I guess that makes me a bit insane, doesn't it?

***

I could really learn to like Cuenca. Despite the fact that most of the stores were closed, denying me my touristy consumer self-debasement, I loved wandering about today. It's really a beautiful colonial / new city. It's a whole lot cleaner and tidier than any other Ecuadorian city I've visited (an admittedly low number) and it has a character to it that the other cities (Quito, Riobamba, and Cañar) have lacked. Yes, even Quito, in my opinion, lacks something that Cuanca has. Quito was great, but was quite a bit more hectic and dirty feeling.

In some ways, Cuenca actually reminded me of Vancouver. Sure, it's nowhere near the coast, at an altitude more than twice as high as the top of Grouse Mountain, and has been continuously occupied as a major center for over 500 years (perhaps even more than 1000-2000 - I'm not sure; what do you think I am, some sort of archaeologist or something?), but the way the the mountains crowded the north of the city, even the gaps and valleys in those mountains and the way the rain clouds were corralled and guided by the north mountains had me feeling a bit homesick.

We were able to see the entire city from above when José-Luis took us to a place called Turi, a town (or nieghborhood of Cuenca) which clings to the bluffs above the south end of town.

Before we did that, though, we went to the Banco Central Museum, where José-Luis used to work. It was alright. somewhat underwhelming. The grounds out back had the Inca ruind of Pumapunga, including an interpretation of the gardens it was supposed to have had. It took some pictures of quinoa and amaranth (they're quite colourful) plus some of a pack of kittens living by the mini-zoo.

We had lunch at a restaurant called Restaurante Tipica. José-Luis ordered enough food to feed a family of seven. It was good, but didn't seem overly typical (although my experience with Ecuadorian cuisine is still pretty limited). The potato soup was delicious, despite the large flaps of pig skin. The fava beans were pretty dull and unadorned. What Jim and I thought were some sort of bean but turned out to be corn mixed with egg on one plate and with fried onion of another were quite good (the onion one was better). However, the best bit was the well seasoned, grilled, very thin slices of pork. Good stuff.

Anyway, after that we did the city view at Turi then José-Luis dropped us off by the river near the old town. Jim and I wandered around then came back to the hotel. Not sure what tonight will be about. there's still no booze being served anywhere in the entire country due to the election tomorrow, so going to the bar is out (my fears of stumbling over my own feet attempting to salsa dance are now alleviated). Perhaps it will be another hang out oa Cafécito night again, maybe even attempting to be sociable with strangers. We'll see.

***

This country has the best blackberry juice ever squeezed. I could drink it by the gallon. We'll see if the burrito I ordered lives up to the standard the juice has set.

***

The burrito was pretty good, but the juice was so incredible that anything else couldn't help but pale in comparison.

***

I think I'm just writing at this point to keep myself occupied. It's either that or creep people out by staring at them.

***

I decided to go for a wander through this strange city in the dark rather than sit by myself. Both options, as it turned out, were wastes of time. While it was nice to stretch my legs and get some air, there's absolutely nothing going on out there. This is one dead city the night before an election. Damn you, democracy!

***

We tried again. I met up with Jim back at Cafécito and we re-read the guide book. It said that the bars tend not to open until 10:00. So, we had some tea and waited it out then hit the streets again. Our hopes were to find a place that had live music to offset the lack of alcohol. But no, it seems like all the bars just shut down for the weekend.

After our hour hour aimless wander through the empty streets of Cuenca, we went back to Cafécito to find a small police presence and everyone being booted out. We got our room key and cloistered ourselves without delving too deeply into what was going on.

***

This has been a strange weekend. I can't imagine what would happen in Canada if they decided to forbid the sale of alcohol for the two days before and the day of an election. Oh well, looks like another early night and it's likely for the best as I'm sure the church bells are going to kick in nice an early on a Sunday morning.

Wow, did we ever cruise through analysis today. We finished the biggest of the contexts by lunch, leaving some small bags of stuff for later. Good stuff.

