Arequipa and Canyon de Colca, Peru

We found a large spare room at Casa de Sillar and were pretty impressed with Arequipa from the start. The Plaza de Armas (main square) was buzzing with life and we treated ourselves to a nice lunch overlooking the plaza in one of the touristy restaurants with great views and live Peruvian music. After a filling lunch, we began our walking tour of Arequipa, admiring the stone work everywhere out of volcanic, white “sillar” rock. We walked past a few churches, a famous nunnery, and then began to plan our trek to Cabanaconde where we wanted to begin the Canyon de Colca Trek. After gaining some good information at Colca Trek, we made our way back to the hostal and I finished making my first scarf! We went out for a one dollar dinner (3 Peruvian Soles) we could not pass up (I had fish and rice, JJ had spaghetti and chicken with hot, sweet tea for dessert). Then we decided to see what else we could get for cheap and we tried a fancy dolce de leche pastry and a yogurt shop where you picked out fresh fruit and they blended it in frozen yogurt for you.

In the morning, we headed out on our 6 hour bus ride to Cabanaconde. The ride was pretty smooth until after the first three hours when we reached the town of Chivay. I have never seen so many people get on a bus before in my life. There were people literally packed on the bus in every way and poor JJ was sitting in the aisle having every body part imagined rubbed all over him. My favorite was when a probably 6 or 7 year old girl standing next to him just completely passed out and fell asleep on his shoulder. In this area of Peru, I have noticed that almost all of the women wear an extremely colorful embroidered hat and dress in traditional clothing. So, people watching is very interesting at the moment. As the bus wound up and down the rim of the Canyon de Colca, we admired all the step farming plots that date back to pre-Incan times. We were excited that the next day we would get to hike on walking trails that have been used for thousands of years. We got a few glimpses of how deep Canyon de Colca actually is (deeper than the Grand Canyon, but not as grand) and tried to determine where we would start the trail and try to spot Andean Condors (with the largest wingspan of any land bird) the next morning. When we arrived in Cabanaconde, we meet Louis, one of the brother owners of Pachamama Hostal. He was really nice and helped us plan our whole hiking trek in Canyon de Colca, and gave us a map. We had a great pasta dinner there and visited with other travelers from around the world!

The next morning, we woke up at 5:45 to get on the local bus to the Cruz de Condor viewpoint. The indigenous ladies boarded the bus also with gigantic bags they tied around their backs and shoulders. These grain sacks are usually as big as they are and probably weigh about the same as them too. These particular sacks were filled with food and crafts to sell at the viewpoint. The Andean Condors supposedly fly right by the viewpoint in the morning as they scan the entire canyon for a meal. Well, we could not see a thing because of the thick and misty clouds. So we hopped back on a bus to Cabanaconde and had breakfast before heading out to Viewpoint San Miguel where we would begin our descent all the way to the canyon floor. Right as we sat down to breakfast, we looked up to the sky where the clouds had parted a bit to see a giant condor in the sky above us! Awesome! We might have to give that viewpoint another try on the way to Arequipa.

When we made it to the trail head, we passed by desert vegetation on the rocky trail and took it easy on the many switchbacks down the canyon. Views of the river and where the trail would take us the next two days were taken into account. The volcanic rock and granite (igneous and metamorphic) that makes up this canyon takes way longer to erode than the sandstone and shale (sedimentary) that make up the Grand Canyon. Canyon de Colca is extremely steep and narrow because of the sturdy rock it has been carved out of. Also, because of the volcanic rocks, there are many cool formations and hexagonal fracturing like a Devil’s Postpile in California! We made our way down to the Colca River just as it began to pour rain. We quickly switched into our rain gear and soon regretted it as we began sweating bullets up the steep route through San Juan de Chucho towards Tapay. We loved the canyon views we got as we climbed up the other side towards Tapay and the trail was not marked, but many rocks were spray painted where to go so we had no trouble. As we passed through the stone archway of Tapay, we admired the stream flowing through the small town and the beautiful church and plaza that sat on a hillside with great views of the canyon. We thought about how incredible it is that in the middle of a canyon with no roads there is a community of people who have been here thousands of years. After almost 5 hours of hiking, we settled into a tiny cabin next to a family’s home, known as “Maruja”. The whole set up was really cute. The bathroom was outside next to where the sheep, pig, ducks, chickens, and guinea pigs were kept (all for eating!). We had an incredible candle lit dinner (the electricity is very spotty here) of alpaca steak for JJ and a Spanish omelet for me and sweet hot tea for dessert. We were in bed by 8pm to get ready for the next full day of hiking!

After breakfast, we hiked out of Tapay and through the small villages of Cosnirhua and Malata. We walked by Pre-Incan terraces that were still being used by the local people to plant the crops they sustain from still to this day! There was not a cloud in the sky and we got incredible canyon views the in both directions. We really enjoyed the mostly level hike for about 2 hours as we walked west through the canyon. The trail then took us down a steep set of switchbacks as we made our way to the “Oasis” of the canyon, known as Sangalle. In Sangalle, natural spring water rushes up through the bottom of the canyon and fills in cool swimming pools that the local indigenous people have placed on their properties. We opted to stop at the beautiful Oasis for the afternoon before making the long haul up to the top of the canyon rim and back to Cabanaconde. We headed to “Eden”, where we had an incredible lunch of avocado salad made from use of the tree above our head, and spaghetti with home-made tomato sauce. Not only were there monstrous avocado trees, but papaya, banana, apple, etc. We had a fantastic swim in the pool and read under a tree. Refreshed, we were ready to hike almost straight up the canyon.

