Trip to Tulcán

On Wednesday, Oct. 21, Melba and I set off for Tulcán, way up on the border with Colombia.  I apologized in advance for being a blind guide, but Melba didn't seem to concerned.  We made it to the bus terminal in Quito without incident and got on a bus heading straight for Tulcán.  Or so we thought.  About an hour into our journey, our bus decided it had had enough.  So we sat at the side of the road and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally, two buses stopped to assist.  One of them was going all the way to Tulcán, the other one only as far as Ibarra.  After much discussion between the drivers and helpers of the three buses, it was decided that the passengers on our bus would be divided between the other two buses.  The bus destined for Tulcán would pass through Ibarra as well, at which point some of its passengers would disembark, and there would be room for everyone who was Tulcán-bound.  As luck would have it, Melba and I were herded to the bus going only as far as Ibarra.  The bus was really quite full already, but fortunately a kind gentleman offered his seat to Melba.  Once in Ibarra, we changed buses again.  In the end, we made it to the bus terminal in Tulcán.  A taxi took us to the home where we would stay the night.  After minimal confusion about which house was the right one, we could finally call our journey complete.  We had a lovely supper with Sra. Maribel and little Abigail before the midweek Bible study in the same home.  Bed felt good that night!

don Napo, Abigail, Sra. Maribel

Don Napo was away driving truck when Melba and I visited.  This picture was taken in a later visit.