paz si!

Paz Si! (waiting for a camioneta) 

safe and happy in popoyán (colombia)

so we have arrived safely in popoyán, colombia, and we have had many amazing aventuras along the way. after baños, we headed north to quito, where we stayed with our friend from galápagos, who works with an indy radio station there and is part of a modern dance troupe (which we got to see perform on friday night at the casa de la cultura). her family was extremely welcoming and made it hard to leave (i think we stayed 4 nights!), but afterward we headed to the famous otavalo market and then to cayambe, which is where another friend of ours lives who had invited us to stay with him.
he is an indígena musician who has lived half of his life in germany and europe and half in otavalo/caymbe, ecuador.
it was fascinating talking to him and his family about their experiences as indígenas in ecuador and abroad (about 40 per cent of the population of ecuador is indigenous, but they also account for some of the poorest and most disempowered and are struggling to counter discrimination and gain more rights).

our last real day in ecuador we went to visit some less-touristed pre-incan ruins called Cochasquí, near cayambe. we had a fabulous guide who explained to us all about the half-burried pirámides topped by astronomical platforms (from one of the excavated pyramids we could see solar and lunar calendar, which was supposed to be extremely accurate).
llamas scattered over the mounds roamed freely and gazed at us curiously, occasionally bounding towards one another or stopping to munch on some grass. from the site (more than 3000 meters) one could see (on a clear day) 17 different volcanos and even spot landmarks in Quito. it was truly an amazing feeling being up there and hearing our guide`s explanations of all of the different formations and astronomical knowledge that the ancient peoples posessed. we learned that if you cut yourself close to a full moon, you will bleed much more than during a waning moon because of a higher level of circulation in your blood- for this reason, the peoples there were able to perform surgeries on animals and humans with minimal blood loss or scarring. our guide told us that consulting the lunar calendar is beginning to become a common practice for surgeries in europe now, as a result of this effect...

the next day we packed up and headed for the border, slightly nervous though we had taken all of the proper precautions and would be travelling far outside of any guerilla zones (the reality of travel in colombia is very diferent from our perceptions of it in the US and elsewhere. trouble exists, but you can certainly avoid it by staying on the main routes and out of guerila territory, which is well-known). Colombia had been every traveller we`d met`s favorite country in south america and vicente`s birthplace (though he`s never visited since), so we were excited to conocerla.

near the border there is a large bridge that we walked across to enter colombia, and we got all the way to immigration with our excessively large mochilas before we realized that we hadn`t gotten our exit stamps from ecuador. so, we strapped back up and walked back to ecuador, got stamped with little hassle, and ridiculously crossed the bridge a 3rd time into colombia. afterward, we hopped a bus to Pasto, where we spent the night (it`s not advised to travel at night in colombia in certain parts of the country that have experienced bus robberies in the past, and we are sticking to this and splitting up the bus journeys) and relaxed a little. yesterday we headed to popoyán in the luxury-direct bus which we`d been recommended (it was a dollar more, but supposed to be the best) and enjoyed the dramatic scenery. we wound through steep mountains overlooking gorgeous rivers and idyllic countryside, cloud forests, and one of the most beautiful golden-pink-orange sunsets i`ve ever seen in my life, all set to an unrelenting stream of violent, grade-b action movies (on the way from cayambe to popayàn we watched a total of 5 excrutiantingly bad horror-action movies). since getting off the bus we`ve spent an evening and morning talking with the other extranjeros in our hostal, unwinding (i even got some yoga in), and catching up on internet. Popayàn is supposed to be a bit like Cuenca, a fairly safe and beautiful colonial city that deserves a few days` visit. we are thinking about heading to tierradentro tomorrow, which is a site of ancient tombs and sculptures that is supposed to be quite amazing. i am looking forward to a day without busses, maybe even grabbing my journal and sketching in one of the plazas here... until next time.

p.s. I tried to post pics today but this internet place can`t seem to load them... i guess the suspense will have to build. thanks for all your comments, they are fun to read.

p.p.s. I just added pics today, nov. 3

attempting to leave baños...

