Do NOT Go In There!!

By the way, as opposed to the wet/cold/hotbox thing at the Loop, we believe it was our cooking the first night in the hostel that made us ill. Sadly, I think we even knew it as we ate.

National Lampoon's: Banos Vacation

"Ecuador's premier resort town" (Moon Handbooks), Banos was one of the destinations in Ecuador that we were really looking forward to. ATVs cheap for rent, multiple mineral hotsprings, self guided bike tours 20 kilometers downhill passing multiple waterfalls, an active and beautiful local volcano to view from different sites reached by multiple hiking paths, affordable guided tours to the vocano on horseback, an animal prison..er, I mean zoo (the locals here call it an animal prison) set into a steep mountainside only two minutes outside of town, white water rafting, canyoning, jungle tours, bungee jumping, parasailing, waterfall repelling, rock climbing...you name it, it seems Banos has got it. And our hostel: big room with a big bed, night stands on either side, each with lamps (that's a big deal in the hostel world), hot shower, good tp and plenty of it, big window with waterfall view, rooftop patio with wi-fi, $1 pints of cold beer on the honor system, well known for the best breakfast in town (and cheap!), and an amazing bakery downstairs that keeps the place smelling of...well, of whatever the heck their baking, and it's always good.
Okay. There's a downside to this of course. We've been here three days and have done almost none of it. We've been sick and have been laid up in bed for most of it. Don't worry, we're fine, and the upside is that, thankfully, we packed extra days into the itinerary, and I couldn't think of a better place or a better hostel to be laying low regaining our strength in. So, hopefully in a few days you will be reading about the bike trip we are doing tomorrow that we booked for last friday, and we'll be leaving here ready for a nice four-day trip into the Amazon, with our immune systems kicked into overdrive.
The name of the Hostel, for those heading to Banos: Plantas y Blanco. It's the name of the bakery too.
I recommend taking in a movie and early dinner at Casa Hood for great atmosphere, good food, and poor service.

Ya Can't Git Theah From Heah

When we talked to the girl who "handles the tours" at our hostel in Quito, and mentioned that we would probably head to Latacunga to get info on the "Loop" situation rather than book one of her tours, she matter-of-factly said that we would find no such help there, and that Latacunga was a farm town with nothing in it. What a weird thing to say. I suppose it would be like some one from Boston saying that you couldn't even get a decent meal in the Upper Valley, VT/NH, because it's all cows and marijuanna up there. Turns out, we found a great hostel with super friendly and helpfull staff, who, instead of trying to sell us on a tour, just answered all of our questions and offered free information on different ways to access/approach the loop. Big ups to the Tiana Hostel in Latacunga, we mos def recommend. We found the Tiana by way of our Moon Travel Handbook, which has been so much more helpful than our Peru travel book from Insight Guides by Discovery Channel and was cheaper than the Lonely Planet option. I can now officially recommend Moon Handbooks (for Ecuador at least). But that's all the city was for us really, just a stop off point to gather info and move on. So, we did.

The Roof is on Fire!!

We finished the bone-chillingly wet hike around the lake before 4 pm, had an early dinner at the closest place with food, went back to our room, and begged them for some fire wood. The room we had there was by far the smallest we'd stayed in so far. Thankfully, however, it was only big enough to squeeze in a queen-sized bed and a small wood stove. We burned that thing so hot, by the middle of the night we were opening the window to let in the below-freezing natural air conditioning. But, for those hours in the beggining...boy, that heat was good and necessary. I'm afraid, though, that the severe cold and wet then extreme boxed heat may be what lead to our eventual, yet fairly sudden, downturn in Banos.

Sorry, no pics of the room. This stove was our temporary savior while the hostel owners chopped us up plenty of wet wood.

Beautifully Wet

We arrived at the lake, found a decent hostel on the rim, and bought some local scarves (it was so much colder than anywhere we had been in Peru, which was farther away from the equator and much higher in altitude...strange?!?). We put on our gloves, hats, and new scarves and headed out on our hike around the lake, not knowing what to expect, other than that it should take between four and five hours. I guess we could have "guessed" by looking around, but we just hadn't realized what this hike would intail. The path followed the actual rim of the lake, tracing the up and down every peak that surrounded it, taking us up and down about 500 feet a dozen times all on a two-foot wide path that went straight down 1,000 feet on either side. But I'm not complaining...yet!! About half way around, the sky decided the lake looked like it could use a refill. Slowly but surely, the rain began to fall harder and harder and harder, until we were soaked to the bone, with still an hour left in the hike and no where else to turn. Again, I'm not complaining...yet!! With about half an hour to go, following a guided group of three, we somehow, in the pouring rain, shimmied along a muddy five inch ledge for about twenty feet clinging with fingernails to the wet cliff in our face so as not to slip and fall down the 1,500 foot cliff at our feet. Now THAT I complain about!! Had there been a program, I'm sure that was not in it. But here we are to tell the tale. The lake was indescribably beautiful, and the first half of the hike was beyond exhilirating. But, as the weather remained dissagreable, we dicided to cut the big loop short by a few days, and about a 25 kilometers of hiking in the rain, and head back to Latacunga the way we came.

