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...