We hiked up and up and up. Literally! I kept seeing these blue flags along the way that I would use as markers, but they just seemed farther and farther! It was over 3 hours of straight uphill, but the views were incredible the whole way. Actually, we lucked out because that very sunny warm weather that allowed us to get in the cold natural swimming pool, clouded over and cooled down the air as we made our way up. We still sweated like crazy, but enjoyed the breeze and occasional rain drops along the way. After climbing up about 1,200 meters (almost 4,000 feet), we finally made it to the top of the Canyon de Colca! We were exhausted when we got back to the Pachamama Hostal, but very happy! We accomplished a lot of great hiking the past two days and felt ready for Machu Picchu. We walked through the town and found a 2 course dinner for 5 soles each (about $1.50 U.S. each), then fell fast asleep.
We woke up early in the morning to try our luck again at viewing the Andean Condors. We got on the same bus with the indigenous ladies and made our way to the Cruz del Condor. It looked like the clouds were going to clear the whole ride and then they didn’t. Not for the first 2 hours we were there at least. But that’s okay, we decided to bargain with the indigenous ladies and bought some of their goods. In the last hour we were there, between 9am and 10am, the clouds actually did burn off and we got stunning views from above the entire canyon! You could even see the snow covered tops of some of the surrounding volcanoes. Finally, about 10 minutes before we had to leave, we spotted huge Andean Condors, male and female, cruising through the sky below us. Even though they were far below us, their 9 to 10 foot wingspans made a lasting impression on us.

We got picked up by a private tour bus we had hired to take us to lunch and the hot springs in Chivay on the way back to Arequipa. We stopped at an impressive viewpoint overlooking more Pre-Incan terraces and then made our way to the hot spring baths with 5 different pools to choose from. The water was not as hot as Baños but the baths were way less crowded and our tired muscles enjoyed the warm water. We felt very relaxed and hungry when we got out of the pools. The tour driver took us to an expensive buffet restaurant, which we promptly left with some other people from the tour to find a cheap, local restaurant where we paid 4 soles ($1.25 U.S.) for a 2 course lunch and a drink. The bus drove us back to Arequipa and we settled back into our hostal. After dinner we had delicious coconut and mango ice cream cones and walked around town a bit.

We head to Cuzco, Peru tonight on a bus-cama (bus of beds). In 2 days we will begin our 3 day trek on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and we can’t wait! We hope you are all well and would love to hear what you are up to!

“Bussing it” through Northern Peru

Crossing the border in Peru was a piece of cake. We just had to avoid looking at the nudie pictures in the Ecuadorian border office hanging on the wall, steer clear of the money changers on the Peru side, and try to decipher the sign “it is not security here to change the money”. Then, we got back on the bus all the way to Piura, Peru. After a quick glace around and a very sketchy feeling, we hightailed it out of Piura on our first overnight bus with the “best” company in Peru, Cruz del Sur. We had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly surprised. We had a 16 hour trip from Piura to Lima, but with all the entertainment, the time passed pretty quickly. The overnight bus rides in South America are set up like plane flights with meals, an attendant, and movies. There are blankies, pillows, and American movies so “awesome” they went straight to DVDs in other countries! HA! The chairs went back very far and we got some sleep thanks to our eye masks and ear plugs. In the morning after breakfast on the bus, we admired the scenery as we travelled along the coast seeing sand dunes of all sizes and nice looking waves rolling across the beaches. Then, the attendant handed out Bingo cards and quickly began calling out numbers in Spanish over the microphone. Guess who won Bingo? JJ!!! He won us a free upgrade to first-class on the next overnight bus ride!

We decided that Lima, Peru was not going to make our list of places to stop and bought our tickets for the next overnight bus to Arequipa, Peru as soon as we arrived at the station. We stretched, had a nice filling lunch for $2.50 each, a slice of lemon meringue pie, and got on the next bus first class! Well, it was really no different than second class except there were leather seats that seemed a little larger than the others 3 across instead of 4. Time flew again with more “awesome” movies. Let me give you some examples; Moby Dick 2010 (self-explanatory), You Again (which I think was Mean Girls – the reunion), and so many fantastic others I just can’t remember. We finally rolled into Arequipa the next morning.

