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Published: June 24th 2007
Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for all of the comments and notes. It's so great to read them!!
Well, we decided it was time to leave Banos, only there was one problem. Part of the road around the mountain collapsed from all of the rain and there was no transportation in or out of the city. We headed to the bus terminal anyway...hopeful that we were misinformed. Unfortunately, what we were told was true, but at the terminal we met another couple (James from the UK and Chantel from Holland) who were just as unhappy about being stuck in Banos for up to 4 days while they fixed the road. Chantel is fluent in Spanish and she was talking with whomever she could about finding a way out. She had heard that it might be possible for us to get to the damaged part of the road, go around on foot, and then get a ride on the other side. Somehow, she was able to orchestrate all of this for us! Another couple from California and a girl from Colombia were also up for the challenge. The group of us jumped in the back of a pick-up truck with our
backpacks in the drizzling rain. A few locals jumped in with us. We road around the mountain for about 20 minutes until we got to the spot. We were laughing and nervous and wet. Keep in mind that we are still in the middle of the steep Andes 😊 We got to the spot and they weren't lying about the road actually falling out! Check out the picture that is in this blog somewhere. We were told it could be over a mile walk, but luckily, it was only about 200 yards. I have to say it was a little nerve-racking going across! There was a guy with a huge video camera taping us and we are assuming it was the news. After we walked across we had to figure out how the hell we were going to get to the next town to a bus stop. We found a truck that would take us and we all jumped in...and so did several locals. We counted 10 of us in the back and 3 up front. One guy had only one leg in and one leg was hanging over the outside of the truck. Dan said he swears he will
never again laugh when he sees a truck overflowing with people.
We got to the next town and hopped on a bus. A few bus rides later (on one of the buses we were stopped and the whole bus was searched by police with machine guns) we ended up in a town on the Pacific coast called Puerto Lopez. I can imagine that with the sun shining and a lot more people, this place would be a great spot to stay at for a while. But, it's overcast and somewhat of a ghost town right now. We are staying at an awesome hostal called Hosteria Mandala. It is by far one of the coolest places I've ever stayed at. It's eco-friendly and all of the furniture is made of some type of beautiful wood. It´s very eclectic with hammocks everywhere and an enormous garden that has paths winding through it to get to the cabins. It´s right on the ocean. We just love it! Today we´ve been lazing around in hammocks and reading.
Anyway, I hope you all have sunshine back home. 😊
Take Care!
Nikki & Dan
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Julie Nurse
non-member comment
You are ready for Amazing Race
Hey Nik! After reading your adventurous tales of navigating the remote mountains of Ecuador, I am fully convinced that you two are ready for the Amazing Race! Keep the great stories coming! Adios! Your amigo, Julie