Let's go to the Loop!

One of the few things we absolutely knew we wanted to do in Ecuador was hike the Quilotoa Loop (QL)--or Latacunga Loop (LL) as some called it. After quite a bit of failed research, we realized that the best and only way to do this was to get to Latacunga and take it from there. Turns out that: those two loops are not the same, the best way is not necessarily on your own, and experience, not internet research, is the only way to determine these things.
Our original plan was to do the bigger loop (LL) which included the smaller QL, that treks the circumference of a great big high-altitude vocanic lake. As opposed to going with a guided tour, which seemed to be a pretty popular yet expensive option, we set out on our own to find our way. One not so tourist bus not so chicken bus later, we found ourselves in the back of a pickup truck flying up a dirt road toward the first hike, the QL.

Quito, Ecuador

When we arrived at our hostel in Quito at 8am, we promply paid for the room, closed the door, fell on the bed, and passed the eff out. It was a beautiful sleep in a not so beautiful hostel in a not so beautiful part of a beautiful city in a beautiful countr...it does seem like travel is a bit like being on a see-saw, huh, with all of the ups and downs? The ups and downs didn't want to stop either. Just when we were finding our city-sight-seeing-stride later that afternoon, it rained so hard that, in less than an hour, there were rivers running through the city where streets had once been. We decided to do the Quito sight seeing on the back end of our Ecuador loop, and headed out early the next morning for Latacunga.

On the plane again...Just can't wait to get on the ground again...

Aside from doing yet another over-nighter in the airport, the travel from Peru to Ecuador was painless. They even let us into their country with our snack food--which, by the way, Dad, included the Gorp you made us for the Cardigan Hike. Thank you, it has been just perfect, right when we need it :-)

Car Horn

The city of Lima is BIG and super busy, with millions of people on foot and in cars. There are traffic lights at maybe 5% of the intersections and no stop signs anywhere to be found. Instead, there are speed bumps at the intersections on the street that is mean't to yeild. Cars miss smashing into one another by millimeters constantly, and someone can be heard honking a car horn at all times The funny thing is, I think there are more accidents in the States than in Peru. Because here, you pay attention every second or you crash. Back home, everyone is blindly chatting on thier cell phone just hoping that nothing appears in front of them unexpectedly.

!!Feliz Navidad!!

Everyone knows I absolutely love Christmas. But, everyone should now know that Lima should be known for it's fantastic Christmas stores. I mean, this store's product was in such high demand, it needed an armed guard to stand duty out front.

BEWARE!! FOLLOWING IMAGES MAY CAUSE NAUSEA AND/OR TEARS

I'm not sure if you've ever had a pet guinea pig, but, groing up, I had many. Sadly, n South America, they're called cuy (cuee), and they are cooked and eaten by everyone!!



















We did not eat any.

Lima

Ahh, back at the Loki. We couldn't get the private suite, but the four-bed dorm with private bath is working out very well. We're staying in a part of Lima called Miraflores, which is a nicer part of the city, with first world amenities like MickyDees, Dunkin Donuts, and an oceanside shopping mall with a U.S. movie cinema... oh, and hellman's Real Mayo (you'd love it here, Ol' Ba)!!

We spent today in the historic district of Lima checking out the sights and shops. The strangest thing... Lima has a retail district; it's about two square miles, and instead of malls of different shops and foods they heve everything segregated. And I mean segregated!! There were two full square blocks with only--and I mean only--party supplies. Talk about Princess Barbie overload! There were two more full square blocks of stores, side by side, selling strictly kitchen supplies. It was the strangest thing, one after another after another after another of kitchen supplies, then the next few blocks would be soley electronics and so on. The strangest thing...but pretty cool.

We ate lots of junk food and we were not allowed to take pictures during the coolest tour--the San Fransisco Cathedral and Catacombs--but we had a great time and are ready for our flight to Ecuador tomorrow.

Sorry the images don't really match up with the commentary well, but let's not let one dictate the other, shall we?

