Heaphy South American Trip 2013: Banos, Cuenca & Guayaquil

Can't believe that we are now at the end of our trip, the eight weeks have flown past, especially the last 6 weeks, the first two weeks took a bit of time to get used to not being able to clean teeth from a tap, having to put used loo roll in a bin!, sanitise hands constantly, buying water to drink, washing clothes by hand, lousy sweet coffee, hard beds, lumpy fat pillows, barking dogs at night, ear plugs, paying to go to the loo in the dirtiest toilets, skipping around dog poo, ear plugs, money belts and looking over your shoulder consantly, but very soon all that became part of life and everything seemed normal!!

The great experiences were wonderful fresh fruit juices, milk shakes, fresh fruit of amazing kinds and varieties, Chilean wine, local beers - especially those in Banos, wildlife, the delightful people, diverse scenery, history, weather, local food, music, salsa's and much more.

We eventually left Quito by train, the train system is a bit strange in Ecuador, it seems to cater for the tourists more than a means of transport, our train only went as far as El Boliche, which was quite high in altitude and had absolutely no amenities around it, except a restaurant, so the driver, passengers, Police and security could have their daily siesta and feed! Yes the train had security and Police travel in cars and motorbikes alongside the railway for the whole three hour trip, it's a strange feeling, you weren't sure whether to be pleased or worried!! The idea of running the train is as a day trip to and from Quito and it was mainly patronised by local people. However we only wanted to go one way, to El Beliche and hoped we could find some sort of transport further south. We got quite lucky, a young guy who was the sort of guide in our carriage and spent the whole trip bellowing through a microphone about the scenery and history of the area, in both english and spanish decided that he liked us and said he would help get us to a bus. We didn't expect him to borrow the Police car that had been chaperoning the train the whole way! - so when we arrived at El Boliche he dropped us 5km down the road to the Pan American Highway to pick up a bus to Ambato! Amazingly a bus came straight away, $US2 for a two hour trip. Ecuador has the cheapest buses so far. Wonderful show of generosity by the young guy and one of many we have received on this trip. It seems strange to use the US$ in Ecuador, but they adopted it as their currency in the late 90's. They have a quasi mix of coins, some are the US dimes and quarters etc and some are Ecuadorian centavos! A little odd but it seems to work!

Train to El Boliche

El Boliche train station

We ended up having to catch a couple of buses to get us to Banos, it was a long day on local buses, every smelly man, woman, child and their chicken's got on and off for the whole trip, but we survived it and it was even satisfying to have managed to do it in a day. The scenery was spectacular and the driving awful as usual but we are here to tell the tale! We wandered around town for a hotel and Curtis chose a one called El Pedron, it was family run, it was a squash and a squeeze, but we had our own bathroom and a little balcony looking out onto trees and garden which is better than grey concrete block walls. We also saved some money as it was quite cheap and spent it all on a great restaurant called Casa Hood, run by an expat American and his Ecuadorian. Curtis made friends with their son, Arthur, they were around the same age.

In Casa Hood restaurant - instead of doing the dishes!! - Banos

Banos was a great town, small, with some nice walks and restaurants- perfect. It also sits in the basin of a very active volcano, it apparently erupts at least twice a year with lava, ash the works! We don't think the main lava flow was through the town! We hired bikes for a day and so far on this trip hadn't had much luck with them, this was no exception, they sounded like they were about to fall apart and only worked in 3 gears, luckily it was mostly downhill! Needless to say we caught a truck back with the bikes loaded on! The road was busy and not particularly pleasant, the waterfalls along the way were however spectacular, particularly one called 'Cascada El Pailon Del Diablo' that we had to walk to, it was immense and they had made a stone structure that you could walk on to get underneath the waterfall, that was after crawling on hands and knees through a rock crevice to get there. That bit was fun and we got absolutely drenched.

Banos crappy old bikes!

Standing on structure by waterfall getting soaked!

Under the edge of the fall - drenched by now!

Waterfall in distance, doesn't do the size of it any justice!

Orange juice - Ecuadorian style!

Banos

Walking above Banos

The next days exercise was a walk up to several religious monuments as that is pretty much all they seem to put on their hills, maybe the weeks penance instead of 10 hail mary's is to walk up to the cross or statue of the Virgin Mary, we did both! It was certainly a good walk, we even ventured further in the hope of a decent coffee at the top (hard to get in SA), only to find out the cafe didn't open until 1 pm. Bugger! Never mind we made up for it when we got down to town at Casa Hood, good food and coffee!

