mindspill

Sunday 11th Oct - Arrival in Latacunga

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 06:35:37 GMT

If this is your first episode of this journey then take a minute to read this note.

This morning we woke at 6.30 and after packing we were the first people for breakfast at 7.30. Being such early risers we had some spare time to kill so we toured the streets of Banos again. Being a Sunday we noticed that the streets were more crowded, the people better dressed, the food stalls had different food (guinea pigs) and there were more beggars. We played our part to help the needy and gave some sweets to the scruffy children who came pleading to clean our shoes, but I'm sure preferred money instead.

At 10 we left the room and went to the bus station to catch a bus for Latacunga. This was the first and only time we had a problem finding a bus throughout the whole trip because there weren't any direct buses to Latacunga and the buses to Quito weren't going to pass from Latacunga, so to avoid waiting at the bus station we caught a bus to Ambato. Catching the bus to Latacunga from Ambato was a piece of cake because as soon as we dropped off the bus we found a bus 'salesman' calling Latacunga and all we needed to do was hop in his bus.

About Latacunga

Latacunga isn't a fraction as beautiful as Banos. Actually it's the ugliest city we've been to, but it's the closest city to the Cotopaxi Volcano and Laguna Quilotoa. The roads are laid out in a grid formation so it's not difficult to find your way around but there nowhere interesting to go. To add insult to injury we arrived on Sunday afternoon so everything was closed except the cemetery and the dozen florists in the area. A few blocks away from the cemetery there was a market with the only thing worth noting being a fiery volleyball game between the elder people of the village. On Monday the city looked much busier with open shops, though its appeal didn't increase.

Click image to download Latacunga video

Hotel Rodelu

According to the outdated Lonely Planet this is the fanciest hotel in town, but I think saying it was the best is more than enough. This statement says much more about the state of the town then the hotel because it had nothing fancy at all. That said, I doubt there exist better hotels in Latacunga. The cable TV with 39 channels including ESPN was a relief from the city's boredom and was much better than the view out of the window which portrayed a perfect snapshot of the village - bleak. To give it its due credit the room and hotel were clean and our room was cosy. The room had much more bed space than room space but then if you look at it from the bright side you can say that everything is within arm's reach of the bed. The hotel is in the centre of the village and most places are within walking distance, including the cemetery.

Window view from Hotel Rodelu

Restaurant China Chifa

The restaurant is the best Chinese in town according to Lonely Planet, we think it's discrete. We had some trouble communicating with the waiter because he didn't know any English and there weren't any translations in the menu. Otherwise the food was eatable but nothing more.

Not having anywhere to go or anything to do we spent the rest of the evening watching Animal Planet and slept early.

A day in Banos

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 06:45:24 GMT

If this is your first episode of this journey then take a minute to read this note.

Weather:

Chilly, rainy and overcast

Costs:

Horse Riding Tour: $16
Tour tips: $5
Supermarket food: $3
Bus tour to waterfall: $7
Cable car ride: $1
Entrance to Paillon del Diablo: 50c

Thanks to the jet lag we woke up at 6am and went for the desayuno (breakfast) at 7.00. At this early hour the hotel personnel were still arriving so naturally everything was closed. We waited in the garden under the umbrella to avoid the trickling rain and went in at 7.30 for the buffet breakfast. The continental breakfast had the usual stuff, bread, cereal, hams, cheese, fruit, tea and coffee but no sweets. The musli cereal with toasted nuts was the best musli I've ever tasted, and it was a joy savouring it with the strong Ecuadorian coffee.

Click image to download video

About Banos

Banos is a very lively place with a grid of streets full of different kinds of overflowing shops. The most active areas are those around the main church and the bus station where the sugar cane stalls are located. These stalls sell sugar cane either in raw form (like bamboo sticks) or peeled sticks or juice. They are unmistakable and characteristic, though I cannot understand how one should choose the best stall considering they are almost identical.

