South America 2010

So, I last left off talking about our trip up to the volcano, burgers, and an awkward outing with some ladies and our tour guide which was not in need of any details and/or explanation really... Let me pick up from the following morning, the day we would head into the Amazon...
It was a beautiful morning, probably the nicest so far. It was completely sunny and warm and we were almost thinking it would be nice just to stay in town for the day. We started off at a nice breakfast place with many windows and a balcony. We had roughly a half an hour to eat before we boarded a van and got on our way. Two others accompanied us, which was quite nice as they both spoke english and actually couldn´t really speak spanish! Finally, Alex and I could carry a conversation with someone other than Gary! They were from Isreal, and we all instantly got along and conversed much throughout our trip to the jungle. Before we even left town we stopped to try on rubber boots. I found my size, a 40. I guess that must translate to somewhere around a 9.5 or so by US standards... Right close to us a kid about six or so was sitting on a small ledge, his white bunny next to him chewing away at a bundle off some kind of grass. I told Alex I had to go pet this bunny, and it was a situation strongly in need of documentation. So I walked over, sat down by the kid, but still keeping a little distance not to make him run off screaming, and pet his bunny. The bunny and the little kid both kept in place and I figured that was a good sign. The picture spoke differently, and turned out to be priceless! I didn´t notice, as I was focused on giving a confident thumbs up to the camera, but the little kid was just kind of looking over and up at me during the time of the picture, with a confused look on his face while I smiled big petting his bunny. His big brown eyes stared in almost strange amazement, while I was oblivious to how he must have been feeling, focused on the picture I would be taking home!
We got on with it, heading out of town along a steep ridge following the old roadway that our driver wanted to show us. Many people fell off this road down to the canyon so it isn´t used much anymore. Along the way the driver stopped and Gary, Alex and I got in a basket on a cable and crossed over the canyon and over a waterfall on the other side. This was quite awesome as well hanging pretty high above the rocks, and if your wondering why the other two people from Isreal didn´t follow along, they already had done it! It was a short ride, but well worth it, costing only a dollar! We moved on and left Baños. Next was a stop in a part of the jungle just outside town, where we were able to hold, pet, and play with monkeys. This was absolutely great! We walked down a path to an unfenced area where monkeys roam, swinging from rope to rope and tree to tree. There was also a building where some lived, and a couple caging areas as well, but the majority just lived in the wild. As I walked in I saw a monkey sitting with a golden retriever playing with it´s ears and face. They dogs and monkeys get along quite well. All you had to do is sit down and monkeys would soon be in your lap, on your neck, and down your shirt, that´s if they weren´t trying to pick pocket you. Another tourist was playing with a monkey as the damn thing grabbed his glasses right off his face and jumped to the rope, it was halarious! Fortunately he got them back. Tropical birds flew around, and furry almost ant eater looking animals roamed around you. It was such a great experience, but a little nerve racking as constantly, while not looking, a monkey would swing by a rope right towards your face, and grab onto your shirt or arm, or whatever was handy at the time. I got bombarded a couple times and ended up running away a little bit... It´s amazing the attitude and behavior monkeys possess, and how much their face and hands look like ours. It´s like furry little humans swinging and hobbling around looking to cause as much trouble as possible or being a class act.
We left the monkeys and headed to our final destination, a small tucked away area with a few bamboo bunkers and a main building where the local family of the jungle lived. We were right on a river, with tall trees all around and chickens wondering about. Giant leaves and dark swamps surrounded the area, welcome to the Amazon! This wasn´t quite the ¨tropical rainforest¨ per say, but more the ¨Amazon jungle¨ if that makes any sense... We walked along the river and swung in some amazingly comfortable hammocks before being served lunch. Up until now the food had been descent. Nothing special, but not bad. A couple really good dishes here and there, but mainly chicken and rice. Boy, was I in for a treat as I sat down on the wooden bench along with the other four of us. I quickly noticed a small scorpion sitting on the wood ledge about two and a half feet away, directly to Gary´s right, about shoulder level or so. Our tour guide told us it is poisonous and not to touch it, what a warm welcome into the jungle. It didn´t bother me too bad as I had a few as pets before, but I also wasn´t use to sitting next to one eating my lunch. It ended up sitting calmly and didint bother us, but the girl from Isreal later blew it off the ledge. Back to the