Quickly looking at my home town of Charlotte, NC, this morning, you can see a few different colored lines.  The dark lines seem to be the bike paths or greenways in the area and the dotted lines are what I think to be bike friendly roads. Anyone who has ever tried to bike across San Francisco knows the value of a good bike map in helping to avoid 200-foot hills and city streets that behave more like freeways. Google Maps users have created their own bike maps for cities like New York and Minneapolis, but Google itself hadn’t taken that step until now. Google obtained much of its data from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in putting together the maps, and will have detailed information on bike routes in 150 U.S. cities as of Tuesday night’s launch, said Shannon Guymon, Google Maps product manager. Bikers will be able to find bike-only paths, bike lanes on city streets, and bike-friendly streets when searching for directions using the tool. Google will also include an estimated travel time alongside the results that factor in hills and fatigue. Source : CNet.com Learn more at http://maps.google.com/biking and Google Maps “Bike There.”

Catch More Light, Faster, Faster Okay, so that's easy enough: As an axiom, larger photodiodes result in more light sensitivity. (So with the 1D Mark IV, Canon kept the same photodiode size, but the shrunk the rest of the pixel to fit more of them on the same-size chip as its predecessor). There's more to an image sensor than simply photosites, though, which is why I called up Dr. Peter B. Catrysse from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. The "ideal pixel," he says, is flat—just an area that collects light—nearly bare silicon. But even at a basic level, a photodiode sits below layers of other stuff: a micro lens (which directs light onto the photodiode), a color filter (necessary, 'cause image sensors are in fact color blind) and then a layer of gunk, like wiring. So one way manufacturers are improving sensors is by trying to make all of that as thin as possible—we're talking hundreds of nanometers—so more light gets through. One major way that's happening, he says, is with back-illuminated sensors, which move the wiring to the back-side of the silicon substrate, as illustrated in this diagram by Sony. It's currently still more expensive to make sensors this way, but since more light's getting through, you can use smaller pixels (and have more of them). In your basic image sensor construction, there's an array of microlenses sitting above the photosites to direct light into them. Previously, you had gaps between the microlenses, which meant you had light falling through that wasn't being directed onto the actually light-sensitive parts of the sensor. Canon and Nikon have created gapless microlenses, so more of the light falling onto the sensor is directed into the diode, and not wasted. If you must persist with the bucket metaphor, think of it as putting a larger funnel over the bucket, one that can grab more because it has a wider mouth. Here's a shot of gapless microlens architecture: A chief reason to gather as much light as possible is to bring up your signal-to-noise ratio, which is the province of true digital imaging nerds. Anyways, there are several different sources and kinds of noise. Worth knowing is "photon shot" or just "shot" noise, which occurs because the stream of photons hitting the image sensor aren't perfectly consistent in their timing; there's "read" noise, which is inherent to image sensors; and "dark current" noise, which is basically stray electrons striking the sensor that aren't generated by visible light—they're often caused by heat. Taken with a Nikon D3s at ISO 102,400 Back in the day, when people shot photographs on this stuff called film, they actually bought it according to its light sensitivity, expressed as an ISO speed. (A standard set by the International Organization for Standardization, confusingly aka ISO. The film speed standard is ISO 5800:1987.) With digital cameras, you also can tell your camera how sensitive to light it should be using ISO, which is supposed to be equivalent to the film standard. The thing is, whether you're shooting at ISO 100 or ISO 1600, the same number of photons hit your sensor—you're just boosting the signal from the sensor, and along with it, all the noise that was picked up on the way. If you've got more signal to work with—like in a camera whose sensor has some fat photon-collecting pixels, you get a higher signal-to-noise ratio when you crank it up, which is one reason a photo taken D3 at ISO 6400 looks way better than one from a teeny point-and-shoot, and why a 1D Mark IV or D3s can even think about shooting at an ISO of over 100,000, like the photo above. (Another reason is that a 1D Mark IV-level camera possesses vastly superior image processing, with faster processors that can crunch complex algorithms to help reduce noise.) Sensor Shake and Bake There are two kinds of image sensors that most digital cameras use today: CCD (charged-couple device) sensors and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) sensors, which are actually a kind of active-pixel sensor, but the way they're made have become a shorthand name. "Fundamentally, at least physics-wise, they work exactly the same," says Dr. Catrysse, so one's not intrinsically more awesome than the other. CCD sensors are the more mature imaging tech, so for a long time, they tended to be better, but now CMOS sensors are taking over, having almost completely crowded them out of cellphones and high-end DSLRs (Leica's M9 is an exception)—and Dr. Catrysse suspects the last place for CCD sensors is going to be in niche scientific applications. A "CMOS sensor" is one that's made using the CMOS process, the way you make all kinds of integrated circuits—you know, stuff like CPUs, GPUs and RAM—so they're actually cheaper to make than CCD sensors. (The cheap-to-make aspect is why they've been the sensor of choice in cameraphones, and conversely, DSLRs with huge chips.) And, unlike a CCD sensor, which has to move all of the electrons off of the chip to run them through an analog-to-digital converter, with a CMOS sensor, all of that happens on the same integrated chip. So they're faster, and they use less power. Something to think about as well: Because they're made pretty much the same way as any other semiconductor, CMOS sensors progress along with advances in semiconductor manufacturing. Smaller transistors allow for more circuits in a pixel and the potential to remove more noise at the source, says Dr. Catrysse, bringing us closer to fundamental physical limits, like photon noise. And then we're talking about controlling light at the nanoscale. The Point We've reached, in many ways, a point of megapixel fatigue: They're not as valuable, or even as buzzy as they used to be. Not many of us print billboard-sized images. But the technology continues to progress—more refined sensors, smarter image processors, sharper glass—and the camera industry needs something to sell us every year. But that's not entirely a bad thing. Our friend and badass war photographer Teru Kuwayama says that while "increasing megapixel counts are mostly just a pain in the ass, unless you happen to be in the hard drive or memory card business, skyrocketing ISOs on the other hand, are a quantum leap, opening up a time-space dimension that didn't exist for previous generations of photographers. I'd happily trade half the megapixels for twice the light sensitivity." Better images, not just bigger images. That's the promise of this massive shift. The clouds to this silver lining are that by next year, ISO speeds will likely be the headline, easy-to-digest spec for consumers. And like any other spec, just because the ISO ratings go higher doesn't mean low-light performance will be better. Remember, "more" isn't more better. Still something you wanna know? Send questions about ISO, isometric exercise or isolation here with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

