SO much to write about and so little time… If only I could just upload a bunch of pics so you could see all the beautiful places we’ve visited and the fun things we’ve done…. But will have to wait till I’m home to do that…
Anyways, we didn’t have the chance to do ANY sightseeing in Baños ‘cos it rained for two straight days whilst we were there. Still, it was a nice town to visit, if only for it’s location. We set off on the Saturday afternoon to Riobamba, where we found a grotty old hostal (the cheapest we could fin) beside the train station, and went for the CHEAPEST dinner ever, where we got a big bowl of soup and a plate of rice, potatoes, sausage, fried egg and salad for $1… yes, $1! I couldnt believe it… and it was yummy! before heading to bed, we stopped off at a concert of local National music that was taking place near the train station, in order to celebrate the inauguration of a new train.
We saw some traditional dancing and listened to San Juanito, before heading to bed. We hadn’t been able to buy a train ticket from Riobamba to Alausi cos the train had been small and was already full, so we got a bus down there and once in Alausi (a cute little village surrounding by rolling hillls and mountains, which reminded me a bit of a typical Mallorcan village) we bought our Nariz del Diablo ticket. The trian didn’t leave till midday, so we had time to have breakfast and have a chat with Santiago (one of the guides I’d met at the Hacienda, who happened to be on a tour with a Dutch couple and were visiting the same places as us… Quilotoa, Baños, Nariz del Diablo, Cuenca…). He’s a lovely guy, such a laugh, so we had fun chatting and joking in the sun. Once the train arrived, we piled in and set off, disappointed at not being able to ride on top of the train like we’d seen in so many pictures (apparently it wasn’t allowed anymore since a guy had recently died whilst doing it). HOwever, about 10 mins into the ride, the train stopped and the conductor announced that, for an extra $1, we were allowed onto the roof of the train (so long as we didn’t telltale once we got back to the station…). So we all eagerly piled ontop of the train and set off on what turned out to be a much more exciting ride than it could’ve been. We sped down this winding, zigzagging track and up the Nariz del Diablo mountain, arriving back at the station an hour later feeling exhilarated. we had lunch with Santiago and the couple, and then they set off in his car and we went off to find a bus to Cuenca.
We managed to catch one at 3ish, arriving in Cuenca at about 7pm after having ridden half the way standing up cos it was so full. We found another nice, cheap hostal, and rested for a bit before heading out to find something for dinner. Along the way, we bumped into a taxi driver, who started chatting to us and then, along with his 16/17yo son, tried to persuade us to take a ride to get to know the city by night. We insisted we weren’t interested, ‘cos we only wanted to stay close to the hostal so we didnt get lost, but he told us he’d take us for free, and was so persistant that we got in and he drove us through the historical centre (which was really pretty at night)…
We happened to mention we were interested in trying Cuy (guinea pig, a delicatesse in Ecuador) during our stay, so he said he’d take us to a restaurante where they sold it, but ended up driving us to the other side of the city (at least 20mins away), which made Axel and I really annoyed ‘cos we knew we’d never find our way home without paying for a taxi (which was exactly what we’d wanted to avoid doing), so I complained to the driver and asked him to take us back to where he’d picked us up… which he reluctantly did… I’ve no idea what he wanted from us, ‘cos he’d told us from the start that he’d give us a free ride, but he dropped us off grumpily and drove away…
Still, we were glad to be back at a place we recognised, so we began our search for somewhere to eat, but by then it was about 9.30pm on a sunday night, so nowhere was open, and we ended up having to buy some toasted sandwiches and a choc bar from a shop that was about to close. We stopped off at an internetcafe so Axel could burn some CDs, but I got really tired and headed round the corner home to bed… Turned out I was really lucky, cos as I found out at 2am that night when I woke up to Axel rustling around in his bag, he’d been attacked and robbed on his way home 1/2 hour after me… A guy had asked him for $1, and when he’d refused, they’d got into a fight (the guy punched Axel in the stomach, leaving him sick for the next 3 days, and Axel apparently knocked one of his teeth out), when a second guy arrived with a huge knife, so Axel gave them $5, which seemed to satisfy them and they left… I’m just so glad that didn’t happen to me… It felt like such a safe place, and the hostal was only a minute from the internet cafe, but I guess you never know…
The following day, after chatting with Axel, we both decided to head back to the Hacienda for 3 days, both cos Axel wasn’t feeling well and cos Santiago had told me he was gonna be there for a few days with some new clients and I wanted to see him again, so, despite it seeming silly to go all the way back up north again (only to return to the south a few days later), we packed our bags and headed ‘home’. We bought tickets for the night bus, and had the whole afternoon free, so decided to go visit Ingapirca, some Inca ruins about 2 hours north of Quito. It took us much longer to get there than we’d thought, though, so we didnt arrive till about 5ish, by which time we had under an hour till sunset. We also hadn’t known you had to pay a $6 entrance fee, but we bumped into a local old man, who showed us a secret way through some barbed wire and across a field in order for us to save having to pay.
