Sunday, August 31, 2008
Baños: the Chiva bus
Baños day 3.
took the "Chiva" (bus) up to the gigantic volcano which towers over Baños to see lava & sparks with are apparently constantly coming out. as usual accompanied by thumping reggaeton music the whole way which induces a real party atmosphere.
when we got there it was so dark that i couldnt even tell where the volcano was! we did however get a free and rather large shot of tequila & hot canela, which has its own volcanic effect. There were fire shows, hamburgers and a good view over Baños city, never quite knowing how close you can get to the edge of the mountain due to darkness. then we all sat on the roof of the bus on the way back down, occasionaly ducking power lines and branches, it was a blast.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Baños
this is one view from the rooftop common area of my new hostel "plantas y blanco" really nice place!
partied late last night. whos idea was it to drink shots? hehe
closer look at the waterfall
baños clame to fame is that the water is warm!
at the bottom, the waterfall is chanelled into lots of different uses, this being one of them. a communal swimming pool and showers.
people use the water to wash stuff.
unsurprisingly there is also a religious spin on it. there are people here blessing themselves i think and also collecting the water in bottles.
also took a closer look at the devilish guinea pigs
these stalls are all selling sugar cane
these stalls are all selling sugar cane
this is one view from the rooftop common area of my new hostel "plantas y blanco" really nice place!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Baños: Looking good
i wasnt even hoping for much when i came to this place, really just wanted to get out of quito. but now im begginning to realise why every backpacker responded with a grin from ear to ear when i mentioned ..
This is the view form the porch of my hostel room...though guess im not the only one, this waterfall towers over the entire town.
food! didnt eat here myself,there are plenty of options, but took this cos its a very common sight around ecuador. whoops! on closer nispection you can see that these are no chickens.. its Cuy.. (guinea pig)
ive only been here 3 hours so i think there will be many more fotos to come..
...Baños!
This is the view form the porch of my hostel room...though guess im not the only one, this waterfall towers over the entire town.
hostel "la petit auberge" like a little jungle here, very peaceful. i think i disturbed a couple of humming birds when i went out onto the porch.
Baños is at 1800 metres above sea level, 1000 metres lower and considerably warmer than quito.
can rent these for $8 per hour, $45 per day.. !
food! didnt eat here myself,there are plenty of options, but took this cos its a very common sight around ecuador. whoops! on closer nispection you can see that these are no chickens.. its Cuy.. (guinea pig)
ive only been here 3 hours so i think there will be many more fotos to come..
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi
im just back from another hostel called "secred garden" which is near Cotopaxi national park.the hostel is situated at the foot of a hill with a vast view of the surrounding mountains , and directly facing the volcano of Cotopaxi. the foto above is the view from the front door of the hostel.
Cotapaxi is the second highest volcano in ecuador. there is a refuge after a 500 metre uphill trek.
from the hostel they organize two treks, then one day trek as far as the glacier (just 200m after the refuge), and a two day trek to the summet which involves an overnight stay in the refuge.
another option is a two metre trek to the hammocks outside the front door, only equipment needed for this is a good book (though a wooly poncho and hat is an added bonus)
you have free use of the mountain bikes which is great, but tough going..
made significantly easier by this orange soda which is 100% vitamin C ????
who says they dont have good food in ecuador?
this is part of the road leading up to the hostel, nothing less than a 4 x 4 vehicle for several kilometres. i had the luxury of getting a 40 minute lift in the back of a pickup truck over this terrain. my "trasero" will never forgive me
actually a few nasty bulls around, they are breeding them for fighting, and some make their way onto the road.
as there is no electricity around, things start to look like this after dark (6.30pm). out with the cards..
im just back from another hostel called "secred garden" which is near Cotopaxi national park.the hostel is situated at the foot of a hill with a vast view of the surrounding mountains , and directly facing the volcano of Cotopaxi. the foto above is the view from the front door of the hostel.