While people, of course, do care about price, they care even more about how products give meaning to their lives. Even when they are pressed financially, they do not want to feel poor. So the challenge for companies is to cut costs without cutting meaning.

One of the most successful products to do this was the Panda, a three-door hatchback city car that Fiat created in response to the oil shocks of the 1970s and the economic downturn that followed. The Panda was conceived as a "no frills, big thrills" rugged car. Its backseat was a cloth rectangle stretched between two tubes that could be folded to hold a baby or fragile parcels, unfolded flat to make a bed-sized mattress, or removed, rolled up, and stored in a slot carved out of the floor behind the front seats to create a cargo bay.

The Panda's design not only allowed it to be assembled rapidly and inexpensively but also gave it a distinctive personality: According to Fiat's market analyses, only 38% of customers considered price a significant reason for buying a Panda. Most wanted a rugged, all-terrain, lighthearted car; being cheap was just an essential part of its "no frills, big thrills" concept.

Its meaning and identity allowed the Panda to remain popular long after the economy recovered. While competing cars lasted an average of 8.5 years, the Panda endured for 23. During that time, Fiat made only minor changes to the model and sold 4.5 million worldwide, with only minor changes. It was one of the most profitable cars ever produced.

Some other companies are masters at creating products that are good-enough value price-wise, but don't daily remind their owners that they couldn't afford to buy more expensive alternatives. For example, people love to buy IKEA furniture because of its modern, clever design, and Swatch watches because they can be used as fashion accessories. They use Skype not only because it provides a a free alternative to traditional phone calls but also because its multimedia tools, which include video calls, chats, and file sharing, allow them to stay intimately connected with friends in faraway places.

In these hard times, remember that people still love meaningful things. Do not just design to cost. Design to mean.

Roberto Verganti is the author of Design-Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating what Things Mean. Professor of the management of innovation at Politecnico di Milano and a member of the board of the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, he has served as an executive advisor, coach, and educator at a variety of firms, including Ferrari, Ducati, Whirlpool, Xerox, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Barilla, Nestlè, STMicroelectronics, and Intuit.

