Day 9 - Heading South, On to Riobamba

Today we began our the extension leg of our tour... We traveled on to Riobamba, passing rolling hills, volcanoes, and skirting the Amazon Rainforest to the east as we traveled through the Andes Mountains. We stopped a couple times along the way to stretch our legs and get ice cream in Salcedo (which is apparently famous for its elaborate and unique ice creams).

When we arrived in Riobamba, we ate lunch at our favorite hotel of our trip, La Casa Real. We spent the afternoon taking a city tour of Riobamba, and wandering the streets, shops, and cafes.

when we finished with our city tour, we explored the city more on foot, then we split into two groups. One group returned to the hotel with Santiago and Mrs. Wages, and the other group traveled with Mr. Cox and me to a shopping mall. Those who returned to the hotel relaxed and rested (except for Maggie, our dedicated runner who went for a run with Mrs. Wages along the outskirts of Riobamba and to Guano.) Our other group shopped at the shopping mall...

After another great meal at Casa Real, we had free time and went to bed. Reflecting back, one of our favorite things about staying in Riobamba was that we saw no other tourists. Everywhere we went we interacted only with locals, which provided ample opportunities to interact and practice Spanish.