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Published: October 14th 2006
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Fiona arrived at midnight on Monday and by 8.30 am was bundled onto the bus ready for a 7 hour trip to Quilotoa. No mean feat! Im not sure she knew what had hit her, especially when we transferred to the local bus filled to the brim with indigenous people and their chickens and all the sensory overload that that entails. Sandy roads and hairpin bends made the last 4 hours fairly hair-raising but it was through spectacular scenery which made it more bearable (if the bus is going to hurtle over a sheer drop it may as well be a pretty one). Eventually we arrived safely at our destination which was the Black Sheep Inn, a very smart eco-lodge in beautiful surroundings, to find several people that I knew from Quito. Whilst this did prove that the Gringo trail is very well-trod it did make for a very sociable few days.
Quilotoa is famous for its beautiful crater lake and so that was our first destination. It was a 1 hour and extremely dusty truck ride to the lake, and a 5 hour and extremely dusty walk back but it made a great day trip. In the evening we
helped Joe celebrate his birthday which was excellent fun. Although he seemed far too pleased with his spiderman glove puppet, that I'd bought him for a joke, than is right for a man of 31! The next day Fiona and Meg persuaded me to overcome my fear of horseriding (which first arose during a previous trip with Fiona, but that's a different story) and we went on a trip up into the cloud forest with Umberto. I was on a mule over which I had no control whatsoever but this was strangely reassuring as it meant I didn't have to worry about doing anything; it seemed happy just to follow the others. I thought we were doing just fine, man and beast in perfect harmony, until it did a runner over lunchtime and I had to ride Umberto's horse back while he went looking for my mule! I only hope it wasn't too emotionally scarred!
Next stop heading South was Riobamba famed for the 'Devil's Nose' train ride, where the tracks climb a perpendicular ridge rising in the gorge to a height of 305m. According to my guidebook: 'This almost insurmountable engineering obstacle was finally conquered when a series
El Nariz del Diablo train ride
I thought only Gringos would be stupid enough to pay to sit on the roof of a train but there were lots of Ecuadorian families too. of switchbacks was built on a 51/2% grade'. Whilst that may have got the trainspotters amongst you salivating, the 5.15 am start and the 5 hours on the roof of the train in the cold and dust preceeding the switchbacks meant that we probably didnt give this 'majestic feat of engineering' the attention it deserved, but the whole thing was definitely an experience. It also allowed us to travel through remote countryside where my favourite sight was live sheep and pigs standing on the roofracks of buses.
Southwards onto Cuenca (pronounced the same way cockneys say w*nker, which gave us hours of amusement) and home of the Panama hat. Yes, that's right, look it up, made in Ecuador, exported via Panama - how gutting for a country to have one of its most famous exports incorrectly named after another country! This was a great city; loads of lovely colonial buildings and it felt clean and safe. It also made the perfect place to celebrate my birthday, Meg managed to find a beautiful colonial house restored into a champagne lounge so we drank and dined in style that night. I was determined to eat guinea pig before I left Ecuador
and had been waiting til Cuenca as it is the speciality there. However it was not to be; one fortunate furry rodent owes its life to the fact it was a bank holiday and lots of the restaurants were shut!
Onwards to our final destination of Vilcabamba right down near the border with Peru. This place was chosen by Meg as the guide book reported it as being sunny all the time (it was, but actually we had been really lucky with the weather for our whole trip). For the greater good, I agreed to another horse-riding trip, this time a 2-day affair into the National Park. It was just as well I'd got used to the idea with Umberto's mule because within 5 minutes of starting out my horse was galloping merrily ahead of all the others while I held on as tight as I could and tried to look like I was enjoying myself! The horses climbed the mountain for us and we stayed in a fantastic spot overlooking the whole valley. It was the perfect location to watch the sunset and made all the more perfect with cocktails mixed with juice from oranges and passion fruit
picked straight from the trees on the way up. It was also the first place so far that's been warm enough to sit out and star-gaze which was perfect too as the remoteness made them really bright. Saw some really impressive shooting stars.
After all that activity and dirt we felt we'd earned some relaxation and luckily we found the perfect spot. We spent most of yesterday in a spa soothing our aching limbs (and bums) being pampered and massaged (and covered in mud, which kind of defeated the trying-to-get-clean part). It was lovely! But before we knew it it was time to wave Meg off, down our malaria tablets and cross the border with Peru heading eastwards towards the Amazon.
The condensed version: Very fun and active two weeks but far too many horses involved for my liking!
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