Body cleansing...mountain air and whiskey!

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A week of vacation from a volunteer position? Sure! One of the guys I work with, Jeremy, and I decided to take off last Saturday to embark on a trekking adventure through Cajas National Park. It was very unorganized and we figured we´d find the information once we got to Cuenca...so in order to sleep on the 9 hour overnight bus we thought it a good idea to buy a bottle of whiskey and have a few sips. Somehow one turned into a lot more than one and we wound up on a very fun bus ride. Unknowingly we had booked our trip in the direction of Macas, where the road isn´t much of a road rather a path. Every bump was felt on the rocky, sandy road. As we pulled into the station to change buses we were feeling fine...and shared our lovely bottle of booze with the man in the bus office. He seemed like it was nothing out of the ordinary to be taking shots while working with a couple of foreigners. The remainder of the bus ride was much the same...laughing and drinking until we realized it was actually impossible to sleep on that wretched road. As we pulled into Cuenca about 6am we could think of nothing but a bed to crash, and of course no one answered at the hostel door. We made our way down to one of the beautiful rivers and napped until the sun was too hot and the church bells were too loud. That was the first of many good naps to come along that river bank. Wilson, the hostel owner finally opened the door with a big smile, laughter and let us in by late morning. We spent Sunday alternating between napping to recover from the excessive consumption of whiskey and trying to find information and materials for our 5 day trek. It was amazing how no one in the city, only 30km from Cajas, had much information or even topographical maps. People in town had strong opinions about what we were going to do. They ranged from: ¨You’re going for 5 days?? You´ll be bored after 2!¨to ¨You´re going to Cajas alone (without a guide) you are bound to get lost and it is freezing!!¨So we printed out some maps we found online and made several rough ideas on possible routes. We woke up refreshed the next morning and very excited...however it was amazing that our backpack weight almost doubled once we added the food we bought. Our line of thinking was to hike and camp for 5 days but we brought enough food in case we got lost to go for at least 7. We assumed we would make fires and fish to liven up the salami and tuna diet we had planned.

