Mountain Dancing

Aloha mis amigos,

After a rip roaring good time in the jungle, we had to depart back to civilization. A shame really cause I could easily spend weeks or months exploring the Amazon. In fact, I am reading a book about a guy who kayaked the entire 4500 miles of the river. Pretty amazing. After a long bus trip, we landed in a town called banos. It is a hub for adventure activities and fun bars. It is also surrounded by volcanoes. We attempted to drive up close to it so that we could hear and feel it. Sadly it chose not to erupt while we waited for over an hour. Apparently this is unusual as it rumbles pretty frequently. So instead of volcano audio recordings I just got some night frogs.

The next morning we awoke early to jump on some ATV Quad bikes and race up and down a mountain. They went fast and we were virtually alone on this dirt road. There were some incredible views and it was fun to skid in the mud. My bike actually died in the middle of the trail but we used a cell phone (it worked on a mountain) to call a guy with a truck to jump start it. That was a pretty funny sight. Later that day we wandered into a 3 story bar and quickly found ourselves engaged in an intense game of pool with some local Ecuadorians. They did not speak much english but we had some great laughs and lots of cerveza. Still later that night we joined the swarming night life. This was Easter weekend. Latin America loves easter and they travel to cities like this in droves to celebrate. The streets and clubs were slammed. We ended up in a hot and sweaty salsa club with a live band. The dancing was intense and fun. The band even struck up a song about Che Guavera. Very patriotic for the locals (although che is not from Ecuador).

After a late night, we woke up super early to catch a famous train ride through the mountains. Sadly the station we planned on catching it at had a landslide over the tracks...so we had to drive further south to catch a different train down The Devil's Nose. This is apparently an engineering marvel as the tracks have to switchback to and fro down the mountains. The other distinctive feature was that you can sit on the roof! The atmosphere around the train was pretty aggressive as many people wanted to get the best possible seats for viewing. Just to get on the train, our guide had to do some schmoozing with some folks he knew. We worked out this crazy system where he would sneak us on just at the last second before the whole huge line got to rush to the good seats. That was almost as amusing as the train ride.

We arrived in the o so colonial town of Cuenca. This is a bustling antique city and also boasts the 3rd largest population in Ecuador. It was a nice city but I can firmly say that I am not a person who enjoys exploring cities on vacation. I would much rather be doing some outdoor adventure or mingling with locals. The only exception is hot sweaty salsa clubs. We were able to find a guide that would take us to the top of a mountain with some mountain bikes and pick us up at the other end. This proved to be an incredible trip. It was a 50 kilometer (31
mile) trail down a gorgeous mountain that started at 4200 meters (14000 feet) and followed a rushing river the whole way down. Brilliant! The guide (who actually didn't bike) was the 1996 Ecuadorian downhill bike champion. He was a serious adventure dude.

So we finally get to top and we begin our descent. Literally 30 meters ( 5 seconds) into the trip one of the riders (their were only 3) slipped into a muddy ditch on the side of the track and crashed hard on her arm. I looked back and could hardly believe it. It was a hilarious and peculiar sight. She was covered in freezing cold mud and her bike was on top of her...and we started riding 5 seconds ago!! She didn't seem to be in great pain but after trying to get back on the bike her wrist was giving her problems. It turns out she had to bail on the ride and the truck drove her back with no ride at all. Major bummer. I hope she is ok. The rest of the ride was fabulous. Rolling hills over ultra lush green mountains and thundering rivers. We passed through very isolated towns with unique churches and worn down schools. Sometimes dogs and even children would run along with us and scream with delight. I would shout "Rapido! Mas Rapido!" and they would try to run faster. Awesome! The ride was fast and exhilarating with constant beautiful sights and sounds of nature . I had to really make a concerted effort to focus on the road and not revel too much in the aesthetics.

We finally finished the ride covered in mud and rain. We felt like warriors! On the ride back some interesting street performers stepped directly in front of our car. Two men started juggling clubs across the hood of the car while another girl danced and twirled flags. They were all painted and dressed like clowns. It was quite clever so I donated some coins. One last related note on this day...I was in the shower scrubbing all the mud off my body when I almost slipped and fell. To think I have survived all of these adventures with no problem and the closest I have come to injury was in the shower! I guess what I am saying is...everyone be careful when you take your showers tomorrow. Its more dangerous than anything I am doing!

We flew back to Quito tonight and we embark to some rustic haciendas tomorrow.

Keep them comments comin! They give me smiles galore!!

AMore,
BRad

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