Yesterday started early as we left our tiny 3-bedroom bungalow in Pallantanga, Ecuador.

We had stopped there the night before in the rain after getting some pizza at a roadside stand.

Leaving Pallatanga, we rode through sunshine and rain in the near-freezing cold, approaching 13,000 feet altitude in the Ecuadorean Andes.  Views were spectacular.

By the time we had arrived in the town of Colta, hunger had set in, and we could see bustling commerce around the bus station.  We stopped for well over an hour, sampling the local breakfast and lunch delicacies and mingling with the friendly locals.

We were parked in spaces reserved for buses, and the local cop showed us his whistle to make sure we knew he had authority to move us along.