I left Buenos Aires nearly 2 weeks ago. I spent my last couple of days there laying low, and when I left for Quito, Ecuador, I was happy to be starting the next chapter of this journey.
When I arrived at the airport, there was a huge line, and it turned out that my flight had been cancled, but they were able to get me on another flight so that I could make my connection in Lima on time. On the 2 hour flight from Lima to Quito, I spoke with an Ecuadorian in his late 20´s the whole time, and I couldn´t believe how fast the flight flew by. I practiced some Spanish. He practiced some English. We talked a lot about traveling, and gave each other tips on where to go in different places.
At the airport in Quito, I waited for a taxi that the hostel was sending for me. I had suggested to Adrian that he not come all the way back down from Baños; I could spend a night alone in Quito and then meet him in Baños the next day. I was a little nervous, because I´d heard so many safetly warnings, but it all worked out just fine.
I actually felt so much better in Quito than I´d felt in Buenos Aires, as the people were friendlier and the vibe was more mellow. I ate the best meal I´d had in weeks too! Chicken skewers with peanut sauce and plantains with cheese and guacamole-- a mix of Thai-influenced and Cuban-influenced. Yum!
The next morning, I took a taxi to the bus station at the crack of dawn. I didn´t want to deal with public transportation to the bus station, and I wanted to get to Baños as soon as possible. The bus ride was about 4 hours, and we kept stopping to let people on and off-- the buses don´t just stop at stations; they stop pretty much anywhere that people want to get on or off. Food vendors sometimes get on the bus for a few minutes, offering empanadas, ice cream, chips.
I arrived in Baños about an hour earlier than Adrian had expected. I found the hostel he was staying at, walked in, and there he was! In the common area. A little surprised to see me before noon!
We walked around town and Adrian showed me a waterfall and some of the places he´d found to hang out, and again, I felt so much better there than in Buenos Aires. So many smiles! Down to earth people. Simple. Real. And there were so many cute kids playing in the streets. And they weren´t shy at all. Lots of eye contact, smiles, saying hello (i mean ¨hola!¨:)). I loved it!
We spent almost a week in Baños. Time there included walks up hills and along rivers, soaking in thermal pools, eating and watching movies at Casa Hood (a cool restaurant with great food and movies). We spent some time in a church that had some beautiful art. And I really liked the energy there. I ususally don´t care so much for visiting churches, but this one was different. I enjoyed reading the captions below the paintings, piecing together the story of Baños and seeing all the devotion, but without it coming across as obligatory or oppressive (that´s how I see ogranized religion coming across in many other places). In Baños, the beauty and liberation, the gratitude, and love, was what came through.
Another highlight was taking a ride up to see the waterfalls. At one of them, we had time to walk down to it. Adrian and I went in as far as we could, getting drenched. It was exhillerating. I hadn´t been that close to such a huge waterfall in years-- actually, maybe never that close to one so big. It was awesome! Adrian´s got pics, and I´ll share them at some point....
Oh, and another highlight was an evening spent at Run Tun where we practically had the thermal pools all to ourselves. This place was up above the town of Baños, so we had an amazing view. Plus, the weather cleared up AND there were rainbows! Beautiful sunset. Beautiful views.
We also looked into doing some sort of jungle tour-- or me going off and doing one without Adrian-- or me going to spend a day in Tena to meet a Shaman via another traveler we met. But for various reasons, that didn´t happen. I am pretty sure I´ll be returning to Ecuador some day for a trip to the Amazon and to Galapagos. And simply because, so far, out of all the places I´ve ever traveled, Ecuador is my favorite.
Signing off now from Mindo (a little gem of a town)!
© 2011 Rebecca Clio Gould. All rights reserved.