Even better was the fact that Ross decided to let us go off on on our weekend journey after lunch. So, after some hurried typing to get myself up to date on the blog and emails and a wolfed down meal of fried shrimp, the three of us (me, José-Luis and Jim) were off to the side of the road to wait for a bus.

The wait itself wasn't too long, but the bus we caught was absolutely packed. We had to stand for the first half hour or so and when we finally we able to sit, it was on flimsy plastic stools at the back of the bus, next to the bathroom. We made the best of our situation, though. Jim befriended a small girl by drawing pictures in the condensation on the window. I had a sporadic and halting conversation in Spanish with the woman sitting next to me, highlighted by my showing her the pictures on Jim's camera of our trip along the Inca road this week.

About halfway through the trip, they decided to show a movie. And thus we were subjected to an houra and a half of overdubbed Hilary Duff (one need not understand Spanish to pìck up how insipid anything involving Hilary Duff is).

Towards the end of the movie the bus finally began to empty out. People got off the bus at really random places with no towns or villages in sight - the sides of cliffs, the middle of fields, it didn't matter, that's where they wanted off. Jim and I got real seats (José-Luis scored one a while back).

It was a really dark bus ride once the movie ended. The sun sets at 6:00 pm here (almost exactly, and it rises at 6:00 am), it was foggy out and there were no interior lights at all. It was pitch black and a little eerie. Added to that, they played a steady stream of kight rock hits from the '70s. I really don't know how to describe how weird it feels to be sitting on a packed, pitch black, Ecuadorian bus while listening to "Mama Mia," so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Anyway, after the 5 hour journey, we arrived in Cuenca. José-Luis put and me in a taxi and went home (he lives in Cuenca and came with us because it's an election weekend in ecuador and you have to vote in your hometown). We made our way to El Cafécito, clearly a bar/cheap hostal designed for the backpacking expat set and those into that type of scene. It's functional, cheap, and clean. Just how I like it.

Tomorrow morning José-Luis is going to meet us here and we're going to spend the day museum hopping. I think he plans to take us to a salsa bar tomorrow night, a possibility which, frankly, frightens me a little. Dancing in public is not my strongest suit.

***

Sitting in the bar here at El Cafécito, Jim and I have noticed a number of smokers. That in itself is not surprising. What surprised us was the fact that up until this point we've hardly seen any smokers at all. José-Luis has had the occasional cigarette, but other than that, I think I've only seen one or two people smoking in the entire time we've been here.

On a slightly similar note, the bar isn't serving alcohol this weekend. We really wanted a beer after the bus ride, but it isn't to be found. From what we could gather, the government has forbidden the sale of alcohol this weekend due to the election. Are they afraid of alcohol inflamed political passions resulting violence? Are they afraid of people's judgement on the election issues oand candidates being compromised due to innebriation? I'm really not sure.

Anyway, I think I've written myself out for the day. With no beer to fuel me, sitting along at this table (Jim went to bed) in a crowded room has lost its charm.

Goodnight.

Today I learned that I am ever so slightly too tall for Riobamba city transit. By no means am I an exceptionally tall person, yet it appears that I am most definitely taller than the average public transit rider here. This is actualy the second time since arriving in Ecuador that public trasit has given me one of those Lost-In-Translation-Bill-Murray-In-An-Elevator moments (the other one was early on, in Quito).

The reason for riding transit today was to go downtown to pick up everyones laundry (normally, I would have taken a taxi, but being a transit kind of guy, I went for it; plus, José-Luis suggested it, so I decided to go along). The bus* is significantly less expensive than the already ridiculously cheap taxi (18 cents vs. $1, respectively). As for the laundry, I volunteered to pick it up while José-Luis ran some erands and Ross and Jim continued on analyzing artifacts. Picking it up was no problem. However, I found that it's somewhat dificult to flag down a taxi while carrying 25 lbs (seriously) of laundry. I did manage it, though, without incident (although people did give me some funny looks as I wandered around downtown laden with an armful of clean clothing, trying to find a street that went the rigth way).