We brought a packet of peeled sugar cane sticks for 50c but there were enough to chop off our legs after catching diabetes, so we ended leaving the packet minus two behind us in the hotel. Apart from the sugar cane stalls there are other food stalls that sell either fried chicken, nuts, some sort of beans, corn cobs and even the local speciality, fried guinea pigs. The stalls are quite popular with the people though we're not sure whether they were frequented by locals or by tourists. The largest number of tourists come for the neighbouring countries especially Columbia so it's difficult to distinguish locals from tourists. Another common sight are the shops that make toffee by stretching it while it is tied to their door hinge. The hygienic practices used to create this toffee are doubtful to say the least but the end product is good and excessively sweet. One curious thing that we noticed was that public toilets are marked with SSHH - maybe the people found a way not to degrade the name of the village which also means bathroom in Spanish.

Although the village has its fair share of attractions you can visit on your own, there are tour operators around every corner to sell you horse riding tours, jungle tours, mountain climbing, bicycle and go cart rentals and rafting. Again the choice here was based on the most colourful outfit with English descriptions and the prices were reasonable enough not to warrant the need to shop around.

All in all Banos is a touristy village but with the limited number of white tourists it disguises this fact very well. The people are welcoming and friendly especially the little children who find an excuse to wave when they see a gringo. Unlike other cities, Banos isn't forbidding at night and on Saturday there were children's trains circling the streets with more adults than children aboard.

This morning we were undecided whether to go horse riding or go cycling to the waterfalls. After weighing our options at the breakfast table we decided to go for a 4 hour horse riding tour keeping an option open to go cycling in the afternoon. Since we had enough time before the tour we walked to the bus station and visited the suspension bridge over the Pastaza River. This was a prelude to the waterfalls that we had to visit in the afternoon but it was a good way to spend some time. On our return to the tour operator we brought some snacks from the Banos supermarket.

The horse riding experience was one of the funnies we've done till now. We've only been horse riding twice and the 'poco esperienza' didn't mean much to our guide, giving him the leeway to choose an arduous mountain decent. We didn't realise that horse riding turns your feet into jelly almost instantly, and after the first hour we were already feeling tennis balls between our legs. When watching others horse ride it seems like an effortless activity but you end up using muscles you never knew existed which make them ache like hell.

The guide took us up a mountain near Luna Runtun from where we could see the whole of Banos underneath. The scenery around was lovely and well worth the muscle pain ointment we had to rub. My horse must have had something against my darling's horse as he kept trying to bite him each time he tried to surpass. To despise him even further he kept constantly farting in the other's face throughout the whole trip.

As we've learned from Malaysia the descent was much worse than the ascent. It wasn't like smoking the pipe on a rocking chair going through the steep narrow passages on a rocky terrain with two horses fighting for the lead. Despite their antagonism the whole merit still goes to the horses that knew each and every step and made it safely to the village. There might as well have been a baby on the horse as they did all the hard work, with a little spanking guidance on the back by our guide.

After the tour we had a small break in our room and saw part of the game between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo. At around 3 we left in search for a tour to Pailon del Diablo and after walking just a few meters away from the hotel an open bus scoped us up for the waterfall tour. The bus salesmen are effective after all, and it's a refreshing change to have a bus chase you instead of the other way round. In Banos you can hail buses in the same way you hail a taxi.

The tourist bus was really folkloristic without any doors, painted in bright yellow, red and blue. There were a group of German girls riding on the roof and each time we passed through a tunnel they got showered with water dripping from the ceiling.

On this tour I made myself the laughing stock of the whole holiday. The bus stopped us to go and watch a waterfall and while going down the high bus step I fell to the ground curling on my back like a dying capsized turtle. Needless to say all the bus burst out laughing and they kept laughing each time they looked at me.

