Our tour guide spoke several languages fluently giving us an insight to life in Turkey as well as information about their agriculture and manufacturing. Turkey is a Muslim nation where mosques abound in the countryside as well as in the cities. Every small town has at least one mosque.

Our guide pointed out the minarets of several mosques stating their function of call to prayer is the same as ancient times but the method has been modernized, they now use public address speaker systems rather than a human voice call from the minaret.

The ride up the cable tram took several minutes giving us time to view a good bit of the landscape as well allowing Gaye and another lady time to relax their white knuckle grip on the handrails. Arriving at the top of the lift we found a group of small booths where local merchants sold wares from postcards to local farm products to souvenirs.

We walked, climbed, and crawled up through the ruins of the acropolis taking pictures all the way while listening to our tour guide giving us the history of the site. This site once housed the largest library in the world; the books here were transferred by the Romans to Alexandria Egypt during the time of Rome’s Caesar and Marc Anthony. Also the library burned during a conflict with Caesar and all the books were destroyed.

The views from the acropolis were spectacular giving reason why it was built in the  first place. A small army could defend a large invading army climbing the mountain sides and trying to climb the fortification walls. It would be quite impossible to bring war machines of old close enough to the walls to do any damage. By the time invaders got to the base of the fortifications they would be too tired to fight anyone.

Asklepion next to Pergamum is the site of an ancient  mental hospital. If not the first in the world it was amongst the first. The original hospital treated patients with tender loving care without the use of shock treatment or mind altering drugs. Rest and comfort were the orders of their day, soothing sounds, relaxing environments, and a staff of caring people trained to heal with as much time as needed.

There was water sounds and therapy by immersion, Softly lit tunnels with water running through and holes for the staff members to speak words of comfort to the patients as they walked through. The grounds were clean and well kept things of beauty. No harsh words or commands were allowed by the staff. Pleasant walkways and park like areas abounded. All in all it must have been a beautiful place to regain a productive life.

Our cabin was down in steerage (fifth deck, above bilge and crew. LOL) but we did not mind it as it seemed a little calmer when we hit rough water. The Mediterranean sea can be a bit rough at times even without a storm. The ship rode the waves nicely while under way.

About my only complaints were the food seemed under par for such a nice ship and the entertainment shows were far too loud for comfort. I’m almost deaf but the music and singing hurt my ears and gave me a headache unless I wore earplugs. Also everything seemed to be a hustle, they sell tours on shore at high prices, they have art and jewelry sales as well as lottery and bingo games, and biggest of all they have casino gambling.

Our first port of call was Civitavecchia Italy. Gaye and I stayed on board as the weather was cold and wet and we had been to the area before. Civitavecchia is close to Rome where we spent a week or so a few years back.

After a day at sea we were to stop in Piraeus Greece (next to Athens) but they had a strike of some sort in the area so the ship continued onto Iraklion Crete. Gaye and I had been there a few years back with memories that were not too very fond but we managed to go ashore anyway. The city has changed since last we landed there. The pollution no longer fills the air, the trash is gone from the streets, and the people seem a lot friendlier.

In the port itself you can still see the old Venetian fort and city walls as well as new roadways and warehouses and other places of business. I’m sure the old wharfs are still around these new quay walls and docks but the port now looks as modern as any other progressive city.

The city has not lost much of its old country charm. The streets still have vendors hawking their wares alongside of new modern stores. Street side cafes have tables out on the sidewalks and the locals make good use of them. The streets of course are like a labyrinth without order and even though we had a map it was almost useless as the streets and corners had very few street signs. The streets that had signs were in Greek of course so reading most was out of the question anyway.

We stopped in at one of the newer museums depicting ancient Minoan life and culture. The museum itself was a large building that was almost impossible to find even with the map. People in other buildings close by seemingly knowing we were tourists kept pointing out our direction of travel until we found it. The displays while fairly small in area were nicely done and the museum staff kept very good watch to make sure everyone respected the “No Flash Photography” signs.

