Friday 25th November – Cotopaxi – Uninspired Bicycles
Oh the pain. I woke up this morning and attempted to get
out of bed when a pain equivalent to someone stabbing a knife in my back shot
up spine. The horse riding is now
showing its after effects. But the pain
is soon eased by the fact that the weather has cleared and views of Cotopaxi
are amazing. I really can’t get enough
of it.
Agonizing backs put
to one side, Helen and I decided to take a few bikes belonging to the hostel
and explore the Cotopaxi countryside by ourselves. That would have been fine except the bikes
were long overdue for some repair. Gears
and brakes were used at your own risk, so after a mere 15 minutes of hard slog the
bikes were ditched behind a hedge and we went on foot instead. After hitting a dead end and back tracking we
walked some of the same route as the horse riding before heading back to the
hostel and getting absolutely drenched.
Luckily the bikes had not been stolen – or maybe it would have been
better if they had. They certainly did
nothing to help my aching back.
After getting back
and drying out, we headed off to get the bus to Banos. Suspensions on Ecuadorian buses do not
exist. After a bumpy three hours (a once
stage actually bouncing so high out of the seat and hitting my head on the roof
of the bus) we reach Banos, head out for a bite to eat, a few relaxed drinks
and plan a massage for tomorrow to repair our backs from the damage caused by
the horses and buses.
Saturday 26th November – Massage Therapy
After waking up at 8
a.m. with the same pain in my back, if not worse due to the bus,, I can’t wait
to get a massage – something I have only ever had once before in Morocco. It really helps and leaves me feeling so relaxed
I could crawl back into bed. Mind you,
during the whole experience I realised I’m not a massage fan, or
at least not one given by a guy whose hands are so rough I can’t relax,
followed by him almost pulling my arms out of their sockets. We follow up the massage with a trips to the
banos – no not the toilet, the baths, which the town are named after. This is a great experience. There are three pools – one freezing cold,
one warm, the last one roasting. After
preparing by jumping into the cold one (memories of that waterfall jump come flooding
back again) we head for the warm one.
This is more like it. Then the
roasting one. I can barely get in it’s
so hot. Then time for the extremes. The baths are set beautifully outdoors beside
a huge waterfall. Three showers have
been piped into the waterfall which are colder than the cold pool. Helen and I struggle to stand under these,
but when done charge straight into the hottest pool. What a feeling. They are such extremes that your skin begins
to tingle with the heat. Doing this is
supposed to be good for you in some sort of way - and it feels it.
Once we finished in
the baths we headed back to our hostel, Plantas y Blanco, and met Kris. We had met Kris in Quito and Cotopaxi and arranged
to meet up again in Banos. We all headed
to Casa Hood, where we bumped into Rinath, who we had also met in Quito and
Cotopaxi.
Afterwards we headed
to the market and picked up some things to cook dinner in the evening. As my cooking skills leave a lot to be
desired (well I’m not that bad, I just wouldn’t inflict it on two people I have
just met), I let Helen and Kris do the hard work. It was great to get some home cooked food
again as the last time I had it was in Panama.
We then chilled on the rooftop terrace having beers and playing games
with Grant and Mike from New Zealand.
Once everyone else had disappeared (bed or out on the town) Helen and I
got talking to the night porter. He
spoke Quechua and began to teach us some phrases, which I somehow managed to
correctly pronounce every time. Maybe
it’s time to quite my Spanish attempts and switch language.
Sunday 27th November – Volcán Tungurahua
Although we were
supposed to leave Banos today we decided to stay and trek to Volcán Tungurahua
along with Kris. This involved trekking
up a mountain behind the hostel to get to the other side for the view. The climb itself wasn’t too difficult. The Ecuadorian attempts at measurements
were. After making it to almost the end
of the trek, we finally see a sigh saying ‘Mirador de Volcán – 800m’. After walking about 400m, the next sign said
600m. After about another four completely
inaccurate signs, each separated by about 200m but claiming we had only come
100m, I began to think we were chasing a ghost.
But finally the volcano began to come into view. It was amazing and immense. Tungurahua is an active volcano which last
had some activity about eight months ago and is too volatile to actually trek
on . As with Arenal, I stood there
hoping for an eruption.
