More Fun from Ecuador

So I have spent the last few weeks in Ecuador, hanging out with my friends Mark, Laura, and Aimee in Quito, and also traveling around a little. My impressions of Quito are mixed. The old town area is pretty cool and a nice place to walk around and see some history. The Basilica del Voto Nacional really impressed with me with both its size and beauty, not to mention the fact that besides Aimee and myself, there were maybe only a handful of other people in the church (something you never seem to experience in any European cathedral). However, Quito is a very large city, and having to take a nearly 1.5 hour taxi ride to get to the bus station one morning, really became frustrating. Those of you who really know me know that I do not like huge cities and hordes of traffic. Well, spending all that time in a cab and still not reaching the end of the city is a little much for me. I know I could never live in Quito, but it still has its charm, in its own way.

Aimee and I first traveled to visit the equator here in Ecuador, in a little tourist town called La Mitad del Mundo. This was my second time visiting the equator, with the first being in Uganda. After examining a map, and also having an intense discussion with Aimee, I found that the only other country I need to visit to straddle the equator in all the continents it passes through is Indonesia. I had never planned on visiting Indonesia, but maybe this gives me a good excuse :) We'll see......... We also visited the rim of a huge crater near La Mitad del Mundo, but were very unlucky, as the clouds rolled in and obscured our view of the impressive community living within the crater's slopes. We did get to hear our guide use his necklace jewelry piece as a flute to give thanks to the mountain by playing a sweet melody that drifted with the wind. I thought that was pretty cool, as I have given thanks to the mountain gods many times as I have been hiking in the mountains of the Wasatch in Salt Lake, or the mountains of southern Poland. We aren't always the ones in control.

Aimee and I also traveled to Banos for a short overnight trip. Banos is located approximately 2.5 hours southeast of Quito, although we managed to find the bus that took 4.5 hours to reach the little town of Banos. I think both Aimee and I were a little restless after spending nearly 6 hours in cabs and buses, so we did what any sane person would do right after reaching a town like Banos, sign up to go puenting! So puenting is a lot like bungee jumping, except that after you reach the length of the rope, you swing back and forth like a huge pendulum, rather than just continuing to bounce up and down. I don’t think either of us knew exactly what to expect, and then arriving at the bridge and standing up on the ledge of the bridge as they double-checked our safety harnasses, peering down at the cascading stream approximately 150 feet below us, we suddenly realized what we had gotten ourselves into. I can tell you that we both successfully accomplished full, head-first dives off the bridge, landing with the grace of Greg Louganis (when he didn’t hit his head on the board, of course). After finishing up, we were both very tempted to take the dive again, but also realized that the famous thermal pools of Banos were calling our names.

We spent a relaxing few hours in the thermal pools, guessing where each person in the pool was from (lots of fun, although a little spying was involved), and healing our aching bodies (Aimee because she had finished a marathon a week before, and me, because I was sick and need to soak my aching bones in my old age).

The next day, we went on a chiva tour through the hills of Banos and the surrounding areas, visiting 8 different waterfalls and taking loads of pictures. For those of you who don’t know what a chiva is, I’ll tell you—picture an open-sided camion/truck that is colored all over with bright colors and pictures. These vehicles are used for travel around rural areas, particularly in Colombia, where people hop on and off with all sorts of things (use your imagination). It was a perfect combination of fun, relaxation, and exhilaration (especially the part where we went over a bridge, I peered over the side, and saw that we had a good 2 inches of bridge to spare before our rear wheel decided to visit the bottom of the canyon). The scenery around Banos is incredibly beautiful, with waterfalls running down the sides of the mountains everywhere you look, and lush, green vegetation covering the mountainsides. The end of our tour took us to Machape Falls, a large waterfall plunging 225 feet to the pool below. We were able to hike down to the pool and attempt to take pictures of the falls as it sprayed us with its mighty torrent. I thought about jumping in the pool at the bottom (normally I would, and Tim J., I was thinking of you here), but then I realized that the pair of boxers I was wearing were the only dry ones I had with me, and then thought of how pleasant another 45 minutes on the chiva and a whole God-Knows-How-Long I would need to sit on that damn bus going back to Quito. Therefore, I opted against it (I still think that maybe I didn’t explore all my options as exhaustively as I could have). Anywho, we left Banos feeling sad that we had to leave such an amazing place, and also me feeling grateful for my dry boxers.

After spending a day with Aimee sightseeing around Quito, Mark, Laura, and I had to say goodbye to her. Aimee flew back to the U.S., while I am continuing my time here. Due to some unforeseen circumstances (some of you know about this), I will be spending an extra week in Ecuador before flying back to Colombia. However, I have changed my Colombia travel plans a little and am super excited about them. I will be spending more time in the smaller areas rather than the big cities. Of course I will visit the big cities, especially on the weekends, to sample what they have to offer, but I plan on really getting to know Colombia by spending the majority of my time in the smaller towns. You will obviously be hearing about all these adventures to come. As for now, more pictures are up at:

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/AB66E0338450?source=pw980 for the Banos pics

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A08679238453?source=pw980 for the pics of Mitad del Mundo

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A93023238454?source=pw980 for the Quito pics

Thanks for tuning in and please let me know what’s happening in your neighborhood (hmm, that sounds a little too much like Mr. Rodgers, don’t you think?)