Tuesday, December 26, 2006 – Bus ride to Baños

For the rest of the day yesterday we basically just hung out in an internet café. It was raining for much of the day, we had checked out of our hotel, and we both had computer/internet work to do. Dave was still sick and feeling pretty miserable, so it was a good way to spend the day. We had decided that we were going to take a night bus to Baños; otherwise, we would have arrived in the middle of the night because we were late leaving Cuenca. So, essentially, we just killed time until it was time to go to the bus station. Not much was open, given that it was Christmas, but we did manage to find a pizza place for supper. After supper and a bit more internet café time, we shared a taxi to the bus station with another backpacker. We arrived at around 9:30 pm and bought a ticket for the last bus, which was departing at midnight. To get to Baños, we had to take a 6 hour bus ride to a city called Riobamba, then take another bus for 2 hours to Baños. While we were waiting for our bus to come, Dave was feeling pretty sick, so he stretched out on some seats and slept while I talked to some Canadian backpackers for awhile and then read my book.

At midnight, we got on our bus. I wanted to read, but the reading lights didn’t work. Dave decided to pull out his laptop and work, which he would never normally do on a bus here (that’s basically an invitation to get robbed after getting off the bus), but we were in the very front row and no one could see us. Plus, everyone around us was sleeping (and snoring) anyway, so it was safe. After about an hour I went to sleep and Dave slept after working for about two hours. I thought the sleep that I was having was uncomfortable, but little did I know we were about to become even more uncomfortable. At about 5:30 am, we awoke to the driver yelling something. Dave said he thought he heard the word Riobamba, but I (perhaps not ready wake up?) said I didn’t think so. After all, I said, our bus is supposed to get in at 6:00 am and it’s only 5:30 – since when do buses arrive half an hour early? Luckily, Dave decided to ask the driver, and he was right.

We quickly grabbed our belongings, got off the bus, and stepped into the cold, dark, rainy world. Immediately, I noticed that we weren’t at a bus station – we were merely on the side of some road somewhere. And not a main road, either – a very residential-looking road. I was still reluctant to believe that we were even in Riobamba (I mean, how could I have been wrong and Dave right? Ha ha!), but I asked a fellow passenger who confirmed that we were, indeed, in Riobamba. I asked her where to get the bus to Baños and, from what I understood, she said we would need to get a taxi to a different bus terminal. By this point, the bus had driven off, the two taxis that had been there when we pulled up had picked up other passengers and left, and there we were: Standing, half-asleep, on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere, with our giant backpacks, in the dark, freezing cold, pouring rain. I was grumpy as hell.

Before we had a chance to freak out too much, a car pulled up and a guy jumped out into the rain. “Taxi?” he asked (perhaps a bit too eagerly, I thought). Hell, yes, we wanted a taxi! But this was no taxi. Taxis here are yellow and they have a light on the roof and writing on the side. This car was white, with no light and no writing. He had opened the front passenger door and Dave looked in and confirmed that, despite external appearances, it had all the taxi equipment inside. I looked suspiciously at him, gestured at his car, and said (in my horrible, broken Spanish) something that translates loosely into, “You no taxi.” “Si, si! Taxi!” he said, and opened the trunk for our bags. He asked us where we were going, and when I told him that we needed to get to the bus station to get the bus to Baños, he said, “Ok! 3 dollares!” Dave and I looked at each other, looked around at the deserted street, and said, “Ok!” We hopped in, and off we went.

I was half-expecting him to drive us to a dark alley somewhere and rob us – strangely enough, Dave and I were actually laughing about this possibility in the backseat of the cab. (Don’t worry, we didn’t really think that was going to happen, or of course we wouldn’t have gotten in.) Anyway, turns out the robbery scenario couldn’t have been further from the truth. This guy really wanted to be our friend. Well, more accurately, he wanted us to help him get papers so he could go to Canada! He didn’t speak a word of English, and of course our Spanish is horrible, but we gathered that he really wanted to go to Canada but couldn’t because it is so difficult for him to get a tourist visa. (Apparently, it takes about 4 years for Ecuadorians to get a tourist visa to visit Canada). I believe he was asking us to help him with paperwork or to get papers or something like that, but we really didn’t know exactly what he wanted. I think he wanted us to sponsor him or something crazy like that. He was very nice, and very persistent – he tried and tried to explain what he wanted from us, even throwing in offers to teach us Spanish and show us around the city. I felt really bad because he had a certain desperation in his eyes, but I knew he wanted something from us that we weren’t in a position to give him. So, I took the gutless way out and just pretended I couldn’t understand him rather than saying no to his pleas. How mean of me, I know. Dave is off the hook, because he really didn’t understand what the guy was saying! Anyway, the guy was visibly disappointed, and I felt a bit guilty that we couldn’t help him. But, Dave did give him a good tip, at least!

