Trip to Loja

Our nominal four-hour trip to Loja took about 5.5 hours, due to repairs and construction. All the way from Quito we have traveled down Highway 35, which is part of the Pan-American highway, as is I-25, running through Santa Fe etc., in the US. In theory we could have just driven down here, and maybe even in practice, but that's more spirit of adventure than I can dredge up.

In any case, down here it is a two-lane highway, except where construction narrows it to one or less. I say less, because the last 70 km or so into Loja we followed an alternate route, consisting of a dirt road, mostly well graded, in the midst of some of the most majestic mountains I have ever seen. It seems that there is no end to the mountains down here. We crossed the continental divide at least twice today, and possibly four times, and if I figured it right, the highway actually followed the ridge for several miles that is the continental divide in that area. There were tremendous views off both sides. My camera says that I took over 500 pictures on the way here, although I am sure that some of them will not turn out.

Loja is at a lower elevation than our previous stops, and sits at about 6800 feet of elevation. It is not quite so cool here, although a jacket still feels good after dark.

We got in about 3:30 this afternoon, and in addition to the taxi ride to our hotel, we have walked around the streets a bit. I suspect that we will go to bed rather early tonight, as we are both tired.