And quickly out of Arequipa

On the recommendation of the our friends, the Neaderlanders, we decided to approach the Nazca Lines by way of Ica. Ica looked to be a smaller city with access to the Lines (giant semi-permanent pre Inca glyphs viewable by plane), as well as access to a giant sand dune-y desert perfect for sandboarding and tearing around in dune buggies. We ended up passing on the Nazca Lines, as they were super expensive and the Cesnas sounded shady-style dangerous, but we did not miss out on the dune buggies and boarding. We actually grabbed a taxi and split right out of Ica just as soon as we arrived at the Plaza and got a look around. We opted to stay just outside of the city in Huacachina, a fittingly self described oasis in the middle of the dunes.

After looking around at the limited selection of ho(s)tels--Huacachina was pretty much a pond with two streets following the lake's circumference--we settled into the Casa de Arena on the outside street. As far a hostels go, I give it 5 stars. Private bath, double bed, free towel service, swimming pool, and cheap ice cold cervezas at the pool bar, all for $20 USD per night.

More Colca

On the third day, after we hiked up and out of the canyon, we still had a bit of day to kill on the tour. So, of course, we stopped at some wicked buena vistas, and soaked in some natural mineral hot springs.

A few worthy pics of parts of the canyon we did not hike:

Colca: Day 3

Ok, day three, this was kind of the biggie. 5am, we drank water, brushed our teeth, knocked the sleep out of our eyes and prepared to hike from apx 6,500 ft to over 10,000 ft, and the sun had not made a wink at us yet. The pack on my back had never weighed more, or so I thought then, that theory abruptly changed that with every step. It was AWESOME!!! We made it up--passed only by asses and the mules they rode up on--in less than two and a half hours.

Day one pictures--the descent: 82
Day three pictures--the ascent: 2 (at the top)

Colca: Day 2

We spent the first part of the second day hiking up and down the side of the canyon visiting different villages populated by four to twenty families each. Our trek that day ended at the base of our next day's hike in a little alcove of blue painted pools filled and refreshed constantly with naturally warm water from waterfalls that poured out of the side of one of the mountains that formed the canyon. The pools were surrounded by huts, which contained straw beds that under normal conditions might be uncomfortable, but we slept like wood and snored like chainsaws after a long day of hiking and a short afternoon of soaking.

Indiana Jones-ish Bridges

Bridges: 1, 2, & 3.

Colca Canyon

Let me start by saying this: the distinction between flat and up/downhill in the Peruvian Andes is very different from that in the U.S. For example, the first day of our three-day hike in the Colca Canyon when we decended over 4,000 feet it was considered downhill. However, the second part of that first day on the other side of the canyon we climbed over 1,000 feet just under half an hour, and that was considered "flat!"

The Colca Canyon was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far and we are both very glad that we not only decided against the bus tour, but that we did the three-day hiking tour instead of the two-day tour. As I said, the first day was a lot of walking down. Not down hill mind you, this is no U.S. federal park. We were walking, climbing, and crawling down the canyon where it's "one wrong sneeze and it's oversville." I'm so thankful to have recently aquired a mysteriously annoying and severe fear of heights. It was exhilirating to say the least. At the bottom, we went across the first of three Indiana Jones-ish foot bridges and started up the other side to our first night's lodging. I know we've all heard this before, but that night it was as though I was looking at all the stars I've ever seen in every night sky I've ever looked upon all on one black canvas sky.

The Point, a Bus, and the J's

Going from Cuzco to Puno on the bus was a pretty painless and relaxing experience, with the semi-cama seats reclining comfortably. The amenities at The Point, the hostel we stayed at in Puno and Arequipa, on the other hand were not so relaxing. And the bus we booked through The Point from Puno to Arequipa was dirty, uncomfortable, overpriced, and had a live informercial selling ginsing en Espanola very loudly up and down the isle. Verdict, The Point: only book if you want to do lots of drugs, drink 'til sunrise, and catch something that does not require a net or pole but can involve "catch and release."

On the other hand, the city of Puno was really cool, especially to view upon approach by bus over the mountains, as the city seemed to spill into the lake, or upon return from the islands by boat, as the city, from that vantage point, seemed to be clawing it's way up the mountains, escaping from the lake bay.

Silver lining in everything, right? Don't take the criticisms in this blog the wrong way. We are having one hell of a time, and wouldn't trade one bus experience for another, nor would we prefer a jail cell over a bad hostel bed. It's just...you know, I love to complain ;-) So, back to the bus. It was on that sh!tty bus to Arequipa that we ended up meeting Jeremy and Jessica. We, the four of us, were on the second floor of the bus sitting in the very front four seats and the only gringos on the entire bus. If that were not enough to make us fast friends, it turned out they used to live in Colorada and in Portland. We got along famously and had dinner and drinks on a fifth story balcony over looking the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa. Safe travels to you, Jeremy and Jessica!