Back in Ecuador

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After an emotional goodbye with my good friends at Pangea Hostel, I was on my way to the airport in Buenos Aires. The flight included a two hour stopover in Lima, Peru in which there was an interesting occurrence. While I was sitting at the gate waiting for it to board, an Ecuadorian lad sparked up a conversation with me. He said he had noticed I had come from Buenos Aires along with him and started to ask some friendly questions. We spoke about how I was meeting a good friend in Quito and that I was planning on staying on his farm for a week or two upon arrival. He then asked where the farm was and when I mentioned the teeny tiny village that NOBODY seems to know...even locals from Quito....he then asked what my friend's name was. I was taken back a bit by this thinking he was getting a bit too personal. Sensing this, he blurted out "is his name ....... or ......." and to my shock....it was!! He mentioned my friend's name along with his brother's and to my amazement....he was actually a good friend to one of them. What a small world! Never ceases to amaze me. I was not sure if my friend was going to be at the airport waiting for me or not since I had not spoken to him for a good month leading up to this arrival date and I was to land past midnight. So, I had decided to catch a taxi to a hostel if he was not there and then bus out to his farm the next day. David (the new found friend) mentioned his folks were picking him up and offered for me to stay with them for the night if my friend was not there which I thought was very sweet of him. I find Ecuadorians to be quite helpful and friendly in general and this was no exception. It took a while to get through customs and collect our luggage but once we were through I was excited to find my friend standing by the doors. 😊

For the next week I stayed on my friend's beautiful farm, enjoying every single second of it. It was great to be back to a familiar place and with a close friend. I did some weeding in the garden, played with the horses along with two new puppies and two llamas he had acquired, helped clear some land for my friend's future house, and even got to enjoy a cultural night in Quito watching a live band. I had a fabulous time and was sad when it was coming to a close. One week later my friend had to fly north to the US for his summer job so we parted ways....the last and final goodbye (not an easy one!)....and I headed off to Quito.

I had decided before returning to Ecuador that I was going to take some spanish lessons in Quito since I did not do it before. Yes, it is perhaps a tad late....5 months into my South American adventure...but better late than never! My spanish was pretty basic at that point and I decided I needed to improve it with proper verbs, etc. I arrived in Quito on a Thursday and signed up for 20 hours of lessons starting the following Monday. I stayed a few days at a hostel in new town Quito that turned out to be totally infested with bed bugs....unfortunately I found this out the bad way....over 20 bites to my lower back in one night. Also, to add to the already downfall to this hostel....the beds were made out of straw. I decided enough was enough and started to look for a new hostel. After a lot of searching, I decided to check in to the L'Auberge Inn located in between Old town and New town. It was a wise decision (no bed bugs) but ended up costing me more since I had to cab it back from spanish classes each evening (walked in the mornings...but much too dangerous to walk after class). Unfortunately, my view of Quito got worse and worse the longer I stayed. After about 6pm, the mariscal area fills up with quite a few sketchy people and it is important to watch your back as muggings are far from rare. I was more paranoid than normal because I always had my backpack on after class...normally I do not carry anything so that I do not look like a target. I caught many 'sketchy' folks eying me up each night making me quite uneasy....and warranted me to carry my pepper spray at all times...finger on the trigger. Sometimes I thought maybe I was overreacting but that thought changed when a local man was robbed by 3 men about 10 meters behind me at 6pm on a weekday...on a main busy street. I found it quite alerting...especially since nobody did a thing to help him...including the police officer the one dude carrying the loot jogged by. I later learned that people do not help for fear of getting stabbed...apparently that is a common occurrence for people that interfere. It is a sad truth but one I did eventually get used to. I don't want to make Quito sound horrible because it could be worse even though I found it to be the sketchiest city in South America (that I had personally visited). Typical of a larger city I suppose. I did grow to love Quito and found I had a sort of love/hate relationship with it. 😉

Spanish classes went quite well....4 hours a day for 5 days. It was quite intense, not to mention frustrating at times, but it was well worth it and I found that my speaking abilities dramatically improved over the week. Mid-week I had another "small world" incident happen. While I was checking into the new hostel just outside of New town....I saw a familiar face.....the frenchie I had met back in Bolivia! I could hardly believe it....I mean what are the odds!?!? We ended up getting re-acquainted and starting to hang out like old times. At the end of my spanish classes, the two of us did some sight-seeing in Quito (cultural museum, teleferico, etc) and then decided to head to Banos.

