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I've got some catching up to do, I think. We've done a fair bit of travelling in the last few days. Next stop after Banos was Riobamba in preparation for the Devil's Nose train ride the next day. It was sooo cold; I had to sleep in my sleeping bag with my coat on as well!
The train ride was a bit of a disappointment. I think they're doing some kind of repair work at the moment, so we only got to travel along the tame section of the route, and in a bus adapted to run on rails instead of a train. Not sure it was worth getting up at 4am for! However, we did get magnificent views of the snow-capped Chimborazo, Ecuador's highest volcano.
Next stop after Vilcabamba was Cuenca, which is a lovely city - quite European looking. We only had a day in the area, so went for a quick hike in the Cajas national park in the morning - the weather was good and the scenery beautiful (a bit like the Yorkshire moors according to one girl in the group!). The afternoon we spent wandering around the town - we went to a panama hat shop and watched some hats being made (and learnt that panama hats are from Ecuador, not Panama).
The day before yesterday we said goodbye to our Ecuadorian guide and headed off into Peru. We stayed the night in an almost deserted beachside location just outside the village of Zorritos. It's a very relaxing place and a shame we only got to stay for the morning. It was great having such a huge stretch of sandy beach all to ourselves. We stayed in little 'eco' cabins virtually on the beach, so there was no hot water and the toilets didn't flush, but it was so nice.
Today we're in Chiclayo. There's not much to do here; it's really just a stopping off point before we head to Trujillo, our next stop, this afternoon. There's quite a lot of hustle and bustle outside though as the local elections are taking place on Monday. Aparently this means that Lima will be shutting up shop when we arrive ...
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