Baños

Happy Halloween from Ecuador!


Last weekend we officially survived our first adventure out of Quito. We paid for our time at FHC, said goodbye to the kiddos, tias, and Alfredo at the gate, and walked to the bus station with our humungous packs (in case we didn't stand out already). The bus experience was an adventure in itself. Sticking to the “no-plan plan”, we waited to figure out which bus to take until we got to the station. The staff helped us get on the right buses though, and we were off! We had 6 hours of busing and were accompanied by two locals who bought us treats from the vendors who would walk on the bus when it stopped in town. We got fed ice cream on a stick, chocolate bars, and cheese wrapped in a leaf: just your average bus snacks.

When we got to Baños, we scouted out a cheap $8/person/night hostal where the front desk staff said they didn't care when we paid, “Today, tomorrow, whenever you want”. No-plan plan. We were sold. “Welcome to this crazy town!”, he couldn't have said it better. Starting that night, the town was constantly celebrating. Fireworks, bands, parades, and loud music were going on the entire weekend. One of the days we realized it was for their Saint, Santa Agua, but the rest I don't know... Maybe everyday they're just like, “Hey, we live in Baños! Its the weekend! Life is awesome!” And hey, that works for me. 

Not only were the people fun and energetic, but the town itself was an amazing experience. The hot springs were extremely comical. The first time we went it was 8am and we had no idea what to do. We paid for our ticket, went in, and just watched the 20-some old men to try and figure it out. Where do we put our stuff? Do we need to shower first? Do we all have to wear those swim caps? The lady at the ticket booth walked in a few minutes later and saw our confusion. “Que pasa?” (What are you doing?). She instructed us to buy the ugly hats and we hopped in. It was definitely worth the embarrassment, the hot water was amazing with the cool of the morning. Oh, and there was some Amazonians showering naked in the waterfall next to the springs. Typical. Our second hot springs attempt was a lot less relaxing. We tried going at night, and after we'd already paid and went in, we found out the biggest main pool was drained. Everyone and their mother was crammed into a small side pool. It was too cold to stand there in our swim suits, so we squeezed past people to get to an open inch of hot water. We were just cracking up at the lack of personal space and getting splashed in the face by little kids when suddenly out of the murky water floated a pad. Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking. It whirled by us and then disappeared again. Jenna and I looked at each other with terrified faces, and immediately hopped out of the water. Extremely sanitary I'm sure.


Other than the hot springs, the town is also known for it hiking. We went on hikes every day and saw some amazing views of the town, mountains, and a volcano nearby. One day a engineering professor from Spain named Angel caught up with us and we spent the rest of the day hiking and sharing travel stories. He is biking across South America through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru for the next couple of months, and on top of that he has been EVERYWHERE. His stories were amazing.

Another trek led us to a wooden bridge over a deep mountain-ravine river. The view was breath-taking. As we were exploring we noticed people were also bungee jumping off of the larger bridge above us. At first we commented that “it would be sweet” to do it, but no way. Then, after watching a few more people jump, and talking to David from Seattle who said it was totally worth the 15 bucks, we decided to do it. I was terrified to say the least. I told Jenna I had to go first or else I'd chicken out, so they strapped me up and hooked on the ropes before I could even hesitate. I was asking them, “How many people have died? How long have you guys been doing this?”. “Okay, well I'll be the first to die I guess!” The local guards monitoring were cracking up at me as I freaked out. I stepped up on the platform hanging over the ravine below and started to panic hilariously. “Is it attached over there?!” They counted to three and I was still standing there. A crowd started to form and Jenna got a couple old men to chant my name. “Just push me!” Jenna told him too, “You're going to have to push her off”. I finally just let myself fall off the platform, and lemme tell you, it was worth it. A little whiplash, but the fall felt awesome, and guess what, I survived! I climbed up the mountain and watched Jenna go next. “Renae, you got me freaked out now, I wasn't before! What do I hold on to?!” Her time on the platform was much shorter than mine, though, and she counted down for herself and fell off. She also survived. We of course had to buy the videos of our near-death experience so we can remember just how unintelligent we can be, and because they are hilarious. I'll try to post them online for everyone to admire our bravery and poise.

To sum it up, Baños was a great first-weekend-on-our-own-in-Ecuador experience. We hiked, bought tons of souvenirs, got serenaded by a guitarista at breakfast, ate the best nachos I've ever had in my life (literally), and cheated death twice (once over the mountain river and once in a hot spring full of who-knows-what; there could be bodies hiding in that cloudy water...). So I hope we continue to make you all proud ;)

We left Baños on Sunday morning and headed for the other branch of the For His Children orphanage in a town called Latacunga where we are now. I will let Jenna detail the fun we've had here next week, but just know that it has been great. The kids are amazing, and they have a staff of the most loving and light-hearted tias in the whole country (based on the wide range of tia communities I've seen so far). We're having an awesome Halloween hanging with the kids, watching yet another elephant movie in spanish with them, and relaxing. It seems like life couldn't get any better, but I think I've said that before...


Living la vida loca,
Renae



P.s. Teeth-breaking, wood-flavored taffy we bought in Baños and some sprinkles that were left in the cupboard are the extent of our Halloween candy. Can anyone send us some Reese's Pumpkins por favor?