I don’t know if you avid readers are getting the impression that we are taking a lot of buses, but we most definitely are. There are really no other choices for getting around quickly and efficiently than the bus down here. From our constant use of them, we have picked up on a few very interesting and funny characteristics at bus stations and on the actual buses. When you get to the bus station from any taxi and people see you are a couple of gringos, the bus company employees immediately start shouting their “destinations” and offering to take you to the bus that will then take you to the place they are shouting. We have found it is easiest to just shout where we want to go before this starts in order to quickly get the right person to come to us. My favorite “shouting” destination was the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador. Guayaquil is pronounced, why-a-keel. Now say that over and over as you can about 10 times in a row. Pretty funny. Okay, so now you get to your bus and sit in your seats. Pray now that you have a window, if not, you will be smelling things you never imagined, good and gross. Here come the vendors for anything you want. Sugar cane sticks, candy, empanadas, nuts, corn cobs, pre-scooped ice cream cones, etc. They walk up and down the aisles shaking their goods in your face. Now the journey begins and the bus gets its engine roaring. At the very last second a man will jump on and enter the front of the passenger section. This is a salesman. They will be selling food, their own talents, encyclopedias from the 1980s, catalogues (verbally describing every single item inside), or other “deal of a life-time” goods for the next twenty minutes or so. You better listen up and don’t eat that candy that they gave you for “free” at the beginning of the presentation because you will pay for it later! Our favorites have been the guy selling his talent of puppetry and the man selling encyclopedias from 1980 something. Also, we recently saw ladies that had rigged up their broomsticks with special cups and plates in order to complete food transactions with customers from the windows of the bus with a system of raising and lowering the stick.

Free entertainment does not get much better than this!

Cuenca, Ecuador

We arrived in Cuenca this past Friday night after a very long bus ride from Riobamba. Along the way, we zipped up and down beautiful mountainsides, rose in and out of clouds, saw many indigenous farmers, and sat in seats number 1 and 2. At first we thought these would be the best seats on the bus, free of bumps felt in the back, and with plenty of leg room. All was well until JJ (sitting on the aisle) pretty much had women, men, and children throughout the ride rubbing their hands, heads, arm pits, and chests all over him while they tried to stand in the aisle for a temporary ride on the bus. He handled it really well, but was more than really happy to be off the bus. No more seats 1 and 2 for us, I think next time we might go for 9 and 10 or something.

Posada del Rio is a cute hostel ran by two sisters right across the street from Rio Tomebamba in Cuenca. After putting our stuff down in our cute little room on the third floor, we set out on a walk for taking pictures and finding some dinner. We walked down several flights of steps and across the river and noted that there was a nearby park for throwing the Frisbee. We crossed back over the river and up towards the center of town, passing good-looking cafes, artisian shops, and many tourists. About now is when I decided Cuenca was the prettiest South American city we visited so far. At every street corner I would see something I liked. Very cool old architecture, Spanish/Italian/French looking streets with lots of iron work. The sun was at the perfect angle and the pictures JJ took of the many Iglesias were really well lit. We had some delicious typical food for dinner on the main plaza. I sampled a classic Ecuadorian potato soup with a huge slab of avocado and queso fresco in it with a sweet and savory corn tamale as a side. JJ had the churasco beef. Then, we were too tempted to pass up the place next-door, Tutto Freddo, the most raved ice-cream place in Cuenca. We decided to split the banana sundae and for $3 wouldn’t you? Later that night as we were getting ready for bed, we continued to hear very loud booming noises. Eventually, we poked our head out the window and saw our very own fireworks show! It went on for about 7 minutes and in the morning, we asked what the fireworks were for and no one knew what we were talking about.

The next day we had a very heavy breakfast at Café Austral, did our workout/Frisbee throw in the park, and set out on a long walk. We first visited some pretty minimal Incan ruins alongside the river. We were unimpressed, but continued to walk towards a Regional Museum with many more Incan artifacts and some shrunken heads! We walked around the fence of the property and were pleased with the gardens, the huge and obvious Incan stone walls and hillsides. Then, we learned that the museum had closed for the day and our only views were through the fence. Boo! But we continued on and walked past many more picturesque churches and plazas. Then, JACKPOT! We stumbled on a huge produce, fish, meat, and other stuffs market. We walked through with big smiles and made our way upstairs where it appeared many food stalls were full of people having their Saturday almuerzo (lunch). So we made a few laps, and realized the competition of little ladies cooking was really high, since everyone seemed to be cooking the same things. I chose a delicious and seemingly bottomless bowl of encebollado (fish stew) for a whopping $1.25. JJ could not resist the fresh roasted meat of “some sort of animal”, with a very cute old lady serving it, it also came with a interesting variety of corn and a polenta cake with cheese on top. While we were eating, we decided to buy vegetables in the produce section of the market and cook them for dinner. From the indigenous ladies selling their crops, we purchased about a pound of potatoes (0.50), a large bundle of swiss chard (0.25), two red bell peppers and two red onions (0.50), a large sweet plantain for desert (0.25), two fresh mangoes (O.50). So we are cooking dinner for a grand total of $2.00. Once again, food here is cheap! After making our eclectic dinner, we realized that potatoes and swiss chard aren’t the best paired together, plantains take hours or a magic method to cook, and well the cooked food is so cheap that cooking is not worth it unless we want to.

Next, we headed to Loja, Ecuador on a quick pit-stop in our long journey to Arequipa, Peru. We spent the night relaxing and in the morning got on another bus to Piura, Peru and for adventures crossing the border!

