Is that a headband or your real hair? 6/10/11

Up at 630 and ate breakfast at the hotel. I love all the fresh juices here. We walked down to the Los Ponchos Plaza where the market is and they were just setting things up. The town is beautiful so we walked up the side of the hill to get a better view. We were finally in the small town with great street food and nice people that I was hoping for. The indigenous people are dressed in their garb. It’s one of the few places where I didn’t think they were dressed in traditional clothing because they had to (unlike China). After checking out the church with the large hummingbird head on the front, we went back to the market and bought some shit. The people selling were so nice. I told Andy not to go all China on their ass- meaning don’t shake them down so much that they want to chop your head off like in China. It was easy bargaining here. They drop their price from $28 to $22 without me saying anything. Andy proposed $11 and she made this sounds like he just punched her in the gut. Then we upped it to $17 and everyone was happy. Andy bought an Alpaca sweater and a super soft blanket. I bought some necklaces and belts. We got our shopping fix in and headed for the bus station to head back to Quito.

Three rough hours later and we arrived in Quito and jumped on another bus that was passing Mindo. Good thing we got on at the station because as soon as we stop outside the station there was a swarm of people getting on the bus who had to stand for hours over the windy roads. I enjoyed the scenic ride over the mountains, and Andy played Angry Birds making himself sick by not looking out the window.

We arrived at Mindo at 4 and met up with Molly Brown- TPB sis. Their Casa Divina Lodge is amazing! Her husband Efrain built the whole place himself; it’s beautifully built and in an amazing location. The room we are staying in overlooks the trees and has a hammock. I could get used to this way of travelling! We had some delicious Chardonnay (finally!) and relaxed while we talked to Molly. Efrain later showed up and we had a wonderful dinner Molly prepared of trout and potato pancakes. Andy was starting to get sick (cold) so Molly made him a hot rum drink that was to make him sweat out the cold. I had a rum/star fruit drink that was delicious. We sat and talked for a while then the daughters came home. They had so much energy and are adorable. Divina, the oldest, came out of the bathroom and asked Andy, “is that a headband or your real hair?” Hahaha! Holy fucking shit that was funny! By this time the top of Andy’s hair was really really long, think Flock of Seagulls. Gotta love the honesty of kids. After that punch in the ego we headed off to bed so the sick one could get some sleep. Another busy day tomorrow!