We arrived in Baños in the evening and checked into an Israeli-owned hostel which was cheap at $7 a night including breakfast. We went out to eat and I just had a slice of veggie pizza which was enough. After meeting up with the others again, we went to a bar called Mocambo. Baños is an interesting place as it is quite touristy and lively even though it's only a small village in the central highlands. It had a good feel to it and we stayed in that bar for the night, drinking cocktails and dancing to rubbish latino-electro music.
The next day, everyone wanted to go bike-riding for 60km, which I didn't feel like after being out late last night but I had to do it as I didn't want to just wait around on my own there. It turned out to be enjoyable and only about 18km, mostly downhill. We went around to see the waterfalls and the last one was amazing as it was very strong and you could go up close to it.
When we got back and checked out of the hostel, I went to get some money out and realised I'd forgotten my bank card. Fortunately, Josh lent me $60 for the rest of the weekend. He and his girlfriend were staying there but we moved on to the south to go to Alausí as H wanted to go on the train ride to the 'Devil's Nose' which was a mountain with a shape that supposedly resembled that. The bus stopped right outside the hostel and the Chinese restaurant which the guide books said was good so we ate there. The women were all tired so went to bed straight after eating and I just read in bed for a while. The room that N and I had was right over the street and we could hear every car stereo that went past. I stuffed my ears with paper and managed to fall asleep quite easily.
In the morning, we got up early to get the train and missed the first one. We went in to get tickets and they needed our passports just to buy them and the process took about 15 minutes. But we got it and went on the train ride through the mountains with some great views of rivers and steep drops. It was a 2 hour round trip and afterwards, we looked around the town and ate a papaya at the foot of a huge statue of St. Peter, but he didn't let us in.
As we were now quite far south, we didn't want to do the whole bus ride back in one go so we found out about an indigenous village halfway back which had a handcrafts market on the Sunday. We got there early evening and found a sign pointing to the hostel. We walked along a desolate country road for some minutes, not seeing very much and then saw the next sign telling us to turn left. We followed it and again, there was no building to be seen. I joked that we'd find it was not yet built or was just a wooden hut somewhere but we finally reached it. There was nobody there. Then an old lady turned up and told us to shout for someone. It was a building on a farm and a boy cam over to talk to us. He said it was $14 for the night with breakfast which was very expensive for the typical prices here. He showed us one room which looked quite normal and then said there was also the attic. We went up and were amazed with what we saw. It had a straw and bamboo roof with 13 mattresses on the floor, all with nice blankets and pillows, chests of drawers and bins. It looked fantastic. But we were short on money so when the father and owner arrived, we said we'd just sleep there but eat in town. He, Alonso, was a very nice man who also did voluntary projects there. Looking at the building closely, I could see that it was very nicely made and the kind of eco-building that I would like to make.
We went back into town to find somewhere to eat. There wasn't much choice as it was a small place with all indigenous people who were very short compared to us but friendly. I didn't mind them all looking at us, it felt nice to be the novelty people for a change. We ate in a small café that was not much more than a room. We got simple plates of meat or egg with rice and chips and liked being there. The potatoes were being peeled by a mother and her daughter, while another girl served us and the little brother walked around. The simplicity and friendliness made it a great atmosphere and we also had some local milk drinks after eating. When H asked for the bill, we were shocked to hear it cost $4. That is, $4 for everything – 5 meals and 3 drinks, meaning 80c each. This stop-over turned out to be the nicest part of the whole trip for me.
We went round the market in the morning but it wasn't very special – just normal touristy-type stalls although I don't think many tourists come here. We bought a few things then got the buses back. This also turned out to be a nice surprise as it didn't take as long as we expected and got back at about half past two in the afternoon.
Apart from the unpleasant number of hours on the buses, it was a good weekend.
As we still had most of the day left, I finished making my third cushion cover which was my best one and tighter than the other two. The others appreciated my efforts, which is what it's all about.
(I´ll add some photos when I have time.)
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