On Saturday we decided to go to Otovalo, a market town north of Quito. The whole inner city becomes a street market on Saturdays and they sell all kinds of stuff. I managed to bargin myself (in my broken spanish) a few deals so Christmas shopping is almost done. They bus ride out there was an experince in itself. We managed to avoid a scam to steal our bag, thanks to a warning from someone who had his bag stolen on his trip to Otovalo. Through out the ride vendors would hop on and sell all kinds of snacks and drinks. This country must be one of the most well supplied with gum. The drive was through some very crazy country side not unlike southern Idaho. Lots of gulies and volcanic deposits. We had one exciting moment when another bus decided to pass us on a blind corner and our bus wouldn´t let him by. Never a dull moment on these Ecuadorian buses.
On Sunday we tried to catch a train to Cotopaxi that lets you ride on the roof. After a confusing converstaion with a taxi we discovered that the train no longer runs from Quito (and I am not sure if it even runs at all any more.) So that was not nearly as exciting a day as I had hoped.
Today Sam and hiked up Ruca Pinchicha (to the top this time... about 4800 meters). We lucked out and the clouds lifted while we were on the summit so we had some decent views. On the way back down we found that the cable cars had broken down so we had to wait a couple of hours until they were fixed. A bit of boring end to an awesome climb.
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