Otavalo...first of all, I wasn't even planning on going, so I planned on sleeping in. In the wee hours of the morning, not really, but for a Saturday...yes. I hear several knocks on my door by my host mom telling me Liz wants me to call her. I finally cave in and give Liz a call. My host mom wanted Liz to tell me what was up. This is what was up...my homestay madre has changed her mind and wanted to go with Lily & Ivanho (Liz's homestay padres) to Otavalo. So she was wondering if I was willing. How could I reject such a request?? Otavalo is about a two hour drive, and it is known for their open artesian market that sells all types of Ecuadorian goods. We were ready to get our shopping on. BUT in the middle of our great trip, it starts pouring and actually, doesn't stop this time. So we did as much shopping and bargaining as we could in pouring rain, while our homestay families are getting drenched from head to toe waiting for us. On our way back, we stopped by Cayambe and had some of their famous cheese and biscuits with some coffee. It was a great day.
Next on the itinerary was Baños! It was quite an adventure to get to this marvelous place. We walked over in our backpacks to the Trole for which we travelled for an hour before we reached the bus station. As the big group of ten of us walked through the terminal trying to find the right bus, we were finally on our way. With all the traffic of Carnaval weekend (refer to last post), a 3.5 hour trip turned into a 5 hour trip. BUT, we finally arrived in this great town of Baños. It's scenery was beautiful. This town was surrounded by green mountains on all sides, which was accented also by few waterfalls. After getting food to fill our stomaches, we decided to check out the live music playing on one of the streets. To our surprise, OF COURSE, us, gringoes, were sprayed allllllll over with the Carnaval foam spray by all the locals. This is one of the joys of Carnaval...water balloons, foam sprays, and anything else to throw/spray. It was one of those "I don't care anymore" moments where you just get sprayed in the face, ear, neck, and etc. Then, at night, we booked a trip on a chiva (Usually, it's a dance/party bus, but in our case, ours was like a double decker tour bus) up the mountain to see the volcanoe at 11pm-1am. It was quite dangerous as our double decker was barely touching the wires, cables, trees, or signs in the town. The view on top of the mountain was beauitful, but sadly, we didn't get to see the lava or the volcano due to the cloudy weather.
The next day, we trekked over to the waterfall, which wasn't what we were expecting. First of all, we were told we were getting soaked, so we should wear sandals. It ended up being a good 15-20 minute hike to this waterfall. The large group of Americans looked SO smart wearing flip flops like they were going to the beach. BUT, it was all worth it. Something else that I wasn't expecting was the beauty of the waterfall. My pictures don't even do justice on how beautiful it was. It's this massive waterfall that we were able to stand right against. We even climbed through this very narrow tunnel/cave to go right behind the waterfall, which was even more stunning. What a great experience!
The next day, a small group of us, got on the early morning bus to make it back in time for BACKSTREET BOYS! Honestly, I'm not even a big fan, but I really just went for the experience. I don't even know half the songs and I was more familiar with NSYNC while growing up. Tickets were pretty cheap compared to what it would be in the states, and I knew some loud old school music, great friends, and screaming/dancing girls would all equal to be quite an experience. It was quite cheesy with 90s music, cheesy videos, a bad opening act, and not knowing most of the songs, but I made the most of it. I attempted and I think I succeeded at being one of the fans, but it was a great time. We made the lamest dance moves, screamed like, "OMG, it's Backstreet Boys!", became best friends with my glowstick, and met some awesome people. It was a blast regardless. Such a stress reliever! :)
BUT All in All, that was my great Carnaval weekend, first one too! Oh Ecuador, how I love thee!
Here are some pictures:
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| live action shot of us getting sprayed by the locals |
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| compare the people on the bottom to the waterfall |
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| us behind the waterfall |
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| in line for Backstreet Boys |
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| self-explanatory |
1 comment:
you are my fireee~ the one.. desire! (oh gosh i hope its the right song) that waterfall looks AMAZING! looks like your having a lot of fun! while.. im.. stuck. here. in the office... xp
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