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Funding incentives range from $10,000 to $45,000 and each vehicle purchaser, regardless of the size of their fleet, is limited to a maximum of 100 vouchers. The program, which cuts about half the cost of purchasing road-ready hybrid trucks and buses, is expected to put up to 800 vehicles on the road on a first-come, first-served basis. ARB created the financial incentive program from AB 118 funding to help Californians purchase cleaner, but more costly hybrid vehicles.

Hybrid vehicle technology can reduce truck and bus emissions by 20 to 50 percent, including gases that contribute to global warming. Hybrid vehicles also reduce smog-forming emissions while saving vehicle owners money in reduced fuel costs.

ARB has partnered with CALSTART to administer the program. Eligibility is based on the purchase of selected hybrid vehicles and fleet owners must agree to register and operate the vehicle in California for three years. Dealers, manufactures and fleet owners can learn more about the program at californiahvip.org.

The program will also help achieve the goals of the state’s Climate Change Scoping Plan that requires California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020 with clean alternative fuels. Transportation accounts for 40% of the total emissions of climate changing gases.

Smog has been known to exacerbate a variety of cardiovascular and respiratory conditions such as heart disease and asthma, and diesel particulate matter was listed as toxic in 1998. Diesel particulate matter contains a variety of harmful gases and over 40 other known cancer-causing substances, linking it to premature death, cancer and other health problems.

Because you are technically creating a feed where none existed before, you can use Google Reader to give you what you need to follow feedless pages using Bloglines, NewsGator or any other feed reader of your choice. The customized RSS is that clean. Google Reader isn’t the first tool to monitor web site updates — ChangeDetection.com got their first, but it obviously doesn’t have the brand recognition. Responding to previous efforts, web sites have started to alter their code so that people still can’t subscribe. Google also allows these sites to opt out of this new system. It will be interesting to see which web properties choose this option and why.

I decided to take a Trip on Tuesday Jan 5th. On Sat, the 9th I left for Ecuador.

After some flight delays, I got into Quito at about 11 pm Sat. Night. I was pretty beat, and though my hotel was located near a noisy disco, I fell right asleep. 8am found me at the hotel lobby, meeting my group. 2 guides, and 6 paddlers. 3 guys, 3 girls. Ages 30-46. Everyone married, but not traveling with their spouses (except for our Guides, the Fantastic and Super Phil and Mary DeReimer of AdventureKayaking.com. Super nice, friendly crew.

Sunday was a 1/2 travel day, we drove over a nearly14,000 foot pass to the Town of Borja, where we have a very nice lodge. We outfitted boats, and went for a short class III paddle on the Quijos , followed by dinner. Monday was awesome. We woke up, had yummy breakfast, and went for a long paddle. Fun, class IV paddling, very continuos, but nothing super hard. About 5.5 hours on the river. We paddled on the Cosanga, to the confluence with the Quijos, and then paddled the Quijos. Saw an Andean Cock-in-the-Rock and many, many other birds. VERY, VERY, VERY cool. Early on Day 3 we left Borja and went to Tena, about an hours drive away. We stopped on the way to do a really pretty river, though the water was a bit low. This was the Rio Misahualli. It was fun, and I think would be super classic with more water. After paddling, we headed to Tena, which seems to be a bit of a rough place. Not dangerous, just very impoverished, gritty and run down. Our hotel is nice, and the area is gorgeous, but not much else interesting about Tena. If you weren´t paddling, I can´t imagine wanting to spend much time here. There is an incredible steak restaurant. The steak place has several pet sloths, which was cool. And the rivers nearby are fantastic. Simply incredible. So good. Day 4- We seem to be in a bit of a dry spell, so many of the rivers are a little low. Today, we did two laps on the upper stretch of a river, the Piatua, and it was awesome. Not very high volume water, but steep, fun and fast. the river channelized nicely, meaning the low water wasn´t an issue. I bet the run is stomping hard with high flows. The first time through, we took our time, looking at a few spots, talking about the moves, etc. Second time through, we just blasted. First lap took 2.5 hrs, second was 50 minutes. SOOO much fun. The group (6 paddlers, 2 guides) has melded really well, I feel like I´ve been boating with them for years. Every one looks out for each other, and all seem to be strong paddlers of similar skill. I don´t think anyone is bored with the paddling, and no one seems in over their head. Such a cool, perfect trip. If we had a little more water it would be just a bit better, but it´s still awesome. Another dinner at the steakhouse. So good. all 8 people had huge, delicious steaks, some drinks, etc, and the tab for the table was well under $100. Maybe some of the best steak I´ve ever had.

