Other tourists in Ecuador keep telling us they are running into other Coloradans.  We have only met one so far, but there must be something special about this country if so many Coloradans are visiting.

Ecuador can really be divided into three parts: the coastline with beaches and warm weather, the central highlands in which the Andes mountains dominate, and the east which consists of the Orient and a small part of the Amazon.  Of course there is also the Galapagos Islands, but we sadly couldn’t accommodate them on this trip.

We made it across the Colombian/Ecuador border without a hitch.  Most interestingly we were never searched or even lightly checked by a single security guard as we expected we would be.  After quickly crossing and spilling hot coffee all over myself, we caught a bus for Otavalo for just a few dollars.  That was a nice change from Colombia where the buses are a bit expensive.

Otavalo is really known for one thing and that is its large (muy grande) Saturday market.  Most of the town is turned into a tent city of vendors and the majority of the population are of the native peoples, dressed in very traditional clothing and not very tall at all.  You have different wares that range from home goods and typical raw foods, to cultural clothing and pre-made local delicacies.  Megan and I spent a good portion of the day touring all around the market, where we both purchased ponchos.  I definitely look like an idiot gringo with mine on, but it is most comfortable and worth it.  Also, I am pretty sure this is where snuggies drew their inspiration from.  To change up the day a bit Megan and I took a nice walk the Peguche Waterfall that was just outside of town and seemed to be a place that is enjoyed by the locals.  Walking to the waterfall was a big change from being in Colombia, where exploring some areas are off limits to tourists or strongly discouraged for security reasons.  Here we had so much more freedom to roam around and explore. The waterfall was actually quite large and to our surprise there was even a campground associated with it.  If only we had a tent.

(Family walking through market with the old lady carrying some chickens)

(Peguche Waterfall)

That evening we had an interesting time hanging out with some fellow backpackers.  Enjoying a fire, we were sharing stories of our travels.  One of the backpackers, Geoff Christopher, decided to open up a bit and tell us an almost unbelievable story: In 2009 he was the runner up in the Monopoly World Championship.  Who knew there was such a thing? We were all laughing so hard, at both the idea of it and that we were sitting next to the second highest ranked Monopoly player in the world!  He’s even in a documentary.  The competition is not held again until next year, so he still holds this title.  Probably one of the best parts was that they held that championship in Vegas, and the winner was only 19, so there wasn’t much partying for him.

Outside of town there are quite a few different destinations to hit such as waterfalls and volcanoes.  We chose to see a volcano crater lake, much like Crater Lake in Oregon.  Starting off we had a brief, one-hour detour as we took the wrong bus, but ended up getting to enjoy some nice scenery with a good view of Otavalo.  We hopped on the correct bus and made our way to the Cuicocha Lake.  The area is super nice and we had an amazing view of the surrounding towns, but unfortunately we had some dark clouds, hiding the deep turquoise color that the lake is known for.  Still, it was an amazing place and there was a bit of wild flora that caught or attention more than anything.

(Overlooking Cuicocha Lake)

(Looking down on Otavalo)

After really enjoying Otavolo we made our way to Quito to spend a week taking Spanish lessons and staying with our first Couchsurfing host.  Quito is a large metropolitan area spread throughout a valley with buildings sweeping over it all.  Quite a thing to see.  Santiago, our Couchsurfing host, picked us up when our bus arrived.  I guess if we had any concerns, Santiago’s apartment was literally across the street from the U.S. Embassy.  Our first evening was great as Santiago was most generous to us by giving us a bit of a tour and cooking dinner.  He drove us into the city center to show us where our school was and even helped us find which bus to take.  One late night out he showed us around the Basilica, Presidential Palace, and other great landmarks.  This was a huge benefit because there were no crowds and we were much safer with a local.  There are so many churches and plazas that it is almost dizzying.  Santiago introduced us to Colada Morados, which are a classic drink during the upcoming holiday Dia de Muertos, aka All Souls Day or Day of the Dead.  Every evening we ended up having Colada Morados because they are so yummy.  Colada Morados are drinks made of black raspberries, blueberries, dark maize flour, pineapple and range of different herbs and spices, then served hot.  Along with the drink you usually have a piece of bread called Guaguas de Pan, which is made to look like a child and is filled with some fruit filling.  Megan was in heaven with all the baked goods we were consuming.

