Valley de Corcora

After months of nagging dressed up as sightseeing opportunities we rented some horses and set out into the valley de Corcora looking for a waterfall that the locals have told us was beautiful. The trail was stunning, a horse trail leading up a river in the valley de Corcora. My horse was an idiot, and to small for me, it even tripped over few times.But Bellinda got the good horse which was fast and obeyed instructions. Such an amazing spot, and the best way to see it on the back of a horse.

                                                         The first river crossing

                                                      Bel on top of Julio.

                                                     The farm house on the trail.

Second river crossing 

The waterfall

Central Columbia Salento

Yesterday we flew into pereira and got a car up to the mountains to a town called Salento. It's an authentic Columbian town, tiny, but very aesthetic. The flight was good, despite the dogs on the plane barking. The main industry here is coffee and there are plantations surrounding the area. It's very green, tropical and warm. It's one of he prettier towns we have seen on this continent. Today we plan to hire some horses and go for a ride, or, maybe mountain bikes. There are heaps of scenic areas to ride into, and fast flowing rivers. The good thing is trout is big here on the menu, or trucha as it's called.

                                             The Main Street of Salento, siesta time.

                                                     The taxi jeeps here, love them.

                                               The main square in Salento, more taxi jeeps.

Salento

The main square.

The bar full of cowboys and old timers

Bogota City Columbia

Last night we touched down in Columbia. Arriving in bogota, we shared a cab with an Irish guy we met in Bolivia, good guy, as he's Irish he drank a beer in the cab. Bogota is your typical South American city, pretty vibrant, and some beautiful buildings. Last night we stayed in an unsavory area, and moved this morning to something a little nicer. Probably staying here for three days, seems enough to see everything, visiting the gold museum today, which is apparently a blast.....

                                                               Plaza de Boliva

And again

The Parliament building.

The Iglesia del Carmen 

The plaza de Bolivia

These guys are on every corner, I feel so relaxed.

Ecuador farewell .........amen

The last day in Quito was spent exploring the religious sites in this amazing city. The rain finally stopped and we saw some beautiful churches. We also discovered the " shoe" district. It was a district with more shoe shops than people, and of course, being in possession of the worlds ugliest and flattest feet, not one shop had my size! Quitos most impressive church Basillica del Voto National had two towers to scale. Being on the receiving end of a slapping in a church in Greece, by an old lady, I was overally cautious. Approached by an old lady to buy religious junk, I politely said no, but she burst into tears, very loudly.......the hallways are large and echoey! Again. I ran away......

                                                         The Basillica del Voto

                                                                  The interior

The halls 

The view from the top across the city.

Shoe shopping, the first shop.

More shoes, happy days.

North of Quito Ecuador

Moving north from Quito, we visited the town of Otavalo which had some of the biggest outdoor markets in South America. It was amazing, literally a whole town was an outdoor market, with everything under the sun. Could have gone nuts on the purchases. Unfortunately we only had an hour or so there, and didn't scratch the surface. We visited the Reserva Ecologica Cotachi and volcan cotacachi which was an extinct volcano crater now filled with water. At 3000 metres it was a battle to reach the crater, but the 30 year old in the party had no issues. We then hit the town of Cotacachi which is famous for its leather. Street after street with awesome shoes, and leather jacket shops, that were super cheap. I was forced to leave empty handed as we just can't carry anymore, Devo! But someone else scored a new sexy leather jacket, but is concerned it's to sexy.....it can never be too sexy.

                                          This lady was a traditional weaver, lama wool used.

                                                    Some locals prepare for the market.

The now extinct crater.

It's along way to the top, at 3000 metres.

The countryside Northern Ecuador 

Ecuador Quito

Having left Peru far behind, we have arrived in Ecuador. The first city we arrived in was Guayaquil which seemed to be a pretty large and unremarkable city. We decided not to stay and have moved to the city of Quito. It's a really cool city, scenic, surrounded by mountains and cheap! Cheap being the best part. Everything from food, cabs, hotels and beer, are super cheap. There are two parts of the city, the new and the old, the old being the historic centre of town,  we are moving there tomorrow. Trying to find someone to drive us around and take us to the amazon jungle.

                                       
                                                       Quito on the way to the old city.

       
                                                The street we are staying on Quito old city.

So many churches here.

Lunch Quito 

Mancora Peru

New Year's Eve, Peru. Arriving in Lima, which was average, and dangerous, we headed for the coastal playground of Mancora, the Noosa of Peru. To compare Mancora to Noosa would be fine if Noosa were bombed by the Australian navy for twenty days without a break, then razed to the ground, and then filled with people from Miami. The beach is nice yeh, but the town is like war zone filled with tuk tuks. New Years wasn't awesome but we found a shack north of the town, and it's lovely, and we are far enough away to appreciate the beauty without the people, next stop equador!

                                            Sunset over Mancora, it's pretty amazing actually.

More sunsets

The pool in front of the shack Mancora

 Downtown Mancora, quality!

The shack and the pool.

 Our bathroom, no roof, not sure what we do if it rains.