Gaye and I walked about two miles that day as we journeyed about the old city. Of course we could have a shorter walk if we knew where we were going. The city itself is on a hillside so quite often it was a bit of a strain but we felt it was worth the effort.

Gaye and I were able to take a hike to an historic castle on a point of land south of Peniscola. Looking at it from a distance I figured it was about two kilometers, Hah! After hiking along the rambla for at least three it still looked like two kilometers. We caught a local bus and rode it to the end of the line close to the castle itself.

This castle was erected by the Knights Templar, and completed by the Montesianos in the fourteenth century, and later modified by Pope Luna. It was home to Pope Benedicto XIII, Pedro De Luna 1411 to 1423.

It has the historical significance of being a residence of a Pope durig the great schism of ocidente.

The walls are carved stone, they support stairs and streets for the horses of old and the cars of new. The original encompassed what is now known as “Old Town”

The bronze statue of Pope Benedicto XIII sits for eternity overlooking the Old Town. He was in residence in the castle during his reign  His library had a window facing Rome as if to gaze upon his wish to sit as Pontiff in the holy city.

The old town is now residence to some of the old society of Valencia, Peniscola, Beni-Carlo and Vinaros of Cataluña.

Old Town also became home to local artists and crafts people. They have market place booths where they sell crafts and trinkets to the touristas.

I do happen to have about fifty pictures of the castle, grounds, and streets of Old Town. I think it would take an hour or so to send all on the blog so I will make a CD available to anyone interested after I get back home.

Statues of early crusader Knights ? in the room next to the Dungeon.

We left Sunny Spain on Saturday to board the NCL Jade. I do believe this was the most efficient check in we ever had on a cruise line; there was very little waiting in line involved and the ladies and gents taking care of check in were very courteous.

Once on board we had a minor wait until our cabin was ready but we had a check service where we could leave our jackets with an attendant person while we had lunch. So far the experience is great.

Peniscola (spelled with a n with a tilde on top) is on the coast of Spain just north of Valencia. It is not a large town or very rich by any means but it seems to be a vacation spot for a great many Spanish, French, German, and Russian people. Our home away from home here is a small two story town house apartment in a rather cluster connected to a large hotel. The compound itself is fairly large, about a half city block, located on the beach of the Mediterranean.

However once more the weather played tricks on us; the Temperature on the way down here by train rose from 10 Deg. Celsius to 15 deg C. with a good bit of sunshine. Today it is down to 12 deg. C. and raining. I really wondering where they got the term “Sunny Spain”.

The people of Spain are friendly and helpful and do not seem to mind that I butcher their language as badly as I do. It seems they know immediately that I come from the USA and smile when I try to speak.

Our unit here is the most comfortable we have been in so far on this trip. It is small and compact, there is no view out the windows unless you count the neighbors back yard, but it is pleasant. The beds are firm (I think they got the granite slabs from a local quarry) the rooms are warm and dark, and the neighbors are quiet. They give two choices for pillows, one choice is sort of like a hot protective pad for an industrial situation almost like six layers of fabric sewn together like a quilt, the other is the soft one, a pillow slip filled with another sack like slip filled with a small package of cotton balls. Using both pillows together is close to a half pillow back home.

The food is rather expensive here but then Spain is in a recession too. This is my second visit to Spain, the last was in the early eighties. The train and bus service improved ten-fold and the prices for services and food increased about three-fold.

Gaye and I did not rent a car so far on this trip as the bus and train service in the UK is very good and the bus and train service in Spain is very good. They have very comfortable modern busses and modern electric trains. The local trains make a lot of stops but they really pick up speed between towns. Taxis are expensive and Taxi drivers sock it to tourists so we try to avoid them wherever we go.

From the windows of the train I could see the landscape rushing by not quite in a blur but not really clearly until we approached another town or stop along the line. What could be seen gave insight to some of their agriculture. There were many orange groves some with young trees and some bearing fruit. The fields that looked like potatoes seemed to be well tended, the soil is a sort of yellow brown in color with few stones. At least I could not see many stones at all as we  approached towns. In some areas it looked like they have or had a drought as the grasses appeared to be very dry. Also some of the dirt roads looked very dusty and very dry.

