Braids, cool hats, and crayons...

I don´t know if any of you have driven through the Andes of South Central Ecuador in the morning, but if you haven´t, I would definitely recommend doing so. Not only are the mountains absolutely beautiful in the morning, with the waving mountain sides forming shadow puppets against a dewy greenery, but the lively hood of the school children are very pleasing. Up in the mountains of central Ecuador, there is a wonderful Incan tradition, and it is very well observed in the dress. Woman can be seen in long colourful skirts with wraps around the waist, a top and another scarf around the shoulders, and a very peculiar hat (of which you would only think old English males would sport). The men, and young boys, are in black shoes, long black shorts, a colourful top (and sometimes a poncho), and can be seen with this hat as well. It is very interesting to know that their is not a patriarchal hierarchy behind the Incan hat tradition.
The men are known for their long black shiny hair, much like you would see in one of my mother´s 40,000 romance novel covers. The older men have it braided down their back, while the fresh young boys can be seen with little ponytails. They actually look really good with the hat and hair, something I shamefully hide for the fact that I cannot keep any of mine.
As we passed through the mountains and dropped into a very dramatic climate change, the weather turned very warm and dry and the vegetation depleted to absolute nothing. We had entered the deserts of norther Peru, and it was not pleasant. Nonetheless, the colours still amazed me. Moving from up in the mountains full of lush photosynthesis down into the barren deserts of emptiness, their was a crayola abundance of lush colours that made my mouth water...even in the driest of heat. Reds, and greens, yellows and blues...they all came together to make the big 64 crayola box set...the one with the sharpener in the back. It was a wonderful ride...one I will not soon forget.