Cotapaxi is the second highest volcano in ecuador. there is a refuge after a 500 metre uphill trek.
from the hostel they organize two treks, then one day trek as far as the glacier (just 200m after the refuge), and a two day trek to the summet which involves an overnight stay in the refuge.
another option is a two metre trek to the hammocks outside the front door, only equipment needed for this is a good book (though a wooly poncho and hat is an added bonus)
you have free use of the mountain bikes which is great, but tough going..
made significantly easier by this orange soda which is 100% vitamin C ????
who says they dont have good food in ecuador?
this is part of the road leading up to the hostel, nothing less than a 4 x 4 vehicle for several kilometres. i had the luxury of getting a 40 minute lift in the back of a pickup truck over this terrain. my "trasero" will never forgive me
actually a few nasty bulls around, they are breeding them for fighting, and some make their way onto the road.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
im in a ciber cafe in Quito..
theres musical murder going outside the door...! i was enjoying some nice guitar music coming from somewhere on the sunny street outside and the music shop beside us seems to have decided to compete with it, with the worst racket of cheesy reggaeton music i have ever been subjected to. arrgh.... gimme a machinegun pleasee..
funnily enough, i have noticed a connection between the rythm of traditional music of Ecuador, and the beat of regaeton. hmm...
had breakfast. over hearing some amusing conversations, backpackers are funny. they say thing like "oh you must go there" followed by "its very touristy though" hehe.. are you not a tourist?
(i do it mysellf , hehe.. i think each one likes to think he is not a tourist)
some roads are a free-for-all for bikes, once a month in quito.
theres musical murder going outside the door...! i was enjoying some nice guitar music coming from somewhere on the sunny street outside and the music shop beside us seems to have decided to compete with it, with the worst racket of cheesy reggaeton music i have ever been subjected to. arrgh.... gimme a machinegun pleasee..
funnily enough, i have noticed a connection between the rythm of traditional music of Ecuador, and the beat of regaeton. hmm...
had breakfast. over hearing some amusing conversations, backpackers are funny. they say thing like "oh you must go there" followed by "its very touristy though" hehe.. are you not a tourist?
(i do it mysellf , hehe.. i think each one likes to think he is not a tourist)
Otavalo
some roads are a free-for-all for bikes, once a month in quito.
Sunday Art Exhibition in Parque Ejido, Quito
A building, somewhere outside Quito, taken yesterday.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Otavalo: Market
OTAVALO
They say this is the biggest market in South America and im definitly not going to argue.
its a labyrinth of handcrafted color and beauty to lose yourself in for hours... and i did. literally got lost hehehe. the market runs every day but on saturday it covers the entire town of otavalo. The Otavaleños themselves are a gentle people, very proud of their culture , language , way of dress and way of life. not to metion very creative, entrepreneurial and hard working and sometimes chancers hehehe , this place is more than i ever expected.
this is the kind of clothes you see on all of the Otavaleña women.
made her laugh, camera was on wrong setting though, second smile was still nice .
couldnt refuse this girl, i baught two bracelets even though i have zero use for such things.
bird massacre
baby finally looked at camera hehe.
Its perfectly normal to go around with a jumper on your head in otavalo.
Cuicocha .. "lake of god"
Otavleña woman demosntrates how they make the fabrics.
Preparing the wool.
Various natural stuff is used for the color, such as plants,fruit and other things i have no idea what they are.
then its all woven together on these machines which are operated mechanically by your feet or hands. this is normally the mans job but this woman learned it as she had no brothers. her children are now learning it bit by bit. no templates are used, its all done straight from the imagination of the artist themselves.
They say this is the biggest market in South America and im definitly not going to argue.
its a labyrinth of handcrafted color and beauty to lose yourself in for hours... and i did. literally got lost hehehe. the market runs every day but on saturday it covers the entire town of otavalo. The Otavaleños themselves are a gentle people, very proud of their culture , language , way of dress and way of life. not to metion very creative, entrepreneurial and hard working and sometimes chancers hehehe , this place is more than i ever expected.
this is the kind of clothes you see on all of the Otavaleña women.
made her laugh, camera was on wrong setting though, second smile was still nice .
couldnt refuse this girl, i baught two bracelets even though i have zero use for such things.
ops, didnt notice freak in the background.
bird massacre
baby finally looked at camera hehe.
Its perfectly normal to go around with a jumper on your head in otavalo.
Cuicocha .. "lake of god"
Otavleña woman demosntrates how they make the fabrics.
Preparing the wool.
Various natural stuff is used for the color, such as plants,fruit and other things i have no idea what they are.
then its all woven together on these machines which are operated mechanically by your feet or hands. this is normally the mans job but this woman learned it as she had no brothers. her children are now learning it bit by bit. no templates are used, its all done straight from the imagination of the artist themselves.
Otavaleño family playing traditional music of Ecuador,Peru & Bolivia.
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