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After the sunny climates of the Galapagos Islands, mainland Ecuador came as a real surprise, especially when we stepped out of the airport in shorts and flip flops to rain and a cool 9 degrees! Still, being British it take more than a little rain to dampen our spirits!
Our first stop in Quito, the capital of Ecuador was to be the Secret Garden Hostel, which had been recommended to us by one of the girls we did the cruise with. On arrival it seemed nice with a beautiful terrace overlooking Quitos Old Town, though perhaps a little quiet. Daz (one of the volunteers working there...more on that later!) advised us that it was pretty unusual to be this quiet, sure we thought, whatever. They actually had a really good chef, knocking up cool international cuisine, not that we stayed and ate there, we already had our hearts set on a curry house in the New Town! (Voila, another curry makes it into the travel blog!)
The following morning, we take a gruelling 3 1/2 hour ride to Otavalo, home of Ecuadors largest market. We manage to haggle and pick up a few bargains, though we only actually stick
Puppies!!
Well actually, just the one....boo. around for a couple of hours as we have signed up for an all you can drink BBQ back at the hostel. The good news is its 6.30 to 8.30 all you can drink! The bad news is we dont make it back until 7.30...so we are playing catch up! Daz wasnt kidding when he said its usually more busy, there's barely a seat in the house, still a few beers later and the conversation gets flowing with the other hostel goers! (Another one of which likened me straight away to Heath Ledger, seriously people, im starting to lose count now!....he'd better do a good job as The Joker and erase the bloody image of that Brokeback film!) I also have an interesting pissed up conversation withsome dude who is really into metal, we get chatting about one Slipknot song (Eyeless...Ben im suspecting you are the only one reading this that will have a clue) and I blurt out 'if that song doesn't want to make you rip your neighbours throat out, there's something wrong with you'! (much to the amusement of Chris and Caroline!) Though on reflection I think it might be myself who has the problem!
Next
The Candy man!
The Banos toffee trade is conducted right here, in shopkeepers doorways! day and a 4 hour drive south to Banos beckons, en-route we are treated to some awesome views of Cotopaxi (the worlds largest active Volcano and a possible climb in the near future!) We arrive in Banos only to find out disaster has struck (no the volcano didnt blow...I think we might have realised sooner!) Chris's passport, coat and wallet contents have all been robbed from his bag...right there under our very noses!! And the worst part? They only emptied his wallet and put it back in his bag, talk about twist the knife! The dirty robbing bastards...this is in Quito! (actually turns out it being in Quito isn't too unusual, it seems to be the most crime ridden place we have visited!)
Still we didnt let it ruin our time in Banos, and though we had to visit the local constabulary and Chris had to cancel his cards etc we still found time for a few trips. As it turns out, Banos is a really relaxed and cool place with good access to plenty of mountain biking and hiking. Our hostel was also really cool and had these steam baths on the top terrace, which we took advantage
In my childish way....
I was performing a raindance as we looked down on these indiviuals, from the comfort of our coach! of every morning. Basically you sit in a hot box, then get out and towel yourself down with cold water, then hot box then, ice bath, hot box, bucket of cold water over you and finally a hose down with a pressure jet! ( I know what you are thinking, did we get a wax and tyre check with our wash!) But it was a good way to start the day! (Izquierda, Agua, al la Derecha...etc, ect you know what im talking about Caroline!)
So the following day we hire bikes and attempt the 18km ruta de las cascadas (route of the waterfalls). Except it was probably about 22kms in the end, as we took a wrong and very steep turn right at the start...much to the dismay of Lady C! Once back on track and the route is pretty damn cool, there are awesome sight of waterfalls (well duh...its not just a clever name you know!) and a fairly steep drop in most places to our right! You also have to cycle through a very dark tunnel, whilst trucks hare up behind you! (ps the bikes dont have lights, though im sure they could probably hear our screams...ok,
Of course we hadnt taken a wrong turn.....
erm......we were just making sure this old local man knew where he was going! ok just my screams!) For 1$ you also get to cross the valley on a little gondola, which again offers some cool views, though the wind does nothing to keep my hair in check!
The reward at the end is the grandaddy of them all (well unless you have seen Iguassu Falls in Argentina/Brasil...otherwise it kind of resembles a leaking tap!) Pallion Del Diablo basically a lrage waterfall!
We are up and ready to hike above Banos the following morning, well Caroline and I anyway, Chris isn't up for it. 30 miutes of walking up a hill and we are looking down on Banos, after a quick pitstop to make a cheeky sarnie (Carolines idea...I wasnt even hungry!) then we set about traversing along the hilltops, taking misturn after misturn! (those of you who have hiked with me before will know Im awesome when it comes to sense of direction!.....alright but seriously the signposting was crap, I am not taking the blame this time!) So after a short while...about 3 hours (!) we cut our losses and headed back the way we came. Afterwards a nice dip in the thermal volcanic baths...(one of these buggers is 50 degrees,
Weeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Riding the cable car across the rutas del las cascadas! Dickic stew...I dont think so!) we have a well earned drink and an early night.
After 4 hours we are back in Quito, and having dinner on the terrace of the Secret Garden. Now as mentioned earlier, everybody you seem to speak to has been robbed. With this in mind perhaps it wasnt the best idea to have the following conversation with a kiwi who had only been there two days.....
Me : Hey mate how's it going, been here long?
Him: Only two days.
Me: Oh been robbed yet (jokingly)
Him: Yeah, yesterday
Me: Oh shit sorry mate!
With this in mind, Caroline and I go for a walk around the streets of Quito the following day, armed with extreme caution and my Swiss Army knife which I was ready to plunge into somebody's eye if they even so much as asked for directions! A it happened the walk was pretty uneventful. (Just so you know it isn't only foreigners...the good chef I was telling you about had his back slashed by a would be assailant a day or two later!) In the evening the hostel is holding a pub quiz and with the three of
Aaaarghhh!!
I wasnt shitting myself, promise. us and two Danish girls (imaginitively titled Team Dangland) we romp home to victory and win a bottle of rum in the process! But we had already been on the Daz Gas's (more about them later) so the night ended once again in carnage.
Carolines final day in Ecuador sees us heading to the centre of the Earth AKA the Equator for the dim amongst you. (bet you cant guess where Ecuador got its name...go on i'll even let you have two guesses!) After some fun playing around with gravitational forces and balancing eggs we head back to the hostel. Where we enjoy Lady C's final night by scoffing a pizza hut as the Old Town is plunged in darkness due to a powercut, do I know how to treat a Lady or what!
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