I've moved on up into Ecuador. Quite a change from the costal desert of Peru, I am now in the middle of mountains, but it all feels tropical. Apart from the freezing cold overnight bus to get here. Anyway they say the half the fun is in the journey itself. Well I had a rather interesting journey... But I will get to that in a bit.
First Chiclayo and the Witchdoctors market. The market was impressive, one of the biggest markets I have seen in South America. And full of all kinds of crazy stuff, I didn't spend too long looking around, but it would have been good to have a guided tour of the place. Someone to explain what all the different things were for. True my Spanish is good enough to ask, but I am not sure I would trust the answers or my translation enough to actually try anything. I had one guy offer me some Ayuasca, but once was enough. I don't think I need to be trying that stuff again. There were also great mounds of dried and green cactuses for sale. Again another hallucinogenic thing that the locals seem to make. And again not something I need to be trying, especial not when I am traveling on my own.
Anyway after Chiclayo I caught the bus up to Piura (still in Peru) and from there a bus onto Loja in Ecuador. This was the interesting bit. Now I have been on quite a few busses in South America, and I thought I had pretty much seen it all as far as crazy bus rides go. Well I was wrong, agian... I caught the day bus as I was told the secenry was spectacular, and true enough it was. The excitment came as we were crossing a section of road that had been covered by a recent landslide. I am not sure how recent it was, but it looked safe enough. The bus did have to stop and wait while the driver's helper got out to clear away some stones and make the track a little bit wider for us. It was during one of these breif pauses that I hear an almighty BANG! And feel the bus shake. I though something had exploded. The people up the back of the bus start screaming and running for the front. At this stage I look up the hill and see a few smallish rocks rolling down the slope at us and I realised that we had been hit by a rock or two. So the driver steps on it, and the bus doesn't move for a good 10 to 20 seconds. Felt like a lot more than that from where I was sitting watching more rubble come sliding down the slope. Well the wheels on the bus went round and round, and we got out of there safe and sound. The rest of the ride was uneventful compared to that. I stoped at Loja to change busses, and almost got talked into staying there for a couple of days by the nice young lady at the tourist information booth. What can I say, I am a sucker for pretty girls, and there are just so many of them down here...
So I am in Baños, which seems to have it all. You can go rafting, kayaking, cayoning, bungee jumping, horse back riding, mountain biking, hiking, trekking. You can take a tour of the Volcanoes or a 1 day to 1 week tour of the Jungle. This place has it all, if you have the money... I do, but I hate to spend it. So I am enjoying myself by doing the walks around the valley, free and spectacular. They also have a bunch of thermal baths, hence the name "Baños" so I might check them out as well.
Oh and I have a question, what the hell is a dime worth? They use US$ here, along with a bunch of coins which are only good here in Ecuador. So some times you get a US quarter, and other times you get an Ecuadorian 25 centavo coin. This is my 3rd country, and 3rd currency in 2 weeks and I getting a little confused. I keep converting everything back to Peruvian Sols, so I can compare prices with there, then I also convert to Chilean Peso as that is the money I am earning. Then my head hurts and I just pay what ever they ask. Sometimes I get lucky, sometimes I don't.
I have to say, Ecuador is a pretty amazing place. It seems to have it all, I only wish I had a little more time to spend here. Though I am already thinking about trying to come back again one day...
Later
Zac
