Mar 2006

It was an inauspicious start to the day. I checked my horoscope at the onion.com, and was told

¨During an interview with your son’s grade-school teacher, you’ll be relieved to learn how little you give a shit about how he is doing.¨¨

at least it fared better than my poor leo mum and brother.,..

¨You will soon discover that your home’s fire escape plan, although seemingly effective, fails to take fire into account.¨

or even my dad

¨You will be accidentally left behind by a tour group while visiting Mexico City next week, resulting in a harrowing and distressing afternoon of not being able to accurately identify which buildings are colonial. ¨

the list goes on.

anyway, cuenca was a beautiful city...justifiably nurtured in the warm bosom of UNESCO. The place has an undeniable charm and a great bunch of restaurants. After admitting that we were really not museum types, unless it was something special, we engaged in a bit of wandering instead, and were rewarded with decadence and fading splendour. It made me think of Paris in the 20´s without the bicycles, and a nice relaxing time was had.

today, we tried to embark for vilcabamba, on our way to the peruvian border. Unfortubately, all of the banks rejected our cards in the changeover point of Loja. It was a bit scary, but it finally worked and we settled in for the night here. It resembles cuenca in a way, and seems really easy going. not to bad all told.

Off now for some veggie fare and another aimless stroll before returning to the dingy but aimiable Hostal londres.

Hasta la proxima pannas, un beso

[b]UPDATE COMING SOON... SURPRISING TWISTS, ACCUSATIONS AND CRAZINESS. FULL STORY NOW FINISHED.

Very touristy place, and a different pace of life from baños. quite starnge to be here after three months in the mountains. took a long time to get here! 2 days heard slog, combined with some of the most breathtaking highland scenery, between latacunga and quevedo, that i have ever ever seen. rolling mists, horn-forked peaks, patches of wildly luminous grasses, llama herders and pigs blocking the bus routes.

we surfed all day yesterday. got burnt and a bit scraped. plan to head inland again to cuenca tomorrow we reckon as the sun is too strong, and we have another beach to hit in arica, chile.

will update soon.

hola, k fue?

to my folks and amigos

just to let you know we´re leaving baños (in about 5 minutes!!) and we will be in a remote part of the coast for about 4 days, so you know if you dont have an email etc.

mr tea x