Oldest Church In Ecuador With Chimborazo In The Background...

View From The Train Heading Into A Valley...

The Train Heading Back Up The Mountain...

Today was a beautiful day! It was raining some of the time, but we saw some of the best scenery I've ever seen. We started today in Riobamba, and left the hotel at 6:00. Our first stop was the oldest church in Ecuador. We stopped and took a couple photos and were lucky because the clouds hadn't rolled in yet so we were able to get a good view of the Chimborazo Volcano. After a quick stop and a couple of photos, we headed towards a small town and the train station. The train took us deep into a valley in the Andes to the Devils Nose mountain. I couldn't see a nose, but it was really beautiful to be in the lush green landscape with the clouds hanging over the tops of the mountains. We spent about an hour in the valley watching traditional dancers. Mostly we just walked around and took photos of the amazing landscape. Then we boarded the train and headed back up the mountain to the train staton. That was probably my favorite part of today.

After the train, we had about a one and a half hour drive to an Inca site. Some of the site was preserved. Mostly it was a bunch of rocks. We toured the site and then went to a local restaurant for lunch. We had a delicious lunch, then back in the car to go to Cuenca. I'm currently in Cuenca. The drive was very nice on the Pan American Highway, but then we took a detour on some back roads and saw villages and farms in the mountains. It was pretty incredible. We finally made it to Cuenca and went to our hotel to drop our luggage. Our guide, Wilson and driver Jamie, then dropped us off in the old part of town. We walked around a bit and saw some old churches and cathedrals. It started raining pretty hard, so we caught a cab and went back to the hotel.

I just got back from dinner, and finishing up the last blog post for the Great Adventure of 2017! I can't believe the Great Adventure is already over. Very early tomorrow morning we will fly back to Quito. Debbie and Adam will leave on Monday afternoon. I have a flight out tomorrow night, Sunday, at 11:30p.m. I'll make a stop in Atlanta in the morning, then be back to Madison by 11:30 Monday morning.

It's been a great trip, and seems to have flown by. I've seen so much wildlife and different landscapes and cities on this trip. It was great to get so much diversity in landscapes and cities. If you think you ever might want to come to Ecuador, you probably should. The people are so friendly, they use the US dollar so it's really easy. And it seems so safe here, even in the bigger cities like Quito and Cuenca. I highly recommend a trip to Ecuador. Maybe I will come back sometime. I would love to go to the Galapagos Islands. We didn't have time, or the money, on this trip. But I hear it is definitely worth seeing and experiencing. Thanks to all who have followed along on my travels for this Great Adventure! It's nice to hear from people from home when on the road. Until the next time...Cheers!!!