food! It´s amazing how you get away from civilization, go into the middle of the jungle, and the food becomes ten times better! Our first meal was spaghetti, but with pork and shrimp and a clear glazy almost italian dressing sauce which was to die for. Holy smokes I had came to the right place, now I just needed to figure out a way to get this kind of cooking back home! Fresh blended juices, and salad also came with it, not to mention the rough beaten metal kettle of pasta was enormous! I was loving it, and just kept eating. Dish two, yeap keep it coming! A girl was right behind us on a patio had washing dishes and then made a funny wolf like howl. I turned around and she was laughing and smiling at her mom, as she showed her this giant spider that crawled onto her washboard. I think she was jokingly wanting to get us rallied up. Scorpions, now giant spiders, and we are staying where again? Oh yea, right over there, along the beaten path with endless giant red ant trails, around the murky crocadile infested swamp, in a hut with mosquito net covered cots! Perfecto!
The early afternoon and evening was a busy one, doing the majority of our activities. We first headed off down the river rock covered road in our rattling van. We could only travel about ten miles per hour on this road without getting tossed all over the van. Our first stop was a hike up a trail to a viewing point over the jungle. This was yet another amazing experience. Six or so hammocks lay lined in a row on the covered wooded balcony over looking the tall trees. We shot some pictures and then pulled out the blow gun! This was a four or five foot hand made blow gun that shot darts like nobodies business. We took turnes shooting darts at not a bullseye, but a hand carved monkey! Gary was the professional when it came to this sport, making it nearly every time, in all vital areas... Now up ´till this point, I was already blown away, literally! When Gary hollared at me to come check this swing out! All I saw when I looking over was an opening through some trees where it was obvious it was cleared for a reason. I knew exactly what I was in for it and I was ready, willing and able at any cost! Holy shit this thing was a swing off of Tarzan! A thick rope hanging from a stretched out branch flung you way out high over the Amazon, with the river right out in the distance. I was the first to try it, after our guide did a test run. I stood up on the stump where you take off and straddled the knotted heavy gauge rope betweek my legs. I won´t lie, I was a bit nervouse, but I knew I had to do it! A couple questions and a little life contemplation and I jumped down and flew out in the air. This wasn´t just absolutely amazing. This was exhillerating, thrilling, refreshing, and unbelievable. I could only imaging if I had this thing at home, I would spend the evenings swinging off into the sunset over the bright green ferns. Now this was the best swing I have ever sat down on. We all took turns, but Gary declined, as he isn´t too fond of hights (though he had no problem scaling waterfalls which we did today). I had to do it a couple times before we left, even hanging upside down and pointing back at everyone at the highest point of the pendulum swing. It was intense, hanging on with one hand and letting the other flail in the air, looking straight down to canopy trees and giant ferns. I have to find a secret place and build one of these things someday...
Next we headed down and along the river and walked across a metal shaky bridge to a tiny local community, where arts and crafts along with spears and knifes are made from Amazonian material. Some children were playing soccer bare foot in the dirt and the few parents roamed around the little huts. I bought a few goods and then we got on our rubber boots preparing to board ship! Us four and a different guide got into a hand made thick wooden canoe and we headed downstream. The river seemed fairly shallow and we hit some rocks along the way, but hey we didn´t loose our cameras like a different group following us did! We did end up getting high centered on a few rocks, but the guide got out and set us free and we continued down. Some areas were calm and quiet, leaves overhanging the water as the sun started to fade behind the hills. We headed back for dinner, just in time to fill up on a hearty delicious meal and then wander the jungle looking for crocadiles! I had some of the best flavorfull fish during this meal. I didn´t think it could get any better when potatoes, fish, salad, and another freshly blended juice drink (a different fruit of course) were served to the table. I didn´t even have to taste this fish to know it was going to be good. This fish wasn´t just good, it was brilliantly seasoned, tender, nearly bonless, juicy white loveliness. Dear god, take me now, I am willing and ready! After stuffing ourselves we hobbled off into the jungle, though not far from camp, a dog right at our feet. It was completely dark and we wandered with our flashlights to the dark still-water swamps. I personally felt like ideal crocadile bait after eating such a meal, and I am sure they wouldn´t mind eating me, along with the others either. Crocadiles can run on land very fast, and if by chance one seemed to want a quick easy meal, I am sure they would