We also sampled their hot pools, but they are fairly primitive and unattractive, as we walked up to the place which had only just opened and it was already busy with heaps of people and more piling in every minute. Soon it was packed. The joke was everyone had to wear a shower cap and shower in filthy showers before we got in!! Seemed a bit futile really. I don't like large hordes of people. I like hordes in their bathing suits even less! Hot pools with heaps of people equalled GERMS, too many of them! It's silly really, Andy and I have both travelled fairly extensively around the world, eaten on the streets and markets, slept in hostel beds, have had limited access to sanitary conditions on a regular basis and now hot pools packed with gringos and locals was TOO MUCH FOR US!!! Everyone has their limits and this was ours, the thought of sitting in other people's unwanted bodily discharges was more than we could deal with!! We made a hasty retreat after 20 minutes.

We have started to run out of time in Ecuador and decided rather than fiddle our way through many places and not really see too much we would head straight to Cuenca from Banos and spend a few days there, it was a big trip as it was through high twisting passes (the Andes). It certainly showed Curtis what travelling backpacker style is all about! Eight hours pretty much door to door on a local bus is no fun really but the scenery was stunning. The first bus to Riobamba was the worse, it arrived late to Banos full of people who had been on there for some time, so the bus was hot, steamy, body smells and the windows all covered in condensation as we got on, we all had our moment of concentration on holding down the stomach contents, luckily we hadn't been able to get any breakfast that morning as it was too early! Doesn't help when the driver is a maniac as well. Gave the stomach muscles a good workout holding on as he swerved from side to side and dodged oncoming vehicles. It didn't get much better for the next 6 hours, different bus and driver, but they all must have got their license from the same toy shop.

One of the few views we caught on camera on the bus trip

We eventually arrived into a very quiet Cuenca, Sunday afternoon and there was hardly any traffic in the centre making acclimatisation of the City slightly easier. There are lots of old Colonial buildings to see and it was the gateway to Guayaquil where we fly back down to Chile from. Life in the smaller cities of Ecuador is interesting and is the lifeline of many rural communities, as that is where they can rely on selling their crops etc that they grow. They range from, potatoes, corn, rice, cocoa, fruits, flowers, vegatables and many also bring in their woven garments. Cuenca also seems to be the main centre for weaving and making the Panama hats. It was first produced in Ecuador as early as the seventeenth century and like many South American goods, they were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas and Europe, subsequently acquiring a name that reflected their point of international sale, "Panama hats", rather than their place of domestic origin. The term was being used by at least 1834 and is still used today.

Centre of Cuenca

Cuenca off main square

One of many places selling the Panama hat

Museum

A fill of pigs head for lunch!

A local woman

Main Plaza de Aramas - Cuenca

We left Cuenca by minivan, couldn't be bothered with another local bus and we made the right decision as yet again it was a white knuckle ride over some massive passes, our ears have been given a real workout this trip with the amount of variance in altitude we have done even on a daily basis, mine and Andy's ears have been causing us a bit of trouble, they don't seem to adjust very well. On the tops of the passes, apart from reminding us so much of the South Island, it was steeped in thick fog which made driving quite hazardous and frightening. Luckily our driver was quite cautious on those bits, unlike the cars approaching and overtaking us, however he made up for it on the straights into Guayaquil!!

Cocoa growing on flats into Guayaquil

Ecuadorian bananas!

We managed to arrive in Guayaquil on their day of independence, it was mayhem on the streets, roads closed, police everywhere and of course the million or so people! It took forever to get to our hotel which happened to be right in the centre where the celebrations were all happening. We went for a wander but really making any sort of headway was difficult. Made me thankful I'm not an event manager in Ecuador! We were leaving early in the morning so it was a quick visit!

Land iguanas in public park opposite our hotel in Guayaquil

Guayaquil plaza

Santa Ana taken from the Malecon - Guayaquil

We are into our last three days, I'm writing this blog sitting on the plane to Santiago - 5 hour trip, then we have 2 days left and fly out late on the second day. Andy and I are starting to feel ready to come home, Curtis isn't but he just doesn't want to go back to school!! We're sure once we all get into our normal routines again, it will all be fine. Sorry Mrs M, don't take it personally!!

We've had to buy another bag so we can fit a few goodies we have bought in, we haven't gone mad, but a few small things will look nice at home/Bach! We actually packed quite well in retrospect, we have all used all our clothes, but because we have been through such extreme temperatures at different ends of the trip, it feels like we have been lugging unnecessary stuff around. Curtis's rugby ball has been the constant source of our jokes as to why he ever thought it might be a good idea to bring it, he realises now it wasn't the most sensible choice and takes up valuable room in his pack! However we are determined it's coming home with us now! There's nobody he can even give it to over here, it's the wrong shape, they are soccer mad! Curtis has still been determined to lighten his load by losing 2 pairs of sunglasses, breaking a third, losing a hat and ripping a shirt we will have to discard, we also think a couple of pairs of socks and undies have done a disappearing trick! His pack is still chocka! He loves spending at the markets!

Arrived in Santiago and have managed to find a flat overlooking the city and the Andes, its a great view and one we have enjoyed with some great Chilean wine! Visited a vineyard today just outside the city - Cousino Macal.