***

All the pottery sherds are starting to look the same. Ross only laughs at us as Jim and I get excited about one that has a slightly diferent rim form or glaze. I don't know how many bags of unidentifiable plain/red slip body sherds I can look at before I start to pretend there are carved designs in the cracked, charred, hearth blackened surfaces, just to keep myself entertained (I'm exaggerating... but only a little).

* Ecuadorian transit factoid: Th bus driver assesses your athleticism as he appoaches you. If you look at all fit, he'll slow down slightly, allowing you to jog alongside, grab the handle and pull yourself onto the still moving bus. Complete stops are for the elderly and infirm only.

Today we did some more exploring of the Inca road, this time to the north of Sicalpa up to the town of Mocha. It was pretty impressive. The road itself (by that I mean the original cobbles placed by the Inca) is basically gone, but the straight line (and it's really straight for most of it) trajectory of it stil exists as a later, wider cobble road built in the mid 1800s (I think). we found some interesting places where there may have been Inca way stations and a spot where there could have ben a watch station by a bridge. It was interesting to talk to the local people (well, Ross, José-Luis and their friends Efrain, Eduardo, and Edgar did all the talking and Ross translated for Jim and me). They knew, without hesitation or doubt, exactly where the old Inca road was and how long it had ben there. It was basically a gigantic game of connect the dots for us and it was a ton of fun.

We're all pretty tired now. Having one last drink (one first drink, actually) before heading up for an early bedtime. Back to artifact analysis tomorrow and friday then Jim, José-Luis and I are off to Cuenca for the weekend.

***

In a bit of oddness, the local/national (I'm not sure which) newspaper had a story reporting on the NOFX concert in Guayaquil last night. Who'd have thought? Ross tells us that Supertramp is in Quito right now, too. I think they should tour South America together. Wouldn't that be a great combo?

***

Oh yeah, I forgot to metion one thing yesterday. I've decided to try a new way of forcing myself to learn Spanish, at the urging of Ross. I bought a novel in Spanish. I made sure to get one I had read before (Aztec by Gary Jennings) to make it a little easier on myself. Next, before I start reading it, I'll need to get a Spanish dictionary. Not a Spanish/English dictionary, but a plain Spanish one. This was, once again, a recommendation of Ross', the argument being that a Spanish/English dictionary uses translation as a crutch while a straight Spanish one will challenge me to think in Spanish and expand my vocabulary. It's definitely worth a try.

Today was much the same as yesterday. We finished up one of the big sites in our analysis. On Thursday we'll start the realy big one and hopefully can get it done before the weekend.

José-Luis made dinner again. This time it was chicken soup. He's really quite a good cook.

Tungarahua was blowing off steam all day, again. It semed like a much bigger eruption than last time, but still nothing major. That's pretty much all that happened.

***

As a side note, there are various trucks that drive around the neighbourhoods here offering a variety of services from garbage pick-up to drycleaning to gas delivery. The interesting thing about them is that they each play their own song to identify themselves. Right now, only Ross and José-Luis know which is which.

Happy birthday Keegan! I'm glad I got to talk to you today.

***

We analyzed artifacts today. That's all. We had lunch about half way through, then analyzed more artifacts. Dinner time arrived. It was José-Luis' turn to cook and he made a lovely meal of chicken, beans with sausage, yucca root, and a cucumber salad. He can cook again any time.

After that, it was time to write some postcards. Speaking of which, the response to my offer of postcards has been extremely underwhelming. So far, only Lisa has given me her address. I'm serious about sending postcards to any one who gives me their mailing address. Just email it to me.

Cañar got loud after I cloistered myself in my tiny room last night. It sounded like people cruising around in muffler-less cars, drinking and yelling. Eventhough I didn't bother to look, I'm pretty sure that my assessment isn't too far from the truth.

