Hello everybody! A week has passed, and just as it happened for India... it's happening for Ecuador and South America: I'm starting to acclimatize to it! The first impression was a little disappointing I guess. I did not see the beauty that everyone described... but it was just the other day, as I walked trough the streets of Cuenca that it hit me: It really is a wonderful country.With its shabby Colonial buildings, its greyness, its little old women strolling around (I still wonder with what force), its million stray dogs, and its tackiness: Ecuador is magic. Well, as I said in my previous thread, we were on our way out of Baños a week ago and I will go into that in a minute, but not until I tell you about our steam bath the morning of our departure! Wow... The hostel we were staying at had the facility on the premises, so we thought we might as well take advantage of it. What we didn't know, was that we were going to experience one of the scariest experiences ever. I mean Jail like. We were forced into little wooden steamy boxes, then got the coldest water ever poured over our shoulders, and after finding shelter into the little wooden box again, got sprayed all over with a high pressure hose with more super cold water. And when I say all over, I MEAN allover... I got freezing water sprayed under my armpits and feet (which made me giggle hysterically) and in my face (which is actually not that pleasant, especially when not expecting it...). Yep, someone should warn poor backpackers from doing that horror steam bath. I will write to Lonely Planet about it... rest assured... I will... The trip from Baños to Cuenca was a horror, as you can imagine... loads and loads of hours spend in dirty, filthy, smelly buses. But we finally made it to our super nice Hostel. Casa Naranja, is an old Cuencan private residence, which was turned into a rather welcoming hostel. The rooms are big and lots of light enters through the big windows overlooking the patio. Cuenca has been my favourite town so far. It's beautiful. Colorful. Loud. Michelle showed me around on our first day, we had a really nice walk on the river bank. We ended up visiting an old woman's home, which turned out to be rather creepy, but totally worth it. She lured us in from her balcony, and before we knew, we were in her living room, an authentic piece of Ecuadorian history, forgotten memorabilia hanging from the walls and placed in all corners. The second day we took a bus to Ingapirca, an ancient Incan site. I was a little disappointed, was expecting the Machu Pitchu of Ecuador... but nahhh... On our way back we met Alice again (I thought I wasn't going to see her in a long time!) and I made plans with her for the following day, knowing Michelle was not doing well at all... She hurt her back really bad on the bus to Ingapirca and had a bad cough. The next day, as we planned, Alice and I left off for Cajas National parc. Turns out, the parc is wonderful, and believe me... VERY VAST, but also very scary, muddy, cold, and easy-to-get-lost-in. After one hour or so, I realize we're completely lost, I've got mud up to my knees, have almost killed myself slipping on the mud, almost fell from a cliff, feel my hands going number by the minute and decide I've had enough. All in all I would describe my day at Cajas National Parc as very adventurous, but scary as hell. Thank God I already had plans to restore my mind and nerves for the night. I dragged Michelle to a guitar concert! Bolivar Sermiento, the artist, is apparently very famous in Ecuador and worldwide, but I had never heard of him. I'm really glad we spent our last night in Cuenca doing something a little more interesting than just falling asleep straight after dinner. Right now, I'm in Vilcabamba, a town in the south of the country. A 10 hour bus took us here, and I must say, I'm really happy we made the leap, because it's an amazing little town and the hostel (owned by two funky German brothers) is absolutely wonderful! It's a 20 minute walk from town, and has a swimming pool (which would be great if there were sun), a delicious restaurant, and hammocks hanging at every corner... RELAX. Feels like we're on vacation finally!!! Enough with frantic sight-seeing... I'm chilling for a few days now!
About the photos: I'm afraid everyone will have to wait till I get back. Computers here are super slow... :-(
Love you all and write to you soon.
Have a great week-end!
Baci
Flavia