Ecuador part 1

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Tuesday 28th September

We used the free bikes and went to the museum. Had lunch for $2.25 which was an epic soup and then meat with rice and veges and juice.The museum was so so random. There were real shrunken human heads in display units. The indigenous people used to kill their enemies, remove the skull, boil the head and then reshape it to be a miniature head and wear it around their neck. Gross.

Wednesday 29th

We went on a tour with the hostal to the market which was so incredible. So much produce of every kind. So many exotic fruits with amazing colours. We stocked up on fruit and all sorts of odds and ends for our hike and caught the bus to the Cajas national park for $1.50. Such a beautiful place 3950m above sea level. Really cold. We went for walk around the lake and our hearts were leaping out of our chests because of the altitude. We only walked an hour and a half but felt like we'd ran a marathon. We saw a wild Llama and stalked it for a while. Such cool wooly animals.Had a dinner of prawns (that we has brought at the market) and coconut curry that the hostal owner made us. Yum.

Thursday 30th

Went to the market again and brought fruit, tamales, veges, potatoes with bacon and corn from gorgeous old gummy ladies who gave us extra and wouldn't take more money. So sweet, made our day chatting to them. Strawberries were a highlight, so yum and reminded us of summer in NZ. Had lunch for $2 which was another incredible feed of soup, dish of meat rice and veges and a herb tea and chatted with a classic old lady. Our highlight was spotting a man with two goats standing outside and Mikey got a small glass of milk off him. He bent down and squeezed the milk out right there and handed the frothing cup over! It was so deliciously creamy and warm. Mikey was LOVING it and now wants to own goats in New Zealand. Haha Caught the bus to Cajas National park again and got chatting to a classic French couple.Walked up the tallest mountain in the park and typically for us we lost the trail almost immediately but followed random llama tracks upward and bush bashed through tussock to get to the top. We had to stop a lot to get our heart rates down. Such a weird and unnerving feeling having your heart flutter and feel so out of breath with the tiniest bit of exercise. Such a beautiful view at the top which is the highest we've been at 4267m. Woohoo!Had a picnic of all the goodies we'd brought. The photo of me with them came to the grand total of $2! So good. Not long after, we were hailed on as we slipped our way downhill. Such an epic mission.Later at the hostal, Mikey went out on a night ride with hundreds of other people around town. It's another initiative to get people active. He loved it and was a good way to see all the nice parts of town.

Friday 31st

Bus to Banos for $16.50 for the both of us and it was 7 hours. Beautiful countryside. Amazing seeing farmers with the cattle plowing their fields the old fashioned way. Woman wear bright skirts, shawls or ponchos and cool felt hats and beaded colourful necklaces. The guys wear the felt hats and long sleeved shirts with stitched patterns on the collars and sleeves and ponchos too. They looked very dapper.In Banos, we stayed at an awesome hostal called plantas y blanco.

Saturday 1st

November Today we met up with Allan, our English friend from San Gil. We caught a bus up to the treehouse which we had heard amazing things about and it was such a disappointment. You'd see a bigger treehouse in someone's backyard! It was packed full of tourists so we decided to walk back into town which took us down some picturesque tracks with views to the city. Mikey and I went for a walk up a nearby hill and got awesome views of the volcano.We headed down to the local thermal spa pools and couldn't believe how packed they were. People had to stand and not move so they could squeeze more people in.. We decided to opt out of that circus.

Sunday 2nd November

We had a lazy start to the day, eating epic food and planning our next steps. We met up with a bunch of people and shared red wine on our rooftop terrace. Such good laughs. We even went out into town for a boogy. Ravers.

