Tuesday, July 24, 2007
BRAZIL - Rio de Janeiro! ...uma outra vez!
Time to take a few moments to relax and un-PACK from months on the go!!! Mingau-style!!!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
ECUADOR - hard to leave my new friends behind!
After 4 days camping and trekking through the jungle and spending time with a handful of the kids from the Quechua family I was with, it was most definitely hard to part ways from them, as they are precious! We had so much fun swimming, drawing, playing and just learning little things from each other! I actually traveled to their home in the little town outside of Tena for my last night before heading back to Quito.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
ECUADOR - Tena & the JUNGLE!
I wanted to trek into the jungle for a few days and learn more about plant medicine & the local region and tribal rituals with a shaman... and I had the chance to get to know his entire family, swim in the rivers, climb up trees and sleep in caves full of bats too! Who would have known?!Monday, July 16, 2007
ECUADOR - Banos... hot springs, horseback riding, and mtn biking on too steep of hills!
Traveling with my new friends Fazila, Nahid and Gemma, we caught a couple taxis to Terminal Terreste (the local bus terminal) and we were off to Banos. The journey most certainly took a good 3.5-4hrs as the bus stopped to pick up just about anyone, anywhere off the side of the road, and to allow vendors on to sell popsicles, drinks, snacks and just about most any other thing you can imagine. A very interesting set-up indeed. This is very common in S. America, on most any local bus, but it was a little more intriguing to witness how the vendors operate on “direct” busses to destinations hours away! And those vendors who get on the bus in Quito and offer to help you put your stuff up above… NICE TRY! The roads getting to Banos are wind through the mountains and climb up and down in many different spots. Once you’re arriving into the town, the road turns to dirt for a bit, which slows things down enough to be able to take in the AWE of it all a bit longer!
Banos is a very small town completely surrounded by sheer mountain peaks – they are so, so tall! Waterfalls and lush-green vegetation encompass you. Hot spring thermal baths are found at both ends of town, and trails wander up into the hills from multiple places. Rivers flow alongside the main road that takes you to Punyo. And the quiet streets of this town make it enjoyable for a stroll day or night, and actually ‘invite’ you to visit the local stores, restaurants and tour agencies. Fazila, Nahid and I went in search of a local lunch, and accidentally timed it perfectly – as we sat down to enjoy the chicken soup, meat and rice and dessert, along with our orange fanta soda! It’s what was served to EVERYONE there – and we were the only tourists! Fantastic! A handful of restaurants stay open a tad later in the evening, which makes it possible to soak in the thermal baths ‘til 9 or 10pm and then grab a bite to eat and wander around the corner to a local bar.
We went horseback riding (Fazila, Nahid & I) with Jorge, and it was a trip! We worked our way up into the valley of the Turunguha Volcano from the city streets and our horses definitely had a little too much of a desire to run (if given the chance.) My horse’s name was Diablo (Devil) – enough said! Local men were working to install new water lines for the town water, as the canyon river bed was washed out a few weeks ago with a very big storm. It is quite a project they’re undertaking. We were the only other people up in this area during our entire time hiking and on horseback, so it was most certainly an enjoyable experience… especially after our failed attempt to bike up the other side of the mountains the day before – way toooooooooo steep! So we tried to ride bikes again this day after horseback riding, but found ourselves in such an extreme rain storm that we had to turn around a go back – per the local guy who decided to join us for the ride.
On the following day, when I was on a bus en route to Tena along this very same road, I was soooooooooooo thankful we turned back – nobody ever warned us of the multiple tunnels that you have to pass through en route to Punyo. Tunnels aren't the problem… it’s THESE tunnels, with room for 1 vehicle and pouring rain to blind you, that creates the non-favorable situation!
With its calm and peaceful nature, healing thermal baths, and mountain surround of adventure activities, Banos is somewhere you can most certainly spend a long amount of time.