get their way without any problem at all. We spotted a few, but only glowing eyes in the distance and a little rippling of the water is all we saw. I felt like the crocadile hunter, though not nearly as experienced... They must not have been too interested as we left unharmed and returned to camp safely. More tourists had showed up, a group of what seemed to be college kids. Music was playing and the bottles were being tipped. We were really tired, and I didn´t even want to participate much, but we all decided to go sit and have a beer or so. We sat and talked with a few tourists and behind us dancing was the main event, along with limbo in which I did participate in. Later on some locals dressed up in constumes and did a tribal like dance and chant for us all. It was interesting, men in thongs and masks and spears. It actually was pretty cool, and I have seen native acts like that before. We decided to call it a night and head over to bed in our bunker a little walk away. The music and festivities continued on through part of the night but I still fell right asleep. I woke up a couple times to hear nothing but flowing water, and all sorts of live sounds of the jungle. Scorpions and spiders during the day? They say the jungle only comes alive at night! It was actually soothing and relaxing, I wasn´t worried.
Our final day in the jungle was a hike to a waterfall. Breakfast was at 8:30 which was a pretty standard breakfast, though of course a new fruit juice. We headed down a couple roads and stopped to put on our boots. Along the way our guide pointed out important aspects of the jungle, and things that were meaningfull to the natives. He showed us a pland with a small bud where when split open, tiny ants resided and told us to eat them. No one seemed interested, but I of course was ready to eat! They tasted like lemon he said, so I fished them out with my tongue and to my surpise they were like a quick dash of lemon. These were tiny tiny ants, and only like six or seven per pod, I wasnt gouging into an ant hill or anything... We stopped along the way next to the flowing stream and our guide revealed a leave he had tucked away with some harvested bluish grey clay on it. It was time to cover our faces with clay! A true natural facial, for free! Well not really for free, we payed for the trip as a package, but still! We looked like smurfs, only we wore headbands we hand wove with a plant they make Panama Hats with. We were tribal smurfs, smurfs of the Amazon! The clay hardened and tightened up our faces as we headed to the waterfall. I could hear the waterfall in the distance, and finally I could see it. It was beautiful, falling from high above and creating a small swim hole about four feet deep. It was now time to finally wash out faces and swim under the falls, but first we must take pictures! Naked and holding a giant leave in the obvious area, we took pictures one by one. Alex and I did so first, before we even got in the water, wanting to pose as tribal warriors with our faces painted, a hand woven crown, and holding a wooden stick in one hand we found and a giant leaf in the other! They turned out beautifully, just as we wanted. I threw my shorts back on and walked out to the water. I couldn´t believe I was standing under a cascading waterfall in the Amazon jungle. It was great and our guide swam around as he had done this thousands of times. We were all in awe and took the experience in the the fullest. We spend a good while there until more people arrived. We walked back through the jungle and headed back to camp to have lunch and get our stuff ready to head back to the city. Don´t let me fail to mention this last meal! This meal was probably my favorite. Pork, chicken, and beef all in one meal, what a deal! The beef was a bone they just hacked thinly to create a circle of bone with seasoned thin meat around the edges. Damn it was good, along with the chicken in a pepper glaze and rice. I could live out in the jungle just for the food, hell with the scorpions and spiders, I will risk it considering this cuisine! We said our goodbyes to our two friends and the family who cooked for us and got on our way back to the city, back to where I knew the food wasn´t nearly this good...
This was our experience in the Amazon jungle. A busy one, full of adventure! Today we repelled down a 150 foot waterfall, something that was just as amazing, and probably one of the scariest things I have ever done. This travel documentation is starting to consume much of my time here in South America but I thoroughly enjoy it. As much as I want to write about today´s adventure, it will have to wait. I have occupied this computer for a full two and a half hours, constantly writing, racking up a whopping two dollars! My travel partners usually end up finishing well before I am done, but I keep writing away. By the time my trip is over I will not have a travel blog, but a thoroughly written book. Maybe I should edit and publish this thing??? I am starting to fall behind, having to write about previous days as I did today, and it bugs me but I can´t sit here all night! Just know this; free hanging alone 150 feet above ground under a rushing waterfall, is something no one will ever forget! That´s if you can get yourself to do it in the first place.......