During the tour we saw some spectacular waterfalls and rode on a rudimentary cable car ride that defied every possible safety regulation. When we arrived at the final waterfall, the Pailon Del Diabolo, the bus driver granted us an hour to walk down to the waterfall and experience its force. While descending we noticed that everyone returning back had his hair soaked wet, so we were wondering whether it was sweat or rain. As we arrived at the base of the water we found the answer. It was the water rush the waterfall unleashes which is guaranteed to soak you in few minutes.

After the tour we went for a pizza and fettucine at the restaurant 'Pizza Napoletana', which was an empty restaurant but had good food.

Friday 9th September A Banos, A Banos!!!

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 21:35:04 GMT

If this is your first episode of this journey then take a minute to read this note.

Weather:

Overcast and chilly

Costs:

Taxi from Airport to Bus Station in Quito: 6$
Bus to Banos: 3.5$
2 CD's: 5$
Hotel Palace (double room): 77$
Taxi to hotel palace: $1
Salasacan Weaving: $12
Mexican food (x2): $12

Just before landing in Quito airport there's one thing that's guaranteed to cross your mind the catastrophic consequence an airline crash will have near the airport. The Quiport like the rest of Quito lies in a valley but unlike any other airport we've been to it's strangely surrounded by buildings. Inside the architecture is modern and I must admit that I awaited much worse. At 8am everything was working as it should and we passed through immigration with no hassles or incredulous looks at the passport, although I doubt it came out of familiarity with our country. After collecting our luggage we took a taxi to the bus station 'Terminale Terrestre'.

The taxi driver dropped us in front of a stairs leading to a square where we should have found the ticket offices but instead we somehow ended up in a telephone cabin office instead. After putting some of last month's Spanish lessons to use we managed to find the ticket office and the bus to Banos. The trip promised to be culturally rich from the start my Madam pointed at a policeman pissing on the front of a bus. The bus to Banos, probably free of piss, was relatively modern but the people inside gave just the perfect retro touch to remind us that we were in Ecuador.

The characters on this bus became imprinted in memory and will probably remain there for a long time, at least until I continue hearing 'A Banos', 'A Banos' reverberating in my mind. This was the call the bus attendant or as I preferred referring to him, the bus sales man, was calling out at each stop. No matter were we stopped, be it to let people off or to wait in the traffic, the attendant called out at the top of his voice to load more passengers. His tactics were fruitful because the bus kept replenishing itself with people. Then there was the bus driver who must have been under an accumulated adrenaline rush out of watching Fast and Furious, because we were close to smash against other vehicles throughout the whole 3½ hour trip. Lastly there were the bus vendors 'vendedores' who came on the bus handing over things like 'medical tea' or 'special ball pens' trying to convince us in very fast Spanish why we couldn't live without their goods. At least we made a deal with the best one of the bunch who was a traditional musician that played his flute and guitar on the bus and sold us 2 CD's with traditional Ecuadorian songs for $5. (Click on image to download video)

When we arrived in Banos after passing through Latacunga and Ambato we caught a taxi ($1) from the bus station to Hotel Palace for practical reasons rather than because of the distance. Hotel Palace is one of the higher end hotels along with the Sangay Hotel listed in Lonely Planet but this hotel offered a better price and a better e-mail response than the latter.

Hotel Palace - Banos

The hotel is relatively large compared to the others in the area but I expected something better from the room, especially a better mattress preferably not filled with rocks. The view out of the window made up for the uncomfortable mattress offering a spectacular the view of the Virgin Waterfall beside the hotel. The hotel also has a small pool, garden and sauna, but with the rain ticking constantly they weren't of practical use. There is also a restaurant which we visited shortly after arriving for a snack but we found none, and had to settle for chicken with rice and a salad with eggs (hardly as recommended by people who insist to avoid salad). Compared to other restaurants in the village this one is on the expensive side, so you might better off if you dine elsewhere.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the streets of Banos trying to take some representative photos of the village. While returning back to the hotel we came across a local artisan who made Salasacan weavings. When the lady saw us staring at her work displayed on the veranda she welcomed us inside for a better view. We tried to understand as much as possible from her explanation in Spanish but the only things we understood were that the wool used was sheep wool and it is naturally dyed and water resistant. Her best piece took her 3 weeks to complete and was selling at $35. We left the house with a piece depicting two blue footed boobies but this also allowed us to take some photos of her art without feeling guilty. After the walking tour we went to eat at a Mexican Restaurant called Panco Villa. The food was good, but the place was empty. We had cheese nachos, chicken and beef hard tacos and natural (thick) juice all for $12.