The coastline near Peniscola had hard packed sand in mounds away from the water and a smooth shoreline where the waves pounded it flat. The sand here is very fine and almost dusty when carried by the winds.

The natives of the area are very friendly with the tourists and I am sure that a great many of the hotel guests are from Spain with a sprinkling of German and Italian people thrown in. They are typically European in that they have dinner after eight at night. Breakfast starts at eight in the morning, lunch time can be anywhere from one in to three or four in the afternoon, and a siesta around lunch time. Many of the Spanish seem to have a dinner as late as ten PM. It does take some getting used to the time difference as we are nine hours ahead of our home in Washington.

This chapter seems to be a bit helter-skelter as I am adding information over several days. It had been raining which kept me inside or at least it kept me from taking pictures. Today, Monday Dec. 6 started out with a dark overcast, a spritz of rain, then a gradual lighter sky turning to sunshine. The day was cold and damp but became sunny and bright. Now it really is “Sunny Spain”.

The Mercado is a ten minute walk from the complex (fifteen with Gaye) but it was closed as today is a Spanish holiday. We had to eat the food in the cafeteria since Saturday afternoon and while it is passable it is not exactly gourmet food. This is a “Gold Crown Resort” but the food does not deserve the title. I guess it may be one of the rewards for always traveling off season.

As Peniscola is a resort area where the Spanish people come to play and relax almost all the buildings along the beach are hotels or condos. A great many are for sale, a greater number are for rent, and a fairly large number are under renovation during the off season.

Of course it does not rain all the time, The sunset shows the sun really does shine on the lowland plains too. The color sort of reminded me of a painting by Kanenson (a friend of Gaye) although the camera does not do it justice.

Confusion reigned in the airport but it was a fairly easy check in. They stamped the passports and we walked through the gate that stated “Nothing to Declare”. Once inside we had to find the information booth as there was no sign or other directions to tell us where to get a bus to La Pineda. After hauling our bags back and forth a time or two we were able to board a “Plana” coach to Tarragona and La Pineda. Our bus stop was on a city street with no indication of where to go or what to do and in more confusion with gathering bags and listening to stilted directions I watched the bus pull away with my little black computer bag still in the overhead bin.

You can not imagine my anguish as I came to realize the bus pulled away before I could get back on to get my notebook PC. We had to walk around a corner and two blocks to the entrance of the vacation compound then up a flight of stairs to the concierge. Much to our chagrin there was a fairly large crowd checking in and we tried to find a manager or someone that could maybe help us out. Gaye finally muscled her way up to the counter and talked to the head lady in charge telling her about our loss while she was trying to help other guests.

After a few quick phone calls and an excruciating wait the bus company called back and told the lady who in turn told us that the bus driver had my bag and would drop it off as he made his return trip. I felt an enormous weight lift off my head and sat down in a position allowing me to see the front door. Another wait provided me with the welcome sight of the bus stopping across the street.  I made a mad dash almost knocking several people over; the driver was coming out the door of the bus when I arrived. He remembered me and casually handed me the bag with a smile expecting nothing more than a handshake but a few Euros helped his smile grow larger.

Once back inside the compound I thanked my lucky stars and vowed to chain the bag to my wrist.

The compound where we stay takes up a full city block with four or five  hotel buildings making up the front. There are several swimming pools, multiple gardens, an exercise room, cinema, and tennis courts, in addition to several restaurants and many, many condominiums. Our apartment is sort of like a one bedroom, kitchen/living combo, with a bathroom on the top of a three story condo. No elevator of course. The place could use a little help but we do have a balcony deck for morning coffee. If only it were not so cold and damp.

It is off season so it is rather quiet but the other side of the coin means we have to walk about five blocks to find an open Mercado. The only open swimming pool is inside a huge building called the Aquum. (Don’t ask, I dunno). The exercise room takes up a bit more space than my house and barn back home. There is a snack bar above so you can lose weight on the ground floor and get it back upstairs.

To check on a train to our next destination we took a bus to Tarragona, about a fifteen minute drive. Tarragona is a larger city than La Pineda, nosier, much more traffic, much more people, full of motorcycles and scooters, but not much pollution. The graffiti artists have not found it yet; most of the walls, buildings, railcars, etc. are amazingly free of graffiti.

We live almost on the beach here, surfers play in the surf no matter  how cold it is in the water or outside in the air. People jog on the beach, walk on the Rambla, and bicycle all over the place. There are not too many dogs but there are quite a few well fed cats in and about our compound and neighboring stores. They do not have enough trees around here so they made some out of scrap iron.

The unit of exchange is the Euro and it is at present worth $1.32. When we exchanged in Barcelona it was almost $1.75. We lost money then and found that food and transportation is a bit more expensive than the United States.

We have a clothes washer in our rental unit and it is a lot of fun trying to figure it out. Everything is in symbols and no information book whatsoever. I thought I would have shredded clothing by the time it got done with my wash.

It is an adventure in spite of the fact this unit is not extremely comfortable. We do get to walk in the sun even though the air is cold. We could go swimming in the indoor pool but then we would have to walk back to the apartment in the cold air so we decided to forgo that pleasure.

Family members give great assistance in the start of my new journey, (or possibly they just want to get rid of me). Fellow travelers join me and my faithful companion as we ride our sturdy steed (airport shuttle) southward where we can enter a multi-colored large aluminum and steel bullet (aircraft) that will take us into the heavens and speed us to our first leg of our destination.

Okay so it is a little corny but I expect to have some fun on this trip. Gaye and I will be traveling to England to visit with some of her friends before we continue on to Barcelona for a short timeout. Then a cruise on the Mediterranean followed by another timeout on Malta before returning to London to once more enter the aluminum and steel bullet with wings for our return trip.

The first leg consists of a two hour shuttle ride, a nine hour airplane flight, a four hour, bus ride, and a twenty five minute taxicab to our first home away from home. Needless to say we were readily seeking to resume our slumbers prior to even thinking about making contact with Gaye’s friends or our well wishers back home. Sleep came rapidly once we had our heads on the pillows.

After a rest lasting at least six hours in a cold room with frost on the window I stagger downstairs to play with the plumbing in the loo. The apartment loo sings a song when you play with the handle. I’m sure our nearest neighbors enjoy our visit too as we are still on Washington state time. The low moan and vibration in the plumbing can probably be heard on both sides.

Of course all things fun or good have a downside. I found out the UK has a different version of Microsoft IE, I could not go online, I could not find anyone at our timeshare to help out, and I could not even find a guru to fix it for me. I had to wait until I got back to London to use a cable to send a few e-mails.

The weather in Jolly Old England is very much the same as that of Washington state. Here the rains fall on rich and poor alike a little colder a little heavier perhaps but surely a little steadier. Also we received news of an impending storm making an advance on our location. Our temporary home is situated on a golf course in a rather remote countryside fairly far off the beaten path.

The bus and train service is fine on this side of the pond, the scheduling from some locations not quite so fine. We did manage to find our way to see Gaye’s’ friends and have lunch in a building constructed during or near the end of world war II. The American GI’s had contributed books to the library therein. We had a nice walk of several blocks from the bus station to the Forum in a light rain that  stopped almost immediately upon entering the building. After a nice long lunch and chat we walked back to the bus station once more in a light rain all of which made a bus ride back to our home away from home that much more pleasant.

The golf club serves a fine breakfast consisting of one fried egg with two ham slices, two British bangers, fried bread or toast, three tablespoons of baked beans, and a rather large mushroom top. Coffee and juice compliment the meal and the paltry sum of 5.95 British pounds. The conversion at the time was about one dollar seventy five cents to a pound.

While we there we walked into town several times to do a little shopping for our food as well as a converter plug for me to add to my collection that allows me to use my notebook PC in foreign countries. Sometimes we got a little damp, sometimes a little cold but it was a nice walk and experience. The snow came in lightly on one of the walks but melted upon touching the ground, later in the night it decided to try a little harder with the result of making a white blanket on the golf greens. We noticed golfers played in the rain but not in the snow. The home in these pictures can be bought for something like 450,000.00 British pounds.

