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Un inter-hemispherical beso

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Josue is explaining what the different lines along the eight-point star indicate, and how the indigenous people (pre-Incan!) used the mountains and the sun to mark time and seasons, and were able to identify the equator line. This is the only place in the world along the equator that has mountains to define a constant horizon.

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Straddling the hemispheres

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Our guides stopped here to buy the group bizcochos (biscuits) as a snack for the ride into the highlands. Yum!

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Woven goods at the Otavalo market

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This woman sells carved gourds.

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school's out!

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Don't you just love when you can buy an oven and a motorbike at the same time? I mean, how else to get the oven home...?!

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(I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I think this woman is being followed.)

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Otavalo food market

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Women belonging to a local indigenous group wear these embroidered white linen blouses.

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Another view of the Otavalo market

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Our trusty van was driven like a pro by Arturo.

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Lunch time!

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The angel is holding out a guinea pig. I wonder what's for lunch?

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Members of the tour group getting to know each other before lunch

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Delicious soup! Almost every meal started with a delicious soup. This is my kind of country :>

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Guinea pig! (Tastes like chicken.)

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Blackberry (mora) ice cream with cake for dessert

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The road was closed so Arturo had to find an alternate route

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Farming on a mountainside is tough work.

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Hiking to Peguche Falls. One of the best things about this tour was that the guide always carried trash bags; not only did we pack out anything we packed in, but we picked up any trash seen along the way (except toilet paper, of course!)

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Bill & Giselle at Peguche Falls

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Dogs have a pretty good life in Ecuador

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Lupins

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Our little group of ten hiking through the countryside

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Oink Oink!

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This is Angel's Trumpets, reputedly hallucinogenic and toxic...

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...apparently it works :>

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This is the weaver, Jose Cotacachi. We visited his workshop, and saw a demonstration of how the various natural dyes are created from the blood of an insect mixed with things like baking soda and water.

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Our room at the Hacienda Pinsaqui. After dinner, we came back to the room to find hot water bottles, a fire in the fireplace, and lit candles in the wall sconces.

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The room key. Luckily, Bill has big pockets.

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Simon Bolivar frequented this historic hacienda on his travels, although he likely did not stay in the same room we were in.

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The hacienda grounds and gardens were beautiful, including this Calla lily.

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I wonder who has to carry around the front door key...