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When we first arrived in Ecuador, we struggled to see it as anything more than just another South American country. However, with only a week to go were really starting to enjoy the uniqueness of the place. This increased 10-fold when we arrived in Riobamba and were treated to a day with Jack's parents, who were so friendly and hospitable. We went for a fantastic lunch with them and they showed us some sights in the city, before arranging a trip with Jack's Uncle up the volcano for the following day.
The next day we took a drive up to 4800 metres on the side of Chimborazo volcano, seeing falcons and viconas (same family as the llama). We then had a 45 minute walk up to 5000 metres, which we did alone with only the snow, volcano and pure tranquility around us. The moment took me and I knew it was here I would pop 'the question'. I had already asked Tom for his permission (when we were in Cuzco) and was just waiting for the right place. Out of breath and struggling to walk the steep path, I knew that I had found it. In some untouched snow, as the emotions of the situation got to me, I dropped to one knee and managed to ask... "wil je me trouwen?" (Dutch for "will you marry me?"... I hope?). With tears in her eyes, but without a trace of doubt, Lynne said yes!! We celebrated with expensive food ($1.75 each) and a bottle of expensive champagne ($5.99).
A few days later we took the Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose) train ride, which was an egineering feat, using switchbacks to negotiate this large hill, but infact was less impressive than we had expected. We ended up in Alausi and from there took the bus down to Cuenca, where we would spend our last few days.
We spent an amazing few hours walking in Cajas NP, which was filled with hills, exposed rock faces, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, moorland, marshland and woods. It was a breathtaking landscape that reminded me a little bit of England and the places by Si and from some of our lads weekends. We saw some humming birds and a pair of falcons. We also walked through bogs (was not warm?), where I almost lost a shoe, and jumped rivers as we walked up to a height of 4000 metres. Was a great day.
Our last day in Ecuador (and South America) was spent in the colonial city of Cuenca, where we walked around the fruit and Artesan markets, ate local fare and walked around the many old buildings and churches that filled the city. The following day, we took an early bus back to Guayaquil, a 2-hour flight to Panama, where we drank the most expensive beers in the world ($6 each!) as we waited for our following flight to San Salvador (El Salvador). A few hours sleep and we jumped on a bus to take us to Guatemala City where we were supposed to meet Richard. who was still stuck in Madrid.... 36 hours travel and 4 hours sleep, we had arrived for the next part of our travels.
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thea Zo'n aanzoek in den vreemde, het lijkt wel een film!! Geweldig mooi nieuws dat jullie gaan trouwen!! Geniet samen nog van jullie mooie reis!! Lieve groet Jan en Thea