so here we are, our last two hours in baños and the sun is shining on this gorgeous valley-town, surrounded by hot springs and mountains and jungle. suffice it to say that it has been very, very difficult to leave (this is our 5th day here!). the first day here we just relaxed and went out at night, taking in the scene and getting to know a few other travelers at our hostel. the second day we rented bikes from one of the million tour agencies here and biked down to rio verde, passing loads of waterfalls, some small pueblos, and the mountainous countryside, which was difficult to take our eyes off in order to look at the winding road. the ride itself was fairly exhausting, even though largely downhill, because i hadn´t ridden a bike in so long. but it was beautiful and scenic and we stopped at the town before rio verde, called san pedro, and descended the trail to a waterfall there, which you access by way of a narrow and long, longitudinally shaky bridge (i couldn´t help thinking back to that movie i watched in shop class about the bridge that shook up and down, up and down, like it was doing the wave) and then a small sendero through the waterfall-keeper´s grounds (yes, there is someone who lives next to the waterfall and takes care of the surroundings and charges cincuenta centavos for access). after soaking ourselves in the mighty spray, we opted to go back via the cable car, traversing the impressive canyon between the two mountains in a little orange car that swung along a pulley cord system (locals take it all the time for transportation, but tourists can hop on for a dollar). vicente and i are both fairly afraid of heights, so the idea of flinging ourselves across the canyon in the little ferris-wheel-like cabin seemed completely absurd but a necessary challenge. about halfway through the few minutes´ journey i finally relaxed and realized just how gorgeous the ride was- from there you could see the river below, the waterfalls on either side, the mountains nearby and in the distance, and the green growth off the slopes. i tried to take a picture of vicente against that backdrop, but he was not happy (that fear of heights kicked in hard) and about to kill me for even suggesting it. when we got off i bought him an ice cream to make up for the ride, and after about 10 minutes his stomach settled down and he forced a smile. we caught a few minutes of the huge soccer match (that qualified ecuador for the world cup and incited all kinds of impromptu parades, patriotism, and festivities in baños and beyond) in san pedro and then continued on our bikes to rio verde, where we got off to check out another and larger waterfall, called the pailon del diablo. this one was a good hike and truly amazing, and ended in another ridiculously shaky bridge. At the end of the bike ride we were exhausted and sweaty and unsure about the next day´s plans to go rafting. we had caught a ride back to town with some street performers from venezuela and spain (very cool jugglers and such), who we saw perform a little bit later that night.

as i mentioned, the next day we had decided to go rafting (we signed up for one of the rivers nearby with 3+ rapids (out of 6) and signed up with a good agency that has a safety kayak accompany the boat with the guide. when we got there, vicente put on his helmet and his curly fro poked out through the little holes (don´t worry, there will be a pic of this soon), so we nicknamed ourselves “the diablos” in honor of his horns. the rafting was through the mountains, so inherently beautiful, and there were indeed rapids (i fell out of the boat within the first 5 minutes, the first one to fall, and tried to do as instructed, floating feet first with my paddle down the fast-moving river until i could latch onto the kayak, somewhat scary at first but exhilarating afterward!) after the first 10 minutes we got the hang of what we were doing, and were much better at the rapid parts, working as a team and having a lot of fun. we rafted for a full 2 hours, jumped out of the boat a few times (there were many tranquil parts), and splashed the other rafters when possible. all in all, we were very happy with the experience (though at one point i thought that i´d hurt my elbow pretty bad and even iced it when we stopped for lunch-it´s fine now) and thought it was worth the 30 bucks we bargained it down to.

the next day we decided to stay on our feet and “take it easy” and just go for a 4 hour hike to a nearby mirador (where there is a statue of La Virgen), a mirador del misterioso and mainly cloud-covered Volcán Tungurahua (which is set to erupt any day now and will reach the town of baños in 3 minutitos, which the town has escape drills for) and back down again. the lookout for the volcano was a worthy though enigmatic destination, as you can never see the whole volcano at once, since clouds constantly hang around the peak and mid sections of the volcano, allowing only momentarily glances of the summit. after the hike we decided to treat ourselves to a soak in the only thermal springs that are open at night, which lie adjacent to a beautiful waterfall. we topped off the night with a splurge- we ate dinner at the funky vegetarian and world cuisine restaurant in town, where i paid 2.50 and vicente paid 3.25 for our respective dinners- ouch. heheehee :0)

