Sarah:
If there is one thing Louis and I have needed to adjust to while here in Quito, its probably the bus system. Actually, we needed to adjust to the reality that we will always be taken or go, to the opposite bus station that we need to be at. We’ve kept an open mind, and its actually resulted in fun trips. About a week ago we set off to visit Otovalo, a highland city north of Quito to browse their world famous weaving and see one of the largest open-air indigenous markets in Ecuador, and also to scout it out for when Louis’ parents, Bob and Carry, come down and visit us. We ended up at the bus station on the south side of Quito. Not just slightly south, but on the southern most edge of the most spread out city I have ever been in. We decided there was no way we would pay another 10 or 15 dollars for a taxi to get to the north, especially when the bus ride was only $3.50 (the buses charge a dollar an hour.) I’de been wanting to go to a town, Banos, on the edge of the Amazon in the south, so we took off. We arrived in Baños amid rain and had a scare on arrival. Louis had a scare, I didn’t really realize what was going on, but I had been left on the bus. As Louis ran after the bus, he yelled at the doorman. The doorman asked, “O is your luggage still under the bus?” Louis replied, “NO, MI NOVIA (girlfriend).” Everyone within earshot laughed, and I was hurried to the front where the bus slowed down, not completely, and I jumped off. Then we realized we got off at the wrong point. I get nervous, a whole lot of the time, and started imagining all types of horrific scenarios, and was reminded that even if our bodies were found the next morning, no one knew where we were, and the only people who did know thought we were in a totally different town. Louis told me to stop clutching my bag and speed walking down the road because I may be attracting some attention being so visibly nervous. I slowed down and quietly stewed, because even though getting off at the earlier point had been partially my idea, I take comfort in silently blaming him until the situations are worked out. We arrived at our hostel about 15 minutes later, and were greeted by a fast talking host named Second, who had signed us up for water rafting the next morning with his company, whom he promised would take us on a great adventure, and assured us we could wear underwear, not swimsuits, under our wet-suits. What he did NOT tell us, was that when we were changing into our wetsuits, we would be at the base of the river, surrounded by our guides, 20 other rafters, and a television crew for an Ecuadorian comedy show who had come along to film a segment featuring rafting. I decided the only way to do it was be completely nonchalant. I flashed my goods everywhere. We ended up rafting with the only person on the bus ride down who was yelling, in his very limited Spanish, that he was hung over and drinking beer (on the trip to the river) to get over it. When he put on his wetsuit he carefully secured a pack of cigarettes and a lighter under the suit, and proceeded to tell everyone in our boat that he knew how to raft, and give critiques of his partner. That aside it was beautiful, amazing, and our raft guide was sexy like the way older men adventurers are with natural streaks of white all in his hairs. We stopped a few times to take showers under waterfalls and jump off ledges into the river. We stayed in Baños for the evening and the next morning, looking around, buying their famous taffy and riding bikes down to the river. It was a great time, and we’ll probably be back again.
Here are some pictures from the trip:
