Today was the same as yesterday, breakfast not too early then Luis picked us up for a trip to the market at Otavalo, a couple of hours from Quito.

The market is for handicrafts and food, and the Wednesday market is particularly good for handicrafts - it was fairly quiet when we got there, and we soon got to grips with negotiating - luis had suggested 10% and that was all we ever got ! we tried to be selective and managed to pick up a few artefacts, jewellery, bags, and, naturally, an Ecuadorian football shirt for Finn. Everyone was very friendly, not too pushy, and it all felt very natural, and not too touristy.

Lunch was at one of Luis' haunts, this time we thought about it and got just a snack, then we had a quick wander down 'leather street' - just one street in Otavalo where the leather is high quality and really cheap - about a third of UK prices - so this time it was Suzanne and alan's turn to buy stuff! - check us out when we get back !!

We took a boat trip around a lagoon in a volcanic crater where we could see the bubbles coming up through the water - which was 10 degrees warmer than naturally it would have been because of the volcanic heat underneath.

We came back via a return visit to the market - in the confusion we'd lost the football shirt, so this time Finn wore it and guaranteed not to leave it somewhere!

Our journey was uneventful, except for Derry and Finn scaring the locals - if not the dogs - by barking out of the window! The local roadworks are interesting, Quito style is just to stack a pile of rocks across the road and hope the cars can get through!

We passed a load of the normal brick factories - they look like houses but they are piles of bricks ready for the next building project- much of the local rock is quarried for construction, and Quito is building up - it can't build out, bounded by mountains, and it's already 60km long!

The evening was preparation for tomorrows departure from Quito, another meal at the hotel, then trying to catch up with this while we still have wireless at the hotel - but by the time we come to do it, we're usually wiped out by various things - altitude, fresh air, food, children... and just crash out!