It´s hot as heck in Tena. I wish I´d brought some more clean shirts. I might have to send a few out for laundry, if I´m not paddling, and not in A/C, I´ve just got sweat pouring down my body. Running out of non-stinky shirts. Tough to stay hydrated too, but I´m doing it, pretty much always drinking something. The sun is brutal, we´re almost on the Equator, so I´ve been using the sunscreen 2-4 times a day. So far, no red. Day 5

We paddled the Lower Jondachi today. Easier than some of the other stuff we did, but probably the prettiest run we did. Some really fun rapids too. Steep canyon walls, wild orchids, and the several Blue Morpho butterflies, huge blue butterflies the size of a large saucer. The put in was interesting. My truck arrived last, and there was a group of German boaters who had arrived even before our first truck. The put in was crowded with locals, who appeared eager to earn a few dollars carrying boats to the put in. I felt a bit weird having tiny Ecuadorean women carry my boat for me, normally I’m offering to carry for others! But not long into the steep, muddy, hot, humid hike, I wasn’t going to complain.

Day 6+7 Day 6 and 7 we were back on the Quijos, running a longer section than we’d run on Day 1, that included a few bigger, more technical rapids. Our group had truly melded by then, and it really just felt like paddling with my freinds. Jokes flew, people watched out for each other, and it was grand. Really, truly awesome. On Day 7, Sat, we headed back over the pass to Quito. We had a big steak dinner that night to say goodbyes, and all too soon, 1/2 our group was heading home. Phil and Mary would be picking up a new group in the morning. Ann and Merida had invited me to join them Mtn Biking on Cotopaxi, so it wasn’t quite time for our goodbyes.

Day 8

Another early start to the day, but this time, no paddling gear. I was joining Anne and Merida to bike Cotopaxi. Anne described it in an email as follows: ap made it home in one piece after geoff, merida and i nearly perished from hypothermia at 15,000 feet and all developed an unusual case of sudden-onset black lung on our mountain biking adventure. we took a tour that involved getting taken up cotopaxi in a 4WD vehicle and dropped off to coast on “mountain bikes” downhill. at the top, the wind was blowing at about 40-50mph (you do the metric conversion) and the temp was freezing. and did i mention the sleet? we were all laughing pretty hard about it and geoff had the quote of the day when he approached merida and me and said, “i hate you both!” it warmed up as we descended and that is when the dust cloud hit! we coughed our way back to quito. overall, a comical adventure. i am also certain that we did not have the ace guide of the biking dutchman roster!

i had such a great time hanging out on and off the water with y’all. if you are ever in boise, you are always welcome to stay at our place! yours, as always, in the third person, ap

I’ll admit that I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more than this makes it sound. Though it is very accurate, there was long stretch in the middle of biking the high grasslands on the volcano that I enjoyed a lot. Really pretty. That night, Merida and Anne were both feeling a bit under the weather, so I grabbed some dinner and was in bed early again. Day 9 I rose early, and headed to Old Town Quito. I visited some churches, which were amazing, and stumbled upon some sort of government ceremony or rally, which was interesting. I joined in some “Viva Ecuador!” chants, but couldn’t sing along with the national anthem. I got my haircut, and I must say, it was the finest $1 haircut I’ve ever had! Lunch was $2 at a little local place, and I enjoyed my day, although I’ll admit that after a week of traveling with new friends, it felt a little lonely. In late afternoon I was pretty well finished with spanish churches and colonial architechture, so I headed back to the Mariscal and walked the lenght of the main drags there, did some internetting, and picked up my laundry. Fresh shirts felt awesome at this point.

Day 10 Up early, early, and on the bus to Mindo. Spent some time chatting with an older English couple, who had been all over. Quite the goal to strive for. Mindo is muy tranquillo, a sleepy town in the cloud forest known for it’s amazing biodiversity. I took a long walk, found a place to stay for $10 a night, and sat on the porch. In minutes I’d seen 4-5 butterfly species, and 5-6 hummingbirds. And dozens of other birds. Amazing. I took an even longer walk after settling in, and got caught in a massive rainstorm, but it was so warm I didn’t care. I stopped at a cool butterfly farm, and enjoyed getting photos. A nice, relaxed day, and I could see spending more time in Mindo. Day 11 My last day, and I’d wrestled with staying in Mindo or going to Otovallo, known for it’s markets. I decided to shop, and it was a series of long bus rides that got mt Otovallo by 11 am. I wandered the market town, bought some gifts, and headed back to Quito for early evening. I treated myself to a nice dinner, and it was off to bed.