Finally, we have escaped the humid air of the beach and have headed into the green steep mountains of the Andes, where we reside in the fairly small city of Baños. Completely surrounded by giant steep green mountains, and waterfalls, this place feels quite nice after spending over a week in the humid warm mosquito infested beaches. Don´t get me wrong the beaches were beautiful, but time had come for a change, and this was exactly what I was seeking. It has been overcast generally, though many sunbreaks fill the sky throughout the days, and quite often. A little rain here and there, but it is refreshing. The town obtains what I have seen to be the nicest restaurants, many of them Itailian. The first night here we made a stop in a small fancy Italian restaurant after walking the town a bit, and we had lasagna cooked and served in a small oval cast iron dish, still bubbling from the oven. Gary ordered a standard Italian lasagna, but I had to get something different. Pineapple, a white cream sauce which seemed to possibly have a touch of wine or something of that sort, a few raisins, and ham made this dish phenomenal. Many shops with arts and crafts also fill the street. This town seems to be quite a tourist town, and the locals know it.
The next morning, our first actual day on the town, we walked down the street to see crowds of people, military, and news cameras. In front of us the Ecuadorian president stood, surrounded by military, police, civilians, and the good ol´ news reporters. Quite lucky were we, we got our good glimpse, shot some photos, and walked onward as the president waved farewell and got into his vehicle with machine gun armed military men. That day was spent walking around, exploring, and figuring out what kind of things we wanted to do here as every block has multiple places to sign up for different ¨adventure tours¨. For me, the Amazon tour was priority on my list. This place is where you can go into the jungle, and I was going to do it regardless of the conditions. Luckily, Gary and Alex wanted to do that as well, so we sat down with a tour guy, did a little price negotiating and lined out a three day plan: That evening we were going to ride quads far up into the hills to see an active volcano, wake up the next morning to head into the jungle and even stay the night for a two-day jungle adventure, and then the next day cascade down a waterfall. Perfect! Four days, lots of adventures, and after bartering with the guy, 130 dollars is damn well worth it!
That evening we heading up the mountains on our quads. These bad boys topped out at approximately 30 or 35 miles per hour and vibrated until your feet and ass couldn´t take it anymore. Actually, your ass just itched like crazy and your feet wanted to slide all over the place. Starting off in town, it was quite fun flying down small coblle stone streets going fairly fast through a town, passings cops like it aint no thang! And it wasn´t! you can do anything here as long as you dont run someone over or ínflict a head on collision while passing! There [/i]are no traffic laws in South America, atleast Ecuador, the laws apply [i]after an accident has happend. Anyways, after leaving the town we hit the main road, almost like a small freeway. This is where we put these machines to the test! Full throttle, and crusing at a darting speed of 30, my ass was itching like no tomorrow. Luckily, this didn´t last long and soon we would be onto a very small cobble stone road heading up the mountain. After discussing among ourselves how we didnt know if these things were going to make it on the highway, we get on our way and Gary´s chain falls off instantly. These ¨quads¨ were quite the pieces of machinery... They sure looked nice, well I should say the locals tried to make them looks all new and fast, but boy these things had either been made with scrap metal, or had been ridden well past their days. I assume both apply... (I am exaggerating the awfullness a touch just to spice the story up a bit, but they still were pretty gnarly). After fixing the machine, we got back on it, full boar up the windy mountain. There were a few areas where we were praying Alex´s machine would make it, but it finally pulled through to show us it still had a little in ér... We finally made it to the view point. The mountain was large and dark, smoke pouring out of it. We had to wait at times for fog and light clouds to pass, but the distant thunderous sounds constantly filled the sky. It was quite the sight to see, though of course I would have loved it even more if lava was pouring out, but still, with giant green hills all around, it was an amazing view. This although, wasn´t the best part... Right in front of us stood a tall, two-level ¨tree house¨ for even more viewing, and it is where they measure the volcanic activity. This was the ultimate tree house, standing right on a steep hill, looking directly over a jungle like canyon to more giant green hills, and the volcano above to the left. I know this sounds absolutely amazing, but don´t let me stop there! These South Americans love their swings and hammocks, and this definately wasn´t lacking. Hence why I also love this place.... These people also don´t have just [i]any swings and hammocks, but ones that take you over drop offs and offer insanely georgeouse views. This tree house had a metal rod coming out of it where a long swing was attached to swing you out over the edge. This was the best swinging experience I have ever had (until the one I had yesterday in the jungle, in which I will write about later). This thing you stood on and flew out over a hillside and if you looked straight forward you were eye level with fog swirling aroung a huge tall dark green mountain. The sun was starting to go down, and I swung as far out as possible, fairly high above the ground gazing out like I was flying. I could live in the tree house and no one would ever find me away from this damn swing, absolutely brilliant!
It was starting to get dark, so we turned on our lights, or the two of ours that were jimmy rigged together and worked, and made our way back down the mountain. It was getting fairly late, but our tour guy wanted us to go out with some girls and himself, which ended up being quite awkward and irritating, and not really worth writing about... Oh, and before I finish this up, let me add I had one of the better burgers I have EVER had right before this awkward outing. It was much needed, with REAL cheddar cheese and even an egg, it really was a delicious burger. We knew we had to get up early to head into the Amazon, so we decided to call it a night and heading home... Yesterday and today was the jungle, and tomorrow is cascading the waterfall. I am completely excited, and now its time for another one of those burgers! I will write about my other adventures when I am not having too much fun! Adios!