(Colada Morados and Guaguas de Pan)

(The Basilica)

(Santiago, Bryan, and Megan)

Halfway through our stay Santiago was leaving town for some festivities and took us out to his parents house for lunch and to see some of the surrounding area.  First off, his parents made an amazing lunch of avocado soup, fried fish, rice, fries, salad, and fresh juice.  They live along a canyon with a nice river running through it, with the mountains running along the background on the other side.  Absolutely amazing views!

(Looking across the canyon by Santiago’s families house)

The last day of Spanish class was on Dia de Muertos so we took a field trip to a cemetery to observe the local traditions.  This was super interesting as families showed up to clean grave sites, tell stories of their loved ones, and eat lunch on the graves.  It was amazing to see entire families gathered around grandparents telling stories while young kids watched and listened most intently.  Every once in a while there would be musicians playing over a grave.  This was a great experience and put so much more meaning behind the holiday.

(A couple of men playing music)

Our next stop was Latitude 0 Longitude 0, Mitad del Mundo, or the “Middle of the World”.  This was awesome, being able to straddle the equator.  We didn’t go to the more popular historic marker as it isn’t exactly on the equator, but instead we went to a little museum nearby that hosts a small marker denoting the actual point.  We were given a small tour where we got to conduct different experiments demonstrating effects of the equator (Megan was deemed Egg Master for making an egg balance on a nail head), and also we learned about the local indigenous tribes of the area.  Interesting mix….

(Megan at the “Middle of the World” with her Egg Master cert)

We headed to Banos, the adventure capital in Ecuador.  We were very excited when we were leaving Quito because for the first time it was finally clear enough to see Cotopaxi, a massive volcano mountain.  About 30 minutes before arriving in Banos we hit a bit of a rough time as Megan noticed her bag had been awkwardly pulled under her seat and our DSLR camera and some cash was stolen. Not good!  Megan probably traumatized a small boy sitting behind her when she asked to see the contents of his bag.  Because we stopped so often people changed frequently and whom ever stole our gear probably got off way before we ever noticed.  Guess it’s time for camera shopping again.  When we arrived in Banos I immediately hunted down a police office to explain what happened, and he gave me a look like “here we go again” and told me to go to the police station tomorrow morning to file an official report. Bad day…

After shrugging off a bad day our next day started off with a scrumptious pancake and what ended up being a painless and fast trip to the police station.  Throughout the day Megan feasted on more baked goods, as it almost felt like we were in Europe or something, and we scheduled a white water rafting trip.  Woot!  White water rafting was a blast.  The rapids were only class 3-4, but the guide was great as we would find a good rapid and paddle back up into it and enjoy getting stuck behind it for a bit.  After getting sore muscles from rafting we decided the next day to cycle about 20km while exploring the waterfalls and beauty outside of town.  Against my best judgement, Megan and I even took a cable ride across part of the valley to see one of the waterfalls up close.  Not a great idea for someone afraid of heights, but better than zip lining over there instead.  I know most others might disagree with me on that.  Most, if not all, of the waterfalls were greater than 100m in height.  For about every waterfall we saw there were countless more we missed.  It is intense how many waterfalls flow into the valleys near Banos.  We spent the last day touring the city again, but this time taking some trails on the edge of town and trying to see the active volcano nearby.  It was always covered in clouds.  Instead, we were entertained by some people jumping off a bridge, and we finally tried out the Melcocha (sugar cane taffy) which is made all over Banos. Yum!

(Our raft nearly swallowed up by a rapid)

(Really tall waterfall)

(River next to Banos and the bridge people jump/swing off)

I was able to get a handful of videos uploaded this past week.  Some of them are from Southeast Asia and the rest are South America.  If I get good internet again I will hopefully get some more up.  http://vimeo.com/ballweberb/videos