While in London town I was able to go online with the assistance of a network cable allowing me to send out a few e-mails as well as enabling Gaye to confirm our plane reservation to Barcelona. While there we (I) also decided we should visit a local pub for a bit of liquid refreshment and some fish and chips. There is nothing in the world like English fish and chips.

I must say the people here have problems just like the people back home. All we met were friendly and helpful, all were affected by the current economic conditions. They had an ugly demonstration by students protesting the rise in tuition fees, they also have illegal immigrants sucking the life out of social programs designed to help the citizenry of England. They also have a problem with Muslim imams’ teaching children as young as six years old Sharia  law in Islamic schools.

The hotel room was air conditioned, It took about an hour to cool everything down to a comfortable level. After a shower using water at a tepid temperature we could almost dry down. The humidity never let us get completely dried off. Sleep was broken and uncomfortable partially due to the heat/humidity and partially due to the close proximity of the car alarm test area. The alarms seemed to vary in sounding anywhere from fifteen minutes to fifty five minutes.

The hotel breakfast was quite nice with a fruit plate, ham or bacon and eggs, rolls or toast, and coffee. The staff was pleasant and helpful, they spoke a good deal of English albeit a little stilted but then my Spanish is much worse.

A dental problem that cropped up with Gaye had us staying in the city longer than we wanted but it was necessary to have it taken care of. We moved into a hostel closer to the dental clinic and with a reduced rate, however we found that creative advertising will sometimes make you wish we had not moved.

When we were ready and able to leave and go exploring we found ourselves leaving the city during Carnaval time, A four day holiday before Ash Wednesday. The car rental was much more expensive and the streets had so much traffic I felt we were taking our lives into our hands especially with streets full of Panamanian drivers. Once outside the city and on the open highway everything calmed down and I was able to pry  my hands off the steering wheel and look at something besides the maniacal drivers close at hand.

Our destination was David Ciudad and hostal Bambu. The directions we had left us hopelessly lost in several attempts to find it. Asking citizens helped us have further confusion as the local citizenry will always tell you how to get somewhere even if they do not know themselves. A man at a local bar speaking excellent English realizing the directions were rather involved told us to follow him. After coursing through another maze he stopped and pointed to the establishment. The Panamanians and expats are really very helpful and friendly.

Bambu hostel had rooms with private bath, air conditioning, TV, and a swimming pool. It had a garden albeit rather dry, hammocks for outdoor sleeping, and a few thousand mosquitoes. As it was in the lower elevations it was also hotter than Panama City but a little less humid. We used the hostel as a base when we went exploring in the mountain region of Boquete and Volcan.

Many expats from the United States settled in Boquete to escape the lowland heat, ditto for Volcan. Boquete is sort of a small town laid out in the hills alongside a highway that snakes through on its way to even higher grounds. By my standards it was hot all through town although not nearly as hot as David or Panama City. More people speak English here due to the influx of “Gringos” as well as influence from workers on the canal.

Volcan, a little higher than Boquete is more or less an area in an ancient volcano crater with a sort of cross roads village somewhat closer to the southwestern edge. A little cooler than Boquete with almost continuous breezes softly coursing across the land. I feel I could live in Volcan except for the fact it is so very isolated. The roundtrip from David to Boquete takes approximately four hours by car on a winding two lane road. The roundtrip from David to Volcan takes Approximately six hours by car on a narrow very winding two lane road. Shopping in either town is limited and expensive.

Our next destination took us to Coronado, A small town near the coast of the gulf of Panama on the Pan American highway. We found a Canadian hotel by sheer luck just south of town and a little way off the highway itself. Utilizing the hotel as base we explored Valle de Anton, another favorite location of the expats from the United States. Valle is a real town in another ancient crater that can be accessed by a narrow two lane road complete with many hairpin curves and many up and down short sharp inclines. We managed to explore Valle on “Fat Tuesday” and found ourselves following a giant caterpillar composed of scores of cars filled with tourists and revelers. Valle is warmer and more expensive than Boquete and Volcan due to its location and the high number of expats living there.