***

Cold. All night I was cold. I was woken up in the middle of the freezing night by two men yelling at each other in the hallway outside my room. I didn't pick up much too much of what was said, what with the drunken slurring and language barrier, but I did make out that one of them had some rather firm opinions about the mother of the other.

***

Roosters at 6:00. This is beginning to become a pattern. Oh well. I got dressed in the cold, tiny room, hit my head on the low frame of the bathroom doorway and went down to the highway to catch the bus. This time only one bus and five minutes passed before mine came along.

Apparently it costs a dollar more to get from Cañar to Riobamba than it does the other way around.

Time to eat. I brought extra cheese buns for breakfast. Yum.

***

This is seriously some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. What a difference it makes to take this ride in the morning instead of in the dark. The canyon this road follows is sparsely filled with fog. The road clings to the hillside which inclines steeply and for a long way, up on one side, down on the other.

This is truly an amazing ride. Picturesque towns perch on ledges and mesas overlooking spectacular vistas. The only things marring this trip are the poor condition of the road and the somewhat daredevil attitude of the gus driver (who decides, in the midst of a windy, rock strewn highway on the edge of a cliff, to pass a slow moving dump truck around a blind corner at 50 km/h? I thought we were all going to die - however, no one else seemed bothered by it in the least, if they even noticed).

***

Well, the bus ride was pretty uneventful after that. At points it was crowded, at others empty. There was a brief period of time where I was sitting next to this one woman who made a point of crossing herself every time the bus passed a roadside shirne to Mary (and there are quite a few). When she wasn't doing that, she was reading my book with me while trying to look inconspicuous. She never said a wored so I don't know if she even spoke English (most of the people in Ecuador don't), but my book was clearly fascinating to her. It was a little odd.

***

Got back to Riobamba at 10:30 am. The bus ride home was way better than the bus ride out. It was worth the extra dollar.

***

The rest of the day consisted of constructing a Harris Matrix for Ross (I'm not going to explain it here - if you're curious, look it up), internetting it up with Laura and having dinner at Pepe and Elva's.

***

After dinner, Ross and I ended up staying up late, drinking beer and talking about archaeology and how it affects one's life. It was highly enlightening and I know way more about what it will take to be an archaeologist. It'll be a lot of work, but it's what I want and I'll keep going until I can't anymore.

I was woken before dawn to the sound of roosters. I'm thinking there aren't nearly enough roosters back home. They could render the alarm clock industry irrelevent overnight (literally). I managed to half doze until the sun came up, around 6:30, then I got dressed and read for a bit. At 7:00, after washing up and brushing my teeth in the communal bathroom, I decided it was time to go and explore Cañar as it woke up before heading up to Ingapirca. As it turned out, that was impossible seeing as I was locked inside the hotel. It seemed I would have to wait for the proprietor to wake up and let me out. So, I sat and read and thought about the potential fire hazard of locking down a hotel in it's entirety. It took another half hour before I was released. The guy helpfully instructed me on where I could catch a bus to Ingapirca (right outside the hotel), and thus my day began.

I barely had to wait for a bus. It was about a half hour ride to the village outside the site and I wandered around for a bit looking for an open restaurant. So hungry. I found nothing and decided to walk up to the site (about 1km) on the off chance something would be open.

I was in luck. Sitting before me, as I write this, is a huge breakfast of beef, egg, rice, fries, salad (altogether, it's called churrascos) and coffee. Excuse me while I devour it.

***

I just realized that I'm the only person here, with the obvious exceptions of those who work here (although, I see many of them trickling in as I eat).

***

Breakfast was fantastic. Seeing as I hadn't eaten anything since early yesterday afternoon, I think I would have eaten a rotting shoe, but the food was significantly better than that. I think I need another cup of coffee, though, before I go exploring.

***

High altitde mountains are really cold first thing in the morning, even at the equator.

