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October 22, 2005
Mmmmm…. Cuy
This morning we grabbed a taxi to the main bus terminal in Quito and soon were on our way to Baños. Halfway there we passed a bus that had just gotten into a horrible accident. It was a reminder that these roads are not always safe.
We arrived in Baños in the late afternoon and headed to a hostel that was recommended in out guidebook. The only room they had left was practically attached to the restaurant, but it was cheap and since we are only going to be here one night we took it. Overall it seems like it is a really laid back town.
We walked around town for a bit and decided to get a bite to eat at a restaurant that served cuy (i.e. guinea pig). I figured it was something I had to at least try while we were in Ecuador. It was actually not that bad. Not something I would order on a regular basis, but it was fun to have it for one night. The owners of the restaurant were having a good time with it too. They pulled a whole cuy off the grill and set it up right next to my plate so everyone back hope could tell exactly what I was eating.
During dinner there was a parade going on right outside keep heading out to take pictures of the event during dinner. Some of them turned out great.
We headed to a café after dinner and asked the waitress about tours at night to see the volcano erupting, something a taxi driver earlier in the day had told us about. She said if we hurried, there was another café a block away that sold tickets. We decided to give it a go and before long were on a truck converted into a very unique shuttle, with about 20 other tourists, music blasting in our ears, and our 17 year-old guide Miguel.
It took about 30 minutes to make the ascent up to the lookout point. While we got a great view of the town of Baños, it was too cloudy to see the red lava flowing from the volcano. Still they had plenty of events set up for the hordes of tourists who had come in the various shuttles. There was a bonfire, we got to sample a traditional hot tea type drink, and two fire jugglers gave us a performance. On the way back down we talked for a while with two recent college grads from Guayaquil who were visiting Baños for the weekend. They were both graphic designers and we exchanged emails so that we could keep in touch. After we got back we headed off to bed quickly since we wanted to visit the hot springs in the morning.
Posted by Peter Mork at October 22, 2005 7:13 AM
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