Our final destination, the Coronado Golf and Country Club, a timeshare where we finally relax and recuperate before the journey home has us tying up the last few items necessary for the long flight home was reached twenty minutes after leaving Canadian hotel. A little closer to the beach, a little further away from the Pan American highway, a little hotter and humid, a much worse road to travel in and out to the grocery store, but a quiet refuge where we can hide in air conditioned comfort and rest up.

I myself could not live in Panama because of the heat and humidity. I could live here because I find the people friendly and without prejudice. Panamanians come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. They do not discriminate against anyone for being darker or lighter in skin color and they seem to get along with everyone in their social and business relations. It may not be Utopia but it feels pretty close. That being said I must add that many of the Panamanians seem to act like children in that they seem to be a bit rude, careless, or thoughtless. They stand in your way talking while you attempt to traverse sidewalks or store aisles, they interrupt your conversation with store clerks or other business dealings, and while at the beach young adults used my towel on a beach chair and dropped his used towel in place of my clean one.

It was supposed to be dry season all the while we were in Panama but it seemed like every time we decided to explore the high country it rained by the bucketfuls making driving on narrow mountain roads rather difficult. Also on our way back to Panama city the skies opened up again depositing enough water on the roads to fill Lake Erie, driving was difficult and we missed a few turnoffs from the main highway. However once we managed to find our way into the familiar section of the city we found our way onto the Sur Corredor a divided concourse to the airport where we planned a leisurely rental car return, baggage check-in, and lunch before boarding our plane to Los Angeles.

Alas, it was not to be. While driving the concourse next to the concrete barrier several kilometers away from the airport there was a major altercation on the northbound side whereupon a car struck and tried to drive over the barrier directly in front of our southbound car knocking a section of the barrier into our driving lane. Gaye saw the front wheels of the car coming over the barrier towards us rapidly, I saw the barrier fall and slide directly in front of our car. Our left front tire hit the section of the barrier hard. I somehow managed to avoid having the car landing on the roof of our rental car as well as bringing our car under control and avoiding the traffic around us. My first thoughts had us involved in great danger of serious injury by the traffic immediately behind us and to our right, however, luck was on our side and I managed to get our now crippled car to the right side of the causeway and out of danger.

The left front tire and wheel was completely destroyed and debris striking the car had inflicted paint scratches and minor cracks in the windshield but the rest of the car was essentially  alright. I pondered changing out the damage with the spare tire but changed my mind feeling I would be killed by traffic going around the accident scene. Thankfully a taxi driver on his way to the airport stopped to render assistance. The tire was changed and we were escorted to the airport only to find we had to go back about two kilometers to a hotel to return the car.

Reporting the damage to the rental agency took a good deal of our programmed time giving us the worry we may miss our flight but after assessing the damage and calculating the additional expenses we found we only missed our lunch time and we were back on schedule.

Considering the cost of food, the expenses of hotel and/or hostel living, the necessary dental work, the price of gasoline, as well as the added expense of an accident, Panama turned out to be the most expensive country for us to visit. 

We seemed to dodge several bullets, the floods in Buenos Aires, the earthquake in Chile, and the closeness of the road accident has me thoroughly convinced that God still has something for me to do and I won’t die until I finish whatever it is I must do.

We had a contract with a time share exchange booked well in advance of the start of our trip in Atacames, a smaller city/town about twenty four kilometers south along the coast. The promise of a tropical seashore resort beckoned and we followed.

The resort was quite extensive and quite beautiful as we approached in our motorcycle powered rickshaw. The heat upon arrival in Atacames was unbearable but the rickshaw ride made us quite able to withstand the climate while we were moving to a village named Same’ about eight km south of Atacames. Palm trees, avocado trees, mango trees, and papaya trees lined the entrance road to our section of the timeshare. Adobe and Concrete buildings slowly came into view and then surrounded the roadway. White adobe buildings with red tiled roofs lined the hillsides, multilevel condominium buildings lined the shore by the beach. The palms and flowering plants around the fresh clear watered swimming pool served to add to the romantic look of the unit.