On the trek back
down again we bumped into a group of five despondent people attempting to find
the mirador and asking, ‘Where is the mirador?
In the last 20 minutes we’ve just passed three signs all saying
300m. Is it much further?’ Glad it wasn’t only us struggling with the
measurement techniques. I reassured them
it existed.
After passing
through a near-by town which had a basketball court which doubled as a shelter
when the volcano erupted (at least the people could kill some time by throwing
a few hoops) we slide our way down the steep path to Banos, getting some perfect views of the city nestled in-between the mountains, then cooked some food
– I managed to make the guacamole this time.
Throughout our time
in Banos we bumped into a very strange guy in the hostel. This guy was odd to say the least, predicting
that the world would one day all speak English so why bother learning Spanish
and the reason people were vegetarians was due to the fact that they had an
uncontrollable urge to bite humans. He
also disappeared into thin air one day – no joking.
Monday 28th November – Absolutely Devastated
Today Kris, Helen
and I headed to Cuenca, another city in Ecuador. En route to the bus station we met Rinath who
joined us to get the bus. Once we boarded
the bus and headed out of Banos, Helen looked out the window and said, ‘There
looks to be smoke coming out of the volcano’, and there was. Another passenger on the bus informed us that
Tungurahua has erupted during the night.
Devastated doesn’t even come close to how I felt. I couldn’t believe that I was up looking at
it yesterday hoping for an eruption and now I find out it had done so when I
was on a bus leaving town. I was very
close to getting the bus to stop and get back somehow. From the bus I managed to get a photo. My mind racing trying to work out what to do
I decided not to go back. Maybe I’ll
regret it, but now I have to keep moving south.
I cannot believe the timing. But
then again, at least I returned to Banos and managed to see it from the
bus. That’s something.
After a strange bus
transfer in Rio Bamba (we tried to buy a ticket but were told get a taxi and
chase the bus which had just left and get it somewhere else in town) we start
our final leg of the trip to Cuenca On the
bus we met Brian, who we had met in Banos.
So upon arrival in a rainy Cuenca our healthy travelling troupe of me,
Kris, Helen Rinath and Brain check into La Cigale for the night.
Tuesday 29th November – Cuenca
Cuenca is a very
beautiful city and could not be more different to Quito. It has a very different relaxed feel with
beautiful buildings and very clean streets and from what I can see lacks the
bleakness of other cities I have been to.
We spent the day wandering around, stopping off at some pre-Columbian ruins
before visiting a museum (with some very odd videos playing in the foyer – one
showing a woman constantly having her head thrust into a barrel of water but a
torturer of sorts, another of a burly policeman demonstrating his truncheon
skills, and one of a cigarette end rolling on an escalator – I do not
understand this type of art). The rest
of the museum was pretty normal showing the traditional life of the indigenous
people and how they managed to create their shrunken heads. These were
made from their enemies heads and worn as a sign of their victory in
battles. Very strange looking and
macabre. Then after lunch we realised that the ruins we saw in the morning were not the actual ruins we were
looking and found the proper ones beside the museum. These are huge and pretty impressive. However, for me their authenticity is
somewhat questionable as I could clearing see three workmen putting the
finishing touches to some parts.
The evening was
spent at Eucalyptus Restaurant for a fantastic bite to eat. Backpacker food it isn’t.
Wednesday 30th November – Peru Planning
Tomorrow it’s time
for me to leave the group and head to Peru so today I spent my time working out
the best route and found a bus straight from Cuenca to Piura in northern Peru
which I’ll be getting tomorrow. I’ll be
back on the road by myself again while the others head to Vilcabamba. So in the evening we have goodbye drinks and
are joined by Floor. I’m not quite sure
how, but some of us ended up in a salsa club.
I did not salsa. I still don’t
know how to salsa.
Thursday 1st December – The Best Laid Plans…
After sitting around
the hostel all day recovering from last night and waiting to get my bus to Piura,
everything changes. All the guys were
about to leave for their bus to Vilcabamba and after last night subtly trying
to convince me to join them (floating Vilcabamba brochures across my laptop
screen, constantly saying Vilcabamba when they pass me) I decide at the very
last minute to scrap my Peru plans and join them - with Floor joining in the
adventure too.
