A short story about my first days in Ecuador...
It all started with the plane landing on
Ecuadorian soil in Quito. I arrived at the new airport Mariscal Sucre in Quito and got picked up by two drivers from Gulliver. They both gave me a kiss on my right cheek, and two minutes later I found myself in a van, surrounded by traffic and honking cars, totally exhausted from the long flight.
I arrived at the host family, where I
met two other interns and a friend of them. They were sitting on their beds,
obviously waiting for me.
We’re going on a tour, they said.
It will be fun, they said.
My face was already asleep, I couldn’t
move my legs anymore, had no money at all and I had already realised, that I
didn’t understand a word Ecuadorians were saying.
On our way we picked up another girl,
and so, jammed in a way too small taxi, the fellowship was born.
At the bus station we were told there
weren’t any busses going directly to Baños, so we had to change the bus
somewhere. As I didn’t understand anything at all, I was just following my
companions around like an innocent puppy.
We took a bus to some unknown place,
which didn’t matter to me, all I wanted was a place to sleep. After what felt
like 2 minutes of sleep I woke up, standing somewhere between wild dogs, while
the others were discussing something I didn’t understand with a taxi chauffeur.
So again, the five of us climbed in a taxi, way too small for us.
And again I
woke up, standing somewhere next to a food stand with some individuals and some
more dogs. The taxi driver said, there will be a bus anytime soon to Baños, no
worries. But the bus didn’t show up.
And again the girls discussed with some
taxi drivers. But apparently they all wanted too muchosdolares for
the ride to Baños, and some of them looked too groggy to be able to drive.
After what felt like 5 hours of waiting, a small minivan drove past and someone
screamed “Baños” out of the window. The next I know was, I was finally sitting
again and so I slept for another felt 2 minutes. It was only after about 40
minutes of driving, that one of the girls said: “Well, that’s weird… We don’t
trust any taxi driver standing there, but when some small minivan drives by, we
all jump in without hesitating...” She was right, but I didn’t care, all I
wanted was sleep.
The rest of the trip was not as
adventurous, but still real fun and a good time.
So, the next morning, after a short
night’s rest in a hostel, we were in for some activities. We decided to hire
mountain bikes to visit the famous cascadas (waterfalls) of
Baños.
The street goes up and down hill, but
never really steep. However, as soon as I had to push a little harder into the
pedals, I was breathing like a walrus running on land. Obviously, because of
the altitude of almost 2000m…
On our way we had some nice activities like waterfall-spotting, hiking and,
best of all, tourist-watching (it's fun to watch and hear tourists scream
when they race down the canopy line between two brigdes).
The bike trail runs through beautiful
green hills surrounding Baños. It took us about 3 or 4 hours, including tourist
spots and lunch. The ride back was easier, though.
The next day was a hiking day. After a
good breakfast (delicious pancakes with fruits and dulce de leche, a
must-eat!) we set up to hike to el Virgen de Agua Santa. About 600 steps
and some brief stops (just for enjoying the view and maybe getting some oxygen into
our lungs) later, we soaked in the amazing views over Baños and the
surroundings.
After a few sips of water we were
heading down a small path into the wild nature of Baños. Going up and down
(more up than down, actually) we encountered some downhill bikers, cows and
rain. Making the path wet and slippery, the rain was one of the not-so-cool
encounters. Nonetheless, after about three or four hours we reached the top of
2,660m where we enjoyed a sip of a cold cerveza and where we swung
ourselves into the air.
The rest of the day was spent with some
souvenirs shopping, chocolate drinking (a must-do for all chocolate lovers out
there!) and strolling around until we took the bus back to Quito.
Long story short, Baños definitely is
worth a few days visit!
And yes, they were right to say it will
be fun....
