Last Days in Ecuador

These last photos show mostly the Banff type town of Banos and the surrounding area. It is a real touristy area and it seems when there are as many tourists as there are here they are not so friendly as in other places that are a bit hidden and hard to get to. Oh well, we love the place anyway.
We sent 3 pictures a while ago that showed snow covered mountain tops right on the equator. That was in Otavalo a bit north of the Equator. When we moved to Banos, a bit south of the Equator and particularly between Quito and Banos, we pass many mountains that were snow covered and that is so rare in this part of the world. There are glaciers but not just snow.
Making new shoes out of old shoes.
This is the volcano that was causing problems a month ago when we were deciding where to go in Ecuador. It is very rarely seen as it is mostly covered with clouds but we lucked out when we were arriving in Banos and here is one of many photos Nancy took.
We were in Banos 10 years ago and stayed at this hotel. It was the best place in town 10 years ago and still is the best place in town as far as we are concerned.
Making pull taffy. There are stalls and stores all over town who sell candy,

Many years back this was a convent and now it is a museum.
Nancy is the only one who has tried it. It is Cuy, roasted guinea pig. It is a delicacy in this part of the world.
This hardware store had as much merchandise as Donny Reids hardware in Warner but in about 1/10 of the space. We bought 2 batteries and the owner knew exactly where they were.
One of the two main streets in Banos. Always very busy and good for people watching.
Just two cute girls, coming home from a special time at church.

There are many places like this in Banos but this one was particularly busy with leather goods. Much of the goods for sale are made in indigenous villages and carried this way to town to entice the tourists.
This morning was Palm Sunday and these ladies are just coming from church.
Again, an after church Palm Sunday celebration, in a very small town we were passing through on our way to Quito.
The bus was leaving and this man had to run with his heavy load to catch our bus.

We are cutting our time a bit short in South America and making a detour via Seattle on our way home to spend some time with a son who is in hospital, and his family there .

We do plan to send out one more blog from this journey showing churches in Colombia and Ecuador.