Climbing Volcano Chimbarazo

We arrived in Riobamba, where we met some difficulties hailing a cab for one dollar. I guess we just looked too gringo with our bike backpacks, getting right of the bus from Banos. A nice lady on the street hopped in the cab with us she got for one dollar, which we were happy to pay as she rode with us to the Hostal Oasis. Oasis is a very cute, family run place with a very quirky, kitschy feel. We asked some questions about going to an agency to find out about hiking up (or around) dormant Volcano Chimborazo, which is the highest Volcano in Ecuador, the furthest point from the center of the Earth (due to the Earth’s equatorial bulge), and the closest point on Earth to the Sun. Because of our proximity to it and James’s encouragement and certainty about climbing up it, we decided to go speak with someone about it. Although it was Sunday and almost everything in Riobamba was closed, we were really surprised when the English-speaking owner of Julio Verne Expediciones, Popgye (pronounced Pop-gea) from The Netherlands, offered to pick us up at the Hostal and take us over to the office to talk about possibilities with Chilborazo. JJ and I were very happy to meet her and she was incredibly thorough at answering all of our questions. Even though we have never done a technical mountain climb before, and Chimborazo Is even higher than Cotopaxi, we decided to sign up for the overnight tour and attempt to summit Chimborazo at over 6,268 meters (20,564 feet above sea-level), while climbing over-night. We are in good shape, we are feeling good, once in a life-time right?

After a very nice pizza dinner at El Chacacero and a good sleep, we woke up the next day and packed our bags for Pulingui San Pablo, an indigenous village Popgye recommended we spend the night at one day prior to our climb in order to properly acclimatize for the high-altitude climb. At the village, we stayed at Casa del Condor, an eclectic and almost run-down lodge where we were the only ones staying, but the sheets were clean, there was hot water for tea, and a heater in the room. We made lunch in the kitchen and then relaxed for a bit, I am finally getting confident at the knitting and did that for a while. Then, we packed our water and headed up the hill (small mountain) that rose steeply in front of the hostal. We headed up at over a 40 degree angle for about 45 minutes, until we could no longer see the Casa del Condor below. Realizing that we hiked way higher than we thought because we could not see the top of the ridge from below, we decided to just keep going to the top. Reaching the ridge 45 minutes later, we felt very accomplished. The clouds that had surrounded Chimborazo all day had cleared and we had perfect views of the volcano. We hiked down, and while relaxing outside looking at the mountain, two Quechua-speaking indigenous ladies from the community came to visit with us (Rosa and Manuela) because they saw I was knitting and wanted to see what I was doing. I made out that they knew the stitch and wanted to help me along, so Manuela took over the knitting while we talked. Her hands moved as fast as an electric mixer. When I looked down, she had doubled what I had been working on all day! She tried to show me a different way to hold the knitting needles so that I would do faster and I sort of got it, but I need to practice! They were both very nice and told us that we would have good weather on the mountain. After they wished us luck on the climb, we made a very high-calorie dinner of mac and cheese then headed to bed. JJ perfected the heater in the room and when we had to go out to use the bathroom, we realized it was about 25 degrees cooler outside our room!

In the morning, a truck came to pick us up from Julio Verne and take us up the mountain to the first refugio. We saw our Ecuadorian mountain guide, Eloy, in the front, and in the back was a big surprise, JAMES! He decided he would climb up the mountain with us and he and Sam came to Riobamba the day prior. Heading up the volcano and through the misty clouds, noticed wild vicuña’s, a relative of the llama. We reached the first refuge, the Carrel Hut at 4, 850 meters and had a nice and filling lunch. Then, we strapped on our boots loaded up our packs with food and gear for our climb, and made our way one kilometer up with the stuff to the next refugio, the Whymper Hut at 5,000 meters (16,400 feet). This was already higher than we had reached at Cotopaxi, and we were feeling good. We picked our beds and spent the rest of the day drinking hot tea and playing the card game, “shit head” with James. I. As more climbers reached the hut, we visited with them and learned that most of the men (they were all men) had been up Chimborazo before or had serious mountaineering experience. At dinner time (5:30 pm) we estimated there were about 20 men there, including the guides. None of us were hungry (you usually lose your appetite at this altitude), but we shoveled down our soup and pasta in order to get calories needed for the climb. Attempting to sleep was next on the tour agenda, which included whimpering in the cold, and rubbing my feet together to make sure they we still there until I drifted off for about an hour).

