From Mancora, Peru, to Cuenca, Ecuador--what a ride!

Well, it´s been roughly one week and several hundred miles since our last update, so I suppose it´s time to catch up! Kurtis and I have begun to lose our sense of time and, to be honest, I´m really not even sure what day it is...it´s quite a strange, freeing feeling, and quite nice actually. But regardless of our inability to keep tack of the days, they are going by SO fast. We are about 1/3 of the way through the trip already! I can´t believe it. The last week has been truly incredible. We left Chiclyao on a bus (which I´m pretty sure was made for small children) for the beautiful beaches of Mancora--a destination which, thankfully, turned out to be well worth the long, bumpy ride. This small vacation spot was just what the doctor ordered: relatively quiet, warm water, lots of sun, and perfect waves for a begginner surfer such as myself. We loved every minute of it! So much in fact, we stayed there for 5 nights and 6 days--the longest we´ve stayed in one spot so far. Coincidently, our last day there, we met some friendly travelers from Germany at our hostel who were not only headed in the same direction, but the same exact city! What a fun bunch, those Germans. We have been thankful for their company and companionship, especially on the 9 hour bus ride accross the border, up steep, twisty, SANDY roads that no bus should ever attempt to drive up--all the way to the spectaclar mountain city (8,500 ft above sea level, that´s almost as high as Mt. Baker, folks!) of Cuenca, Ecuador. I´m pretty sure we were all thanking God for sparing our lives as we pulled up to the bus terminal. So here we all are in this beautiful old (yet surprisingly modern) city in the clouds! We are staying at a quaint hostel in the historic part of down right near the river with cobble stone streets, incredible architecture, and lovely, LOVELY people. Cuenca is, hands down, our favorite South American city yet. We have some beautiful photos to share, but unfortunately, this old computer is not equipped to read our memory card. Hopefully we can post a few pics sometime soon so you can see for yourself just how beautiful this place truly is. As much as we´d love to spend more time here, we´ve got to be moving on. We only have TWO weeks in Ecuador....and there is much to do and see. Today we will get on another bus (pray for us) and continue heading north to the town of Latucunga for some incredible hiking around a volcanic rim. This town will be even further up in elevation, inhabited mostly by indigenous cultures...and we were JUST getting good at our spanish! Ah well, good thing we´re both fluent in hand gestures at this point, and thrilled for the opportunity to encounter these beautiful, ancient, mountain cultures. Well, that´s all for now folks. Stay tuned in, hopefully we´ll have some photos to share soon! Much love, Rose and Kurt