***

I'm writng this from a sheltered alcove atop the Sun Temple of the Inca at Ingapirca. the weather isn't so nice (as the rain splotches on my notebook, which you can't see because this is a typed blog, show), but my alcove is keeping me out of the wind and most of the rain. It's pretty spectacular up here. I like that this site is not a complete reconstruction (I'm looking at you, Teotihuacan). The base of the temple is still intact from when the Inca first built it. The engineering required to fit all those irregularly shaped stones together so tightly is truly impressive.

There's a nice little hike around the area, too. Luckily, the weather was tolerable when I went on it. Towards the end, a nice little old lady invited me into her tiny store to show me some "Cañari" artifacts she had for sale (the Cañari are the indigenous people who live here and did so before the Inca arrived). I don't know how authentic they are (that said, if she or her friends made them, they probably are real Cañari artifacts...), but they looked pretty cool. A little expensive for my miniscule budget, though.

I've now been here for 3.5 hours. I think it's time to peruse the gift shops and museums, perhaps get some lunch and then decide what to do with the rest my day. Do I explore Cañari or El Tambo or the village of Ingapirca and spend another night? Do I just go to the highway and catch a bus back to Riobamba? I'm really not sure.

As a side note, since this morning I think two or three tour buses full of high school girls have come through, plus some apparently on duty police officers have decided to be tourists for a bit. Thus, I am no longer alone. And to prove it, I just got booted from my alcove by a tour group.

***

Well, I've just done the whole gift shop and museum thing. I got some good stuff and am now sitting in the parking lot observing the chaos of reloading high school kids (now co-ed) back onto tour buses. I still don't know what I'm going to do next. I'm not hungry yet (that breakfast was huge). It still seems too early to head back. Perhaps I'll wander the area a bit more. Cañar actually seemed like a rather pretty town last night. However, it was dark and my judgement may have been off due to the bus ride, the hunger, and the fear of not finding a place to sleep. It's really quite pretty up here at the ruins and the weather is clearing up. Maybe I'll just sit here for a while longer and admire the view.

***

A bus driver asked if I was going to Cuenca. I said no, but realized that if I wanted to go to Cañar, this bus would probably take me there, so I got on. They asked me a few times where I was going, seemingly incredulous that the gringo would want to go to as small a place as Cañar. But that's where I'm going, whether they approve or not.

***

Well, I got a different hotel room in Cañar this time. It's quite a bit smaller (only one bed), but it has a private bathroom. It costs the same ($8) and I'm willing to give up space (and two superfluous beds) for a private bathroom. It's not a nice bathroom by any means, but neither was the shared one at the other place.

As the paragraph above indicates, I have decided to stay in Cañar for another night.

***

Nothing really compares to watching soccer in Spanish. It's so much more intense. Even this blowout of Kuwait by Brazil, clearly not one of the most heated rivalries in sports, is called with passion.

***

I think every restaurant in Cañar serves chicken, exclusively. They must really like it here.

***

In regards to my previous statement about Cañar being a rather pretty town, well, it's somewhat less charming in the daylight. The central square is nice and the narrow, winding, cobbled streets add some character, but over all, it's not much to look at. No wonder there's not much of an entry for it in my travel guide.

***

So, it's chicken and beer for lunch (a rather larger bottle of beer than I wanted, but oh well). Then it's off to the internet. After that, umm... I'm not really sure there's much more to do in Cañar. I think I may try to seek out something other than chicken for dinner, just to see if it can be done.

***

Holy crap, small towns close way to early. I just got booted out of the internet café at 6:00 and had to hurry from shop to shop to obtain food before everything shut down for the night. It's Saturday! Stay open until at least 9:00! Oh well, I won't be having chicken for dinner. Nope, just water, cheese buns and Doritos. At least it's better than the big sack of nothing I had for dinner last night. Riobamba is seeming more and more like a thriving metropolis right now.

