The last of Ecuador....

We were teased numerous times (very enthusiastically!) by our fellow Aussie travellers on the Galapagos tour, that we were backpacker snobs and that the rest of our trip was going to be full of relative hardship in comparison to our luxury cruise... however the first place we went to after the Galapagos, Baños, was far from slumming it! It´s a gorgeous little town nestled beneath an enormous active volcano with waterfalls cascading down into the village. Why people choose to build towns beneath temporamental mountains is beyond us!! The entire town has had to be evacuated numerous times in the last few years & there are signs around indicating the best evacuation routes. One local said incredulously ¨Haven´t you ever seen a volcano erupt??¨ when we asked if he had witnessed it. Apparently you can seen the lava most nights but unfortunately the night that we took a adrenalin pumped ride to the top of a neighbouring mountain to get a glimse of the action, the clouds stopped us from seeing more than a few meters infront of us let alone any volcano activity! Sharing a drink of sugar cane syrup at the summit with our driver was a nice compensatory experience.

One of the highlights of Baños (other than Ray´s chocolate brownies & chocolate shakes at Casa Hood - which we partook of daily!!) was white water rafting with grade 4.5 rapids. It was absolutely fantastic and the scenery was magnificent with towering mountains on both sides of the river. Marie & Renee decided to scale some of these mountains so that they could justify eating more brownies.... and are sure that their shortness of breath was a result of the altitude rather than anything else!!

We also decided to brave a ¨Cajaro baño¨which was an interesting experience akin to being beheaded.... we were put in a box with two pieces of wood with holes just large enough for a neck which were then closed around our head. Firstly the box was filled with steam. Next we had to follow a washing ritual with cold water and a towel before returning to the box. After repeating this several times we were put in a shallow ¨bath¨of cold water and the attendant massaged our abdomen (a little too intimately!) and splashed us with freezing water. After warming up in the box again the bowl of cold water was poured over our heads before we were literally hosed down with a high pressure hose! The little fellow who was assisting us must love his job considering all the female tourists in bikinis (or less if you desire) he gets to work with and give a little more tactile attention to than is actually necessary!



One of the many waterfalls on the ¨Routa de las Cascadas¨from Baños



Tim submerged under a waterfall on our white water rafting expedition



After the successful descent of one of the rapids



Scenery through which we were rafting.
The river is actually dammed for a hydroelectricity plant...



Church in the centre of Baños


From Banos we travelled to the town of Puyo to visit our sponsor child Josue (Puyo is not worth taking photos of hence the lack of pictures!!). We were the first sponsors to ever visit this project, so we were met with much enthusiasm. Poor little Josue had been waiting excitedly for over an hour by the time we arrived and apparently had been getting sadder and sadder as the time ticked by thinking that we weren't coming. He was so cute when he first came into the room holding his mums hand as he tentatively greeted us all... but within an hour he and Tim were the best of friends. Tims camera was a hit and the two of them spent most of the next two days taking photos together! 8 year old Josue thought it was hilarious when Tim accidentally asked him if he had any kids instead of asking if he had any brothers!

Josue is one of six children and his mother is separated from his father. She works for a small salary for the local church that is associated with the project that we sponsor Josue to be a part of. We took them out for dinner and to lunch the following day to a restuarant that was suggested by the project director. The restaurants were very nice by Ecuadorian standards (and were nicer than most of the restaurants we have been choosing to eat at ourselves), and we are sure that it was a special occassional that will be remembered by the family. However we did feel very uncomfortable about how much money we spent on food for them. The expressions on their faces as they looked at the prices on the menu said it all. The mother had said to me earlier that she has to spend $75 a month on food for her family and that it is a real struggle to make ends meet... and lunch cost a total of $75.




Tim and Josue at the restaurant where we took him and his Mum for dinner . Note :Tim wearing an inappropriate ¨I love Boobies T-Shirt¨





Tim and Josue in the bedroom he shares with two of his brothers.




Such a gorgeous little boy! He has so much potential & hopefully we can help him achieve it!



Balloon animals were once again a hit as were Maries bouncy balls!







Kids appearing out of nowhere at the project!!






The whole family minus one brother. Even the father dropped in for a visit (not sure if that was a good or a bad thing!). The second oldest son (14 - Luis) was so gorgeous, getting all dressed up and doing his hair specially for our visit.


Since visiting Josue it has been non stop travelling. We decided to do part of the trip to Peru on the famous Devils Nose Train. Apparently this is the steepest railway in the world (and I would suggest one of the dodgiest!!). Passengers are encouraged to travel on the roof and so at 6.30am in the freezing cold we clambered up along with all the other insane travellers (including some impressive 70+ year olds!!). The one dollar we paid to hire a cushion to sit on was one of the best dollars we ever spent! Supposedly there is a five hour trip to the town of Alausi and then a two our scenic trip down the Devils Nose. However, this seven hour trip easily turns into eleven hours when the train derails in excesse of 7 or 8 times and takes half an hour or more to¨fix¨ each time!!!


Marie and Renee ¨on board¨the Devils Nose Train (Nariz del Diablo). No one rides inside... all the fun is to be had on the roof.




The train in Riobamba station that took us on our LONG adventure...












Since the train ride it has been non stop bus trips. Alausi-Cuenca, Cuenca - Loja, Loja- Piura (which took us from Ecuador into Peru). This leg of the journey was the most dodgy as we are certain that two of the guys on our bus were smuggling things agross the border. We were pretty uneasy for a while when they seated themselves temporarily in the seat behind us as they retrieved the items that had been earlier stuffed under the back seats of the bus.

Today it will be another long bus trip from Piura to Lima, the capital of Peru. Hopefully drug smugglers (or smugglers of any type) won´t be accompanying us!!