Tarantino time...

I am going to Tarantino this and start from now and go backwards.

Today:

Currently I am in an internet cafe in Quito, Ecuador. I arrived this morning to headlines of a big explosion and evacuations of a volcano. Once I dug deeper I found out it is the volcano which sits right outside of Banos. Now, who can guess where I was planning on going Wednesday? If you guessed Banos you would be right! I have been getting many conflicting reports... the roads are closed, people are going there in mass to get a look at the volcano, no problem getting there, do not go, etc. Honestly no one really knows what is going on. Right now I am just thinking of going to the bus station on Wednesday and if buses are going to Banos, I will go to Banos, and if not, I will go somewhere else. Tomorrow I am going to Cotopaxi, which is not having any massive eruptions.

Interesting single serving friends on the airplane from La Paz to Lima this morning-- a Japanese woman and Italian man couple who are moving from La Paz to Lima. Now there is a combination you do not see everyday!

Yesterday:

The road leading through the mountains to the jungle town of Coroico in Bolivia is known as the "World's Most Dangerous Road" due to the amount of deaths that occur, an average of one per day. It is a gravel/stone one lane road which on one side has cliffs with sheer drops and the other side a wall of stone. Down the entire road there are many blind turns where a driver cannot see if another vehicle is coming in the other direction. Someone along the way got the bright idea to add mountain bikers to this malay, and I figured I would give it a go. It was a ride of incredible scenary and a spectacular descent of more than 11,800 feet, from mountain ranges down to the steaming Amazonian Jungle. Then we got to ride back up in a bus, which was an experience all on its own! It was fantastic. Alana, who came back to La Paz from Sucre with me as well, went with me. She was admittedly the speed demon of the two of us, as I stayed more towards the middle of the pack and her towards the front. Oh, and since we were going downhill we had to stay as close to the cliffside as possible.

Saturday:

After leaving our group in Sucre early in the morning it was on to La Paz for Alana, Mike, and myself. As luck would have it, this past weekend was La Paz day, a celebration and huge festival. We just keep happening upon these festivals which is really fun. This one consisted of the whole area around Plaza San Fransisco being surrounded in maroon, green, and yellow. At the plaza was a free concert with dancing, and the main street was closed off for revelers and vendors, as well as the parade. The parade was bizarre, mainly consisting of what seemingly was a military marching band. Alana and I walked around the parade loop and at one point the parade collided with traffic. When this happened we decided to jump in! So we were actually walking along with the band down the parade route. Imagine a couple of gringos in the middle of a Bolivian parade! Apparently the fireworks went on until 3 AM, but I was so tired I slept right through them. Oh, and for those who are wondering (i.e. Jade) we did have Dumbos ice cream at approximately 4 PM local La Paz time. I went just for the double this time.