Day 12 I flew home. Excited to see Kim, but sad to leave Ecuador. There is something about Latin America that just sits right with me. Something about the people, or the pace, or the food, but I just love it. (spider bites and injuries excepted).

I really want to see Asia and Africa, but I’ll admit that when my mind wanders to travel, it’s hard to keep it off Central and South America.

I decided to take a Trip on Tuesday Jan 5th.  On Sat, the 9th I left for Ecuador. After some flight delays, I got into Quito at about 11 pm Sat. Night. I was pretty beat, and though my hotel was located near a noisy disco, I fell right asleep. 8am found me at the hotel lobby, meeting my group. 2 guides, and 6 paddlers. 3 guys, 3 girls. Ages 30-46. Everyone married, but not traveling with their spouses (except for our Guides, the Fantastic and Super Phil and Mary DeReimer of  <a href=”http://adventurekayaking.com”>adventurekayaking.com</a> ). Super nice, friendly crew. Sunday was a 1/2 travel day, we drove over a nearly14,000 foot pass to the Town of Borja, where we have a very nice lodge. We outfitted boats, and went for a short class III paddle on the Quijos , followed by dinner. Monday was awesome. We woke up, had yummy breakfast, and went for a long paddle. Fun, class IV paddling, very continuos, but nothing super hard. About 5.5 hours on the river. We paddled on the Cosanga, to the confluence with the Quijos, and then paddled the Quijos.  Saw an Andean Cock-in-the-Rock and many, many other birds.   VERY, VERY, VERY cool. Early on Day 3 we left Borja and went to Tena, about an hours drive away.  We stopped on the way to do a really pretty river, though the water was a bit low.  This was the Rio Misahualli.    It was fun, and I think would be super classic with more water. After paddling, we headed to Tena, which seems to be a bit of a rough place.  Not dangerous, just very impoverished, gritty and run down.  Our hotel is nice, and the area is gorgeous, but not much else interesting about Tena.  If you weren´t paddling, I can´t imagine wanting to spend much time here.  There is an incredible steak restaurant.  The steak place has several pet sloths, which was cool.    And the rivers nearby are fantastic.  Simply incredible.   So good. Day 4- We seem to be in a bit of a dry spell, so many of the rivers are a little low.  Today, we did two laps on the upper stretch of a river, the Piatua, and it was awesome.  Not very high volume water, but steep, fun and fast. the river channelized nicely, meaning the low water wasn´t an issue.   I bet the run is stomping hard with high flows. The first time through, we took our time, looking at a few spots, talking about the moves, etc.  Second time through, we just blasted.  First lap took 2.5 hrs, second was 50 minutes.  SOOO much fun.   The group (6 paddlers, 2 guides) has melded really well, I feel like I´ve been boating with them for years.   Every one looks out for each other, and all seem to be strong paddlers of similar skill.  I don´t think anyone is bored with the paddling, and no one seems in over their head.  Such a cool, perfect trip.   If we had a little more water it would be just a bit better, but it´s still awesome. Another dinner at the steakhouse.  So good.  all 8 people had huge, delicious steaks, some drinks, etc, and the tab for the table was well under $100.   Maybe some of the best steak I´ve ever had. It´s hot as heck in Tena. I wish I´d brought some more clean shirts.  I might have to send a few out for laundry, if I´m not paddling, and not in A/C, I´ve just got sweat pouring down my body.  Running out of non-stinky shirts.  Tough to stay hydrated too, but I´m doing it, pretty much always drinking something.  The sun is brutal, we´re almost on the Equator, so I´ve been using the sunscreen 2-4 times a day.  So far, no red. Day 5 We paddled the Lower Jondachi today.  Easier than some of the other stuff we did, but probably the prettiest run we did.  Some really fun rapids too.    Steep canyon walls, wild orchids, and the several Blue Morpho butterflies, huge blue butterflies the size of a large saucer. The put in was interesting.   My truck arrived last, and there was a group of German boaters who had arrived even before our first truck.  The put in was crowded with locals, who appeared eager to earn a few dollars carrying boats to the put in.  I felt a bit weird having tiny Ecuadorean women carry my boat for me, normally I’m offering to carry for others!   But not long into the steep, muddy, hot, humid hike, I wasn’t going to complain. Day 6+7