EL PARQUE NACIONAL CAJAS

We waited on the corner for our bus to Cajas and talked to a man and his son from the coast. He recommended fishing for trout with either meat, cheese or balls of flour because he says we will not be finding any worms up there. We get dropped off at the ranger station and learn all we need to know and even get a map. They acknowledge our original route but tell us the path down to Soldados isn´t marked (60 km south) and that we really shouldn´t go without a guide. We had a final hot cup of coffee in the Refugio’s cafe overlooking the beautiful and rugged peaks that we were about to traverse. Jeremy and I decided on doing an extensive hike, starting at Lago Toreadora and taking route 6 towards Lago Osohuayco. From there we would cross the highest point somewhere around 4200meters and reach Lago Luspa. Our final two days we expected to cover 14+ hours of trail and reach the control point at the other end of the park near Lago Llaviuco. Needless to say our plans were much more ambitious than what we truly accomplished.
Day 1
Jeremy and I take off with a little skip in our step and walk down the main road looking for the trailhead. En route we passed a group of construction workers, all offering big smiles, good wishes and also a warning: Üstedes van a morir de frio!!¨(You guys are going to freeze to death!) But hey, at least he said it with a smile! At the trailhead we saw 3 rangers who we ran into several other times during our stay. The day was spent in a cloudy, chilly mist taking in the sights of the many lakes and strange new plants. While the majority of the scenery was paramo, or open grassland, there were odd patches of trees with bark like orange paper. Also, due to the many interconnected lakes (230+) the ground was constantly wet. It took on the appearance of the bottom of the sea with large mounds of star shaped green plants, red coral-ly tubes and lots of brightly colored epiphytes and moss. We set up camp that night after hiking for a good 5 hours or so near the Lake Osohuayco. As the sun was setting we watched as the clouds moved in, followed by the unforgiving cold. Jeremy briefly tried to start a fire but the wet wood made it all too difficult after a first day of hiking. Even though we were in a state of utter exhaustion our hopes of an easy nights sleep were dashed by the frigid air. I think I slept more once the sun came up!
Day 2
We woke up the next morning completely wiped out. I didn´t even have energy to read my book! The rangers walked by our tent in the late morning and laughed when they saw our attempt at a fire- maybe next time. By this point we still figured we had one day of leniency in our overall plan and decided to keep camp and just hike up a nearby peak for fun. We should have left an hour earlier because once we neared the top the dense fog set in and we couldn´t even see the lake below us, much less the panoramic view we were hoping for. I swear I remember being near the top as it started to rain and wanting nothing but to lie down and close my eyes- so tired! As we returned we took notice that neither of us had an appetite since starting our trip...something that continued for another day or two (and also kept our bags on the heavier side!). I learned that night how to tie a hook to a fishing line and we set up camp on a rock and tried to hook the trout that keep swimming by, with no luck. Maybe they just don´t like cheese 😉
Day 3
The day started off good but I noticed how heavy my legs were. It seemed to take us forever to get the lake out of our sight. Jeremy and I found out we are the worst song singers as neither of us ever remembered more than a line of two from each song; thus we resorted to singing children´s songs. I don’t ever want to hear “Hakuna Matata” again!
The scenery always seemed to change yet never by a lot. There was always a lake in view but it looked different each time...either with a change in the sunlight, clouds or my personal level of exhaustion. Seriously, after a few hours of going up mountains with a heavy bag I didn’t care much more about another lake. There were times I had to count steps until I would allow myself to stop. Meanwhile Jeremy looked as if he was getting alone just fine- prancing right up the mountain sides and leaving me gasping for air. We wound up taking it slow to allow for the enjoyment of the magnificent views and also to give me enough energy to keep going. After about 7 hours we arrived at Lago Luspa where we camped in a nearby forest area. The trees were all made of that same strange orange paper-like back...which we found out did not burn very well. We went to sleep yet again without a hot meal and had another restless night of cold and little sleep. But the morning brought good news...
Days 4 and 5
Clear skies and HOT coffee!!! To wake up and be able to see endless stretches of blue sky after days of gloomy fog was amazing. The morning was topped off by Jeremy’s successful fire, which led to hot oatmeal and heaven sent hot coffee. The sheer level of exhaustion registering in my legs led us to discuss what would become of our trek. Based on what we had set out to do, the days hike was registered at 7 hours of high difficulty...which meant more or less 9 hours for me, followed by one more day of 7 hours at medium difficulty. We came to the decision to hike around camp, stay there one more night and leave through a different checkpoint. In the morning, it was such a strange feeling to be walking along the road to following morning waiting for someone to pick us up after spending a few days isolated from the world.
Back in Cuenca
We got back to Cuenca and returned to the same hostel, anticipating Wilson’s contagious smile at Tourist of the World. A hot shower and warm meal were in order and afterwards we both felt life surge through us once again. We decided to end our trip the same way we had started it...with whiskey. It is amazing how entertaining people watching can be, especially in the middle of the central park/plaza. We were basically sitting in the middle of a children’s game of soccer yet they did not acknowledge us for at least 20 minutes, finally the ball came nearby and Jeremy let out a growl. One of the children looks at him and says, “Tigre? Vaya a la selva!” or Tiger? Go to the jungle!! As we left the park bench in search of a bathroom I was reminded of why I like to travel so much. There, waiting to cross the street Jeremy (who was even wearing a blanket and looking pretty scruffy) locked eyes with some guy and a conversation ensued. Next thing you know, the two of us, Jhener (the guy), Alicia (his older 2nd cousin) and Alfonso (her new Spanish-painter friend) were all in a bar laughing over drinks. One round later we are getting into a cab to head back to the older lady’s house for a dance party. The sight of her in the cab taking shots of whiskey out of the bottle will stick with me for a long time. The evening was only getting started...we danced and drank and laughed until the early hours of the morning when she whipped up a delicious pasta dish close to 4 am. We had already decided we had no idea where we were in the city and took her up on the offer of a night’s accommodation. The following day we were treated like we had all been friends forever. Jeremy and I got up to clean and desperately tried to ignore the massive hangovers we felt creeping up. Honestly I have not felt that horrible in ages. We started cleaning and Alicia came down...after seeing this 50+ year old woman lying down on the couch in obvious pain we all decided to head back to bed and reconvene in another hour or so. This time I was awoken to a delectable banana batido (like a milk shake)...it was almost as if they knew chocolate milk is my hangover cure and this was as close as they could get! We assumed we’d just get a cab and head back to Puyo but we were in store for a treat. We all headed out to the largest market I have ever been to. All of the senses were on high alert. First off, just seeing the sheer amounts of people and goods was overwhelming, then the sounds of their products, “frutillas!! Chancho!! Papas!!” and on and on. We grabbed a spot for breakfast and I think the fresh squeezed OJ was the best part. I’m still surprised that at that point I was able to eat the main course of squishy pig skin that was surrounded by rice, beans and corn. Afterwards we followed Alicia as she expertly weaved in and out of the throngs searching for her favorite vendors and gteeting friends along the way. I’m sure we must have been quite the sight..foreign, tall and hungover. We picked up lots of fresh veggies and some meat to make a wonderful churrasco back at the house. The afternoon was filled with cooking, card playing, walking about town and of course that delicious meal. She even insisted we stay and have the merienda at her house around 9pm before taking off for our overnight bus back. We had a blast with them but it still surprised us both when she broke into tears as we were getting into the taxi that night...it felt like we had all become so close in such a short period of time. Of course we promised to keep in touch and can only hope of getting back down that way soon. Our bus ride home, luckily, was uneventful and we arrived back in Puyo without any issues. It was strange to return to the house full of 10 people after such solitude but also led to the beginning of another wonderful week here in the jungle.

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