northbound

We've already left Baños, although we could have spent a lot more time there. We arrived in Otavalo last night, but we certainly made the most of our time in Baños before we left. The bike ride was a trip! Baños is a particularly touristy area... but even with that said, you still don't get a put-together, clear-cut tourist experience. We understood that the bikeride was along a path - you know, relaxed, mellow ride through Andean mountains and along side beautiful waterfalls. It was that... only most of it was right on the shoulder of the highway. It was quite the trip biking alongside semi-trucks, buses, etc... especially as we all rounded around mountain curves. Seriously. We even went through a tunnel with some big trucks. Ha. But the views were beautiful and we made some wonderful stops along the way. The scetion of the highway we biked along was called La Ruta da las Cascadas (Route of the Waterfalls)... so needless to say our stops were very scenic. Although the biking was a breeze since it was downhill almost all the way, our stops were quite the workout - the ruta follows the Rio Blanco and every stop involved trekking all the way to the bottom of the river gorge. Well worth it though. And then the ride back in the back of a truck was so satisfying - no way we would have ridden our bikes uphill back to Baños.

Then yesterday morning we got up at 5:00 am to join the early morning crowd at the thermal baths - clearly the time of day when all the Ecuadorians go (when we were there at night, it was PACKED with tourists) - a great way to start the day. Then it was on to canyoning, which was also a great time. Canyoning was essentially repelling, but we descended through waterfalls. We went down five waterfalls in total and between our two guides and the two french girls that were with us, we had a blast. Then we ate lunch in the market in Baños before getting on the bus to head north to Otavalo. Baños was a sweet town though - slow pace, more Spanish than I had imagined we'd get to use, and wonderfully nestled within green Andean mountains.

I hear that Otavalo is the second most popular tourist destination after the Golapagos Islands - they have a market that is up and running everyday but takes over the town on Saturdays (I'm SO thankful to be here on a Friday... I can't imagine the market plaza being packed with tour groups and such). But the city is surprisingly lovely. I had really low expectations, so it's been a fun surprise. We got here last night around 9:30 and I think we'll stay a second night. We just finished our jaunt through the market... and we sure made our fair share of purchases. Time to stretch the capacity of my backpack.:) But I can't remember ever being in an artisan market with so much beautiful and high quality stuff - am I their ideal target-market or what? And so right now we're at an internet place just off the market... with the sound and Andean flute music in the background. Sure is plenty of Andean flute music in Ecuador... :)

Not sure what we'll end up doing in the next couple days, but Sunday is when we should cross into Colombia. I have in my head that Colombia will be more like Brazil. And don't get my wrong... we all know that I love Brazil. But I've enjoyed how off beat, counter-intuitive, casual and curious Ecuador has been. The transportation has been ridiculous and funny. The mountains, waterfalls, volacnoes, etc - all seem to be really sweet reminders of the beautiful grace of God's creation. I'll miss it. But alas, I suspect I'll be equally as sad to leave Colombia, too. At least the Spanish will continue - I keep waiting for my Portuguese to just magically become Spanish. Ha. Hasn't worked out yet.

So we'll find some fun between now and Sunday afternoon... then pass into Colombia and prepare for a 24ish hour bus ride from Ipiales to Bogotá. Our 7 hour bus ride from Baños to Otavalo yesterday has made me less than excited about the longer bus ride ahead of us... but Michelle swears that buses stop less en route in Colombia than they do in Ecuador.:)

Oh. And it's Friday... we're hear that's the day of guinnea pig - here's hoping we can find some to try tonight.