Day 6 and 7 we were back on the Quijos, running a longer section than we’d run on Day 1, that included a few bigger, more technical rapids.   Our group had truly melded by then, and it really just felt like paddling with my freinds.  Jokes flew, people watched out for each other, and it was grand.  Really, truly awesome. On Day 7, Sat, we headed back over the pass to Quito.  We had a big steak dinner that night to say goodbyes, and all too soon, 1/2 our group was heading home.   Phil and Mary would be picking up a new group in the morning.  Ann and Merida had invited me to join them Mtn Biking on Cotopaxi, so it wasn’t quite time for our goodbyes. Day 8 Another early start to the day, but this time, no paddling gear.   I was joining Anne and Merida to bike Cotopaxi.   Anne described it in an email as follows:

ap made it home in one piece after geoff, merida and i nearly perished from hypothermia at 15,000 feet and all developed an unusual case of sudden-onset black lung on our mountain biking adventure.  we took a tour that involved getting taken up cotopaxi in a 4WD vehicle and dropped off to coast on “mountain bikes” downhill.  at the top, the wind was blowing at about 40-50mph (you do the metric conversion) and the temp was freezing.  and did i mention the sleet?  we were all laughing pretty hard about it and geoff had the quote of the day when he approached merida and me and said, “i hate you both!”  it warmed up as we descended and that is when the dust cloud hit!  we coughed our way back to quito.  overall, a comical adventure.  i am also certain that we did not have the ace guide of the biking dutchman roster! i had such a great time hanging out on and off the water with y’all.  if you are ever in boise, you are always welcome to stay at our place! yours, as always, in the third person, ap

I’ll admit that I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more than this makes it sound.   Though it is very accurate, there was long stretch in the middle of biking the high grasslands on the volcano that I enjoyed a lot.   Really pretty.  That night, Merida and Anne were both feeling a bit under the weather, so I grabbed some dinner and was in bed early again. Day 9 I rose early, and headed to Old Town Quito.   I visited some churches, which were amazing, and stumbled upon some sort of government ceremony or rally, which was interesting.  I joined in some “Viva Ecuador!” chants, but couldn’t sing along with the national anthem.  I got my haircut, and I must say, it was the finest $1 haircut I’ve ever had!  Lunch was $2 at a little local place, and I enjoyed my day, although I’ll admit that after a week of traveling with new friends, it felt a little lonely.  In late afternoon I was pretty well finished with spanish churches and colonial architechture, so I headed back to the Mariscal and walked the lenght of the main drags there, did some internetting, and picked up my laundry.  Fresh shirts felt awesome at this point. Day 10 Up early, early, and on the bus to Mindo.  Spent some time chatting with an older English couple, who had been all over.  Quite the goal to strive for.   Mindo is muy tranquillo, a sleepy town in the cloud forest known for it’s amazing biodiversity.  I took a long walk, found a place to stay for $10 a night, and sat on the porch.  In minutes I’d seen 4-5 butterfly species, and 5-6 hummingbirds.  And dozens of other birds.  Amazing. I took an even longer walk after settling in, and got caught in a massive rainstorm, but it was so warm I didn’t care.  I stopped at a cool butterfly farm, and enjoyed getting photos.  A nice, relaxed day, and I could see spending more time in Mindo.

Day 11 My last day, and I’d wrestled with staying in Mindo or going to Otovallo, known for it’s markets.  I decided to shop, and it was a series of long bus rides that got mt Otovallo by 11 am.   I wndered the market town, bought some gifts, and headed back to Quito for early evening. I treated myself to a nice dinner, and it was off to bed.

Day 12 I flew home.  Excited to see Kim, but sad to leave Ecuador.  There is something about Latin America that just sits right with me.  Something about the people, or the pace, or the food, but I just love it.  (spider bites and injuries excepted).

I really want to see Asia and Africa, but I’ll admit that when my mind wanders to travel, it’s hard to keep it off Central and South America.

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You can see the route we took on the map (click to see in an interactive google map) , and the pictures below.

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