yesterday i planned a crazy jungle daytrip to Hola Vida reserve, which is south of a nearby town called Puyo. we couldn´t really imagine leaving the area without seeing the jungle, but couldn´t justify staying more time with all of the other plans we´d made and the remaining timeframe (less than 3 weeks!). so, we bussed to Puyo (2 hrs), ate lunch, and then hopped a bus to hola vida, where we walked to the amazon reserve. we did not know what all to expect, but as soon as we stepped onto the trail, we realized that we were, in fact, in the jungle (though on a very well-marked trail next to a river and so not likely to get lost). enormous leaves, vines, and roots sprung out in every direction, fluorescent pink butterflies flew by, and giant red flowers punctuated the blanketing, lush green of the rainforest. we tried to walk in silence in order to see more of the wildlife than we would if we were talking. little ant colonies trudged along with leaves on their backs. we hopped rocks across the river, walked over giant logs, and i even attempted to swing from a low-hanging vine over a little stream in the trail (of course, i fell on my butt on the other side, when the vine broke-oops!, but i felt like jane for a second there). after about an hour of awe, the rain started. and even that was beautiful and peaceful. we decided to stick it out, make it to the cascada (waterfall), and then head back, but as we got closer and closer, the rain really started to come down. the trail opened out into the cascada, which was a gorgeous fall that emptied into a tiny, pristine pool surrounded by smooth rocks, and we found a group of spanish tourists who´d also trekked out to hola vida on their own. we passed them on the way back, with the pouring amazon rain soaking us from rain jacket hood to toe. we were completely soaking wet when we reached the reserve, and agreed to ride in the back of one of their trucks back to Puyo, where we needed to catch a 2hr bus back to baños. this was a bad idea. the road, already bumpy and full of potholes, had filled up with water, and we were bumping and wet and cold the whole way back (although the jungle was quite a lot hotter than the sierra, and so we were not freezing to death). when we finally got back, we walked the 20-30 minutes to the terminal in our sopping wet clothes, debating whether to buy new ones before getting on the 2 hr bus ride (why didn´t we bring a change!!?), but finally decided to just go for it, got back to baños, showered, and then went to another really interesting restaurant run by Hare Krishnas in baños (go figure!), who owned a mountain retreat in a nearby town (with yoga and panthers, they said) that we wouldn´t have time to go visit. the meal and conversation were surprisingly good, and we topped it off with a chinese beverage guaranteed to clean out our systems (so far, no effect, but we shall see).

today we´ve taken in a beautiful basilica that is home to the strangest museum i´ve ever been to, which i will certainly post pictures of soon. it housed everything from old brides dresses, to chopped off braids, to stuffed boobies and eagles, to regal dresses for the Virgen and niño. now we are packing up to leave, headed for quito, to stay with a friend from Galápagos. i would love to come back to this place, assuming it is not covered with lava in the near future (the Virgen de Agua Santa has stopped eruptions before, according to town lore, so maybe she will do it again...)

post-cuenca, pre-baños

So we are officially chilling out in Baños (thermal hot springs town between parque sangay and the oriente and in the mountains), although we´ve been super active so far here- but first let me back up and explain how i got here. After our day exploring Cuenca, we spent two days visiting the alrededores (surroundings). The first day we took a bus out to a little valley town called San Juan, which has a large indigenous farming population, and rarely sees tourists (all of the children stopped what they were doing and stared at us when we walked by).

We were excited to do one of the day hikes that my guide had described, and when we got there, we realized that the “minister of tourism” of the town (an extremely friendly older woman who owns a small kiosk-cart in the town´s tiny center) was actually three rows in front of us on the bus over. She helped us as best she could with directions of how to climb up the surrounding “hills” (and here we thought they were mountains!) and where to descend. The first part of our trip was extremely scenic, and at each little farm we passed, the people came out to greet us and ask us what we were doing there and where we were from (many people here think we are from south america now, so i guess our spanish has gotten pretty good, yay!)

As we started climbing, however, we realized that we were extremely weak and not used to the altitude, so we took it easy, and ate the lunch we packed at the top of the first “hill.” After gaining energy and taking in the amazing vistas of the sierra and pueblitos all around us, we wound our way up to the top of the actual mountain next to us (they call it a pregnant mother, because of the way it is shaped), where beautiful spiky yellow-orange plants sprouted out along the cliff. Thoroughly hot and sweaty, we somehow found our way past the curious villagers´(they were very confused about what we were doing there) fincas and back to the small road that led us back to the town. We talked a bit to the woman who´d helped us and her family and then hopped a bus back to cuenca, where we happily relaxed, ate dinner, and packed up our stuff for the next day’s trip to Ingapirca, the Incan ruins on the way to Riobamba.

And wow, was Ingapirca a trip. What should have been a relatively straightforward daytrip turned into one adventure after another, (first we realized how much junk was weighing down our bags and making us look ridiculous as we trekked across the town of Tambo to leave our bags before heading to the site, then we heard that a roadblock (completely random, without any cause or warning) on the way to las ruinas meant that we would have to bus through another town before hopping a bus there. In any case, after chatting up a few young people in the town, we were told to hop in the back of a camioneta that was heading toward the roadblock, from which we were told we could do a short 2km walk to the ancient site.

