Before leaving Papallacta this morning we treated ourselves to an hour in the baths, hot pools. While still part of the Termes De Papallacta, this was more basic. Just a series of nicely finished hot pools. It was cold (45°F) and drizzling, so one did not spend much time out of the warm water.

From Papallacta the road climbed through more cloud forest and eventually mist to 13,000 ft before beginning the descent to the Quito area. At about 11,000 ft we emerged from the mist into a bright sunny cloudless day. Not long after that the temperature was in the 70°F, there was a strong wind blowing and dust everywhere. It was just amazing to see how quickly we went from cold humid cloud forests to dry dusty Quito.

Nina's navigation was spot on and with no adventures at all we were back in that same parking lot on Diego De Almagro.

We spent the afternoon chasing internet, Nina's parcel from Australia - its been in customs a week now - and organizing some hostel accommodation for the night before I fly back to Phoenix.