Rocodromo, another unclimbed dream

30 to 31 March 2005

After returning to Quito from the Galapagos cruise, I visited a climbing centre.
I caught a quick glimpse of it when we came from Cuenca. So I had to ask an
adventure gear shop for directions. Rocodromo ~ Rock Dome? ~ is gigantic.
The centrepiece is a monster of a lead and tope-rope multi-faceted wall.
I wish I had a climbing partner yet again. This was the umpteen time this trip.

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Rocodromo! A brick wall on the left. A four-sided bouldering wall on the right. And the monster in the middle. 

Three souvenirs we bought. 

the study of natural science, the Galapagos

24 to 29 March 2005

Our South American experience would not be complete without making a trip
to the Galapagos Islands. Although it was still incomplete without the Amazon,
Inca Trail, a long Patagonia trek… this cruise somehow made it slightly more complete. It was a first class cruise, with first class guides, first class meals and first class rooms. And not forgetting the top of the top in wildlife encounters.

Click on pages for enlarged views. 

On the left are my sketches of the ship, M/V Galapagos Legend,
and our room in the ship. On the right, the map of the cruise,
the 5-day itinerary. 

Lots of friendly wildlife. Sally light-foot crabs. Sealions.
Blue-footed boobies. Marine iguanas. 

Lava lizards. 

White-tipped reef sharks. American oyster-catchers.
Galapagos giant tortoises. 

Diving blue-footed boobies. 

And brown pelicans… among many many others. 

journey to the centre of the world

20 to 23 March 2005

Does Ecuador means Equator? Maybe that’s why they claim that Mitad del Mundo is the centre of the world. At Greenwich 78°27°8°, Latitude 0°0°0°, how can that be the exact middle? It’s one hour 15 minutes by bus from Quito, and being in our tourist mode, we went there for a wasted sight-seeing trip.

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It has been rain and more rain in Cuenca. 

In the 10-hour bus ride to Quito, we encountered three landslides,
one u-turn and one blown tyre. 

That’s the stack of US$20 bills I withdrew from ATMs. All US$2720,
for a 5 days/4 nights cruise of the Galapagos, for two. 

This is my half-hearted report of Mitad del Mundo. 

hospitality in Cuenca, Ecuador

15 to 19 March 2005

After Peru, we entered Ecuador at Huaquillas. Lunch and a drink later, we were on another bus to Cuenca. That night in Cuenca, Ling got a very bad case of stomachache and diarrhea. It turned into a night in the hospital with drip. Blood was taken and tested. And a species of Salmonella was found in Ling’s blood. Fortunately, Ling felt better and was discharged just after one night of observation. So glad we returned to a very hospitable guesthouse.

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The entrance ticket to Chan Chan. And on the right corner, the start of our border crossing to Ecuador. 

The rest of our border crossing adventure. 

That’s my sketch of Ling as she slept in the ward. 

US$205. It’s the hospital bill. And, oh, Ecuador uses US currency.
Very weird. 

i was almost robbed of my time

13 to 14 March 2005

Other travellers had warned us. Ronan has told us about his experience with watch-snatchers in Lima. Little did I expect to almost have my watch snatched away just 10 minutes upon arriving in Lima. It was a scary encounter. And luckily my watch strap held, although I was shaken.

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My sketch of the Nazca tower and a postcard of Lima. 

These are toy Peruvian currency. 

My interpretation of the mud-works of Chan Chan.