Monday 3rd November

Today we headed to a different thermal spa a bit further out of town. It was busy but no where near as crowded. We had to wear gawky pink swim caps and wondered if they'd give something to the boys for their beards! The pools were lovely and hot but we were the only foreigners there. We were stared at a lot and poor Allan copped it the most with his ginger hair, giant ginger beard, white skin and 6 foot 3 frame. He had one old guy peer around his shoulder at him, openly gawking and then sidle around to his other shoulder and gape. Just today, Allan saw an indigenous girl tap her friend for her to turn around and see him and when she did, she screamed and ran away! Haha poor Allan. We caught a bus to Riobamba and met up with Galo, our guide for our mountain bike down Chimborazo volcano the following day. He was highly energetic and gave us a really interesting speech about the area and what we'll see.

Tuesday 4th November

Galo picked us up early and we drove nearly two hours up the volcano to a refugio at 4800m. On the way we stopped to check out Llamas and vicunas (which are similar but smaller, better fur and can't be domesticated). We walked from the refugio to 5070m, our new record! It was hard and we had to go slow but it was worth it for the views.When we returned it had started hailing so we jumped on our bikes for the first mountain bike section just going back down the gravel road. Well, it was awful, we were so so cold. I couldn't feel my fingers and I was getting blinded by hail. After 15 minutes of this we finally arrived at the lower refugio. I had to warm up my white and green fingers with the exhaust fumes of the truck. So painful.Since we were lower, it warmed up from below zero and stopped hailing. The next hour of riding was really fun, going cross country and meeting up with Galo in the truck at intervals. Then it began to rain and crack with thunder and lightning. We hid in the truck for a bit but it didn't abate so we decided to just rough it. We charged through mud and got so soaked for a few hours. On the way, we came across a young girl in her teens with a baby strapped across her back, herding cows and donkeys in the pouring rain. They are made of tough stuff over here.When we finally arrived, we were soaked to the skin, muddy from head to toe and freezing cold. Wow that was the best hot shower when we got back to the hostal. Great tracks but just a shame about the weather.

Wednesday 5th November

Today we caught a bus to Guamote and stayed at Inti Sisa which is a guesthouse who's profits go straight back into the community. They hold computer, sewing and English classes among many others. It's a beautiful, clean place made out of stone and wood. We went for a 3 hour walk with a vague map around the surrounding villages and fields. Great to see how they live and survive on the land. We snuggled by the fire in the evening. Something amazing about fires, especially when its cold and your in the Andes.

Thursday 6th November

Today is the massive weekly market of Guamote which draws sellers and buyers from all over Ecuador. It took over the whole town and it was fascinating. The town was 95% indigenous so we loved seeing how the market operated and had done so for centuries. The people were dressed in colourful shawls and felt hats and we could spot some differences in the styles from other indigenous people visiting from other areas. We went down to the animal market and wow what a scene. It was a large arena with loads of people standing holding cows or horses and people wandering around bartering and purchasing them. We went to another section and they were selling chickens and guinea pigs to eat in sacks. Crazy. The rest of the town was chocka with clothes, fruit and all sorts. We wandered around for most of the day checking it out and eating weird things. It was great not to be badgered into buying things, we were stared at for being different (especially poor Allan) but we weren't heckled. We chatted with the manager of Inti Sisa in the evening and found out how poor Guamote is and what they are doing to help them. One boy of 16 worked all summer for them helping out in the kitchen and saved his money to then go out and buy a double bed and bunk beds for his family. His 8 year old sister had never slept in a bed.. The stories were heartbreaking some of them but we loved the family community feel.

Friday 7th November

Today we hired a local driver Carlos who couldn't speak English but was trying to learn so hard so we helped him the whole day, funny how weird the English language sounds when you try to sound out the words. Cold is one, trying to get him to pronounce the l before the d. We drove far out into Sangay National park to a little village called Osogochi which is up around 4000m. The area was filled with lakes and so beautiful. We went for a three hour walk partway around one lake and then when we returned we stopped in at a tiny little restaurant. We had made a request of their famous trout so while we were walking they went down to fish for them and cook them! It was the most delicious trout ever. Yum. We loved how remote and beautiful this area was. On our way back, Carlos played some old school music but without the lyrics, just a flute, and when we sang along with the proper words and he was loving it as he didn't know they had lyrics. 'Let it be' was our favourite. Such a great day.We would highly highly recommend staying at Inti Sisa, you feel like a good human, amazing things to do around the area and the food they cook for breakfast and dinner was amazing.

