we have moved from Banos to Cuenca. The bus ride was amazing! We went up, down, and around mountain after mountain, after mountain. It is amazing to be able to look up and see the road that you have come from and look down and preview the road that you are headed to. A holiday tradition here is for the children to put on masks, and block the mountain roads and then ask vehicles to pay to pass. Seeing this up close is a bit scary, especially if you do not know ahead of time why the hell these kids are wearing masks and putting big stones on the road so that you cannot pass. Funny part- as the children started to move the stones for us, a local vehicle that was behind us, spend around us and forced the children to pick up their pace about moving the stones. They got out of the way pretty quick when they almost got run over. It was amazing to see the number of traditional cuechia (sp) indians that simply sit along the mountain roads waiting for the chicken buses or just hanging out. I felt a little bad riding on the luxury bus and not being able to stop and pick them up.
As we were leaving Banos, maybe a 1/2 hour into our trip, we encountered a spot where there had been a small landslide and the road was covered with debris. The locals were out cleaning it up and we gave them a few coins. It was very nice of them. Did I mention that as we were leaving home stay, they put logs in the road and we had to get out and move them. We think the people were mad because our drive did not pick them up as he was coming up the hill to get us.
The temperatures and elevations are very interesting here. Shorts are always a bad idea because within 5 minutes of g0ing outside, it can rain and/or the temperature can drop 20 degrees. Yesterday for our bus ride, we went from approximately 75 degrees to 45 degrees as we drove through the mountains. We went from an elevation of 9k feet to 12k feet at our highest point.
Since I take my Diamox all the time, the elevation change did not bother me but some people were bothered because they only take it when they know we are going to higher elevatins. Hmmm....we had no idea yesterday until we were there. The views were amazing, waterfalls., volcanos, mountains. and the people.
You should know, the road system here is sketchy at best and if there are "front roads" we took mostly one lane, dirt/gravel back roads. We did have one place where our drive had to pay a 1 dollar toll. Sometimes it was scary on the mountain as the bus swayed a little to much to one side for my liking. No matter, we made it.
I am going to get dressed now and head out to see what Cuenca has to offer. One of my roommates, yes, I had two last night, went for her morning run and said the city is beautiful.
Have a great day and I be back tonight.
Come on, you gotta get a picture of the roasted guinea pig!!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and we're blowing stuff up for New Years this year. We'll blow up something big in your honor. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd on a final note, the neighborhood 'Thanks for your Christmas lights' note giver gave them to everyone this year who had even a porch light on. It's no longer a special honor when everyone gets it....
Why aren’t you smiling in your picture? That bus ride sounds incredible. I try to picture everything - scenery, people, the monkey, stones blocking the road - I can't wait to see photos! All is well here. I'm off on Friday. Looking forward to a long weekend and spending some time with Kelly before she goes back to Tallahassee. In case I don’t get to post a comment tomorrow – HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
ReplyDeleteThe reasons that I am not smiling in my picturre are several. I had just woken up and it was cold. The other reason is that I take so many group pictures that I am not only able to fake a smile....heee! So, when I do have to smile, I feel that I should give my cheeks a rest. Yep, group picture times 12 cameras. Is it wrong that I have no desire to own these pictures so I rarely thrust my camera forward.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you as well!!