Yes, I have been to Banos before....but I liked it a lot and had time to spare so why not go again. 😉 We ended up doing the same bike ride I had done before (25km to Diablo falls) and on another day we rented a motorcycle for a few hours allowing us to see some pretty spectacular views from atop the mountains. Banos was still as touristy as I remembered it before but it reminds me of home....and for that....I love it. 😊

After a few days in Banos, we decided to ride the famous "Devil's Nose Train". I had heard mixed things about this train from other travelers when I was in that area 5 months before and had decided it was not worth the money. However, the frenchie was quite adamant about doing it and I figured...why not. So off we went....by bus we headed from Banos to Riobamba which is on the way to where the train begins.

Riobamba was a nice little town that I had to skip through the first time I was in Ecuador because of the erupting volcano in Banos that was spewing all of its ash into Riobamba. So it was nice to be able to catch it this time around and what a treat it was! The first night was a bit of a quiet night since my friend had a bit of a fever...which luckily broke by morning. The next day we hit the streets to check out their once a week market...and wow!! What a market it was! The fruit and veggie market (and meat) was likely one of the best markets I have ever seen. The pallet of colour was mind blowing...especially the fruits and the spices...and it went on for blocks in all directions. That night we were treated to fire and music right outside of our hostel window. We were told it was the kick off to the religious San Paulo holiday (if I remember correctly). A group of about 6 policemen played music with their instruments (later replaced with a stereo) and a truck loaded with dry weeds was parked nearby...fueling a massive street fire that went on for hours into the night.

The next morning we hopped on a bus and headed to Alausi....the small town that hosted the Devil's Nose Train. The bus ride went smoothly for the most part with us riding in the very front with the driver. There were a couple of bad moments that I will have a hard time forgetting unfortunately. One being where we spotted a chicken circling over and over and over in our lane up ahead. The driver could see me cringe as we approached it at a high speed and then suddenly he slammed on the brakes and stopped...right before we hit it. It was obvious there was something wrong with it since it just kept going around and around...either it had been hit already or it had been injured falling off of a truck. The assistant driver jumped out, grabbed it, and hopped back on the bus. The driver smiled at me and pointed at the chicken as if to say 'see...we saved the chicken'. And then I watched him hand it to an indigenous lady standing in the aisle...I would not say 'saved'....I doubt that chicken saw another night. 😉

The other incident was a bit more horrid...as a bus was approaching from the opposite direction, we noticed something hanging off of the side of it. Sadly, as the bus got closer , traveling at highway speeds, we realized it was a sheep. The poor thing had been on the roof and must have slipped off the side. It was tied by its neck to the railing and was hanging there...with its front feet gripped on the railing and back feet scrambling on the window to try to climb back up. We all just cringed...including our bus driver...as the bus went by, fully knowing that if that bus did not stop soon to help the sheep...it was going to be hung to death. It left us all feeling rather sick and quiet. 😞 On we went...continuing to Alausi.

When we arrived, we were welcomed with a huge parade...the start of the day's festivities celebrating the holiday. We scheduled the train for a couple of hours later and were able to watch most of the parade. It was full of dancing and music and bright colours and it was just a blast to watch.

As the train pulled up we were a bit surprised to see it was just one caboose...and a whole bunch of gringos lined up to board with no locals in sight. I climbed up on the roof and parked my butt near the front with feet dangling over the side (there is a railing to slide your legs under). It turned out to be a 'pretty' train ride that went on for just over an hour...but I would not say it was 'adventurous' nor scary. Regardless, I enjoyed the view in and around the gorgeous valleys and did not regret the experience at all.

Once the trip was over, we were at a loss as to whether we should stay a night there or head to Guayaquil. After looking outside the train station and seeing the festivities, we decided to stay a night. As we were checking into a hotel for the night, the receptionist looked at his watch and said we were just on time for the releasing of the bulls. We looked at each other like...what??