***

I just turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. I was extremely startled to see the SFU campus (the courtyard area with the pond and the pyramid in the middle of the AQ). It seems that episode of Battlestar Galactica that was filmed there was on. Sci-Fi is alive and well in Latin America (I'm sure you are very relieved, Jon and Kim). Who'd have thought I'd see my school on Ecuadorian TV? Home is never really that far away, is it?

I'm on my way to Ingapirca after a full day of artifact analysis.

Waiting for the bus to come was a new experience for me in my long and varied history of waiting for buses. I left the house a little before (or was it after?) 5:00 and got a ride with Pepe to a traffic circle. This is apparently the only spot in Riobamba where all the buses from everywhere in Ecuador pass through (I would have thought the bus station, but what do I know?). I saw 5 buses to Guayaquil, far too many buses to Ambato, and an endless procession of buses to small towns in the area. I wanted a bus to Cuenca (and I would get off the bus at Cañar, the closest town to Ingapirca). Finally, a fancy lookng bus going to Cuenca arrived and was flagged down by a group of us standing beside the road. Unfortunately, it was full. So, I had to wait for the next one, watching bus after bus to all places not Cuenca go by. It took over an hour (which, really,isn't so bad), but I managed to get on a bus to go see Inca ruins.

***

That was a long ride. There was something squishy under my seat which I stepped on a few times. A small cockroach skittered across the window ledge next to me. The couple in front of me were clearly enjoying themselves a litle too much for public transit, especially since they had their seats leaning back as far as possible and were practically on my lap while they "entertained" each other. It was a twisty, turny, very dark bus ride that came to a thankful end after 4.5 hours. By then it was after 10:30 and I needed to find a hotel and get something to eat.

Everything was closed. I wandered around town, feeling very insecure about the small gatherings of people here and there. I'm not normally a paranoid person, but I was a bit freaked out. I half expected to get mugged. That didn't happen. Actually, there was no real threat of that. However, everything was still closed. I was beginning to worry that I would have to sleep in the streets. Luckily, a taxi came by. The driver and his friend were extremely helpful. They found me a hotel, woke up the guy who runs the place and got me insde. They even offered me a drink of what I think was cane alcohol while driving to the hotel. I politely declined, but was warmed by the offer.

***

My hotel room has three beds. I'm sleeping in the biggest one. I turned on the TV, flipped through the channels to find Harvey Birdman, dubbed in Spanish. That was too much to handle, so I flipped a bit more to find the last 30 secods of Lost in Translation. So, I watched that, listened to the closing credits music and started writing. Now it's time to sleep. I'll be up early, if for no other reason than to get breakfast. I'm so hungry.

We rather unexpectedly got the day off today. Ross' archaeologist friends from Guayaquil were here and he decided to take them out to Sicalpa to see the sites. Seeing as Jim and I had already done that and we aren't wuite ready to analyze stuff without Ross bein around, he gave is the whole day to do whatever. I figured it was about time for me to learn my way around Riobamba. I've felt very odd in being completely disoriented here. It goes against every fiber of my being. So, I fixed that by wandering around. Nothing much really happened, but I do feel immensely better about my ability to get around. I had some lunch at a place called "Happy Pollo." Really good fried chicken, really cheap. Later on, we all met at a "Mexican" restaurant. the food was quite good, but not overly Mexican. There was a lot of it, though.

***

I've decided to take the weekend and go to Ingapirca, Ecuadors largest and most intact Inca. I'll leave tomorrow afternoon, when we're done work, then come back on Sunday. It should be fun. My first solo expedition in Ecuador. Wheeee!!!

I'm absolutely exhausted. We spent all day out in the sun, climbing hills and searching for pre-hispanic stuff. I loved it, but it completely drained me. I got myself a lovely sunburn (not too bad, but still a burn) and really got my high altitude exercise. At my highest point today, I think I was at a little over 3400m above sea level. Everything around here is really high up, though. It is the Andes, after all.

