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Published: August 1st 2010
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BANOS
One of the many baths in Baños After a great 2+ weeks in Cuenca, I finally put myself on a bus to Baños. The 8 hour ride north through the Andes was totally entertaining with traveling-salesman-like people hopping on board at different stops, giving long, loud informative speeches, and selling everything from green tea with magical healing properties to mini-encyclopedias. The countryside was beautiful and we passed through many villages bursting with colorfully-dressed indigenous people and many cows led on ropes down the highway. Chuta (an Ecuatorian version of RATS), my camera never seemed to be fast enough out the bus window to capture the ride...
Baños is a little town that is on the side of a volcano. It is named for the various baths around the town that reportedly have healing properties due to their mineral content. I ventured to one today and dug watching hundreds of happy Ecuatorians frolic in the water. Baños is surrounded by jungle and mountains so the town itself is teeming with tour operators that want to be your guide. I am planning some expeditions later this week, so stay tuned... In the meantime I am laying low in my cute hostel, enjoying the hammocks, eating the yummy vegetarian food,
and taking advantage of the uber-cheap massages.
Although I am digging the global traveller scene here in Baños, I am still a little homesick for Cuenca. The bond that formed with my family in such a short time amazes me. Sometimes I think there is more love in the world than we let ourselves believe.... My last night in Cuenca my family had a farewell dinner. I am 95% sure that they actually purchased candles for occassion. So we ate shrimp, soup and a special desert by candlelight. Cooperating with their tradition, I took a big bite out of the cake before cutting it. We drank wine (a rarity in Ecuador) out of teeny-tiny mini wine glasses and I gave my first toast in Spanish. A very good night.
Before leaving the southern Andes, I was able to put in some serious QT in the countryside. For my last afternoon, my Cuencan friend drove us 2 hours up up up up to an amazing spot. All we could hear was birds and the breeze. We had a picnic and a mini-meditation. A great last day in a beautiful spot with beautiful people!
And speaking of driving in
BANOS
Stalls that sell various forms of sugar cane kindly chopped by machete-yielding women. the Andes, turns out that my host mom liked for me to drive her car. And so I did. Through green mountains, colorful villages, and the often-tricky traffic circles... I rediscovered my love of a manual transmission and plentiful use of the horn. It was a great way to see the sights. One day we traveled about an hour outside of Cuenca to my host mom's parent's house in the country. They are away visiting their son in the US, so we went to cook lunch for Antonio, the man that lives on their land and tends to the animals and the property. He is an indiginous Quichua man who has lived with the family for 40 years since he lost both of his parents as a teenager. He speaks no spanish, so they communicate with hand signals and some noises. He was pretty stoked to have his picture taken (see the man and the pig photo). And I was pretty stoked to see their cuy (guinea pig) cage teeming with soon-to-be-dinner. I loved the authentic rural Ecuatorian experience and couldn't have been happier when a turkey roamed into the kitchen as we were eating lunch.
One insightful couple
that I met along the way asked me how I think this trip will change me. I am not sure yet. But tonight I met a man who made me think.... He owns the hostel in which I am staying and is a Frenchman who has settled in Ecuador with his family to build an Eco-village. When I asked him why he left Europe he said "there is too much fear in our countries." Which made me think about the two (or maybe more?) story "castillo" fireworks that Cuenca likes to ignite on a semi-regular basis. They are mad towers of fire that sends sparks out in every direction. The evening that I experienced this wonder, there was an elderly man dancing right in front the whole time. When I asked my Cuencan friend if folks were afraid of fireworks igniting directly behind their head, she said that it is a way of life and they aren't scared. I have met a lot of brave, strong-spirited people in these few weeks. My hope is that this trip will help me learn to approach life with more care and less fear. That said, I am standing my distance from the fireworks.
Good-bye dinner
Still a mystery to me why the smiley people of Ecuador often hesitate to smile in photos.... But tomorrow, I go for a 60km bikeride into the jungle. And I can't wait!!!
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i request a picture of you in one of those kiddy Banos rafts. I am also glad you have a little Ecuadorian version of Laurel along your side!!