!Viva Ecuador!

As I got off the plane in Quito I was a little nervous.  This was really the first time in my life that I bought a one-way ticket having no clue which direction I would go! I honestly didn´t know what to expect!  After a lengthy wait in immigration I received my stamp, collected my luggage, and luckily saw someone with a ¨Secret Garden¨sign waiting for me. I got to the hostel around midnight and passed out quickly.  The next day I enjoyed breakfast on the rooftop of Secret Garden Quito.

View from Secret Garden Quito

After breakfast I walked around the city with one of the girls from my hostel.  I was definitely expecting the worst in Quito as I read how dangerous it was.  I must say that I found the old city very lovely and quite secure, especially during the day.  We listened to the police and avoided areas that were deemed unsafe.  Since it was Carnaval most of the city was shut down with just a few random shops open.  It was perfect to tour around the old city when it wasn´t very crowded. 

At 11am every Monday in Quito there is apparently a changing of the guards ceremony at the Presidents Palace.  Both locals and tourists gather to watch the 45-60 minute ceremony.  It was a very enjoyable ceremony and I was glad that I could catch it.  I particularly enjoyed the drunk Ecuadorian man behind me mumbling and yelling to the sky while crying ¨Viva Ecuador¨!

Quito is the second highest capital city in the world  and  I was starting to feel some altitude sickness so I decided to go back to the hostel to rest.  Most of the guests at the Secret Garden hang out on the rooftop and warm up with a glass of wine by the early evening and I was easily convinced to do the same! I hung out by the fire, had a glass of wine, and enjoyed pizza for dinner.  Overall it was a perfect first day in Ecuador!

The next morning I decided to take advantage of cheap transportation to Cotopaxi to stay at the Secret Garden Cotopaxi, which was off the beaten path a bit but positioned in close proximity to Cotopaxi Volcano and some other mountains.   We were greeted with a glass of spiced warm wine and a lunch with fresh lentils and rice.  All of the meals at Secret Garden Cotopaxi were included in the price of the accomodation and the food was always homemade!

Apart from fueling up with delicious food at Secret Garden I was able to take advantage of the surroundings.  One of the workers took us to a waterfall hike nearby.  It was quite a trek hopping from rock to rock (and occassionally doing a little rock climbing on the side of the river).  The view of the waterfalls was beautiful and the were a lot of interesting plants in the trees.

During my second day in Cotopaxi I decided to do the refuge volcano hike given that I had no desire to pay $200 to do an overnight hike to the summit.  The weather was pretty awful but I was hoping I would see a view upon reaching the refuge.  The hike was a straight 45 minute uphill climb with extremely poor visibility due to the weather.  I made it to the top but unfortunately saw nothing!

Back at the hostel I opted to chill on the hammock for the remainder of the day.  The highlight of the day was probably the homemade woodfired pizza and fruit crumble for dinner!

Llama at Secret Garden Cotopaxi

After 2 days of relaxation I was sad to leave the wonderful property but was ready to hit the road again!.  I took an hour ride to Machachi to catch a bus to Baños, known to be a backpacker favorite in Ecuador.  I stayed at Hostal Plantas y Blancos in Baños, which is perfect for backpackers with cheap dorm rooms, a kitchen, and a nice rooftop to hang out.

Baños by night, Hostal Plantas y Blancos

It is hard to say what it is about Baños that makes it so special but I really loved this town.  Surrounded by mountains, hot springs, waterfalls, and extreme activities makes it easy to find things to do nearby.  For me, it was the laid back vibe of the town, friendly locals, and beautiful surroundings!  We would cook family dinners every night, rotating who cooked, with 12-15 backpackers from at least 8 different countries joining in!  It is no surprise that people tend to hang around longer than expected!

Family dinner

Rooftop musica

Baños

In the town I enjoyed visiting the fresh markets and trying local cuisine .  My favorite breakfast/lunch dish was llapachingos, which is fried potato pancakes with an overeasy egg on top and accompanied by avocado, chorizo, and a salad.  I was obsessed!

Llapachingos

Cuye...I was too scared to try it!

During my stay I did manage to do a few fun activities outside the town as well!:

Hot Springs
Baños received its name due to the close proximity of several hot springs.  I went to two of the hot springs on separate occasions.  My first day I went to the closest hot spring, Las Piscinas de la Virgen, which was a 5 minute walk from the hostel.  There were 3 pools there: cold, warm, and hot.  It was very crowded but so relaxing to soak my sore muscles in the hot pool!

On a Sunday we were motivated to wake up at 4:45am to go to a hot spring outside of the town called El Salado.  Eight of us packed into a truck at 5am and went to the hot springs thinking we were so smart and would have it to ourselves! Well, about 100 locals had the same idea and they said that it was a ¨slow day¨! Regardless I found this hot springs way better than the first and it was much cleaner.  They strictly enforced the rule to wear bathing caps which looked goofy but served a good purpose! The views on the walk down were amazing and on a clear day you could see smoke coming out of the volcano.

Waterfalls
For those who are more adventurous there is the option to rent bikes for $5/day and do a 21km bike to all of the nearby waterfalls.  I opted to try this out on my second day in Baños.  While it was fun to be on bikes, the road did not feel like it was meant for both buses and bikers! Every time we were forced to go through a tunnel I would just pedal as fast as I could to get out of there! Although the views along the way were beautiful I don´t think that I was able to fully enjoy it given that I was so terrified of the oncoming traffic!  I actually ended up returning to the waterfalls a second day by doing a 4 hour bus tour for $5.  I found this more enjoyable than biking but I suppose it just depends on your comfort level!

Canopy:
On my organized waterfall tour trip I decided to do a two- way canopy (zipline) for $10.  The lines were very high up, at least a couple hundred feet if not more.  I was so scared to do the ¨superman¨style zipline but convinced myself to carry through (mainly because I already paid!).  Although I had to force myself to keep my eyes open at times it was worth it!

While my friends nearly convinced us to stay just one more day, I continued on my journey down south to Cuenca with my friend Mathilde.  Cumatively, the bus ride took 8 hours, with a stopover in Riobamba.  The ride went through the mountains and passed by breathtaking villages.  When we arrived in Cuenca it was pouring and we unfortunately had to walk through the rain for 20 minutes in search of decent accomodation.  We settled on Hostal La Escalinita which was okay, having cheap private rooms, but certainly nothing special!  The greatest benefit to the hostel was it clost proximity to restaurants, cafes, and sightseeing.

During our only full day in Cuenca we enjoyed strolling around the colonial city.  It felt very European with the architecture and cafe culture. Although it rained for most of the day we were lucky to have a few hours of sun! I particularly enjoyed the dining experience at local restaurants in Cuenca.

Cafe con pan

By the next morning Mathilde was off to Peru and I was on my way to Guayaquil to catch a flight to Galapagos! We will see how my ¨budget¨trip to the Galapagos turns out!