I'm really intrigued by these expeditions we're going on. We're still trying to connect the dots, so to speak, on the Inca road. Ross has a number of friends in the area who say they know where the old road is and we're going to take a day each week to investigate. We've been studying maps and relating what the map says to what the people say then we'll go out and physically check if it all connects. It's a big, nerdy puzzle and we just love it.

But for now, I'm just tired. I think it'll be an early night tonight.

So, more sorting today. And, once again, things ground to a halt come lunch time. That worked well for me, as it gave me the chance to go get myself nearly caught up on this here blog. I wanted to get all my pictures sorted out, but in the end, I've decided to to give up. I'm going to get my pictures burned onto CDs and post them on the blog when I get home. I seriously have been spending way too much time and getting way too frustrated trying to email and post my pictures. I either had to give up or explode. I chose give up.

***

Not much really happened today. Well, let me amend that statement. Other than the giant plume of ash which erupted from Tungarahua this afternoon, nothing much happened today. It wasn't a real eruption, but it sure looked impressive. You'll see pictures in a few weeks.

After internet (I was sitting at that screen for three hours), we went for pizza. Apparently the name of our pizza is actually a really dirty word in Spanish. José-Luis was really surprised to see it on the menu. I'm not going to type the word here, nor explain what it meant. Feel free to ask, though. I may answer (we'll see).

And that's really about all. I think I'll go read now, maybe try to figure out how to tune my churango.

So, I actually feel like I've learned more about the act of doing archaeology in the past two days than I did throughout my entire time getting my degree. I don't mean this as an insult in any way to any of my profs or the U of C at all, but more that I actually feel a more direct connection to what we're doing here than I did to any of the papers or tests I wrote in school. It's more hands on and less pressured/contrived than any classwork or even field school I've done. I also think I'm in a far better state of mind about what I am doing and why.

Today was all about artifact analysis, and while it may sound (or be) boring to some, I was really quite fascinated and interested in the whole process. I look forward to continuing with it tomorrow.

***

So, I just came back from the most frustrating internet experience in a foreign country that I have ever had (and trust me, that's a pretty bold statement). I had two spearate computers freeze up on me and only managed to read two emails, responding to none, in a little under an hour. I had visions of posting multiple blog entries, organizing and emailing a good chunk of my pictures and responding to a large number of emails. Nothing was accomplished. Instead, I phoned Laura and my frustration melted away.

***

It seems a bit surreal to be writing about the inability to post blog entries I wrote days ago in a journal I plan to post as a blog in the future. I seem to be caught in a weird time loop where past, present and future have converged and are leaking out of my pen.

I was woken up early this morning by two loud blasts from a car horn somewhere nearby. After the first one, I tried to go back to sleep, but the second one sealed my fate. I was awake.

We're going to Sicalpa today to visit the market and see the sites from which all these artifacts we have came from. I'm pretty excited about that. But first, coffee.

***

Sicalpa was awesome. There were sheep on top of buses, indigenous people selling indigenous foods and goods, and colours, colours everywhere. It was loud, crowded, smelly and completely overstimulating. I loved it.

We went by truck to Colta Lake and up to Sicalpa Viejo (Old Sicalpa), met friends of Ross' and visited sites he's dug in the area. We used an old colonial map to find possible locations of long buried churches and tile factories and began to make ossible connections on the Inca road which passed through the town. We're going to walk a portion of it on Wednesday and seek out another part another day. As much as I'm interested in colonial stuff, it's the Inca and pre-Inca things that really excite me. Tomorrow we start the analysis of artifacts. It should involve a fair bit of intently staring at old, dirty, broken things and figuring out what/when exactly they are. I'm going to bed now. I'm really tired.

***

I knew there was something I was forgetting. We got to be full-on map nerds when we got back to the house. Ross pulled out a bunch of topographic maps, laid them out on the floor and we basically crawled all over them trying to figure out the most likely route of the Inca road. It was great. Next, we go travelling to test our theories.