My trip to Baños was relatively brief, but I managed to pack most of the main sights in! After tucking into a lovely breakfast of pancakes for the second time this week, I met Batia (Israel) in my dorm. She said that she knew me from somewhere, but I was certain I'd never seen her before! "Are you sure it was me, I was a brunette a few days ago?!" I asked! It turns out that we'd been at the same hostel in Cuenca, and although the rest of the gang had met up with her, I only knew of her as "The Israeli Girl!" After finally becoming properly acquainted, we met up with Nick (USA) and Eeva (Finland) and hired mountain bikes. It took a while to get organised, but eventually we were off on the road towards Puno. This road winds down through the mountains past several waterfalls - many people bike most or all of the way, then come back on a bus with the bike strapped to the roof! I wasn't convinced I'd make it all that far, especially as it was gone noon before we set off, but I was certainly up for the ride!
The scenery was beautiful, although there were more uphill sections than we had anticipated! I was surprised by how far we'd gone in an hour, and I decided to continue on to the main waterfall ahead of the others, while they took a cable car across the valley. I made it to Rio Verde just as it started to rain, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to stop for a cheese toastie, and with my new-found Spanish skills, I managed to ask if it was possible to have some tomato on it as well! After lunch, despite being right at the start of the path to the waterfall, I decided I couldn't be bothered with it after all and so I took a truck back to Baños! Well, I'd had a nice ride and got some fresh air, what more did I need? Besides, I'll be at Iguazu Falls soon enough, and that'll certainly tick the waterfall box!
Baños
That evening, I met Dena and Lorna (USA) and we all headed out for dinner. It turned out to be one of those typical travelling moments when the group is bigger than 3 - no one can agree on where to eat, so way too much time is wasted wandering around aimlessly! Eventually, we found a hole-in-the-wall that served tacos and burritos. After my splurging in Cuenca, it was good to find a cheap place for dinner, but I enjoyed my beef taco so much, I ordered a chicken burrito as well! Good job they didn't sell desserts!
On Thursday, I went to the hot springs with Dena and Lorna, a must-do for any trip to Baños! It wasn't particularly scenic as I had expected, but the water is pumped in directly from the volcanoes nearby and is naturally hot (and yellowish-green from all the minerals!) We spent some time in the hot and warm pools, taking a freezing cold shower in between each. Well, I certainly went right in under the cold water, but the others kind of tickled their arms a bit under it! I even managed four laps in the the coldest pool, which made my neck ache a bit! It was good to jump back into the warm one again! After a hour or so, we were nicely relaxed and headed back to the hostel. We passed a massage place on the way, and agreed to come back later for a bit of pampering!
That afternoon, I tried to organise a white-water rafting day-trip, but I had no luck! This was something that I really wanted to do in Baños as Anh had done it here and had a great time! Plus, if I could raft here, I meant that I could skip Tena and get to Colombia sooner! Unfortunately, since Anh had been here, the water level in the river was too high and that section was now closed! That meant I could only take a half-day trip and at a maximum of Grade III. Now, I tried Grade III in New Zealand and it was way too boring, I NEED adrenalin these days! In fairness, in NZ the water level was extremely low, so hopefully it would be more exciting in Baños during the rainy season.
Now that I knew that the full-day option was out of the question, it meant that I could go that afternoon and leave for Quito on Friday morning! But there weren't enough people around to warrant a trip. Eventually, I managed to find some people who were interested but they chickened out when they realised there would only be three of us, plus the guide, in the raft. Wimps, they thought it would be too much hard work with just 4 people! So, I could only go on Friday morning - damn it, had I have known, I would have gone that morning instead. The pressure to move fast again has been mounting as I want to have as much time in Colombia as possible. Plus, once in Quito, I would need time to visit tour operators to organise a trip into the jungle, and then set off as soon as possible. I want to go deep into the jungle and that always requires a minimum of four days. Of course, the easy option would have been to take a trip from Puyo, but that would be into secondary forest only - I had decided that, as I have seen rainforest before in Thailand and Australia, that if I was going to do it over here, I should do it properly!
Anyway, I spent the rest of Thursday afternoon hanging around in the hostel and wandering around the town. That evening, we did go out for a massage; eventually, once the girls had got back from their canyoning trip and the pizza that was supposed to take 15 minutes (but took 30!) finally arrived! It was very enjoyable, although I was a little concerned by their choice of relaxing music. At first, I thought that I could hear roadworks, until it became clear it was on a CD! It did change into birdsong (crows???) and then more soothing rainfall. Shame it reverted back to farmyard animals by the end!
On Friday, I had another lovely breakfast, checked out and took all my belongings to Geotours. Once we had been given our equipment, off we piled into a pick-up truck, with me in the front squashed between the driver and guide, trying to avoid the gearstick at all costs! Ah, the joys of backpacking! It took quite a while to get to the river, and it was gone 11am before we actually made it into the water, but it was clear from the speed of the river that it wouldn't be boring! In fact, I was glad at that point that I hadn't been able to go higher than Grade III! It was good fun and the scenery was great, but I was disappointed to be finished after only 50 minutes! Once on terra firma, I decided that it was still too tame after all, and now I will not raft agin until I can do at least Grade IV!!!
