Saturday 4th october

Still in Otavalo, love this place, leave at 8am to go to the animal markets and also craft markets wow so big and so many colourful and interesting things to buy, I buy a necklace and 2 scarves everything is so cheap it´s hard to control myself. Depart 9.45am to return to Quito, catch taxis to bus station. I am told by Carla our guide to sit in front so what do I do but go straight to the drivers side as that would be the passenger seat at home as they drive on the right side of the road here, everyone thinks its very funny and ask if I am going to drive ha ha. 2 hour bus trip back. Return Hotel Cayman 1.30pm, Sarah kindly makes me a very nice salad roll and a cup of coffee for lunch as I didn´t have any breakfast and have a splitting headache, her and I are sharing room tonight. Leave 2pm for $40 city sights tour with another guide Elena, we tour the old city and also the new city which are quite different and this city is so big and spread out with a population of just over 2 million. Also visit the historical centre and El museo De Sitio Intinan where we stand on the equator and do several experiments which you can only do at the equator, find it extremely interesting like balancing an egg on a nail. We continue some of our tour on foot to see Plaza San Francisco with the Monastery of San Fransico Ecuador's oldest church and Plaza de la Independencia, also La Compania de Jesus one of the richest churches in South America and stunning to look at with all the gold, it rains very heavily so we buy $3 umbrellas, we then rejoin our bus and drive up to the top of the city to see the Virgen de El panecillo(The Virgin of Quito) which is a huge statue of an angel with wings which looks down over the city, this area was once an Incan stronghold as it has 360 degree views over the city. We climb up inside the statue to the top and the views are amazing, no photos as camera batteries are flat. We arrive back at hostel 6.30pm ready for dinner at 7pm, I have potato, cheese and avocado soup, steak and fries but struggle to eat it as am full after soup. Back to room 9.30pm to write up journal, emails etc.