The bus to Baños was there when we arrived at the station, and we hopped on. It was FREEZING cold. Ecuador is turning out to be a good deal colder than we had hoped for, especially in the early mornings and nights. Not only were the bus doors open, but one of the windows wouldn’t shut all the way. I hoped that it would get warmer once the bus started driving, but alas. I think they had the air conditioning on! We could see our breath! Even the traditional Ecuadorian folk tunes that were blaring from the speakers weren’t heating the bus up. I took my shoes off and curled up into a tight ball in my seat, which helped a bit. Thank god the bus ride was only 2 hours! Once the sun came up the scenery was beautiful and Dave took some nice pics from the window of the bus. Note the snow-capped mountains...not what we were hoping to see, but beautiful nonetheless.

We got into Baños at around 8:00 am and found a place to stay called Hostal Plantas y Blanco (Hostel Plants and White…named for the spotless white walls and plants that are throughout the place). This place was recommended to us by the Canadians in the bus terminal in Cuenca, and it was a good recommendation. Rooms with a private bathroom are $15 a night, a price that includes free internet access. There was also a nice café and terrace on the top floor, where we immediately went for a cheap and delicious breakfast. Dave was feeling better, so he ate a big plate of fruit, a move that he would regret for the remainder of the day. The photo below with the waterfall in the background shows the view from our breakfast area.

We had a “nap” after breakfast…and woke up at 3 pm! We quickly got dressed and went out to explore the town. What an amazing place this is! The town has some really beautiful churches, lot of great little cafés, restaurants, and shops, and a fair amount of interesting artwork. Here are a couple of interesting murals that we saw.

This poster of Bush was in a coffee shop that we went into – notice the writing on the outfit calling Bush a terrorist, a Nazi, and the devil. Dave tells me that the Superman outfit is known in Cuba as the ultimate symbol of American imperialism, and we guess that it’s probably the same thing here. Here are some pics from our walk around town.

After a short walk around the city, we decided to go for a walk up one of the mountains. The mountains and volcano dwarf the town and make for spectacular views. The scenery is so beautiful. Our walk ended up being fairly short, partly because we didn't want to get stuck up there when it got dark, and partly because Dave’s intestinal distress was back in full force. We (ok, Dave) did manage to take some nice pics while we were up there, though.

After our walk, Dave went back to the room while I wandered around a bit more. I chatted with a guy named Angel who worked in one of the many outdoor adventure places around town, and he helped me make up an adventure-filled day plan (more on that later). Interestingly, Angel’s brother moved from Ecuador to Vancouver, but found Vancouver too expensive so he moved to Halifax (where I was born and raised, for anyone who doesn’t know!). As a result, Angel knew all about Canada and Halifax, which I thought was hilarious. Most Americans I meet have never heard of Halifax, and here was an Ecuadorian who had never been out of his country who knew all about it. Angel also told me that he really wanted to visit Canada, but that it would take years for him to get a tourist visa.

That night, Dave was still pretty sick so we just went out to grab a quick bite to eat. At the restaurant, we couldn’t decide on what to eat…should we have the chicken plug, the Mexican plugs, the chicken with cream in fungi, or the chicken to the pinecone? Decisions, decisions.

After supper we went back to our room, where I pigged out on this sugar cane taffy that is famous here until I felt as least as ill as Dave. (The photo shows one of the taffy-pullers at work.) Dave worked while I wrote this LONG blog entry, then we headed to bed. We have some fun adventures planned for the next couple of days – more on that later. Buenas noches!