The first bus we
have to get is to Loja. Sitting in the
very front seat I finally I get to see the driver and his companion in
action. Every bus driver in Ecuador has
a companion. I now work out that it is
his job to drum up business for the bus.
As we leave Cuenca, he constantly jumps off the bus, letting everyone on
the street know where we are heading and trying to get people on the bus. A task he is very successful at convincing
anyone he can to get on the bus. I’m
sure there are people on our bus who just popped out for a loaf of bread and
some milk and have mysteriously found themselves on a bus to Loja instead of
enjoying some tea and toast at home
As the bus continues
out of Cuenca, the night falls, the bus rises into the mountains, the clouds
come down and my heart rate soars.
Sitting in the very front seat beside Helen we have the worst view of
this journey possible. The road is
through the mountains with sheer drops to the side. The clouds have completely closed in and the
visibility is about 50m. Our driver is a
lunatic. The conditions do not deter him
from speeding along the roads, taking blind corners on the wrong side of the
road, and for unknown reasons turning the lights off every so often. At one point the conditions are so bad his
companion is directing him as to which way the corners are. I am gripping the seat, my stomach churning
with fear, trying not to look out but wanting to as well so I know that we are still
on the road. At times he just drives on
the wrong side of the road for 500m.
There is no reason for this.
Eventually we descend a bit and the clouds disappear, but fear does not as
he is still going much too fast and it’s now pitch black. This continues for three hours, the fear never
leaving me. Helen is beside me feeling
the same way. We can’t even talk to each
other it is so awful. I’ve never been
more pleased to see the lights of a city come into view. Eventually the nightmare is over and we reach
Loja.
Once we get off the
bus from hell we are just in time to get the last bus to Vilcabamba, a much
more pleasant journey and check into Izhcayluma Hotel. It’s about 11 p.m. but even now we can see
this an amazing place. We get shown to
our rooms and I have a double bed.
Luxury. Slightly tinged by the
fact that it’s beside another double with a complaining couple in it. My attitude to this - you are in a dorm - if
you want privacy get a private room. Sorry
– rant over. After a few drinks we head
to bed – glad to be alive after the bus journey – and prepare ourselves for
some trekking tomorrow.
Friday 2nd December – Believe Me, It’s The Cows Who Know
Happy Birthday
Deirdre!!
We all trekked to a
waterfall today. The trek was great
through high mountains and across rivers until eventually reaching the
waterfall. We were hoping to swim in the
pool at the bottom, but it was too small and much to cold. On the way we came across several cows
blocking our path. Cows and me are not a
good mix. Firstly, and I really found
out on this trek, I am terrified of them.
They are very unpredictable and dangerous, especially the bulls – those horns
should be enough to scare anyone. Plus,
and some people know my theory on this, the cows know something they are not
telling this. I told Kris and Helen my
theory on the trek to Tungurahua. They
don’t agree, no one does, but we’ll find out some day and it’ll be too late for
us all. It was on the way back on this
trek when I got most terrified of the cows.
As we approached the end we passed a bull on the side of the track and then
within a few metres another one was blocking our path. As we turned to retreat the one we passed had
started an ambush tactic and blocked our retreat. I was frozen with fear. Brian was at the front with the bull huffing
and puffing and scraping its hoof on the ground. Not knowing where to turn we eventually
spotted a gap in the trees and the fence and made our way off the path (me
almost decapitating myself on the barbed wire as I was in such a rush to get
away). At this point the bulls seemed to
have gotten bored (or as I’d rather put it – accepted our tactical victory) and
walked away, allowing us to return to the track.
After that drama we
got to the hostel, swan in their swimming pool, grabbed dinner, drank too much,
tried to stay up for the sunrise, failed and went to bed.
Saturday 3rd December – Finally Peru Bound
Happy Birthday
Caitlin!!
With a heavy head
and knowing the journey I have in front of me tonight, I spent the day relaxing
in the Izhcayluma Hotel and called home as I haven’t spoken to anyone in
ages. Once we all readied ourselves we
headed back into Loja, joined by Edwin, to get our buses. Sadly Kris and Floor were off in a different
direction so we had to say our goodbyes before hopping on our overnight bus to
Piura. Tomorrow morning I’ll finally be
Peru.
No comments:
Post a Comment