However, whilst trying to climb over, I slipped on the mud and cut my hand on the wire, so I guess it was a bit of a stupid idea after all. Still, we got in for free, and although the ruins were really disappointing (they really didn’t seem that old… as if they’d only been built a few years beforehand…), they were lit up by hte glow of the sun setting, which actually made them much more attractive than they might have been during the day.
Having arrived so late, we annoyingly missed the last bus back, and ended up walking for about 1/2 hour back towards the closest town in the dark, where we managed to find a taxi to drive us to a place called Cañar, from where we were able to catch a bus back to Cuenca… And ended up paying the taxi driver $6, so I guess something was paying us back fro not having wanted to pay the Ingapirca entrance fee… God, what an adventure that night!
We caught the night bus at 10pm back to Machachi, which was an incredibly uncomfortable, and cold, ride, and the stupid bus drivers didn’t warn us once we got to Machachi, but kept driving on, till we asked them where we were and it turned out we’d gone too far and we’d arrived in Aloag, about 1/2 norht of Machachi. So at 5.30 am we stumbled off the bus and headed back down the highway, having to catch another bus in the opposite direction back to Machachi. about 3hours and two further hitchhikes up to El Pedregal later (one of them on top of a huge pile of wood in the back of a truck), we finally arrived at the hacienda… god, it was good to be ‘home’ and see everyone again.
We spent three days relaxing, Axel especially (who was still feeling sick), and went on a horse back ride each of the three days we spent there, with Santiago and his two clients (two girls, from the US and Germany) and Celsito, who was very pleased to see us again… Which was great fun, especially cos they were three rides we’d never been on before… The first day we rode to the Laguna Limpiopungo, along a new route we’d never been on, the second day we rode to the base of Rumiñahui – again a route I’d never been along – and the last one took us all the way down the valley to Sta Rita (another of TDV’s hacienda’s), which was a fun ride. There, we dropped off the three passengers, who were headed back to Quito, and Celso, Axel and I rode back to the Hacienda with the other 3 horses.
That afternoon, we packed our bags once more and set off for Machachi, where we met up with most of the people from the Hacienda (Celso and his three kids and wife, Rebeca and her hubby Rodrigo and gorgeous daughter Anabel, Alba, Angel, Flora and her little daughter, and Lucia and her cute little son, and Victor (Washington’s lovely, incredibly funny older brother) who has a 16 seat van and was gonna drive us all the way back down south to the Fiestas del Cisne. Again, it was an uncomfortable and incredibly long 12hour ride, but it was fun to be with the ‘gang’ from the hacienda (it felt like one big family outing), and we stopped off at a place called La Toma, close to Loja, which was an Ecuatorian version of a water park/huge swimming pool, where we cooled off by splashing around with the others in the murky water, and tried to teach them all to swim (only Angel knew how to). We then had a ‘cucayo’ (picnic) on the grass, which consisted of a pile of chicken pieces, cuy (guinea pig), empanadas, slices of cheese, and tostada (toasted maize coated in panela, or raw suger)… We had an incredibly good time , and it felt great to be able to participate in a local event, feeling really at home with our Ecuatorian ‘family’… Especially ‘cos it was a situation that no tourist would ever find him/herself in…
The two days we spent at El Cisne were also good fun (it was amazing to find out how incredibly religious theyare here), but I’ve run out of time to go into detail. Axel and I just spent two amazingly relaxing days at a luxurious hostal in Vilcabamba (a cute little town right at the south of Ecuador), where we treated ourselves and spent two days lazing aournd in hammocks (we needed a break and a rest), and now we’re back in Loja and about to catch another night bus to Guayaquil, where we hope to catch a bus tomorrow up the coast to a small seaside village called Canoa (which we’ve heard great things about), where we’re gonna spend the next few days before heading back to Quito on Friday.
