Merry Christmas from the center of the earth

I get the feeling that the Suzuki dealer took advantage of my situation and the fact that I don’t speak Spanish very well.  They replaced the part that I needed along with a few that I didn’t need without my permission or consent.  But to be fair, I needed the bike done quickly and they had no way of contacting me to get my approval for the replacement of the additional parts.  And, even with the extra charges the repair costs were low considering the work that was done.  However, the motor seems a bit noisier than it was before the repairs were done which has me a bit worried.  At any rate, I’m back on the road for now.

I left Quito heading north instead of south because I had completely missed the equator when I rode thru the first time.  So, I went back up to get the obligatory pictures of me and my bike at the center of the earth.  Then I turned around and headed south again.  I ended up riding later than I intended as it rains almost every afternoon.  And, yesterday was no exception.  So, I got soaked, once again.  And at one point I was on a dirt road that had small rivers running back and forth across it.  After my experience getting stuck and spending the night in a banana field in Columbia, I was a little concerned.  But, I made it thru alright this time.

And now I’m spending Christmas in the small adventure-tourist town of Banos Ecuador just relaxing and taking in some of the sights. They have a plethora of exciting things to do here like: jungle tours, volcano tours, mountain biking, hiking, ATV and motorcycle rentals, bungee jumping, mountain climbing, zip lines, white water rafting, and who know what else.  But, "I" came here to relax :)

Merry Christmas everyone.