(Quito´s Centro Historico)

The night is rainy, the guinea pig is roasting on the fire, and I am trying to figure out this keyboard de castillano. The twelve hours of beautiful air travel went off without a hitch. My Pops met me at the airport in Quito along with his younger half brother, Milton a pilot for some small Ecuadorian airline. We stayed the night at their hospitable house, along the outskirts of the 1.8 million inhabited city. Very friendly people. I slept in my younger cousin´s room, one of many cousins that I have never met...I believe they crammed the rest of the family into my other cousin, Milton Jr´s room...poor guy, original name though. I find they do that a lot around here i.e., lots of Jrs; must be a macho thing. At around 11pm Ecuador time, 9 my time they tried to shove the world´s toughest, and also the world´s bloodiest steak down my throat, much to my friendly chagrin. I ate half of it and started feeling a little self conscious when I noticed my Tia, Tio, along with Milton Jr watching me in curious anticipation trying to cut that meat brick with my butter knife. I was the winner however and the steak the loser...I think...I am feeling a little pukey now though.

I am currently in the little spa town of Baños (they have a tilde ñ, sweet!) suffering from mild elevation sickness, or steak sickness, or diesel fume sickness...take your pick. Its about a 2 hour stuffy bus ride from Riobamba along some very beautiful but treacherous road, paved and stone layed, mudslides, hail, and oh a little thunder. It has been 16 years since I was last here. I wonder if it missed me?

Baños is a little hustle and bustle stop before you head over the eastern side of the Andes to the oriente, or the amazon basin. It was founded in 1500´s but one couldn´t really tell with out the beauty of historic documentation and guide books. Its a colorful town but lacking any substantial beauty, architecturally speaking...its surrounding natural beauty is however breathtaking. Waterfalls cascade down emerald green slopes that steeply surround the town with a absinthe like quality. One can only speculate the view attained on a clear day of the vulcan Tungurahua directly above, at 5016 meters (you do the math).

Time to hunt down some grub.