Flying to Ecuador from Europe

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 06:08:49 GMT

If this is your first episode of this journey then take a minute to read this note.

Weather:

Home Sunny
Amsterdam Sunny

Costs:

Baggage Deposit (1 locker): 6
Train Tickets: 6.5
Burger King (x2): 10.60
Mc Flurry (x2): 3
Army Pants: 60

With a country the size of a freckle you can't blame us that we like to go on holiday abroad, this time it was Ecuador and the Galapagos islands after the initial plans to go to New Zealand changed because of the weather at this time of the year. With the last few weeks being abnormally prone to airline accidents (Greece, Peru, Indonesia, Palermo) we listened carefully to the flight attendant safety instructions, hoping we wouldn't need to open the door next to us.

The first flight on our route to Quito was an 8am flight to Amsterdam. To keep myself busy on the flight I opted for the non-fiction classic inspired by the Galapagos 'The origin of the species' by Charles Darwin, and the strategy/RPG game Fire Emblem.

After arriving at Schiphol Airport it doesn't take long to get a glimpse of the relaxed attitude of the Dutch. Stepping out of the airport for a fag there's a square pond where people can sit and relax watching the giant TV screen across the street. I must admit that I liked the idea of watching MTV in the sun after a three hour flight.

About Amsterdam

The good thing about Amsterdam is that it takes only 3 stops to get by train from the airport to the city centre. Call me narrow minded but Amsterdam isn't a place to go for a holiday. The only reasons why you'd want to go there are to smoke some pot legally, tour the red light district or get drunk on Heinken while watching an Ajax football. Nonetheless, I like Europe's vice city as a transit point getting to the centre is easy, distances are walker friendly, and people are so much fun to watch.

To get to the centre of Amsterdam all you've got to do is catch a train from the airport to the centre which is only three stops away. As we stepped out of the station and walked to the main street we were greeted by an array of shops that make their main income out souvenirs of the city's notorious vices. Unlike our last visit in November '03 we managed to find a good shopping street called De Kolk Str. which is accessed by entering one of the side streets on the main road that lead to the main square. In this street we found an adventure shop called Dump that robbed us of our time and money with the variety of equipment and clothing. I ended by spending 60 Euro on a cargo infantry trousers that had too many pockets to resist. We also got a clothes hanger, a leg money pouch and a green shirt for Madam P. Most of the shops were clothes shops though the urban fashion style of most of them, make a good stopping point and provide some respite from the heat. Madam also brought a new Gore Tex adventure shoes from the North face at a bargain price of 75 Euro. After an afternoon of shopping we returned to the airport at 7 to catch the 15 hr flight to Quito.

Flying with KLM

This was our first long haul flight with KLM Royal Dutch and it's been very pleasant. KLM have great support for South American countries. In fact it's the only other airline apart from Iberia that currently flies directly to Ecuador. The cabin staff are carefully handpicked not only for their service but also for their appearance even though you needn't look hard to find beauties here. The meals on the flight were well presented and the food was good with ample variety. The in-flight entertainment was discrete with only shared TV's but the movies were recent (Madagascar and Mr. and Mrs. Smith).

mindspill

Sunday 11th Oct - Arrival in Latacunga

About Latacunga

Hotel Rodelu

Restaurant China Chifa

A day in Banos

About Banos

Friday 9th September  A Banos, A Banos!!!

Hotel Palace - Banos

Flying to Ecuador from Europe

About Amsterdam

Flying with KLM

Friday 9th September A Banos, A Banos!!!