Garret

Sand-packed roads, bamboo cabin-like bars, surfboards, and beautiful sunsets is all it takes to describe Canoa. I thought Atacamas was a nice relaxing beach, but this place makes Atacamas feel like a big city. A four hour taxi ride with our new partner in crime Jenine from London left me painfully squished in the back seat between Alex and Gary. On top of that my stomach was in dreadful pain from gas, but I sat through it for the full four hours, in which I now regret not accepting Garys offer of having the guy stop at the one single gas station along the way...

We met Janine in Atacamas, and have since became good friends. She decided to come along with us to Canoa as she has no set plan for her last month or two of her four or so month journey. Tomorrow I believe we will be parting ways as we head to Banos and she goes her own way, but we shall see, she seems to like our company... Our days here have been spent swimming and lounging around, and our nights drinking and dancing. Our place of residence here is a small fenced in resort like hostel right on the beach. An outside bar with hammocks and an upper outside loft with a swinging love seat looking right out to the water makes me feel quite comfortable here. The sand ground between the little huts where travellers stay makes shoes of no necessity here.

Yesterday was my first time learning to surf along with Alex and Gary. We met up with two local brothers that teach surfing for a relaxing living and started our stretching on the beach as Janine took pictures. I had always wanted to attempt surfing, and was pretty excited being able to do it in South America for my first time. I picked it up quite fast as I got completely up and standing and rode the wave all the way into the bach my first try. Needless to say, that was by far my best ride of the day, but I did have a couple other good ones too. The guy said I was a good surfer and gave me thumbs up! Gary and Alex both ended up being successfull, and by the end of it all, we met two awesome dudes and had alot of fun. Its alot of work for a short ride, but its definately fun! We went out last night as we did the night before and drank and danced, this time though I felt halfway alive as I drank water before I went to bed. My calfs have been killing me from all the jumping around and dancing we have been doing, and every morning I get out of bed about to fall over.

Today is our last day here and I have to take a bus shortly to the nearest ATM which of course is not even in this damn town. I have been sitting here for an hour trying to type this up, and almost gave up earlier in frustration. For some reason I cant seem to write today, but I wanted to document our stay here before we leave. Sunday is a dry day here in Ecuador where alcohol cannot be sold so it looks like we will just be eating and doing a bit of swimming, though Alex may not join us as he got stung by a jellyfish yesterday (It was quite funny actually, but I know it hurt). Well I have people waiting for me so we can go get some cash, and I better get going!

Garret

Yesterday marked our one week point of our month long South American journey. For Alex, it quite possibly will turn into a 7 week journey as it looks like he is planning on continuing after Gary and I head back home. I am going to try to keep this short as I have more pictures I want to upload, and a facebook that is in dire need of attention. Also, I am at the beach and don´t really feel the need to write another novel.

