Blogs from Baños, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 34

This week has not been the usual run of good events; 1. One fainting episode in the sauna. 2. The infallible Nicole gets sick. 3. A shifty Ecuadorian steals our stuff from under our noses. From Quito we headed North and did the Gulliver's mountain biking trip down Cotopaxi. This involved a climb to a glacier at 5000m, which was great fun, then a mountain bike ride down the steep gravel road tho the bottom. Cal really enjoyed that part of it, skidding and sliding everywhere, where as I was petrified and went the pace of a snail (see the photo of me in front of the bus). This is one adventure/adrenaline sport that does not do it for me, although the chocolate cake at the bottom was excellent. In fact we liked the farm ... read more

Hello all- We are alive and well in Riobamba, Ecuador in the northern Andes. Actually "well" could be an overstatement at the moment, as we just returned from our first and only bull fight. Not exactly the display of machismo one might expect, as the bull can hardly stand when the "brave" Matador enters the ring. Much to our excitement, one of the injured bulls still managed to pummel his aggressor before finally meeting his maker. We couldn't help root for the bull, but were obviously disappointed as the odds were stacked highly against him. It was truly a ONCE in a lifetime experience. With the exception of the aforementioned, our trip to date has been unbeatable. We spent 6 sunny hours in Miami on a layover and arrived in Quito the evening of 4/17. ... read more

Well my time in Quito is nearing an end! I have finished my Spanish school, (got 89% on my final test! go me!) and altho I reckon I can speak Spanish well enough now I still need vast improovement!! but I have 5 more months for that! well Quito was amazing! saw most of it (though sadley not the teleferico......just out of sheer laziness) spent most of my time drunk in either Papayanet (with the papayanet crew!! gonna miss ya all when i leave!) aswell as patatus (where there is a pompey shirt hanging over the pool table!) and Finn Mcools, a great little Irish pub run by a manc who supports liverpool (strange i know) and his girl friend from Belfast. Also found an Irish pub called Kilkenny!! But despite the great name its not ... read more

Ecuador Travels Baños, Hot Springs On Easter Sunday I took the bus to Banos. I´ve never seen more hotels/hostals on each block in any town. Apparently, last week for Semana Santa each place was full of party-goers. Seems that the party-goers leave Quito for Easter week while we faithful hang around. But with lots of people comes some savory characters. A few robberies have occured on the mountain trails, some with guns. A Norwegian woman in the place I´m staying was grabbed off her bicycle a few days ago. She was thrown into a car, eyes, mouth etc. taped and was forced to give them her pin numbers for her debit cards. She was held for 3 hours and must have been terrified especially since she was aware of another foreign woman last year who has ... read more

45 meters from the rocky ground below, a waterfall cascading over me, Fear submitted to determination, the essence of life surging through my veins, and a smile cast across my face as I hung from a single rope! The sensations that I felt this past week in Banos whilst repelling down a 50m waterfall were truely some of the most pure feelings of accomplishment and joy that I have felt for a long while. As many of you are aware I have a firm fear of heights, 'strange for such a tall guy' some may say, but the truth is that my fear of heights has haunted me in every vertical pursuit on which I have ever embarked throughout this comedy series that is 'My Life'. So when my two travelling companions and I saw ... read more