I made it back to Baños just after 2pm. The next bus to Quito was at 2.30, the next one at 3.50. Of course, I'd spent most of the return journey clockwatching, in the hope I'd be able to get the earlier one. After stopping for one of the group to jump off a bridge, my hopes faded! Imagine my glee, when after getting changed at Geotours and collecting my bags, I had ten minutes to make it to the bus station round the corner! I arrived there and was immediately greeted by touts for the Quito bus. I made it onto the 2.30 service with no problems, and despite being warned that that company takes 5 hours to Quito, I was there in 3½ as promised! Then, it was easy to take the Ecovia service to my hostel, guided by GPS as I had forgotten the name of the stop I needed to get off at!
Once I'd checked in again at the Blue House, I dropped off my stuff and headed straight to Gullivers Expeditions! They had been good for my Galápagos trip, so I hoped that they also organised jungle tours! Indeed they did and I found out that the soonest that I would be able to go would be Monday morning, and that applied to all the operators. Phew! I hadn't missed out by spending that extra morning in Baños! I took a leaflet to browse and asked for directions to Otavalo for the next day! That had also been something that was playing on my mind. I wanted to go there to see the famous Saturday market, but that would mean only getting to Colombia next weekend on Sunday. Then I had a brainwave - rather than stay there next week en route to the border, I could just go for the day as it is only a few hours away by bus! Brilliant, more time saved!
So, I got up early yesterday morning, walked to the Trole line, got lost as I was improvising without a map again, found the Trole stop, got to the terminal and was on my way by ten past seven! I arrived in Otavalo by 9.45, and although I was dropped off in the middle of nowhere, rather than at the bus terminal, the driver pointed me in the right direction! Soon, I was at the market but really needed to eat and use the bathroom by this point! Me being me, I didn't ask for help, but wandered around like an idiot for over an hour, finding neither a restaurant or a bathroom! Where are the humitos street-vendors when you need them??? I eventually bought some bread rolls, and as I sat eating them, a lady started to chat to me. I managed a decent conversation with her with my new Spanish skills and asked her where I could go to the toilet. She also warned me that there were many thieves in the market and to take care. I assured her that I always did, and in fact, I had my camera down my jumper, tucked under my arm.
Otavalo Market
At last, with directions, I could relieve myself and then start to really enjoy the market! It was hot and sunny by now, so I had tied my jacket around my waist. As I walked along, I got a strange feeling. It was like when your blood runs cold, but I was hot instead. There was a girl next to me who seemed to be too close, and so I instinctively held on to my coat pocket. She then seemed to be on my other side, so I grabbed that pocket to and promptly crossed the road away from her. I was probably imagining it, but I decided to wear my coat again, depsite the heat.
Once relieved (in a typically dirty South American public toilets, but of a standard I had not seen since Bolivia!), it was time to enjoy the market properly! I wandered around the stalls of fruit, vegetables, chickens, dreamcatchers, friendship bands, jewellery, baggy trousers, tablecloths, pan pipes, tapestries... so many colours!!! I spent way too much time procrastinating over some pan pipes, but I decided that the cheap ones were too tacky, and the professional ones were too expensive, especially as they would never be played but probably hung on a wall at best!
I didn't bother buying them in the end, and when the rain started just before 1pm, it was time for me to head back to Quito, with only photos as souveniers. Or so I thought... on the bus, I noticed a rip in my jacket. I thought that I had caught it on the luggage shelf, but then I realised... the girl in the market had slashed my pocket with a knife! She hadn't got through the lining and therefore hadn't been able to swipe my GPS, but I was so annoyed! I was lucky, but she'd ruined my raincoat from New Zealand and now I would have to buy some heavy duct tape to repair it!
Back in Quito, I headed into Gullivers again to book the jungle trip and to see Erika (as she wasn't there the day before). She nearly didn't recognise me with blonde hair! She was again very helpful, and when I found out that I would be back in Quito late at night after the trip, but could then take a night bus directly to the Colombian border, I booked a full 5 day tour, which includes a visit to a shaman, deep in the forest! I then needed to buy tape to fix my coat, batteries for my torch and plastic bags to put all my stuff into (and to wear over my shoes before I get given a pair of rubber boots!) Of course, by this time on a Saturday afternoon, everything was shut, so I had to take the Ecovia line to the other end of Quito to a big shopping mall, an hour before it closed! Luckily enough, I found the right batteries and bought some bin bags and ziplock bags to hopefully keep everything dry in the jungle!
Today has been one of those hanging-around days! I've managed to kill most of the time before I catch the night bus to Lago Agrio, where my tour starts tomorrow, by spending over an hour reorganising my bags, and then another 5-6 hours online getting all my computing up to date before I am without technology for another week! Next time I am online, I hope I will be in Colombia, although I am not 100% what the bus situation will be in Quito on Friday night. In Tuesday, two new modern bus terminals will open, but no one can tell me which one I will arrive at once I am back from Lago Agrio, nor which one the bus to the border will operate from. That could pose a major problem as it is a long way between the two, and if the inter-terminal shuttle is not yet operational, it could be $20 in a taxi! Forget that! Anyway, I'll be deep in the Amazon from Monday afternoon until Friday afternoon, and then hopefully in Colombia by Saturday at the latest!
Watch this space - the next blog entry is likely to be quite interesting...
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