No heat, no humidity. A little piece of heaven, really - traditional Spanish culture overlaid on local Andean culture that remains healthy all along the Andes today. Ecuador has none of the hassles that we think of in Colombia, Venezuela (its sister states), or Mexico. Its a great place to visit. This our second visit here; actually third for me - I visited here first in 1967 on my annual leave from work in another SA country. I admire these people. They have gotten right the respectful, decent and happy living that we could use more of.
I'll copy part of a post I put in a 'Friendly' Politics thread the other day:
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Quito is right on the equator ('Ecuador') and at 9400 ft in a valley along the spine of the Andes. Maybe 50 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. So it's beautiful spring weather here every day of the year. For one example, much of US florists' flowers come from here year round.
[...]the friendly people in Ecuador. In both the restaurant where we had lunch and the one where we just had dinner, every guest who entered spoke some sort of greeting to us and to every table they passed while entering. Then 'buen provecho' (have a nice meal) or similar to the other guests as they departed. A nice custom. We here could learn something from this civility.
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And a post I put up this afternoon in the Mahindra group. It links to pictures you (and everybody here) might like.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...134864-new-mahindra-trucks-6.html#post3758102