We “woke up” at 10:30 pm to eat more “breakfast”, packed up our day packs, put on our harnesses, grabbed our ice-axes and made our way through the dark, slowly following Eloy, the mountain goat (who has been up Chimborazo over 470 times and is 40 years old). We made our swiftly to a point below the glacier about an hour later to put on our cramp-ons and have a snack. Soon after, we got to a place below the glacier where there were frequent rock slides because of the little snow pack. Eloy told us that we would have to move quickly through the area and the next 200 meters. Well on we went, almost running! At this altitude, JJ and I were dog-tired from the energy we needed to do this. We finally got to the start of a very steep slope and took another rest to hydrate and eat. We caught our breath and continued on using the ice-ax as a walking pole and breathing every step- while roped to Eloy. We were moving slow and steady, trying to maintain a rhythm, but Eloy kept trying to make us go faster or without as frequent as the breaks we needed. We realized that he was nervous about the sun coming up in a few hours and melting more on the snow, causing increased rock slides for the way down. We had been going about five and a half hours up the very steep slope (over 40 degree slope) of us and snow as sun began to make its first light in the sky. We demanded a rest and had some of a cliff bar we had saved. Both of us were extremely tired and out of breath, but had the will to keep going. We continued to 5,800 meters (19, 028 feet) until I just could not go anymore and the sky was almost full of light. I was out of energy, even though JJ definitely could have reached the summit 500 more meters (almost one mile) up above us. I could not believe how far I had climbed, how tired I was, how little it seemed we had to go (but at this altitude it is no easy task), and that now I had to go down. I felt terrible that JJ had to sacrifice the summit for me, but he was so proud and happy of what we had accomplished. For having no prior mountaineering experience, we actually did fantastic. Eloy thought that it was time to go down a while before and was very surprised with how well we had done. Going down was a huge task and because of my lack of energy and the feeling of craziness I had about seeing what we climbed up overnight, I was pretty out of it. I needed JJ and Eloy to slowly help me down the mountain. When I got more with it, after chugging two gator-aides and making it down to the first refuge, I was so glad we were down safe and I could rest. Some other guys heading down took my stuff so I did not have to take anything more. I was so happy to be with JJ and James and off that crazy Chimborazo! Looking up at it, I thought about how the conditions were perfect (no wind, no rain, etc), but it was still the most physically challenging thing JJ and I have ever done (way more than a 100 mile century bike ride). I think I am pretty tough, but Chimborazo kicked my butt! At that altitude, and the degree of difficulty, I realize that was no easy under-taking and I am proud to have climbed probably higher than I ever will again in my life! We tiredly made our way back to Riombamba, where we met up with Sam at the hostal. I was so happy to see her we talked about our big adventure, took a big nap, and went out to Mexican food and ice cream (bars) for dessert.

This morning, we said our last goodbye (I think?) to James and Sam. We decided to spend the rest of the day in Riobamba hydrating and resting. We just had a great lunch at a place called “Bonne”, which was the fanciest restaurant we have been to in South America so far. JJ got the plate of the day for lunch which was 3 courses and a whopping $3.57! Can you believe that? Tomorrow we head to Cuenca, Ecuador on a 6 hour bus ride. I know for a fact that JJ and I are ready to do Machu Picchu in 2 weeks from this last adventure! We hope you are all wonderful and if you are climbing mountains of your own, we hope they are easy and safe for you. Enjoy the view!

Baños, Ecuador

Arriving in Baños, we walked from the bus station across the small, cute town to the Hostal Cloud Forest. Along the way, we passed numerous taffy pullers (Baños is apparently famous for their fresh taffy). At first, I was a little bummed out about our room because it did not have the dramatic, valley-sweeping views I had read about, but after stepping out on the balcony, I realized that there was a gigantic waterfall coming down the mountain to the left of our room! We began our post Quilatoa Loop festivities with some beer and chips while sitting on our patio connected to our room, listening to the sounds of the waterfall. After dinner, James had to use his best convincing skills to get us to go out to a Karaoke Bar he had spotted on our walk through town, because we were so tired from the long day of traveling. When we got inside the small bar, we quickly realized that we were in a local’s, Spanish singing karaoke bar. Although, we all agreed to provide the gringo entertainment as long as we could keep our eyes open and looked through the entire song binder, finding about all ten songs in English. James began our selections with a Bon Jovi, a very hard act to follow, the man is awesome at karaoke. I sang a few, he sang a few, we sang a few, and then it was off to bed.

The next morning, JJ and I headed to the café on top of the hostal and decided to each order the #10, which was described as pancakes with fruit and yogurt. A few minutes later, our waitress came with two perfect mountains of what was described. We laughed when we saw how much food we ordered and vowed to split everything we ordered in South America from there on out unless it was a case of starvation. In the early afternoon, we rented bikes, and got some instructions to simply the “waterfall road downhill for 3 hours”, Avenada de Cascadas. We hopped on the aged and hurting mountain bikes and made our way about 10 minutes before the rains started. At first it was a light sprinkle and we did not mind since we had our jackets with us. We rode past a giant power plant and stopped at the first waterfall (cascada) viewing it across the valley, it was impressive, but we decided to quickly get going again because of the looming storm. So we rode on and on, passing about 6 waterfalls on the way to Machay (about 30 km from Banos). While we rode, the rain got harder and we got soaked, but enjoyed the exercise and gorgeous green scenery. It only took us about an hour and a half to get to Machay, which was supposed to take us three hours. We made a decision to stop, instead of heading all the way to Puyo (30 more kilometers downhill at the gateway to the Amazon) because of the weather. When we stopped, we were ushered over to an Ecuadorian tourist post where we learned we could lock up the bikes and hike down to another nice waterfall. We took the opportunity and hikes down and down to the base of a double waterfall. It was definitely the best on we saw and the sun actually came out while we were down next to it. JJ jumped into the freezing pool of water below the second waterfall and then sunned himself on a boulder. We hiked back up the canyon and then put our bikes on top of the next tourist bus headed back to Baños. The driver told us that he would be leaving in twenty minutes, and actually did. We rode in the open tourist truck for about four minutes until the driver turned around and went back to the tourist post because there were not enough tourists on the truck. Whatever, he said to wait twenty minutes more. So, about a coconut popsicle, cheese and banana empanada, and a hour and a half later (when we probably could have biked back to Baños uphill by then), we were driven back to Baños, Ecuadorian time? We met up with James and Sam and decided to try out the famous Baños hot baths at the base of the waterfall. The baths (for $2 per person) were packed (it was Saturday night!) and very, very hot. We spent most of the time going in the hottest pool for about ten minutes and then the coldest pool for about one. After the baths, we felt totally relaxed, had a nice dinner, and went to sleep.

