Return of the backpack

We've been settled for six weeks now - four in Sucre and two at Santa Marta - and we're back on the road again, kicking off our back-to-backpacking with a bang: three tourist hubs in one week.

After a much sought after weekend off in Quito spent relaxing and wandering around the pretty Old Town, we met up with James, a friend of mine from home who is travelling with his friend Angus. We were eased into our activity filled week by the boys who had already picked destination number one: Cotopaxi National Park, home to apparently the world’s largest active volcano, Cotopaxi. There they had scheduled a two-night stay in the Secret Garden Cotopaxi, an Australian-Ecuadorian run hostel nestled amongst some picturesque valleys and countryside. The boys drew the short straw and rode in the back of a 'taxi' (milk truck) along a very bumpy road all three hours from Quito, so they were feeling the cold when we arrived at the 3,700 m above-sea-level hostel and settled into our rooms. Bec and I had booked a two-person tent with 'the best view in the hostel', after the open-air compost toilet that is (it was the only accommodation that remained when we booked online). I have to say, after the chill evident on arrival, we were relieved to instead be allocated beds in a staff member's room after learning that the tents had been mistakenly double booked. Luckily Remmy, the unfortunate employee who, for our sake, was booted out of his room, was headed back to Quito for a few days off, so only had one night on the hostel couch, something he reassured us happens ‘all the time’.

One unique thing about this hostel is that all meals are provided, a good thing, if a little more expensive, seeing as it’s in the middle of nowhere. This means that at each meal you sit down with other guests and often share a few beers by the crackling fire after dinner, a nice way of meeting people and comparing travel stories. So after meeting some fellow travellers over a bowl of fried rice, our first activity was a hike to a nearby waterfall, apparently a standard for first time visitors. We were a little apprehensive about this as just that afternoon, a 16-year-old fisherman had tragically died in a flash flood nearby and the rain clouds were already gathering overhead. Remmy, however, assured us the path was safe so, armed with cameras and gumboots, we set off. After a couple of near slips and some negotiating of rock faces with Tarzan style use of tree branches, we arrived at the waterfall, just in time for the rain. In the end it was a worthwhile visit, if a fleeting one, and we managed to get a few happy snaps before getting drenched on the way home. What fun!

Activity number two involved getting my cowgirl back on for a six-hour horse ride through the surrounding valleys. Bec and I have got right into the horse riding while we’ve been away, so we were looking forward to it. One of the hostel owners even said the horses would ‘love a gallop’ once we hit the valleys, so we were pumped for a good day of riding. As the saying goes, however, things are not always what they seem. Bec, who’d put her hand up as having riding experience, was given the equivalent of a donkey. This horse just refused to go any faster than a walk and meandered left and right - not straight - like a lost puppy...the whole way! While it was quite amusing watching her kick, whip and yell at the old thing, I felt her frustration when my horse gave up the ghost about half way into the ride and joined Bec’s with the ‘I’m not going anywhere’ attitude. It seemed it was us who’d drawn the short straw this time, as our horses were clearly the only ‘special’ ones. The others had a whale of a time, arriving back at the hostel a good 20 minutes before us, having galloped all the way. To look on the bright side though, the scenery was absolutely gorgeous although, if I were to do it again, it probably would have been nicer to spend my time hiking instead of swearing at an uncooperative horse.

Activity number three was inevitable. How can one visit Cotopaxi National Park without visiting Cotopaxi? This expedition – not to the summit but to the volcano’s glacier - was made on the way to destination two: Banos. And it was no mean feat, all 5000 m of it! We were transported by 4WD from the hostel to the volcano ‘car park’ perched at about 4,200 m, from which point we were on our own. The altitude was reminiscent of the Inca Trail days, but higher - 700 m higher! We were really feeling it when we finally reached the glacier but the head spins, windburn and breathlessness was well worth it, and there were even a few minutes there when the clouds cleared and we could see the summit. The hike down was a molehill compared to the one up. It took a whole ten minutes to get back to the 4WD – what had taken an hour to get up - quite an effort in my I-haven’t-done-real-exercise-in-months books!