It was an eight hour bus trip from Quito to Atacames and a forty minute rickshaw ride to Same’, exhaustion set in after about five or six hours on the bus, boredom followed exhaustion, collapse came upon arrival. But for all the exhaustion and boredom we did see a great deal of Ecuadorean countryside. We rode through high desert, evergreen and deciduous forest, tropical forest and plantations including bananas and coconuts. Also avocado and mango plantations along with papaya farms and plots, and the usual farms sporting corn and vegetables of all kinds.

The bus traveled from Quito on city streets that quickly became a highway in the Andes. The highway rapidly lost one lane in each direction and became a two lane highway, one slightly wider lane in each direction. the highway itself snaked through rocky forest land over a rolling plateau for an hour  before starting to descend alongside the mountainsides. The roadway itself cut into the mountainside with many switchbacks and hairpin turns as it traversed through extremely deep ravines and over concrete bridges crossing rushing streams cascading down the steep mountainside.

About four hours into the trip the bus pulled into a rest stop restaurant for a meal and potty break. Rest stop yes, restaurant well maybe. The food was prepared over an open fire, kept warm sort of by holding in pans resembling giant woks. Almost all seemed to be very unappetizing at best.

The “Potties” consisted of urinals for the men against a back wall. To the left were six stalls of which four were marked “Damas”. Said stalls held commodes without the benefit of a toilet seat. A Gentleman employee sat close to the parking lot dispensing toilet paper to the ladies as they went in to make use of the facility. There was a set of sinks with running water and a bottle of liquid soap to wash up after using the convenience stations. The words I think to describe the unit would be functional but primitive.

Once out of the steeper parts of the mountains and onto the lower coastal plateaus the landscape became completely tropical and the temperature rose exponentially. Coconut groves were in abundance on both sides of the highway along with all the aforementioned farms and plantations. Small towns were interspersed with the major plantations; most of which consisted of the paved main street (the highway) and dirt roads leading away from main street.

  The timeshare employees were friendly and courteous but spoke very little English. They did a lot of their work by hand in maintaining the compound. The pool was cleaned and chemicals added every morning. The walls were painted prior to their needing the work. Posters adorned some of the interior walls.

Ibarra is sort of a medium sized city much like Cuenca and many cities  and towns of Ecuador in that it has an older colonial section as well as a more modern section.

Ibarra has an airport for smaller national aircraft, several bus terminals and numerous taxicabs, a weary traveler has no need of a car. The Mercado features the usual clothing, ponchos, bags, and belts as well as jewelry from local crafts people, but for leather goods the place to go is Cotacachi and the place to go for ponchos would be Otavalo. People living in Cotacachi often ride the bus to Ibarra for its “Supermaxi” an Ecuadorian version of Costco or Super Wal-mart.

Ibarra like Cotacachi has good views of the local volcanoes. Imbabura can be seen for miles in the area of Ibarra, Otavalo, and Cotacachi. The town of Cotacachi was of course named after the volcano Cotacachi. Otavalo and Cotacachi are more or less in between the Imbabura and Cotacachi volcanoes.

Otavalo is a busy medium sized city nestled in a high Andean valley that also has great views of Imbabura volcano. It is a grand mixture of old colonial style buildings and new modern buildings and homes. The newer and more modern looking housing developments are being built to standards befitting the North American wants and desires. The older colonial homes and offices are quite basic in design, most have only one bathroom and a functional kitchen in addition to the living and bedrooms.

Home and office construction buildings are of concrete and concrete blocks or red clay brick. Many homes are built with adobe brick and stucco walls. The thick walls and tile floors help keep the homes and offices cool in the heat of the day. The red tile roofs also help keep the homes cooler in the daytime and they will last for years with a modicum of care.

Otavalo is famous for its Saturday market. The Mercado takes up one full square city block of small individual stalls featuring art works, bags, belts, native design fabrics, Ecuadorian clothing, and of course thousands of ponchos. The market itself spills out over the adjoining streets and onto sidewalks, it becomes a crowded maze clogged with customers and vendors and more than one or two pickpockets when open.