In the morning we woke to a heavy rain and took the opportunity to say our goodbyes to James and Sam over another pancake tower (for only $3.20!) and split it this time. Good food and lodging in Ecuador has been very inexpensive. After some heart-felt goodbyes, JJ and I boarded the bus to Riobamba.

Cotopaxi and The Quilatoa Loop

We made our way out of Quito on a day-tour that would take us to the refuge at Volcano Cotopaxi (Quechua indigenous name for neck of the moon) and allow us to mountain bike down the road up to the volcano about 11 kilometers. The tour began on the Pan American highway south out of Quito, also known as the Avenue de Volcanoes! While bumping along the road, we saw incredible landscapes that were devastated about 100 years ago, when the volcano erupted last. We reached the parking lot about 1 kilometer from the refugio at Cotopaxi and began our hike up. Cotopaxi sits at over 19,000 feet (5,897 meters) and we hiked up from the parking lot at 15,000 feet up one more kilometer to make it 16,000 feet, the highest point we have ever reached in our lives! We made the hike up in about one hour. This was not easy and required lots of breaks to slow the panting, but it was incredibly beautiful because it was snowing and the contrast of the pure white snow and the black lava rocks on the ground was breathtaking (literally haha!). We did not get any great views of the surrounding area from the Refugio because of the snow, but we had a very nice warm lunch, prepared by our guide, Luis. After quickly hiking down from the refugio to the parking lot, we got on mountain bikes and zoomed down the road! The way was bumpy and wet, but it was quite a thrill going down from 15,000 feet to about 12,000 feet in around 11 kilometers. We rode all the way to the Laguna Cotopaxi, along the road, and then got back in the bus. We were dropped off soon after to make our way to Latacunga, where we would begin the Quilatoa Loop a few days later.

In Latacunga, we stayed at Hostal Tiana, a really nice place with big rooms and a nice breakfast. We explored Latacunga for a bit, read, I watched some You Tube videos, bought some yarn, and learned how to knit (which I have not been very productive at, but still potentially exciting!). Two days later, we left with some Londoners we met at the hostal, James and Samantha, to Laguna Quilatoa. The bus ride to Laguna Quilatoa was out of this world, the steep volcanic hillsides we covered in gorgeous farms and the whole scene truly resembled a real-life green patchwork quilt. We also got a clear view of Cotopaxi and Volcano Iliniza along the way.

When the bus stopped at Zumbahua, we took a pick up truck the rest of the beautiful way to the Laguna Quilatoa. When we arrived at Laguna Quilatoa, we quickly made our way to edge of the crater lake, which I had been looking at in pictures for quite some time. Well, I guess pictures never really do something out of this world justice. The crater lake sparkled from below. We hiked along it for about a half an hour, and then make our descent along a very sandy path (which was definitely the right path JJ and James assured us – ha!), along a dry creek (where?), and pretty much through very friendly people’s farm lands. We arrived at the town of Guayama and wandered around a cemetery trying to decipher the directions we had. We decided to ask everyone who walked by us for about 20 minutes and debated on how to say a “wooden suspension bridge” in Spanish, since that’s what we were looking for (now I know it is Puente Mueble de Madera!). After finally taking the advice of the friendly indigenous, we were on our way just as it started to pour down. We made our way through a narrow, steep, and stunning slot canyon that led us down to a river where we crossed over a wood plank. Next, we climbed up a very steep and wet path all the way to Chuchilan, where we spent the night at the Cloud Forest Hostal. James, Sam, JJ, and I spent the rest of the rainy afternoon getting warm by the chimenea and learning a new card game called “Shit Head”, which apparently is the British version of “Asshole”. I still don’t really get the name, but the game was really fun and I was happy when I only lost 2 out of 3 games (yes!).