With sore bums and legs from the horse riding and mountain climbing, we felt we owed ourselves a day of rest in Banos, but one day only it was. Having pampered ourselves with massages, facials and pedicures on a weekend visit from Santa Marta, we vowed and declared that this time we would be more active. While the boys opted for an afternoon of white water rafting, we hired bikes and explored the ‘Avenida de las Cascadas’ - the road between Banos and Puyo, which is scattered with waterfalls. We spent around 6 hours riding from waterfall to waterfall, trekking fair distances on foot to some and riding speedy cable cars to others. We’d hoped to make it all the way to Puyo but discovered that this bike-riding thing is painful business. All I’ll say is that I now understand why many women ride with sheepskin on their bike seats, we’d had quite enough after six hours! I was very impressed by the truck driver who took all twenty-something of us back to Banos, what a balancing act that was!

While we did make the most of the Banos nightlife – which included hanging out with two British guys with an unhealthy obsession with karaoke – we maintained our active streak as well. On our last afternoon, we climbed to Banos’ impressive Virgin monument. After an hour of huffing and puffing up what felt like a million stairs, passing teenage lovers along the way, we reached the top and were rewarded with an impressive view of the colourful town, the perfect ending to our last day in Banos. The following day we would wake at 6.30am and part ways with the coast bound boys for destination three: Cuenca.

Cuenca is known as the city that rivals Quito in the colonial architecture stakes. Boasting not one, but two Cathedrals – Catedral Vieja (old) and Catedral Nueva (new) – along with a number of old churches and plazas, it is a strong competitor to the country’s capital. You only need one day in Cuenca to enjoy the sites and we packed it into half a day. We visited both Cathedrals, the new one definitely more striking than its unused counterpart (kudos to the architects!) We walked through the ‘Mercado de las Flores’ (flower market) and saw just why Ecuador is one of the world’s largest flower exporters; and we strolled down the pleasant ‘Rio Tomebamba’ before heading to the bus station for our next venture: a three hour bus ride to Ingapirca.

Now, labelling Ingapirca the ‘Machu Picchu of Ecuador’ is a pretty big deal and, having been to Machu Picchu a few months ago, we were expecting big things, the crème de la crème of ruins type things. I was also interested in the history behind these particular ruins, which are influenced by two cultures, the Canaris and the Incas. The latter apparently sent all the former men to Cusco while they moved in on the Canaris women – nice! I’ve become accustomed to some guidebooks over-exaggerating the wow factor of places, maybe if a writer hits a boring city or perhaps just wants to spice things up. I think, however, this took the cake in terms of over-exaggeration - anthropologists shut your eyes. Maybe it was the fact that we were told we had 40 minutes to explore the place before the last bus to Cuenca left (a tad annoying, given the amount of time it took to get there); perhaps it was that the ruins were a mere 100km squared, but this place was totally underwhelming and was certainly no Machu Picchu (as you can see from th pic). The most enjoyment we had was laughing at a Llama orgy happening on the grassy centre while watching our tour guide try to keep a straight face!

Apart from the ruins, we had a few ups and downs in Cuenca: a bed bug scare (we came out on top after switching beds), and some very bad Mexican at a restaurant labeled, again by a trusty guidebook, as one that ‘could very well be the best Mexican restaurant in Ecuador’. If the best Mexican food in Ecuador consists of a soggy tortilla stuffed with a can of refried beans with a drizzle of suspicious looking ‘guacamole’ then, sure, we hit the jackpot! The definite up to the downs was the meal we enjoyed at a restaurant called Eucalyptus on our last night in Cuenca. The charming British chef made a delicious pasta marinara for me and Chicken vindaloo curry for Bec, which all went down very nicely with a bottle of Chilean Chardonnay. A satisfying end to a busy week!