Baños: The Good, The Bad and The Itchy! (& The things that drive me CRAZY!)

Julie, Erin (another Oregon friend) and I departed for Baños at around 5:00 PM last Friday from the main bus-terminal in central Quito. A small town about 3.5 hours south of the capital, Baños is known for its hot springs, waterfalls, and the volcano, Tungurahua, which recently became active in 2006, and frequently showers the area with fresh ash. I’ve wanted to travel there FOREVER, so it was a relief to finally get on the bus and be on our way. After rolling in at around 8:30, we found a hotel called Casa Blanca, got some delicious Italian food and called it a night. In the morning (Saturday), we walked across the street to a tourist center to figure out our plan for the day. Before leaving Quito, Julie’s friend had recommended rappelling down waterfalls as a fun thing to do, so we took her up on it and scheduled five waterfalls for 20 bucks! I should note that I’ve started to lose perspective on what’s a good deal money-wise after only a month in this country, but it seemed to be worth the expense just to see Julie in her wetsuit with extra long zipper! It was also a marvel to watch as our rappelling instructor transformed from a normal guy in the store, to the most attractive man in the world at the falls, and back to a regular dude again upon our return. The falls were obviously amazing, so there’s no need to elaborate.

Unfortunately, Erin had to head back to Quito Saturday afternoon because she had plans on Sunday to go to La Mitad del Mundo (center of the world), so Julie and I wandered around Baños for the rest of the day, and at night we completed our second chiva adventure to the top of a mountain near Tungurahua to chill and watch some fire juggling.

And then there was Sunday (AKA the worst day EVER). We had been planning all weekend to rent bikes and ride around the mountains (because that’s what everyone does when they go to Baños apparently), so we managed to roll out of bed at 7:30 AM and pick up some bikes, a lock, and a map for $5 at a shop down the road. From then on, things just got worse and worse. First off, about two minutes in, Julie dropped the map, but we were too lazy to bike back the 100 meters to get it. Instead we kept going, ended up taking a wrong turn and heading up an extremely steep hill for roughly a mile (in which I fell and our bikes were so bad that we had to push them the entire way up) with the sun beating down and buses passing rapidly around sharp corners. After heading back and finding the correct road, we biked for another six miles or so, and by that time were so exhausted that we decided to wait for a bus (or any truck that was willing really) to take us back to Baños so we could pack our stuff and go home. So we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, until I’d gotten enough bug bites to discourage me from waiting any longer. This pattern of biking and waiting continued for about another half-hour until we finally arrived at the main waterfall we had wanted to get to in the first place called El Diablo, only to discover that it cost a dollar to get in and we had only brought a dollar each for the bus ride back! So the waiting continued, and after several more bug bites and some rain, a bus decided to pull over and take pity on the poor extranjeros stranded on the side of the road.

After all of this, I was completely thrilled to be back in my apartment on America y Acuña later that day (even if I did have mounds of homework yet to be completed). Now that I’ve finished with Baños, it’s time to start the real ranting! Though I don’t consider myself to be a very impatient person, the pace of life here has been difficult to adjust to at times. The fact that most stores don’t open until 9:00 AM, the traffic jams on the way to school, and (more than anything else) the internet at USFQ, have all, in their turn, pushed me very close to insanity. Although I’ve began to try avoiding these frustrations by attempting to anticipate the problems I might have throughout the day, there always seems to be something that catches me off guard. A few other complaints include the sirens and alarms constantly ringing outside my bedroom window, the bug bites from Baños and the cigarette smoke that always manages to latch onto my favorite clothes. Despite all of these minor annoyances, I can’t help but love Quito. I love my classes, walking around La Parque Carolina, the 50-cent smoothies I get everyday after school, the view out my window of Cotopaxi, and weekends spent at La Mariscal. All for now! The pictures include a few from the falls, the walk through Baños, the bike ride, and the beautiful scenery that we couldn’t enjoy. ¡Chévere!