The ride to the roadblock was a bit of a clown car- at first it was just us and a few locals, indigenous women with their sacks of goods to sell and an older man who was explaining to us where to go once we arrived. Well, as soon as we got to the next stop, about 15 more people got into the small truck (imagine one of those old covered wagons mixed with a truck), old women sitting on the floor, crammed between our legs with children, and young boys (about 7 across) hanging off the back. The whole group was speaking Quichua (native language of many peoples in Ecuador) and stealing glances at the ridiculous gringos (us). We had a lot of fun talking to them and sharing stories (they cracked up when vicente told them about his nickname on san cristobal- microphone head). When we finally arrived, we dutifully paid our 25 cents and began the walk over the roadblock (a few logs on the road) to where the ruins were supposed to be.

And we walked. And we walked. no ruinas. after about an hour in the crisp andean air (no, i did not bring my fleece, of course), on the winding uphill slopes, we finally arrived at Ingapirca. And it was closed. two hours before my guidebook said it would be closing. so there would be no more busses coming or going. so, we had no guide to explain to us the significance of the winding ancient walls and the remaining structure that supposedly is perfectly aligned with something during the solstice but we wouldn´t know because the museum was closed too so the only thing to do was walk around and take pictures like the tourists we were and watch the three llamas dancing around the “templo del sol” in the foggy, misting distance. And then we climbed up the structure, glanced over the impressively high precipice, took some more pictures, and watched in awe as a German girl we had met in san cristobal a few weeks before came bounding up the steps toward us...

Al fin, we were able to get a ride back with her and her extremely amigable amigo, (instead of paying for an 8 dollar taxi ride back to el Cañar and then a bus to el Tambo), and they were amazingly able to help us get the bus from Tambo to Riobamba to wait in front of our hostel while we raced up and grabbed our things and threw them under the bus and hopped back on. And the friend of our friend chatted us up most of the way there, so we were too interested to think about the crazy freezing ride back from Ingapirca (through the mountains, in the back of a pickup), or the lack of guide or explanation of the Incan ruins we´d gone so far out of the way to see. All in all, it was amazing that they helped us out and got us to our destination (we were going to waste a day sleeping in a very dumpy hostel alongside the highway in order to take the bus the next day). we celebrated with a pizza and the next day explored the parks of Riobamba before leaving for Baños, where we happily are relaxing in our hostel (with a free half hour of internet!) at the moment.

tranquilos en cuenca

(Hoy- today)

Chuta. I can finally connect to the internet again to send my update! Cuenca is amazing and beautiful, and we are very happy to be here. I`ve been playing tour guide today and scheduled 6 different things for us to see and do before dinner, all of which have been very successful and even maravelloso. First we went by the market in the plaza next door, which sold everything from everyday goods to otavalo shawls and sweaters, and then we swung by the "flower stalls," where traditionally dressed indigenous women and others from the countryside were selling all types of roses and lillies and other sweet-smelling flowers. After the flowers, we visited a gorgeous marble cathedral by Parque Calderon, whose plaza-like feel reminded me of a combination of France and Quito. After very entertaining people-watching in the park, we split an almuerzo at a columbian restaurant, and finally caught the bus (25 cents each) up to Turi, where there is a lookout of the entire city and the surrounding mountains. It was gorgeous and smelled like colorado mixed with henna. We took our time walking around (even going to the bathroom in the woods and wiping with eucalyptus leaves, heehehe).

After a few humitas, we hopped a bus back to the river, where we were planning to take in a museo de aboriginal culture and artifacts. It was peaceful though energetically decorated, and we enjoyed exploring all of the different periods of ecuadorian indigenous culture that were represented through the artifacts. Some of my favorites were the connected vessels (two vase-like structures connected in the middle) and the platones polipodos abiertos como flores (many-legged platters opened like flowers), although i also just really like the way that sounds.