Wow! What a night it was! We walked down to where there were 100s of local people and found a stadium set up (with platforms, and ladders) filled with a different family in each 'cubicle'. We found one that was somewhat empty and asked the family if we could join them. Luckily they said yes and so there we were....the only tourists I could see....sitting on the top level on one side of the ring. What went on for the next few hours was nothing short of exciting. They one by one released a bull into the ring filled with a good 50 people at one time....many intoxicated. Many of the people carried a red cape of some kind and basically toyed with the bull....purely for bragging rights if they managed to not get tagged. It was nice to see a 'humane' style of bullfighting and I have to admit...I quite enjoyed watching it. A few people got thrown around like ragdolls but for the most part everyone was ok. During the bullfighting they lit up and released little mini hot air balloons into the sky and there were also fireworks and tons of great music. The festivities continued into the early hours of the morning with a massive live concert held on a stage set up in the street. Turned out to be a fabulous night and I was glad we stayed!

The next day we meandered around and took our time catching a bus to Guayaquil. We perhaps took too much time when we found out the bus was full and no tickets were available. We spoke to some locals and found out we could catch a bus to a little village....3 hours away....and then catch another bus to Guayaquil from there....2 hours. The direct bus to Guayaquil was under 3 hours. haha We decided to give it a whirl since there was not much to do in Alausi on a 'normal' night. It turned out to be a gorgeous bus ride...one that I will never forget. The bus climbed higher and higher to the tops of the mountains going through little villages...then down and up another mountain, etc. The view was truly spectacular!

By the time we arrived in Guayaquil, it was dark and so we hopped in a taxi and got driven to a main square where there are a bunch of hostels. We ended up going with the first one we walked into...the one the taxi driver recommended....because it was fairly cheap (more to come on this). I was surprised to find it so hot and muggy there...normal for that city I found out. After spending almost a week in Guayaquil, I found it to be quite a beautiful city that I enjoyed seeing. I didn't feel the sketchiness there that I felt in Quito so that was a relief. The newly constructed area along the waterfront (Malecón) was gorgeous and really neat to see. Each house that had a face-lift had a picture posted on the front of the "before" stage so it was neat to see the progression. The downfall was the hostel we had chosen. Each day we began to see its true colours more and more. It was infested with cockroaches and after a few sketchy moments.....we found out it was a 'rent by the hour' hostel!! haha So ya, uhm....lovely. I was glad to leave!!

I said goodbye to my friend (he was ending his journey there and heading back to France) and headed to Puerto Lopez. Yes, I was there before...about 5-6 months earlier...but I heard there was some amazing whale action going and and so I decided since I was so close I ought to check it out! And wow! Am I ever glad I did! I have never been that close to a whale before and so it was beyond exciting! The whale actually touched our boat! (see video) My first night in Puerto Lopez I ran into a lady I had met about a week before in Alausi so we ended up hanging out over the next few days. We had a blast doing some sightseeing, learning some salsa dancing with the locals by the beach, drinking many batidos con leche...trying out new fruits each day, and just having a total chillaxin' time.

After a few days I decided it was time to get up to Colombia so I bought a bus ticket for that night to head back to Quito. About 1 hour before my bus ride, I started to have second thoughts about ending my journey in Ecuador. I pulled out my Lonely Planet South American guide and saw there was a small town a couple of hours north up the coast that was titled an 'eco-city'. Being conservation minded I was intrigued and decided to change ticket. I ran over to the bus station and was delighted they allowed me to get a refund on the ticket to Quito and instead bought a ticket to Bahia de Caraquez. One more night in Puerto Lopez and then early the next morning I was on a bus heading north up the coast.

**I should add....some of you may notice the massive delay between the last post and this one. I figured I should address this. My apologies but once I arrived back in Canada I got caught up in the western way and found I have very little time to finish this blog. I had written this entry back then but never got around to uploading the pictures. So....here it is in its entirety....better late than never! :P

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Photos

Riobamba
Street party right outside the hostel window.

Alausi-Parade

Alausi
Waiting for the train. Typical scene of "progress vs. non-progress".

Alausi
First glimpse of the "Devil's Nose Train"