Banos is a very small town completely surrounded by sheer mountain peaks – they are so, so tall! Waterfalls and lush-green vegetation encompass you. Hot spring thermal baths are found at both ends of town, and trails wander up into the hills from multiple places. Rivers flow alongside the main road that takes you to Punyo. And the quiet streets of this town make it enjoyable for a stroll day or night, and actually ‘invite’ you to visit the local stores, restaurants and tour agencies. Fazila, Nahid and I went in search of a local lunch, and accidentally timed it perfectly – as we sat down to enjoy the chicken soup, meat and rice and dessert, along with our orange fanta soda! It’s what was served to EVERYONE there – and we were the only tourists! Fantastic! A handful of restaurants stay open a tad later in the evening, which makes it possible to soak in the thermal baths ‘til 9 or 10pm and then grab a bite to eat and wander around the corner to a local bar.
We went horseback riding (Fazila, Nahid & I) with Jorge, and it was a trip! We worked our way up into the valley of the Turunguha Volcano from the city streets and our horses definitely had a little too much of a desire to run (if given the chance.) My horse’s name was Diablo (Devil) – enough said! Local men were working to install new water lines for the town water, as the canyon river bed was washed out a few weeks ago with a very big storm. It is quite a project they’re undertaking. We were the only other people up in this area during our entire time hiking and on horseback, so it was most certainly an enjoyable experience… especially after our failed attempt to bike up the other side of the mountains the day before – way toooooooooo steep! So we tried to ride bikes again this day after horseback riding, but found ourselves in such an extreme rain storm that we had to turn around a go back – per the local guy who decided to join us for the ride.
On the following day, when I was on a bus en route to Tena along this very same road, I was soooooooooooo thankful we turned back – nobody ever warned us of the multiple tunnels that you have to pass through en route to Punyo. Tunnels aren't the problem… it’s THESE tunnels, with room for 1 vehicle and pouring rain to blind you, that creates the non-favorable situation!
With its calm and peaceful nature, healing thermal baths, and mountain surround of adventure activities, Banos is somewhere you can most certainly spend a long amount of time.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
ECUADOR - Mitad del Mundo... standing (upside down) over the equatorial line!
The MIDDLE OF THE EARTH! - visiting ALL of the Equators! J
After grabbing a cuppa REAL jo with Joe and Jo at Caffeto in Old Town, we spent probably a good hour just trying to find the right bus station to catch a bus up to the equator. It was a tad insane, because each stop we went to they directed us to another stop! And so the scavenger hunt began!
2 hours later – once we made our transfer to the “Mitad del Mundo” bus, we arrived and began our search for the REAL equator. There is the super-hyped, and over touristly set French-discovered line that everyone goes to… there is an Inca discovered line that is a 30-minute walk from here up in the foothills… and then there is the equator line tucked a few blocks down at a very small and quaint museum of Inti-Nan. Interstingly enough, as we participated in various 0’0’0’0’… experiments, it most certainly proved to be the middle… and our guide there also explained that the equatorial line actually expands in 5.9km each direction, so technically all of the lines are ‘real’ lines, but that the greatest effects of the gravitational wonder can be seen right on the center of this line – after balancing an egg on a nail and losing the power to resist my friends force in lowering my arms, I would have to agree! I had to experiment with a handstand too – how often do you get the chance to do that?!
After grabbing a cuppa REAL jo with Joe and Jo at Caffeto in Old Town, we spent probably a good hour just trying to find the right bus station to catch a bus up to the equator. It was a tad insane, because each stop we went to they directed us to another stop! And so the scavenger hunt began!
2 hours later – once we made our transfer to the “Mitad del Mundo” bus, we arrived and began our search for the REAL equator. There is the super-hyped, and over touristly set French-discovered line that everyone goes to… there is an Inca discovered line that is a 30-minute walk from here up in the foothills… and then there is the equator line tucked a few blocks down at a very small and quaint museum of Inti-Nan. Interstingly enough, as we participated in various 0’0’0’0’… experiments, it most certainly proved to be the middle… and our guide there also explained that the equatorial line actually expands in 5.9km each direction, so technically all of the lines are ‘real’ lines, but that the greatest effects of the gravitational wonder can be seen right on the center of this line – after balancing an egg on a nail and losing the power to resist my friends force in lowering my arms, I would have to agree! I had to experiment with a handstand too – how often do you get the chance to do that?!
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