Saturday 8th November

Today we caught the bus towards Riobamba and then towards Guaranda and got off just before to catch a camioneta (ute taxi) to Salinas de Guaranda. Was pretty classic and a bit scary sitting in the back of a ute hooning around mountain roads. Salinas de Guaranda is a tiny village high in the mountains that produces cheese, chocolate, llama wool and loads of other products. They had an Italian missionary arrive there 40 years ago and teach them the European techniques. We stayed in a small cheap hostal and bumped into a friend we met on our Galápagos boat cruise! So sweet to hang out with him again. The weather was bluebird in the morning and then raining in the afternoon.

Sunday 9th October

Today we went down at 7am to the cheese factory. We watched for ages as locals would arrive with their donkey, llama, horse or just themselves with containers of milk strapped on or slung over their backs. They would get their milk weighed and recorded and then it would get tipped into a large tank. It was so fascinating to watch. Some old ladies of 80+ were walking in with 5 litres they had milked that morning. They deliver all together over 3,000 litres of milk a day... And that's hand milked! I chatted to one man who had many litres of milk and had arrived in a ute so was obviously one of the big guns. He was proud to announce he had 28 cows which produced 12-15 litres a day each. Crazy to think in NZ some farmers have 1000 cows in one herd..Breaks our heart to see how hard they work here. Chatting to the guides they can't believe we get money every week to retire. They have mothers of 89 who still work because otherwise they have no money or food. The old ladies and men are so wiry and tough. On the bus rides, we see them toiling in the fields. Lots of mums with babies strapped to their backs, hoeing a field.Later today we went for a walk up the valley for a few hours. Great views and rock formations. We fed a hungry horse for a long time and slowly gained its trust to be able to pat it. It's the small things 😊

Monday 10th October

Today we headed to Black Sheep Inn which is high in the Andes on the Quilotoa loop near the village of Chugchilan. We had been looking forward to this place since the copper canyon when we first started researching about Ecuador. This place is an Eco friendly lodge with organic and vegetarian food and a permaculture garden and dry composting toilets. We arrived late and were blown away. It is made up of gorgeous buildings made from wood, white plaster and red/orange tiles. They are so posh and cosy and so well organised. We have our own cute little cabin with candle light. They have a hot tub and sauna along with a gym they built out of recycled materials, mainly car parts. They recycle EVERYTHING. The food is EPIC and all vegetarian. We get excited at each meal, wondering what we are going to get. I'll try to get a few recipes for you mum!

Tuesday 11th November

We hired a local guide and went on a walk to his own families cloud forest that they are preserving. So so cool they are not cutting in down. It was pretty cloudy and drizzly but made it even more eerie and cool. We were all content in knowing we had a roaring log fire, couches and epic food waiting for us at the lodge. We had a great bunch of people staying with us.In the evening we fired up the sauna and hot tub and sweated out our toxins. Such a cute wood hobbit sauna they had built into the mountain.

Wednesday 12th November

We hired our guide Miguel again and went for a 5 hour walk down into a canyon, past little villages and farms and back up another side. Hard work but a great hike. On the way, we came across an old lady with a heavy load strapped across her back walking up the steep road. Mikey offered to carry it for her and she was so embarrassed and flustered and her son kept squealing in excitement as he couldn't believe it was happening. Mikey lugged the load on top and charged up the hill for her. She was so emotional, grateful and laughing at Mikey trying to get her carrying strap to work. Very cool.We sweated up in the sauna again in the evening. I'm never going to get used to this stinking hot and then have a freezing cold shower thing but wow we felt amazing afterwards.

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