Camping and incan ruins

Two days ago started with a 6 hour bus ride from our hotel in Riobamba to our camp site next to the Andes mountains. Along the way, we stopped at a shop where we got to see a man making animals and figures with the ivory-like heart of a palm seed. The items he sold ranged from Galapagos tortoises to pelicans, and even penguins. It was really interesting to see how intricate and detailed the pieces were and how much time and effort was put into each piece. After arriving at our camp site, we ate a short lunch and waited for the rain to die down until we could hike around. We decided to go to the top of a waterfall, and ended up making a difficult climb to the summit at 12,700 feet. The view was great. Then, Justin, Sara, Alfonso, Tyler, Anson, and I decided to hike up to a peak we saw in the distance. The experience was surreal. We were literally breathing in the clouds that were rolling across the Andes. We finally reached the summit at a height of 13,400 feet. All we could see were gigantic rocks and clouds. I will never forget challenging and fun it was to make the summit and then climb back down the mountain to the camp site. The next day, we hiked 8 miles along the Incan road and got to see Incan ruins like Ingapirca, which have stood in place for hundreds of years. It was awesome realizing that I was standing in the same place as 4,000 Incans and Canaris had been ay back in history. Right now we are in Cuenca, a place I could see myself retiring in. There is always a celebration and the people love to play music here. Tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to going to the ecology reserve and catching my own lunch (crab) with the mud fishermen.

JP