We were excited this morning to see that the day was going to be clear for our last transit across the Andes down into Quito. Last time we travelled this road it was misty and we saw very little except the tail lights of the vehicles ahead.

Before commencing the steep descent into the Quito valley the road climbed to a high point of 4200m through verdant tropical grass lands. The country side dries a little after the summit and the Quito area while still green does not feel entirely tropical.

Our new GPS map got us into the same parking lot as on our previous visit with no trouble; what a difference it makes knowing where you want to go. We wasted no time finding and settling into a hostel - we found last time that it was better, to simply park the vehicle in the parking lot and live in a hostel.

A German couple traveling in a US made pickup and camper were also in the parking lot.