Baños - un pedazo del cielo

Our bus ride was slightly eventful.  We took up the backseat and one more row in front with nine of us.  We kept a pretty close eye on our stuff, but at one point this guy came up to us and tried to sell us candies (this is really common on the bus - at stops vendors with fruits or helados or other items will come by) and then he dropped a fifty cent piece.  We thought it was by accident and were hunting under our seats in order to find it, when in fact it was a distraction.  They had Annie's camera, but she asked them if they had seen one because she lost it and they "found it" under the seat.  Close call.  We got our hostal right close to the bus station as it was dark, but the guys totally ripped us off.  Alexa is fluent and so she negotiated with them aka they thought we didn't understand any spanish.  They told us meals were included, so we put our stuff in our room and then went down for dinner.  Miscommunication.  Needless to say, they didn't get any more of our money.

The next morning we took a tour of the waterfalls and even took a basket cable thing over one of the waterfalls.  So pretty!  In the midst of the tour they had a swing jumping place, which is very similar to bungee jumping.  I was so indecisive once I saw the actual bridge, but I decided to go for it. What other time will it only be $15?  Getting to the point of where you were standing on the bridge was probably one of the scariest parts.  How do you stand on this tiny ledge with no supports - the only reason you don't fall immediately is because the guy has a hold on your harness.  I looked down.  Bad idea.  He sensed my fear and told me to mira arriba.  He counted down (otherwise it might not have happened) and then I fell and he pushed your feet so you flipped.  The freefall was incredibly scary but the swinging and the fact that I went through with this was so worth it and I had such an adrenaline rush.  Still can't believe that I did it.  And then the last waterfall was a hike down (wayyy harder on the way back up - the altitude had such a huge effect) but it was worth it.  We swam below the waterfall and it was unbelievable.  Is this real??  You looked up to a huge gorgeous waterfall and couldn't help but smile.  During the hike down we felt like we were in the midst of a jungle, which made us wonder what venturing into the Amazon or a different rainforest would be like.

Afterwards we had bread for lunch (our breakfast every morning for twenty cents - there were ones with chocolate inside and other empanadas with cheese inside om nom nom) and true to our nature we napped.  We wandered around the market and main park and then had a wonderful dinner at Café Hood: The Restaurant That You Can Trust.  We were so hungry and it tasted absolutely amazing.

On friday we got up super early (seven am eeks) to go to the natural hot springs right next to another waterfall.  The warmest pool was filled with minerals that were supposed to help with stomach and liver ailments.  Perfect.  It was then invaded by schoolchildren who stared at the gringos.  First point is that we get stared at wherever we go.  Fact of life.  Second of all, we have not seen a child that is not adorable.  I look at them and immediately say awwww.  First thought.  Half of the group went home at 11:15 that morning, but five of us stayed so that we could take a horseback riding tour and then try to see the volcano at night.  We got lunch at another cute café with a danish owner.  The smoothies and sandwiches were delicious and got devoured in about five to ten minutes (we had 45 minutes of anticipation and hunger while waiting).  We wait until we are about starving to find a restaurant and then waiting for food is just awful.  The pizza that we had that night took under fifteen minutes and it was magical. And both pizzas were gone within five minutes - hungry much?

Horseback riding on friday was fun, but also slightly scary at times.  The names of the horses were hilarious - I was on Michael Jackson, Sam was on Luchito, Henry was on Whisky, Bri was on Mariachi and Juhee was on Jackie Chan.  Jackie was very ornery and liked to bite and eat grass while Michael just hated human contact in general and did whatever he felt like (they asked if anyone had experience adn I said a little, so they told Bri to switch with me.  Needless to say Michael was not very well behaved).  Cars were so close to us when they would pass us on the main roads (convinced you would have to be crazy to drive in Ecuador) and the trail close to the waterfall was very skinny, steep, muddy and rocky.  Sometimes I wasn't sure if the horses could handle it, but the views from that trail were breathtaking.  I just can't get over the mountains.  I will always be amazed by them.  That night we took a chiva (pretty much a club on wheels - flashing lights and loud top 40 ecuadorian music) up to the ridge to see baños from above.  It seemed so much bigger and more lit up, but it was cool to see an aerial view.  We could understand almost everything that the guide says but at one point we thought they said something about the tourists ending up in the lake and everyone else laughed.  We were not in on this joke apparently.  It was too foggy to see the volcano (the whole time we were there it was shrouded in clouds) and eventually the fog descended so we could no longer see the city.  It was neat to see the trees get more and more blurry until you could no longer see anything.  We made friends with our tour guide Sergio and Javier, basically an amazing dancer and were kind of sad to say goodbye.  Maybe we'll go back and run into them again :)  The bus ride home was long and we all got restless and were really glad to be back at home.  Clean clothes!!  Time for rest now and lots of sleep.