Ready to write following a long absence. There is much to tell. The blog dropped off the face of Earth prior to an adventure filled weekend in Ecuador's outdoor thrill town, Banos. Knowing that the feriados (public holidays) are great weekends for travel, we had been patiently waiting for a three day'r to approach to allow for a trip to Banos. Finally, with one in our sites we booked our hostel for the first weekend of November. We left at first light on Saturday morning, so we could arrive as the sun switched directions, with time to set our bearings and go for a nearby hike. Spotting a cafe set into the ridge overlooking Banos, we quickly decided that that would be the ideal destination for the evening. A couple hours uphill and dripping from the afternoon showers, we sneaked, well out of place, into the Cafe del Cielo (Cafe of the Sky). The cafe, technically open to the public, is in actuality a main snacking destination for residents of the nearby Luna Runtun hotel, a pricey vacation spot for classy travelers. Without hesitation though, we took advantage of the open to public policy, took our seats, ordered our cappuccinos, and enjoyed a nice game of cards with Banos unraveling beneath us.The next day called for an early start. Rented mountain bikes beneath us, we pedaled out of town and onto the 21 km Ruta de las Cascadas (Route of the Waterfalls). A common route taken by many travelers, this largely downhill ride was fabulous, aside from the one pitch black tunnel we were required to pass. We enjoyed coasting down several hills and stopping intermittently to hike waterfalls that caught our eye. Baked from the heat we finally arrived at the prize waterfall of the route, the Pailon del Diablo, a twisting waterfall that comes crashing down into a rocky basin.
While this day was a day of views, the next gave way to a entirely new experience... cascading. Surprisingly able to fit into a size too small wetsuit with a happily purple front face and stylish over the shoulder buttons, I harnessed myself in on the misty Monday morning. (Thankfully, the yellow flack jacket covered my humorous suit, leaving only my shoelace tied glasses to laugh it). We made our way to the first of four waterfalls, the baby eight meter practice one and I quickly fell on my way down. That led to the rise of subconscious concerns regarding the upcoming 40 meter decent. Climbing to the next cascada, however, quickly sent the intermittent thoughts back into the subconscious as I regained a feel for the footing. The subsequent parallel walks went uneventfully and we proudly returned to Banos with a strong desire for nothing but hot chocolate and a return to our favorite restaurant, Cafe Hood, for the third time. One of three hoods and goods (Cafe Hood, Casa Hood, Cafe Good) in Banos, this quickly emerged as a keeper. With a variety of tasty twists such as Indian Chola, Chicken Curry Sandwiches, Ginger-Lemon Tea, and Chocolate Cake, we were more than satisfied.Post Banos adventures, the body was due for a break and adventure travelling was shelved for the following weekend. Instead, Priyanka and I took a trip to Otavalo in search of indigenous family friends of a Professor couple from UNC-Chapel Hill. Priyanka was provided a highly interesting set of directions, but we somehow trusted they would lead us to the end point.
Following the cobble stone roads that went right, left, and u-turned before merging with bigger cobble stone roads that crossed bridges and Coca-Cola signs, we fortunately found are way into the store front of the family we were searching for. Gloriously gobbling vanilla wafers, chocolate biscuits, and coca-colas purchased from their store, we happily took our seats amongs the pigs, chickens, and dogs to share a moment with our new friends hanging on the thread of a 1,000 mile plus connection. It was fascinating to imagine that that same house was where a twenty year old college student, now a professor at UNC, had once spent his summer pursuing his anthropological calling.Refreshed from a worldly visit, a week of subjunctive tense studies in Spanish School quickly passed marking time for insertion into the Amazon...
Random Tidbits:
1. My second cousin arrived in Quito to work on her doctoral research!
2. I received a crisp one dollar bill in change for potentially the first time in three months!
3. Endured a new style of torture personally deemed, "absurdly inappropriate public display of affection." Highly perturbed by the couple in front of me on the public bus, I began to count the number of times they kissed in 15 minutes. The result of my empirical study showed that with 74 kisses in 15 minutes, it was probable that I was forced to endure the sound and sight of approximately 222 kisses in my painful 45 minute ride home from Salsa Class...WHY?!?
P.S. Due to my long absence from blog world I will be making an effort to double up this week and provide you all with a second blog post by this coming weekend. By way of the mere fact that I am typing this blog, you at least know that I survived a week in the Amazon, but the rest will be shared soon! (Pictures are already up though, with captions included!)
