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