We left Otavalo on the 5th by bus to head to Atacamas, the beautiful beach where we are now. This journey was something I have never experienced before, traveling through jungle areas to remote small tribal villages in the middle of nowhere. It quickly became a population of African Americans, which was quite awesome. A 10 hour bus journey, with 3 quick bus transfers in hot, packed buses. We were the only white people around for hours, traveling off the beaten path down rugged roads to tiny villages near muddy waters to pick up locals with machetes, and carrying all sorts of goods. Most wore dirty clothes, laborers hard at work, harvesting coconuts, bananas and who knows what else. My most nerve-racking experience yet, though I know it wasn´t much different than some of the interesting people you run into daily in Portland, OR, was stopping in a small muddy village to pick up a group of locals including one interesting fellow with a giant mecheti who sat directly behind me. This guy was a bit frightening, touching me and trying to talk to me, but clearly was not all there, and of course I couldn´t communicate with him either even if he was. A large sword hung by his side, and I just kept thinking to myself of some of the late situations that have happened on buses, including the beheading that happened a year ago or so. I know this guy was really nothing to worry about, but it makes you think about things when something like that happens, especially being an obvious foreigner, most likely not knowing where you are at all. Gary said ¨Just close your eyes and ignore ém¨¨, so, that´s what I did, which was´t too easy either but it worked and he ended up getting off the bus and I was quite relieved.
Part of our bus route through the jungle came to my surprise as it ended up being a school route. Our standing-room only bus would stop only to pick up 15 or so young school childen, all dressed in there matching tops and dresses or slacks, with dirt covered black shoes. I, Gary, and Alex sat in the very front of the bus, and Gary and I had little girls smashed leaning up against us, their big dark eyes not leaving our face. They were the cutest girls ever, and I wanted to take a picture with one of them as she just leaned up against me, but I refrained.

After that long, hot bus journey we finally ended up in Atacamas. It is warm, quite humid, and lively here. The ocean water is comparable to warm bath water, and our hostel has 3 hammocks in which I could easily swing in all day, but feel too guilty so I only do half the day. I love it here so far, and it has been nice just relaxing and not running around constantly. We will be spending our time swimming, eating, and walking the boardwalk before we leave tomorrow. I believe we are heading south to Banos which may be a much longer bus ride, but we are still figuring things out. Adios!

So here we are in the beautiful city of Otavalo! I last left off on July 1st getting prepared to travel New Town Quito that day. It was nice there, much nicer and not nearly as intimidating to walk around in, though we hear it´s more dangerous. We wandered the giant museum there, and then intended on seeing the Botanicle Gardens and one other big feature in which I can´t remember the name of, but they were closed by the time we arrived. We walked what seemed like never ending miles in the rain through New Town until we caught a cab back to our hostel.

That night was our last night in Quito, and damn did we have a good time. We rounded up a roudy group of 12 or 14 of us throughout our hostel, most younger and all adventurous, on a last minute decision to go out for the night. Afterall, it was the night to party! We rounded up 4 or 5 cabs and headed our train of tourists to the downtown area of Quito. We stopped at the square with a small fountain in the center surrounded by bars and restraunts. We ate at a place where all they serve are different kinds of Crepes. It was absolutely delicious, as I had never had crepes besides the sweet ones loaded with butter and sugar. After that we headed to the club! It was our last night in Quito, why not go explore the Ecuadorian night life eh? To put it mildly I got absolutely drunk as Alex and Gary decided to feed me tequila shots, large tequila shots at that. Let´s also add that was after 4 or 5 beers. We all good feeling and I ended up dancing like crazy, up on a balcony, in front of everyone with some locals. Our friend Dor, who was from our hostel and is originally from Isreal, but is travelling just like us, fell backwards off the balcony to the lower level in front of a giant group of locals. I have to say, as i was standing right by him, it looked so damn funny! It was a moment that was absolutely pricess, even though he was lucky not to get badly hurt. He was quite the character, someone I could easily get along with, as he totally looked and dressed like a skater/snowboarder, and was pretty much a wild one, hung over every morning at our hostel. We ended up getting along really well throughout that night, and I regret not getting and contact information from him. We all ended up having a blast that night, for our last night in Quito, and the next morning had breakfast and said our goodbyes.

