October 24, 2007
Day 756

I took a bus this morning to Latacunga, about two hours south of Quito. The Lonely Planet says it looks "pretty damn cool," but I didn't see what the fuss was about. I met up with Leigh, the Kiwi who had come directly from Tena, to travel around the Quilatoa Loop for the next few days.

We took another bus to Quilatoa, a little village about 4000 meters above sea level. The area must cater to tourists because right away a lady offered us accommodation at her house for the night. We chatted with the family about their Quichua culture for awhile, but the daily rain had finally abated, so we decided to take a walk around the area.

Next to the town was the Quilatoa Lagoon, a beautiful sight from above, although it was too cloudy to see Cotopaxi (the world's highest volcano) and the other mountains in the background. We walked down the path to the lagoon 400 meters below for a closer look. On the way up we met a local who told us about ten times that the area was safe. Usually that's the case in a town of fifty, but I guess he was just concerned about preserving the tourism industry here because it's the main way the Quilatoans make money.

Later at night we learned how to count to ten in Quichua, although I forgot most of the numbers right away. Quichua has as much in common with Spanish as English does with Chinese, so it's impressive that everyone here can speak both languages fluently.

It got freezing cold rather quickly after sunset, but there were wood stoves at the house to keep us warm. We needed help from one of the teenage daughters to get the fire going in our room because nothing burns well at this altitude, not even cigarette lighters. It wasn't because I suck at lighting fires, I swear.

The photo album for this entry is here.

October 22-23, 2007
Days 754-755

My brief sojourn back into the jungle ended abruptly with a bus ride to Quito, the second highest capital city in the world after La Paz. Making the trip from the jungle to the mountains was like going to a different country as the Spanish language was the only thing the two places had in common.

I was in Quito for a few hours last year to buy my plane ticket to Iquitos, but I never to check out the city properly. This time around, I did some walking through the Old City which had lots of big churches, museums, and colonial architecture. Unfortunately, I got sick of doing that stuff a long time ago, so I mainly just prepared to go to the Quilatoa Loop, a popular mountain trek/drive a few hours to the south.

October 18-21, 2007
Days 750-753

My next Ecuadorian stop was a small jungle city called Tena. Walking around Tena brought back lots of memories as it had been nine months since I had been properly in the jungle. The area was hot and humid, the whole region was the greenest of greens, people relaxed in hammocks everywhere, and fresh Amazonian fruits and piranha were for sale at the market. The only bad memory that returned was the daily downpour. They don't call it the rain forest for nothing.

One of the area attractions that I checked out was called the Jumandi Caves. As soon as I got there I realized that I was completely unprepared when the guy who was assigned as my guide asked if I brought my swimsuit and sandals. No on both accounts. I figured it was just a cave to walk through so I only wore regular clothes and my hiking boots. There were some extra rubber boots laying around, but they were too small for me, so I resolved to go barefoot. At least I brought my waterproof bag for my camera.

When I was told I would need a guide for the caves, I thought the owner just wanted my money. But when I saw that there was no lighting and a fast river to walk through in the cave, I realized that it practically would have been impossible without a guide. At one point, the river was so deep I couldn't stand, and it was rushing rapidly enough to sweep me away. The only thing that saved me was a rope that spanned the river for me to hang onto while swimming across. It still wasn't easy to do in the complete darkness, and I was surprised they would let just anyone enter the place.

Once we got across the river, we entered an area with a slippery muddy floor and lots of natural formations. Besides the usual stalactites and stalagmites, there was the cauliflower structure, the "Penis of Jumandi," and an area where the local women came to make beauty masks out of the mud. It was all interesting, but I was more focused on not destroying my camera or accidentally falling into a whirlpool or sinkhole. To add to the dangers, on the way out there was a large centipede and lots of ants walking around my bare feet. In the end no harm was done, but I probably should have researched the caves more before making the trip there.

While walking around Tena, I found a foot bridge that crossed onto an island set up like a zoo. An ostrich and a few monkeys were running free, but the rest of the animals were in cages that seemed way too small. I said hi to a spider monkey, but it grabbed hold of me when I got too close and wouldn't let go. I think it just wanted a little affection because it had to spend all of its time in a tiny cage with nothing to do. When I tried to leave, it screamed at me until finally I yanked hard enough to get away. The island was supposed to be a beautiful botanical garden and zoo, but it just served to make me sad.

One day I got together with two Kiwi girls from my hostel named Angela and Leigh for a trip to a nearby town called Misahuali. When we got off the bus, we saw that there were monkeys running freely in the plaza. The local people fed them, but they mainly just stole their food from unsuspecting restaurant patrons. The devious thieves were very fast and most people just laughed when they saw someone else lose his lunch. We also walked around a lot of paths including a very slippery uphill one that ended up at a waterfall (of course). I think I've seen just about every waterfall in South America, other than the highest one of them all. That adventure is still to come.

The photo album for this entry is here.

October 16-17, 2007
Days 748-749

I simply couldn't skip visiting some of the numerous hot springs in a town called Baños. The best ones were located right under the waterfall at the edge of town. The area was split into boiling, warm, and freezing pools of water coming directly from the earth. There were a fair amount of people joining me in the pools, but there was still enough room to run frantically from one to the next in order to shock my muscles into spasms. A great experience.

The other major attraction of the area was the 60 KM road from Baños to Puyo. I would have my chance to see it from a bus window later, but just for fun I rented a bike for the day to explore the area a little slower and get some exercise.

Along the way, there were waterfalls every few minutes on the other side of the canyon near the main road. I guess that's why they called it La Ruta de las Cascadas (The Route of the Waterfalls). The road went straight through a set of several tunnels that had been dynamited through the mountain. There were no lights in them, and the first tunnel was pretty scary riding through a pitch black zone. Fortunately, the rest of the tunnels had longer routes around them in the open air of the day. The other attraction along the way was called uenteing (bridging), which was kind of like bungee jumping that involved more swinging than falling. It looked only mildly entertaining so I gave it a miss.

The natural surroundings of the bike ride were outstanding. In fact, it was probably my second favorite bike ride in South America after the "World's Most Dangerous Road," but maybe that's just because every other time I've rented a bike, something has gone terribly wrong. When I got to Puyo, I expected to see lots of other tourists on bikes finishing their rides, but there was nothing of the sort, not even a welcoming reception for my accomplishment. I threw my bike on a bus and headed straight back to Baños in an anticlimactic finish to the day.

Biking to Puyo Photos
Baños Photos.

October 15, 2007
Day 747

I took a walk toward the Tungurahua volcano today. Luckily I remembered my sunglasses because the eruption was especially bad and the air was full of a thick cloud of ash. The trails first took me to a lookout point above the city, then to a small farming community. I kept walking up and up until I was as close to the volcano as possible, but it was so cloudy I couldn't see anything. Yesterday I got a great look at the volcano from afar, but today Tungurahua was the winner.

The photo album for this entry is here.