Taking it seriously--preparing for Cotopaxi

The hills are alive

We did a warmup hike for Cotopaxi to see how we do with a bit more air beneath us instead of in our lungs. We happen to live right next to Cajas National Park in Cuenca, so we elected for a short, steep route to mimic the Cotopaxi slog as much as possible. But we were baffled at why the Cajas map shows this route, at just under 4km (2.5 miles) round trip, taking over 6 hours to complete. But just the time it took to find the trail was our first indication as to how this could be true.

Because it is...in my way

Look a mountain--let's climb it...Cotopaxi as seen from our hostel in Latacunga

When asked why he climbed Everest, George Mallory famously replied, "Because it is there." Well I call poppycock on that. I have just climbed the world's highest active volcano, Cotopaxi (at 19,347 feet or 5,897 meters), and can now say that I will be very excited to climb another mountain like it...if I can't go around it. It was a phenomenal experience, but not one I feel the need to replicate. It's kinda like my wedding, which was an awesome, huge, fun party that I never, ever want to have again.

A visit to Bathroom (Grandma part 2)

Get your picture with a gringo -- one dollar

Some people may think twice about visiting a place named after a bathroom, but this was actually our second time to Baños de Ambato (or officially, Baños de Agua Santa, which I think is much prettier, and more appealing to think you're flushing with holy water).

(Go here for more general first-time impressions of Baños, but read on for more of Teddy and Nana Bear's adventures this time around.)

Principal peace

Gettin' all pink and serious

Diana's godson is staying with us for half a year or so (more on that later), so we now have a live-in babysitter. So after another too good date-night on Friday, we still managed to get out of town on Saturday, if a wee later than planned, for an overnight. We went to the little town of Principal, which is about two hours by bus, and about the same with a bus/cab combo. Due to some confusing language in the guidebook, we went a town too far to catch a connecting bus to our destination.