The morning following let´s just say I had a throbbing headache and I was sweating alcohol. It was hot outside, and walking was a bit rough. I was really just excited for a 2 hour bus ride to our next destination, where I figured I would catch up on the negative hours of sleep I had racked up through the last few days, and hopefully get well before our arrival to Otavalo. The bus actually ended up being incredibly nice, equipped with fully reclineable chairs and a large TV in front, though it didn´t much matter to me as all I cared about was my music and my sleep. We got on our way, and I quickly turned my head and shut my eyes, listening to such soothing music as August Burns Red, my personal band Bring Me Solace, and Deftones, the kind of music that really just puts you right to sleep. I really started to daze off and love life as Gary taps me to point out the scenery. I have to say it was nice, but I was more than set on sleeping and curing my hangover. Little did I know, my next 2 hours would be sightseeing, and definately not sleeping. Even though it was a bit tough, I appreciate Gary showing me the things I would have missed. You only live once and I am in a place that I may never end up again, I shouldn´t be sleeping anyways!

We finally arrived at Otavalo, a beautiful, much smaller and more relaxed city than Quito, and you feel much more safe walking around. This city is also very well known for their market, much like our Saturday Market, but much larger. Our first evening we spend just looking around. Our hostel is quite nice, equipped also with a balcony, though not nearly as nice. The room is much larger, as well as the bathroom and we have the room to ourselves. It´s not the popular, young traveller, party style hostel, but it´s relaxing.
Our first full day we got a tour high up the hills to a Lake along ancient travel path of the Incas. Directly above us was a summit roughly 4,600 Meters high that if we wanted we could climb up. The cab was parked at about 3,800 meters and we climbed a hill 400 meters at about a 45 degree angle to a ridge overlooking the lake and Otavalo. It was a tough climb. Even though it wasn´t too long, it was so damn steep it was ridiculous. We stood directly next to an ancient Inca trail that was a 3 foot or so ditch that was their pathway along the ridge travelling from Otavalo to Quito, in which they could do it in 30 hours. We gazed right up at the summit in front of us, as the clouds barreled all around us. We headed back and spent the last of the evening wandering the giant market. I got much of my shopping done for my ¨¨buy for¨list, and it relieved some pressure.
Today was pretty damn intense. We circled a giant crater around a lake, which ended up being a 12 mile hike, up and down stairs and traversing the mountain ridges. I realize for many people this isn´t much, but to put it in perspective, people train here for Everest, and it´s a popular area people come to train to climatize themselves. I also am not one to hike much, and it´s not that I don´t like it, but for those who know me well, know why - It is really hard for me especially if it´s straining. This was definately a bit straining. When I first glanced at what we were about to do, I though to myself ¨there is no fuc*in way¨¨. It was quite intimidating, as it looked like it would take not hours, days... I have to say it was really pretty, and almost more than anything, I am proud that I accomplished it. It took us 5 hours of up and down, climbing the mountain ridges, many times on a ridge of roughly 10 feet or so across with steep walls to both sides. I am damn proud of all of us to say the least...
Next was the one and only condor park of both Americas, where we wandered a zoo like area and got to see bird handlers fly birds around for us. One handler threw his bird over the giant hillside and it flew off into the distance far over the city, only to come back to it´s trainer. That alone was one of the best things I have seen, to see birds so loyal to their trainers. After that we went to a famous waterfall, wandering through a forest full of Eucalyptis trees. It was quite a nice walk, luckily quite short as we were pretty damn tired by this point. The end of our evening ended in a small tour as it was getting dark to a small area where the Indigenous people of the area live and make most of the goods you buy at the market. It was our own private little tour, going to a instrument makers home, as she let us play with instruments, and checking out a guy who maked much of the clothing and dyes.

Tomorrow we leave, heading for the beach up north. I am tired, and I feel I have written plenty for you to read in one sitting. In fact, I would be honored if you did indeed read this is one sitting! It is time to go to the square for a few minutes for some live music, and then head to bed. To everyone back home - Happy 4th of July! Adios!