The Andean climate is warm to hot in the daytime usually with breezes in the open areas. The evening, night, and morning temperatures are cooler allowing a relief from the heat of the sun and a good nights sleep. Ecuador has two seasons for the most part, a dry season that is almost completely without rain and a wet season when it may or may not rain in a rather sporadic manner. Along the coast the weather is quite warm to hot and very humid, high in the Andes the offshore winds winding through the mountains temper the air allowing more comfort although the altitude means thinner oxygen levels and sometimes difficulty in breathing.

Ecuador in itself can be a challenge to live and work in. Due to a shortage of water for the hydro electrical system the entire country will often shut down the electrical power daily for three hours at a time. Also some remote areas will turn off their city/town water at odd hours of the day or night. These shut downs always seem to come at the most inconvenient times of the day; like just after you soap up in your morning shower.  The electrical shut downs play hob with your computer when typing chapters into your blog. It also makes for a challenge to read blogs when the input seems to be dis-jointed.

We asked for information and usually were told “that way” with a little wave of the hand. Looking in the general direction of the wave we saw a sign over what looked like horse stable gates declaring “Boletos”. A boleto or ticket cost two dollars to Otavalo where we were to take another bus to Cotacachi. Having tickets in hand we found to get to the bus lanes we had to traverse a short way back and through a turnstile for another twenty cents each. Then the bus was one of several in the lanes facing us but no sign whatsoever to designate which bus or lane. Another wave of the hand pointed us in a general direction where we noticed a placard in the windshield  stating “Otavalo”.

As there were only six people going to Otavalo the bus made several circuits around the terminal and stopped at every parada (bus stop) where the conductor stood in the open door and yelled to possible passengers that this bus goes to Otavalo.

Several stops near town and several stops along the way increased our passenger load to ten or more. The bus labored up steep inclines and crawled down steep inclines through narrow valleys on a road that wound left and right in hairpin turns finally arriving at our destination of Otavalo. Then a short taxi ride brought us to Cotacachi.

Not unlike the colonial section of Cuenca the  small city/large town of Cotacachi has cobbled streets, tile work sidewalks, and walls up one side and down the other with great wooden or metal doors covering entrances to the buildings, glass sales windows or courtyards behind.

Finding our rental took several minutes as the taxi driver did not know much about Cotacachi. But at last we were firmly settled into a condo fairly close to the town center and on the edge of a main commercial street several blocks from a plaza and crafts Mercado.

Cotacachi is a musicians town and they have statues in the plaza to prove it. The town is also known for its leatherwork craftsmanship. Many of the stores on our street as well as the crafts Mercado sell all sorts of leather shoes, boots, purses, and luggage. Leather belts hang by the dozens from racks in the crafts market and by the hundreds on racks in the stores up and down both sides of the street.

The people here are friendly with many that speak English with varying amounts of fluency. The town is not wealthy but also not full of people on the poverty level, although we did encounter quite a few street beggars. We managed to walk at least a daily mile since our arrival and Gaye will be forever known as that crazy Norte Americano who was feeding all the dogs. Dogs of almost every breed seem to wander the streets; some looking well taken care of and some looking rather emaciated. The rental agent could not provide us with a clue as to whether or not the dogs were some ones property or just strays that live as wild and ate whatever they could find. I do think I counted about twenty different dogs in the food market/bus terminal area.

Cotacachi like most of South America is a Roman Catholic city and as such it has many churches. A fine looking cathedral graces the main plaza/park at one end of town. We took rest in the park on one of our jaunts around town and were delighted by the scent of flowering trees alongside the pathways. Tomorrow we plan a tour of the surrounding area.

Cotacachi is almost directly on the equator but it is not always hot here as we are high in the Andes (Approx. 2300 meters) and there is a prevailing wind from the Pacific that keeps everything cool. Mornings are usually greeted with cloudy or overcast skies. Midday may or may not get very warm to downright hot and evenings and nights get quite cool. Natives tell us the weather here is almost always this way. As the country is in a drought we have yet to see rain since leaving Cuenca.