Hard to explain the hold this country has on me -- I felt at home immediately, and I feel sad to leave again now. My Spanish is pretty rusty, but I spoke almost nonstop over the weekend I had free, and after that my tongue no longer felt like lead.
The mountains here are just as spectacular as in Bhutan, although everything else is different. Quito is at 9,000 feet, a couple thousand higher than Thimphu, and it affects most people when they arrive to visit. On a site visit, I was at over 10,200 feet -- at that height, just walking up a street I felt a bit out of breath.
I'll post pictures soon.
