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Published: January 20th 2006
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Hot Springs
Taking a needed break from biking in an amazing hotsprings that are nestled between two Andean peeks Hola,
Well a few things to report. The most exciting thing is that two days ago I went on my first mountain biking adventure. It was the kind of excitement that is only possible in a place completely devoid of any safety regulations or a powerful legal system. The day started by piling eight people into the back of a truck, sitting on two inward-facing benches opposing one another. After an hour driving and a gas station breakfast we hopped out at 3500 meters into the snow to gear up and begin our back-road descent. With helmets and knee pads we, a group of eight alpha-males, raced down rock-ridden gravel roads at speeds of, probably, 50 km/hour - certainly something totally out of the question in north america. Unfortunetely, pouring rain and thick fog made the first half of the day disappointing (apparently there were good views, but we did not get to see any of them) but still a whole lot of dangerous fun. But the best was yet to come, for sure. After spending two hours at a local hotsprings and practicing my newly acquired spanish with some chicas half of the group (the other being too wet, cold,
Scenery..
Me with a flat tire and tired), myself included, biked on the side of a paved, steep road winding through the andes.... W-O-W!!! At speeds of, I shit you not, 80 km/hour, we passed trucks and cars while awestruck by the view for about two hours until reaching our first resting point. After slapping a few hands high-five style in a manner possible only after obviously risking death with equally excited guys, we got off the main road and headed towards a biker-only trail on an ex-railroad track. This was by far the coolest part of the day. With the sun now out in full force (which, at this altitude and this near the equator, is really strong - think sunburn in five minutes) we biked alongside a 100 meter cliff over a valley with a river running through its belly. Unlit tunnels were spread periodically along the path, which was, to be honest, a little scary. All you could do is hope that you were far enough from the wall and pray that you werent going to slam into the guy in front of you (and, of course, you did not want to brake for fear of getting hit from behind!). But, after about
an hour of open jaw, wide eyed biking we met up with the van and, again, exchanged a plethora of high-fives. The experience was matched, excitement wise, only by my first time playing paintball... but this thrill has lasted longer because of the knowledge of just how dangerous it was. MAN what a good day.
The spanish is going quite well and I can now, mind you slowly, have conversations with spanish folks, which I am trying to do whenever possible. Two nights ago my friends Mike and Tommi went celebrating their last day in Quito with me at a slew of cool night clubs in the New-Town (or Gringoland, as Santiago, my spanish teacher, calls it). Although in new town, the bars all but solely populated with locals (New Town is indeed home to Quitos best bars - excuse the punctuation, I cant find many needed keys....) which is a real treat. Unlike Canadian clubs, where people more shake than dance, people in Quito actually use real dances, the salsa being the most popular, although adapted to suit the younger crowd. I happily accepted some lessons from a very cute Argentinian girl who thought my beat-less flapping about
was hilarious and, luckily for me, cute. Several finger-points and covered mouth laughs later, we enjoyed many beers and white russians until finally leaving the clubs at around 4:30 am (most places are 24 hour here) to promptly wake up everyone at my hostel (the many white russians helped with this) and sleeping for three hours before starting another spanish lesson in the morning.
Some random observations:
we have all heard of laissez-faire economies, but Quito is the first place I have been where it is the people leaving the economy alone. There arent the same goals here as in North America, like owning a big house or a fast car. The goals seem to be much more spiritually and family geared, something I could get used to.
MANY women carry their kids around here (there are always kids around) but always do so with nothing more than a cloth tied in a nifty way. The other day I saw a cloth tied around a lump, and so decided to stick my hand in to play with the kid only to find a chicken clucking about. The woman, laughing, turned to me, smiled, and said "dos dollaros"
(two dollars). I was tempted, but decided to save my money for Ortavallo this saturday where I plan on buying a Llama (twenty dollars).
Upcoming things:
Two major things on the list for the next little while. Tomorrow a group of us hostel-ites are heading to Otavallo overnight and then going to the market (Ecuador renouned) to buy some things, including - for me anyway - a Poncho and the aforementioned Llama (okay, maybe not, but it is possible... If Joe were here we could slaughter it and have brunch). Returning saturday night I will catch a good sleep to prepare for Sunday when four of us are hiking Guagua Pichincha - a nearby volcano (thank you Kevin) - for the day, finally giving me a chance to test out my hiking boots. Snowcovered, the volcano stretches to 3700 meters, so this will also be my first real stress-test for altitude. Should be a great time!
I am now almost half way done my spanish lessons, which is really encouraging because I can now actually participate in conversations when out and about. The plan is to keep studying at the pace I am going now, sticking in a
few days camping at Cotopaxi (the worlds highest active volcano) here and there until I am ready to leave Quito. The next stop will by the Galapagos, an expensive but - I have been told dozens of times - absolutely necessary stop on the trip. I will take probably a five day cruise of the various islands, swimming with sea lions and playing with boobies (the rare birds, not the...) and penguins for a while. After that I will probably hang out on the coast of Ecuador for a while, and then move into Peru towards early February, probably stopping in northern peru to volunteer at a surf school in exchange for room, board, and free lessons - surfs up!
Really, though, I am just letting the wind take me for a while, avoiding making any sort of firm plans for fear of randomness blessing me with more good times. And all this for less money than living in Montreal.... man.
Ciao for Now
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KEVIN
non-member comment
I'm so glad to see it spelled correctly. For the amount of writing you do, you nonetheless seem to maintain your indefatigable respect for grammar and spelling. God bless you. Sounds like an excellent adventure- next time we converse it'll have to be in Spanish!