NGT Travels - Day Four - Part Two

One of my most favorite pass times is people watching and you can do that in Otavalo with abandon. The woman dress so much prettier there than they do in here in Cuenca - they look feminine for a start. Hope you are not too bored yet - you still have a few more photos I just have to show you.

Some of my most favorite shots:

NGT Travels - Day Four - Part One

I have tried to convey just the colours of the market in this video. I'm sorry I can't really convey the sounds and you will be glad in some cases that I can't convey the smells! In the next video we'll go people watching - interesting in itself.
We didn't really buy that much stuff even though it is all very cheap - but what we did buy, we had fun bargaining for. Chad is an excellent dealer - he knows when to walk away and invariably he will have them running after him to complete the sale. It is very hard to resist the beggars but as our man Chad pointed out - they could just as easy be selling some little thing if they really wanted to. They put on the saddest face, almost crying in some cases. It was best just not to look at them at all. The streets are blocked off on Saturday so there is just people everywhere - a lot of gringos of course cause this market is actually very famous. If ever you come to visit us - this place will be on the itinerary - so start saving now!

The mountain from the hotel rooftop

NGT Travels - Day Three

The trip up to Otavalo was very interesting - and the scenery amazing! The road does not go up as high as the trip from Cuenca to Guayaquil but it is still stunning. On the way we stopped at a small town and stumbled on a street parade - lots of sounds and lots of colours - very cool.

The next couple of videos will show the highlight of our trip and why we fell in love with Otavalo.
"Ya awl come back now" (I think we may have been spending too much time with the Willis' - their southern accent is affecting even my blogs)

We do some work occasionally

All these travel videos may make you think we don't do any work so I thought I would post this while I am getting my next one ready.
The dear old lady we went to study with is 91 years old and we found her in the garden when we first got there. She had to climb the fence to get back into the house - she was very unsteady on her feet but made it ok. There is one small couch in her little house but we pulled up wooden stool each so we could talk close into her ears. She is very hard of hearing and can't see too well either so we had to read the parragraphs loudly to her (actually Mercedes does not read too well either, she is 77 by the way, so she got me to do it - reading spanish is not a strongpoint of mine either so it was a bit of a laugh). Cute little lady - she kept touching my face and hair - and was very interested in the fact I have an 88 year old mother - wanted to know why she wasn't with us here in Ecuador. What do you think Mum - want to come over?

Here I am this morning with Nancy (Joanna's Mum) - she is auxiliary pioneering this month - isn't she amazing? I gave her the dinero from the Bethlehem Congo today and she was so thankful so I just thought I would pass that on to you.Be assured your kindness is appreciated very much by them

NGT Travels - Day Two Part Two

My pride and joy - hummingbird in flight

I can now say I have been in both hemispheres at once - how cool is that? We had an interesting time with the mandatory experiments e.g. water running clockwise or anticlockwise - depending on which side of the line we were on; balancing an egg on a nailhead and trying to walk the line with eyes closed. Interestingly the guide said that you are pulled to the side you are from - Mark went towards NZ and I fell the otherway -ooops!
The reason the monument is in the wrong place is - when the French built it, they didn't have GPS so they were out by 200mtrs. The indigenous Indians though knew exactly where it was long before GPS came into existance, because the sun is directly above the earth twice a year and for 2 minutes if you stand on the equator line, you will not have a shadow!

NGT Travels - Day Two-Part One

Aren't I good at making people do dumb things!

Needgreater Timeout Travels - Our little sightseeing trip through Quito. Hope you enjoy! I have included a few photos for the benefit of those that can't watch the video. The kids are children from a school, visiting the lookout point at the same time as us - they looked so adorable especially when they all waved to us - so cute! The cable car here sure puts the Rotorua one to shame - we went up so high (4,100 meters, the sign said) and it was freezing up there. Awesome view though - the photos just don't do it justice.

NGT Travels - Day One

Hi everyone - did you miss us?
We had a wonderful few days away, checking out some more of this beautiful country. This video is the first of quite a few - we saw some very interesting sights, especially in Otavalo, which we all loved, so I hope you enjoy them as I get the hundreds of photos I took sorted out. Doug started calling me a Camera Assassin - which is probably a good description of me. For every 20 photos I took though, I probably only got 2 good shots - however, it is worth it for the memories. On the first day - we didn't really do alot - just getting there was enough of an adventure for one day!

By the way - if you can't read the sign - it says "Free Beer for all Foreigners between 6 & 6.20pm"