01 to 02 April 2005

Our last two days in South America was spent in Quito. Not much was done. Shopped. Visited its old town. Mailed a postcard home. Shopped. Mailed a
parcel home. Shopped.

Click on pages for enlarged views. 

The parcel and the postcard. 

My pre-birthday present from Ling, a green zipper-pants. 

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.

Click on pages for enlarged views. 

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. 

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. 

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.

Click on pages for enlarged views. 

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. 

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.

Click on pages for enlarged views. 

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.