While walking along the same street by the river, we popped into a gallery called Margem that displays work by an ecuadorian artist named Edgar Marin, whose work is an interesting combo of painting, etching, sculpture, and metal lamination. Although I was hoping to catch the museo de arte moderno, i think vicente will kill me if we try to do that today before dinner (and it closes in half an hour). Maybe i´ll go early tomorrow before our excursion to either Cajas (national park to go hike) or Ingapircas (Incan ruins about an hour away). For now, i´m hoping to catch the last half hour or so of sunlight in Parque Calderon, where the people are definitely as interesting as the all of the sculptures, flowers, and cathedrals there.

starting the second leg

(ayer, yesterday)
hola amigos,
so we are officially on the go, have made it to our second stop in the month-long ecuadorian continent (and maybe even a touch of columbia) tour. we flew into guyaquíl, the largest and most dangerous city in ecuador, on saturday, and we were picked up by the brother of a guy in vicente`s english class at the foundation. that was definitely really helpful and a perfect way for us to enter the city, as tourists often get bad taxis and stolen luggage there, and we were driven straight to the room with their friends`family where we would be spending the next few nights (which was behind 2 gates, and about 5 locks- wahoo! who feels safe now? to be fair, we were in the nicest part of the city, near the centro comercial, where government officials and so forth live. though the buildings were often ornate and certainly expensive, the concrete walls surrounded by gates and armed guards did little to instill confidence after coming from san cristobal, where i dropped my purse next to the main plaza one night and came back in an hour to find it exactly in the same place, untouched...)

in any case, after a 2 hour nap and overcoming the shock of suddenly finding ourselves on guard at all times, we made it out for merrienda (which was almost half the price we`ve been paying), a stroll by the mall, and a drink with our friend`s brother at a bar that had a live band (what a funny mix of music they played too- everything from hardcore punk to romantic songs to reggaeton (which is a bit like the pop music of ecuador, except its more like latin hip hop-reggae-rap). having survived, and even enjoyed, my first night in guyaquil, i was excited to explore the recently refurbished Malecon 2000 that leads to the older scenic houses built on a hill, called Cerro Santa Ana. yesterday we did just that, after meeting up with vicente`s family friend, emily, who is doing volunteer work in duran, just across the river (and in a much rougher part of town). the whole malecon was a bit trippy in that it felt exactly like navy pier in chicago- a riverwalk with manicured gardens, bright shiny new architecture, a 3d imax (the 1st in south america), and all sorts of little diversiones along the way.
emily came out to meet us with a group of volunteers from the church she`s working with, and after touring the Malecon, Cerro Santa Ana, and the Iguana Park (a surreal city park where large land iguanas mingle with locals and tourists or spit or leak on your from the many trees above head-- yes this happened to me), they invited us over to their house for dinner. it was really interesting to take the bus out to duran and see the mass at the church they were volunteering with, but it was also just really nice to feel at home with all of her friends for the night, especially in a city like guyaquíl where you`re never quite sure who to trust.
the next day (today), after spending way too much time packing our bags and almorzando (and stopping by a travel agency that quoted us outrageous prices for airfare), we headed out to the bus station to catch a bus to cuenca, the 3rd largest, but much more tranquilo, city in ecuador. the bus terminal was nuts, of course, and we felt completely happy to finally be on a bus headed in the right direction. vendors of everything from empanadas de verde (unripe plantain) to canguíl (popcorn) to mood necklaces hopped on and off the bus at different points, and as the beautiful mountain scenery unfolded, wesley snipes was blowing people to bits with spanish subtitles on the distractingly-placed television above our heads. when "demolition man" finally ended, we happily took in the gorgeous clouds and steep slopes of the rest of the journey and i picked a hostel and few sites to see in cuenca from the guidebook. the hostel seemed nice and simple, across from a plaza and market in the centro of the city, and vicente and i are excited to see the mercados bustling tomorrow (there is a flower market a few blocks from us, which is supposed to be quite nice).
it is cold and beautiful here, and we feel a lot safer and happier walking around the city. tomorrow or the next day i am excited to go hiking in a nearby national reserve and then make our way up to baños for some thermal springs and possibly jungle-trekking activities. after baños, we will head up to quito and stay with our friends who work with an independent radio station there before planning the last half of the month. all in all, we are excited to be getting to know ecuador, but also a bit frazzled by the new pace of traveling, which is so different than our three months settled in san cristobal and occassional weekend trips.
saying goodbye was actually much more touching than we`d imagined, and two of the women who we`d gotten to know on the island actually cried when we hugged them goodbye the last time. the family we`d been staying with was visibly sad that we were leaving, and our musician friends and another friend we`d made over the last few months met us at the airport to say goodby, even though they`d come out to our going-away party the night before at Iguana Rock. it is hard to imagine not going over to their house on cloudy days to eat breakfast, exchange languages, and enjoy each other.