The next day, we began our hike from Chuchilan to Inslivi. We made our first minor descent along a dirt road, where an exciting cheese factory was mentioned in our short list of directions, but actually about one kilometer above us and down the road, so we skipped it. We continued hiking down a steep set of switchbacks and eventually made our way to a small town where school was in session and all the little kids at the playground said a big “hola!” as we passed through. We followed a river for about an hour and a half as it winded through the canyon between Chuchilan and Inslivi. There were many bromeliads and gigantic agaves along the way. This was some of the prettiest section of the hike. We all paused as we watched a brown horse with a pretty mane cross the river in front of us. I am sure it was not wild, but it seemed so! After crossing our bridge, we had lunch (almuerzo) we brought with us in a small meadow overlooking the river (where the lunch items were cookies, peanuts, banana chips, and James had his very own onion and bread sandwich without the cheese from the factory (sad face)!). We continued hiking upstream after JJ had to convince a burro to let him pass. Wandering down through trees and bushes with masses of red bromeliads, we ran into a very confused British man without a map (yes, we gave him our spare) and then quickly put on our rain gear for the approaching storm. The four of us hiked up a steep path, that was quickly eroding with the amount of rain from the previous day and maneuvered a tiny stream until we met up with two calves let us follow them into the canyon below Inslivi. We got a bit confused and did some backtracking before we finished hiking up the steep path to Inslivi village. Hostal Llullu Llama, was where we enjoyed a warm fire, indoor hammock time, guitar playing, and incredible meals, not to mention the massive outdoor shower and composting toilet. This mountain hostal has a beautiful garden a pet pig, dog, and Llama! We met another traveling couple there and enjoyed everyone’s company. Dinner was fantastic and I even got my very own pan of vegetarian shepard’s pie. Even though we were all tired, we talked for a long time comparing yucky school lunches with the other 3 country representatives present.

After breakfast in the morning, we hopped in the bag of a milk truck and made the two hour journey to Toacazo, where we switched to a bus back for Latacunga. The milk truck was a ride of a life-time! We made our way above Inslivi and got unbelievable views of the entire area while riding with a tight grip on the truck sides. As we zoomed along the narrow road with a constant honking of the horn to let the entire area know we were coming through, locals were waiting beside the row with their fresh milk to get paid. The operation only took a few seconds, but consisted of the driver opening one of four very large vats of milk, pouring in the new milk from a pail, and paying the person a few cents. As we continued along the road, we picked up indigenous passengers and waved to passerbies. The entire journey took about two and a half hours, but the amazing views were worth every second we bumped along standing in the back of the truck. We arrived back in Latacunga, quickly picked up our stuff back at the hostal and then caught a bus to Banos.

Quito, Ecuador

We left Los Angeles on Christmas Day and after about 24 hours (with a very long layover in Colombia) we arrived in Quito! We made our way to our hostal in the Mariscal area of town (aka Gringolandia) and immediately took a nap. When we woke up a few hours later, we were hungry and ready for adventure. We headed on a half hour walk through Parque Ejido and onto the Grand Plaza and Districto Historico. It was amazing to see all of the families out playing soccer, eating every kind of food from carts, and just enjoying their time. I have never seen so many people at the park! When we made it to the center of Old Town Quito (the Historical District), we were also amazed by the masses of people. Apparently, every Sunday the Historical Area where we were closes off the streets to cars and because this was the day after Christmas, everyone was out! We immediately noticed that the clouds seemed so close to us and then remembered we were at over 9,200 feet. Quito is one of the highest capital cities in the world and one of few major cities at this altitude. The backdrops of every corner were truly breathtaking with incredibly steep mountains in all directions and the city stretching down a narrow valley in the middle. We walked from the Grand Plaza along the gorgeous streets to La Compaña and Basilica San Francisco. The old white-washed buildings were striking. After wandering around for a bit, the hunger hit us and we began to walk back and UP (the city is incredibly hilly!) towards the main Grand Basilica. We stopped at the most crowded restaurant we saw, Marisqueria “La Fragata”. After using all the Spanish we could remember at the time, we order the most incredible seafood dishes! I ordered encebollado, which is a seafood soup with everything under the sun inside of it, and JJ ordered a pescado frito that was “one of the best first he has ever had!” What luck! With full tummies, we awed the Grand Basilica, with its giant spires and gothic look, and continued back through the park to our hostel. Walking through the park, we noticed a free art exhibit and checked that out, only after JJ purchased a 75 cent cup of morocho (a hot horchata/rice pudding drink that is actually made from sweet corn, milk and cinnamon!) that we gulped down! After admiring some wood tables and sculptures and picking up some treats at a nearby panaderia we made it back to our hostal and feel asleep listening to Quito’s nightly rainfall.

The next day, we met my cousin’s cousin (or mi prima), Alana Gilman. She is the fearless leader, coordinator, and incredible organizer of the Quito division of the Timmy Foundation, an organization that brings pre-med students, medical students, doctors, nurses, EMTs, and pharmacists to help in medically underserved communities abroad. I was so excited to meet Alana because I have literally head about her my whole life, but never actually met her! As luck and fate would have it, I emailed her and found out that we would be in Quito at the same time and we would be able to hang out with her and help out for a few days with the next medical brigade. We instantly clicked and spent hours talking and getting to know each other before it was time for Alana to get to work in planning her upcoming medical brigade with students coming from Davidson College in North Carolina (the next day!). We walked to lunch at a nearby place to get pan de yucca and smoothies. Pan de yucca is tiny bread pockets filled with yucca, delicioso! After lunch, JJ and I let Alana catch up on some work while we took a walk through Parque Carolina and to the Jardin Botanica of Quito (botanical gardens). We were instantly awestruck by the thousands of bromeliads and orchids, cactus, and jungle fruit exhibits. After meeting back with Alana, we headed to South Quito in order to eat dinner and discuss the preparations we were going to help her with the next day.

