Here are some roses, thorns, and somethings in between.
- I left my house around 6 or so to get to the southern bus station Quitumbe, taking a taxi followed by two buses
- Had a quaint and cheap breakfast at the station and boarded by bus for Baños
- Found my hostel (Los Pinos Backpackers Hostel) with little problems and met my four bunkmates for my two nights:
- four friends who study at the University of San Francisco in Quito. Three from Quito and one from Guayaquil. Very interesting people, all around 19
- Went with them to Casa Del Arbol but a few things
- 1...forgot my Spanish teacher advised going in the morning to have clear skies...
- 2...my Ecuador phone was stolen. The first and last time I did not use my phanny pack. While it may have fallen out of my pocket, I noticed shortly after (I know because I had been using it...also not a good idea in public during carnival weekend), it was definitely stolen. My new Ecuadorian friends called my phone and some creepy dudes picked up asking about my age. After some yelling back and forth it was clear I was not getting my phone back. SHOOT.
- Went out with my new friends to a bar in town. We danced, talked, danced some more and I had a fun time.
- The streets were filled with people spraying Carioca, which is like sprayable foam, all over everyone that walked by. This was pretty fun. Strangers of all ages in the streets playing together!
- Tried Bolón, which is a ball of fried green banana
Sunday:
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| If you can spot the tiny building on the upper right of the mountain, that is Café del Cielo |
- Went on a solo hike up to Café del Cielo. The hike was hard and rewarding with beautiful views of the town. At the top, this cafe full of windows was in a fog. It felt very dreamy being up there. I enjoyed some cold water and fresh naranjilla juice before going back into Baños.
- The cafe also had naturally heated pools from the volcano on top in addition to a hotel rooms.
- Embarrassing...but I took a taxi down. I had a headache that started during my ascent that had only gotten worse at the top.
- Had a great "merienda" or dinner full of rice, chicken, soup and other goodies.
- Tried to meet up with Carlee but struggled because of my lack of phone...
Monday:
- Met up with Carlee after I checked out and went to Ambato for a few hours before taking a bus back to Quito
- We met some nice people on the bus from Guayaquil who accompanied us around Ambato, taking us to a market for some platos tipicos, specifically Lkapingachos... a plate full of potatoes (in the delicious form they call "tortilla" here), avocado, chorizo and coconut juice.
- The streets of Ambato were preparing for a parade and already had some live music already happening near the main square.
- Took a bus around 5:30 back to Quito, arriving at the station around 9, took three buses back home and was there before 11. Quite the travel, but inexpensive!
Tuesday I had work off since it was still Carnival. I took the day to rest and recuperate...
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