It was one of those days... the kind of day where you feel the warmth of contentment inside and everywhere you go you carry a smile on your face and in your heart.

Today, I took a bus from Cuenca to Loja, two cities situated high in the Andean Mountains of Ecuador, and I found the trip to be a truly amazing experience. The bus wound its way around the precarious curves of the narrow roads, over passes and along cliffs overlooking huge green valleys for 5 hours, picking up and dropping off passengers at various destinations along the way. The hillsides were comprised of the terraced fields of small farms and it looked as though a large emerald patchwork quilt had dropped from the skies and settled into gargantuan piles with steep valleys between. Small brown adobe houses had smoke from burning waste curling upward from side yards to mingle with the wet clouds that hung low to the ground. Drying clothes of every color imaginable surrounded the houses and decorated them like countless banners blowing in the breeze.  Sheep grazed among the family dogs and chickens, and children looked up from their games to watch as the bus went past. Women and men brightened the green fields with rainbow clothing and their long dark braids hung down their backs as they herded their cattle in to be milked and attended their crops.

            As the sun began to set, we slowly descended a switchback road into an immense valley with a river winding its way through the ravine at the bottom. We followed the river’s white waters to a small town. As passengers from the valley joined us on the bus, we noted differences in their traditional dress. Here the women wore dark wool pleated skirts and shawls fastened with large silver pins in the shape of the sun, with brilliantly colored embroidered shirts blossoming out from underneath multicolored handmade sashes. Most prominent were the large necklaces of woven beads that were around their necks; they extended all the way over their shoulders and down their chests. Their thick long hair was braided down their backs showing off their rosy cheeks and beautifully ornate silver earrings. The men wore long woolen shorts with shawls and sashes as well, while all of the people sported characteristic black felt hats angled down over one eye.

      When our bus pulled in to the town's center square, there was a huge group waiting to board, and immediately our bus went from being half empty to double the max capacity.  There were at least 30 or so brightly colored people laughing and chatting in the aisle and many children hiding in their mothers' proud skirts.  Leaning on my legs was a little girl who shyly stole glances at me, the strange blond woman, and smiled from underneath her black hat. 

     We speed along the high mountain roads and passed tiny towns with young men crowded around the nightly volleyball tournaments and families enjoying the final hour of sunshine from the front of their houses. Atop one adobe house sat a father and daughter side by side conversing and laughing in the glow of late afternoon.

This was life...simple, pure, and beautiful.

I leaned back in my seat and looked around at the other passengers on the bus—they were laughing happily and seemed as content as I was. Yep, today was definitely a good day. I continued to smile.