The next day, we started off at a nearby hospital prepping for the medical brigade. Alana and I sorted meds, while JJ and Alana’s friend Paco made many, many deliveries of meds to the “command central” we stayed at, El Centro de Espiritualidad. Then we ran some errands and picked up two interesting and delicious new fruits in our diet along the way, mangos para chupar (sucking magos) and guaba (which looks like something from Jack and the beanstalk). We spent about an hour in the afternoon taste-testing our goods and getting mango juice all over us. Later in the day, we made our way to the airport to greet the incoming students and med professionals. After a pizza dinner, we sorted meds late into the night to prepare for the upcoming days of providing medical services to those who have no access to medical services. For the next two days, we traveled with Alana and the brigade of 27 to two neighborhoods in the southern edges of Quito. JJ and I rotated between helping the pharmacist, Diane, sort and count medications for patients and taking incoming patients vitals with Andrew and Jennifer (height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, etc.). I was astonished at Alana’s ability to make the whole operation run so smoothly! We saw around 80 patients each day, who received a review of their medical history, a meeting with a doctor and/or a dentist and received their needed medications. After the second day of clinic, Alana took JJ and I to Calle de La Ronda, a very cool place for dinner, a drink, and exploring. The street is long with white walls, iron work, and flags. All of us agreed that it reminded us of Barcelona. We started with some incredible enchiladas, soup, and potato pancakes (all local specialties). Next, we had a hot drink canelazo of cinnamon, orange flavored moonshine….mmmmm! After that, we went looking for a really great Enchilada de viento, which is a sweet enchilada with cheese and sugar on top. After Paco picked us up, we met up with the group at El Panacillo Hill, where a giant statue, Virgen de Quito can be found. It was extremely misty and so she was hard to see, but we enjoyed our time with the Virgen!

On New Years Eve, we headed North of Quito to the town of Mindo, which is about 2 hours away and in the Cloud Forest for fun and festivities. We stopped along the way at Paulaiuia, a picturesque city/agricultural area in a giant crater in the Andes Mountains, that we were able to look down on. After arriving in Mindo and checking in to our “New Year’s Suite”, we had an excellent fish lunch and headed to do zip-lining through the cloud forest. We had a great time doing this and even got the chance to do a “Mariposa” through the forest which is where you are taken completely upside down on the zip-line through the forest! JJ and I were truly amazed by the endless GIANT bromeliads in the trees. After finishing the nine zip-lines, we decided to get even more of an adrenaline rush by going on a giant swing that began with a 20 meter drop. Everyone let out very entertaining screams, including Alana and me! Although, JJ did not scream, he just jumped off the platform almost exactly perpendicular. Alana snapped a really crazy picture of this, because it was the most dramatic jump of the day, we will try to get posted up on the blog! After Alana battled her fears and we all had our last thrill of 2010, we went back to the hostel for dinner and pre-partying for New Years. We had a great time hanging out with the brigade and playing some drinking games until we headed to the center square of the town for salsa and other dancing! We bought 24 ounces of beer for 1 dollar and danced until it was time to burn El Año Viejo on midnight. So far in Ecuador, we have learned that there are countless cultural traditions on New Year’s such as: wearing yellow underwear on New Year’s eve for good luck, walking with your suitcase around the block in order to travel frequently in the new year, eating 12 grapes on the strike of midnight for good luck in each month, cross dressing to earn money for the funeral of the Año Viejo, which will be burned on midnight. The Año Viejo is a huge or small doll (male, female, batman, superman, etc.) that is made of paper and is burned by individuals, families, or businesses to start the New Year (Año Nuevo) fresh. So instead of buying individual paper dolls, we all took part in burning one giant stuffed El Año Viejo that had actually been strapped to the front of the bus we took around for the past 2 days. Happy New Year!

After waking up late the next day, JJ and I joined in the brigade to go to the “Tarabitas” and take an open-air cable car through the cloud forest to a hiking point for several waterfalls. We really enjoyed walking through the cloud forest and even spotted a butterfly or moth (we couldn’t identify it) about the size of my hands! It was so big! We also of course saw incredible waterfalls and even found our own private on to take a dip in before heading back. We had a quick lunch and then took the bus back to Quito with the group, only to make a quick stop at a monument on the equator! The monument was not really much to look at, but it was pretty cool to be standing on (or fairly close) to the actual equator at zero degrees!

Today we woke up and headed to the Teleferico, which is a gondola ride to the volcanoes that tower over Quito. We really enjoyed the ride up, watching the clouds zip by us and seeing all of Quito from about 14,000 feet high! From the top of the gondola, we hiked up about 500 more feet to get more incredible views of the city and the surrounding mountains. When we got down, we headed to an authentic Ecuadorian restaurant/home of an art collector for some amazing hominy made of white corn, empanadas, and other delicacies like the tree tomato we had for desert! After lunch, we left the group we had such a great time with, said our long goodbyes to Alana and Paco, and settled into our next hostal (called the Secret Garden, with excellent rooftop views of Quito!). Tomorrow we are heading South from Quito to see the volcano Cotopaxi! What a great start to our trip! Happy New Year 2011 to everyone and we wish you all a great year of health, happiness, and excitement! We will write more soon!