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Published: June 29th 2011
Cayambe, Ecuador
The Equator - Come to the South! No, stay in the North!Saturday 11th June - Saturday 18th June
Having not yet visited enough handicraft markets on our South American travels for my liking, we headed to the town of Otavalo, a couple of hours north of Quito to explore its famous and very large Saturday market (reportedly the largest in South America).
On our way there we passed though steep green hills, patchwork fields and dust blown villages that typify this part of Ecuador. As we crossed the equator at Cayambe, we stopped to celebrate our return to the Northern hemisphere (with a must have photo with me in the South and Chris in the North, trying to pull each other to the other side).
Whilst full of gringoes looking for deals, the colourful Otavalo market still manages to showcase the Ecuadorian culture - stalls selling spices and grains out of sacks, old ladies in traditional dress peeling vegetables for sale, chickens running loose and locals grabbing a bite to eat at one of the many food stalls lining the streets, where food was sizzling in big pots on small gas cookers (we weren't quite brave enough).
The most remarkable thing of all is that we left the market
Otavalo, Ecuador
A local lady peeling vegetables for sale with only a keyring to show from the many stalls we browsed, a victory in Chris' eyes.
With a couple of days left in Ecuador before our return to Peru, we hopped on a local bus bound for Banos, a small town in the central highlands famous for its thermal baths, surrounded by green peaks (including volcano Tungurahura which most recently erupted on 26th April 2011 covering the town in ash). However, with a name like Banos (Spanish for bathrooms / toilets) we wondered what we were letting ourselves in for!
After checking into our hostel we headed for the thermal baths of Piscina de la Virgen, for our 'essential Banos experience'. On arrival it became apparent that it was peak time for a soak. Local families filled the pools, children throwing beach balls, grandmas struggling to handle the heat of the water and oversized men wandering around in their tight budgie smugglers! Not quite the relaxing experience we were hoping for, but still, adopting the 'when in Rome' approach, we boldly went where no other gringoes dared to go, smack bang in the middle of the pool for a dip in the murky water.
However, the
Banos, Ecuador
Where no other gringoes dared to go! best was yet to come.....
Our hostel had it's own vapour baths which we were told were good for the skin, body, circulation, detox and digestive system, and at £2 a pop, why not? It started with us sat in individual steam boxes, with the lids slid to a close around our necks - the boxes got hotter and hotter. Four minutes of cooking later and the therapist (if you can call a fat guy in speedos that) was instructing us to dose oursleves with freezing cold towels, before leading us back into the steam boxes. This happened twice more. After our third sitting, we were led out to a couple of small baths and promptly pushed backwards so we fell into the icy water. Our therapist then began throwing cold buckets of water over us whilst massaging our stomach (just a little bit weird). Once more back in the box for a final four minutes to end the treatment. Oh no, the real finale was a full body, high pressure spray down with a cold jet of water. The shrieks from the spray room as Keri took a hose down were priceless...... Don't think we'll be doing that
Llanganuco Lodge, Peru
A little piece of Andean paradise again any time soon.
After catching our flight back to Peru our next stop was Huaraz, the adventure capital of Peru. Situated between the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca (the highest mountain range in the world outside the Himalayas), Huaraz is a trekkers dream and our boots were well and truly ready to roll.
After a 'very local' minibus ride (squished in like sardines next to villagers and their market produce) and a dusty, bumpy taxi journey later we rocked up at the Llanganuco mountain lodge, hoping for a bed. What we found was a little piece of rustic Andean paradise at the foot of the Llanganuco valley. The air was thin, as you'd expect at 3,800 metres above sea level, but it felt great to be there, settling into our mud hut bungalow.
After a good feed and a few glasses of wine under the stars, we decided on the two day treks we wanted to tackle: Llanganuco valley taking in lakes Chinancocha and Orconcocha, and Laguna 69 - a hike to 4,650 metres. Both treks were fantastic but the challenging hike up to Laguna 69 was really special. Snow capped peaks on either side
of the valley, cloud forests, waterfalls and finally at our destination, a beautiful topaz coloured lake. The way back provided the most excitement though and also taught us a valuable lesson - don't moooo at cows! Whilst I was taking a few snaps of a cow, Chris was making noises to get her attention. He must have a cracking mooo, as seconds after a bull with big horns started storming towards us. One kilometre down the track and he was still hot on our heels....
Sadly our time was up and following an overnight bus, we were back to battling the city streets of Lima once more. However, we only had one day to kill in Lima and spent this wandering along the cliff tops in Miraflores watching paragliders sail over the ocean, eating ice cream and playing games in the kids arcade.
15 weeks down and only ten days of our South American adventure remain..... the long awaited Inca Trail will see us soon!
C & K xx
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