Ok, so I have returned from my latest trips to some of the other towns in Ecuador. This time around it was a trip with my mom´s side of the family. My aunt, cousin, her daughter and husband and 2 of their friends from college went on this little outing...
Day 1
So we left Quito later than expected on Saturday morning, but eventually we were on our way. Our first destination was going to be Baños. This little town is at the bottom of the Tungurahua Volcano, one that is very much active and last erupted this past August. It is well known for it´s natual pools that are filled by the waters from the mountains. During our drive there we made a couple of stops... First we had to meet up with the college friends, in a town outside Quito. After that our next stop on the map was in Salsedo. Here they are known for their ice cream, so we just had to stop to get some. I actually wanted to stop some other place for ice cream, but i was ruled out. The other place is one that I remember from 20 years ago. It´s a road side restaurant and all i remember about it is that it´s called ¨Helados de la Avelina¨. But maybe on the way back.
We finally arrived in Baños and the road was crazy. At one point we were at the same spot that the lava had flowed during the last eruption... OMG, it was scary, Fabricio said we were about 10M above the actual road... It was so devistating, seeing parts of homes and all the destruction. From my understanding, Baños was never hit with the lava, instead it was the ash, but it sure didn´t look like it. Once we found a hotel to stay at we unloaded the cars, freshed up and hit the streets to check out stuff... The center of town was filled with so many turists. they were all checking out the shops and trying to find hotels themselves. The first thing i wanted to do was hit one of the streetside vendors and get some food... These are locals that sell some of the local food for CHEAP... So we hit one, I got my 50cent bag of corn with pork and the boys ate the ¨quero¨, which is roasted pork skin... sounds bad, but it´s really good... After eating that and walking a bit we decided it was time for lunch, so we hit a restaurant that Cris and Fabrisio ate at before, ¨Casa de mi Abuelita¨. Food was good, but service sucked, oh well. My aunt and cousin decided they wanted to eat elsewhere so they hit another place to have the local favorite of ¨qui¨... translations... GUINNIE PIG!!! YUCK!!! No way in hell was i gonna try that, but oh well, they loved it. After our lunch we went to the other vendors close to the bus terminals. Here these vendors focused on selling sugar cane. I´m telling you, total natural sugar rush. But sugar cane itself was not on the menu. Marco and Fabricio were determined to get a local drink called ¨sandwiche¨... yeah, sounds different, but i tried it... here´s the basic of the ¨sandwiche¨, it´s furmented sugar cane mixed with sugar cane juice... OMG... talk about a strong drink. at first it reminded me of tequila. We ordered a glass first, then they ordered a pitcher... OMG, my stomach was burning... and all of this for just $2!!! It was funny, everytime they passed the cup to me to drink, i´m like... no no.. and the typical reply was, when are you gonna be able to do this again, in another 2o years... so i had to drink... The affects of the alcohol was hitting us so we headed back to our hotel to take a nap before going out, but later i found out that Fabricio and Marco opted not to nap and hit the sugar cane stand again and had another pitcher... BLAH!!! After the nap we went back out and had some drinks and went dancing. It was all good until the bus load of teeny boppers showed up... Have you ever notice how they all seem to dance alike... We left around midnight and the drunken boys just had to order burgers from another streetside vendor and finally we got some sleep...
Day 2 in Baños started out well for some of us, the poor boys were soo hung over... serves them right. well, we hit a little restaurant for breakfast and then we were off to the waterfalls... It was pretty kewl, we drove thru, not around, but thru, the mountains, saw a few other waterfalls, some crazy tourists doing bungie jumping from the bridges... We finally hit the waterfalls, these were on the Rio Verde and were called ¨Pialon del Diablo¨. We had a long walk down the mountains, on some slippery rocks and steps... one wrong move and you ended up in the river. We finally hit the water falls and it was beautiful. We then walked down this very scary wabblie bridge that for safety reasons only allowed 5 people on it at one time... when i got to walking across it, i could see why... after a little needed break we headed back across the bridge and now was the walk back UP the mountain... OMG, i was still sick, so it was kind of hard on me, took alot out of me and lots of stops. But i finally made it!!!! I gotta say it was really beautiful!!!
Once we were all relaxed and caught our breathe, we headed out of Baños and to our next stop for lunch. This time we went to a small town called Ambato for their local food of llampingachos, which is a potatoe pancake stuffed with cheese, and a side of chorizo. We ate until we were stuffed and Marco and his wife left us at that point. The rest of us went to my mom & aunts hometown of Riobamba.
In Riobamba we looked for yet another hotel, took a name and then went to a late dinner. This town was pretty much dead, being a sunday and all, but it was nice. I got to see where my aunt´s house was, all the schools her kids attended and some of the other sites...
Day 3 in Riobamba, today we woke up a little late, but eventually hit the streets to find the market place. Here they sell everything, even cooked food. The breakfast of champions here, hornado and mote... roast pork and homily... OMG.. we ate like pigs... hehe.. get it... it was soo good and we were stuffed. After that we walked around town a bit more, i found out where my mom use to work at and some of the other sites there and then we checked out and went to my Aunt Fannies house. We talked for a little bit and then hit the road again...
Our next stop was a town outside of Riobamba called Guano. Guano is famous for their handmade rugs and leather goods and a bread called cholas, it´s stuffed with a sweet preserve... SHOPPING!!!! OMG, it was so cheap there. I bought several pairs of shoes, i was only gonna buy one but i got talked into the 3... Now i have nice shoes to go out in, they are so cute and comfy.
After Guano we went to another town called Quisapincha. This town was on the other side of Ambato and was a pretty scary ride, so many twists and turns, but we finally made it there. This place is also known for their leather goods, and so SHOPPING!!!!! I gotta say something, my cousin Chani is so good at bartering with the sales people, i basically robbed them blind with the purchase of some leather gifts for friends and family and 2 leather jackets for myself... I think the total cost of this day of shopping is the same as if i bought 1 jacket back home... Cris, Fabricio and I all walked out with several pairs of shoes and a couple of jackets... SCORE!!!! What a bargin... But even if we didn´t barter with them, the prices were still very cheap.... and great quality.
We decided to go back to quito tonight and sleep there and head to another town in the morning that is on the other side of quito....
Day 4 This morning we left to Papallacta... This is a town that is about an hour away from Quito which is known for there thermal pools, and now I can say that i hit the amazona side of ecuador... we head up these roads that had fense posts as guard rails, at one point we hit the highest point of road in all of ecuador, 4,400m above sealevel... then it was down from there. Papallacta is a small town, that gets most of it´s water from the rivers of the mountains that also feel the thermal pools. Since we are basically in the forest area here, there was hardly any sun to speak of, instead we had a dense fog that sat at the top of the mountains. The river that ran thru the municipal park fed the park pools and as the water flowed from the upper pools to the lower ones, it eventually fed back into the river. We found the hottest pool and boiled ourselves for a bit there, then we hit the next not so hot pool and relaxed there, enjoying the warmth of the water and the cold of the air, and at times the rain from the fog clouds above it. It was really nice and relaxing... Once we were purned up from all the water we knew it was time to go home and so we were on our way...
Now it´s back to quito, to start my laundry and get ready for my next trip later this week and part of next week with my dad´s side of the family... and of coarse.. .MORE SHOPPING!!!!
Ciao for now!!
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
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