Rygsækrejsen 2015-2016: Pululahua horse back riding

Woke up to a beautiful morning having slept really, really well last night. Like in fantastic sleep. Feeling a bit sore in the body in unusual places. Most likely from have spent some hours on a horse yesterday. Astrid wasn't going to pick us up until 10 AM so we had plenty of time to relax, have breakfast and enjoy the sunshine.

We were picked up, taken back to the ranch and realised that it was only the four of us who were doing the horse back riding today. Mikkel had done so well yesterday that he was "promoted" to experienced rider. Unfortunately the horse he had been on yesterday were broken this morning, so he was also upgraded to a new horse - Gimle.

Malene were also given a new horse - one that was better going downhill since the ride today was going through steeper terrain with more ups and downs than yesterday. And then we were off on another full day in the saddles going the opposite direction of yesterday - this time around what is left of the magma that hardened inside the crater when the volcano erupted many centuries ago. The scenery was just as impressive as yesterday and apart from the uphill and downhill sections being a bit longer and steeper it was another wonderful day with the horses and the nature surrounding us.

We had such a good time at the Green horse ranch, Astrid was excellent at taking us around Pululahua and the horses were great. We left at around 4 PM, hoping that we could make it to the main road and catch the bus heading to Mindo. It took around 30 minutes to get out of the national park and then our driver did his best to go fast towards Quito and the bus station while trying to spot if any of the oncoming buses were heading for Mindo. They weren't.

Instead we stopped at the Mitad del Mundo landmark, one of the oddest places to visit. A giant stone landmark indicates the "middle of the Earth", which in fact has nothing to do with "middle" except it being relatively close to a random point on the Equator line. We did a couple of photos there, headed back to the van and just as we got there our driver shouted that the bus for Mindo was approaching on the other side of the road.

A few hugs and goodbyes and then we ran for the bus, just making it in time. And, success, we were heading towards Mindo. Sometimes it is OK to be a bit lucky. The bus drive was about an hour, the usual speeding local bus on narrow twisty roads. We arrived in Mindo, Mikkel spotted the sign for the hostel and we headed down a gravel road, the rain starting a bit and the daylight disappearing. We made it to Casa de Piedra, and it started to pour down. Second time lucky in the same day.

We had our room on the second floor of a big but nice building, the nice lady at our hostel cooking dinner for us. We didn't really bother to go anywhere after a long day. And the rain now pouring down even more. The next four days are going to include a lot of relaxing, catching up on the blog and maybe - just maybe, a visit to the local chocolate factory. Maybe.

And, no, we didn't really pay attention to the fact that this is the first day of the Christmas month. Too much sunshine and outdoor activities to think about that.