Now, where was I?
On Saturday evening, we met up with the rest of the tour group in the Hotel Majestic in Quito, and since then we´ve been stuck in the same hotels and tour bus, getting to know the smell of each others sweat as we wait for the laundry to be ready (I´m currently writing this wearing only a pair of boxer shorts and a small hand towel nabbed from our hotel.)
The group is an ecclectic one, as you would expect. Ages range from 23 to 66 (a guy who is on his fourth overland tour of the Americas) while nationalities range from Brits to Ausies to Kiwis with a Dutch bloke an Indian guy and a Canadian thrown in for good measure. On top of that, the routes that everone is taking varies too, a few of us get out at Santiago, some others continue around to Rio or Caracas, while five hardy souls are staying on until the bus returns to Quito. All seem to get on very well though, which shouldn´t be too surprising as we´ve all signed up for similar things. Namely, bum round South America for months on end. Whoohoo!

The tour leaders are both Aussies, and other than driving the bus, telling us what´s what and manning the beer fridge, their main task (from our level at least) seems to be pointing us in the right direction for food and drink. Hence, on our first evening together we all nipped out for a bite to eat in Quito at a rather familiar Mexican resturant. Yes, this time I did eat everything. In fact my plate was probably so clean that the waiter doubtless suspected that I had just replaced it with another one and stashed the full one somewhere else.

The following day we set off in our big yellow bus and all were mighty impressed. The vehicle is a sort of swiss army knife on wheels. On stopping for lunch, hatches at the side pop open to reveal all manor of goodies, food, tables, chairs, tents, more food. Inside the seats are comfy, recline and have lots of legroom (hurray!) and there´s even a library at the back full of books left behind by pervious travellers. The suspension is a bit disconcerting. As many of the roads here are a little rough and unready, the whole bus is thrown around like a paper boat in a tidal wave. Much clinging on and bouncing off seats from all inside. Although the tendancy for us all to leap for the windows to look down the sides of the steep mountain passes that we´re ballancing precariously atop is probably not very wise.

On Sunday, we arrived in Banos, so named because it is full of hot spring baths. The town is situated at the foot of a still active volcano which threatened to errupt in 1999. When nothing much happened (just a few more sparks and smoke than usual, a little bit of lava showing its face) the townsfolk broke through the police barriers to get back home again, volcano be dammned. Last time it was checked, the British foreign office recomended that the town should not be stayed in at night. As though volcanoes only errupt then.
Perhaps with this iminent threat looming above it, it´s no surprise that the town is known as the "adventure capital" of Ecuador. And with two days to play with, a list of such "adventures" was drawn up for us to toy with.

On the Monday, a group of us went Canyoning, which is a nice term for abseiling down waterfalls. Wether or not this is a sensible thing to do or not, is - naturally - beside the point. It is, after all, damn fun.
We started off in one of the many tour company offices in town (the place is very gringo friendly, tour companies, internet cafes and laundry services line the main street - along with spit roasted guinea pigs and pirate CDs...) where we were kitted out in red plastic waterproof shirts, climbing helmets, wetsuits and who-gives-a-damn-if-they-get-wrecked footwear. Thusly atired, we were then sheperded through the town on foot (much to the delight of the locals) to a nearby mini bus which took us to A Very Big Waterfall Indeed. The morning was spent coming down it in stages.
My previous experience of abseiling has generally been limited to climbing walls and the odd easy to navigate cliff, so the waterfall proved a lot more of a challenge. Not only was the terrain a little more interesting, the surface a bit more slippy, but there was a bloody great torrent of water ready to douse you should you put a foot wrong. Also, many of the stretches ended with us landing directly into the fall´s splash pools which generally meant that waterproof shirt and wetsuit or not, staying dry was not an option.
The final fall that we were dropped down was free-fall of about seventy metres or so, in which we just hung down in the middle of a fairly sizable waterfull admiring the scenery (then getting drenched as the bloke on the other end of the line swung us into the falls. Nice one, mate) It was wonderful stuff, both exhilerating and pretty at the same time. All in all, great fun for those who like walking backwards down cliffs.
On the way back, the minibus broke down, so, having peeled our wetsuits off our shoulders, we were herded into the back of a Mazda pick-up truck and ferried back - again to the delight of the locals we passed. Our matching red waterproof shirts had a sort of blousy effect when not held down by the wetsuits, so it looked a bit as though the bloke who owned the truck had kidnapped a Cossak dancing troupe, or - as someone put it - was taking a herd of gringos to market.

The following day, we had the option to pay twenty-five dollars to go on an bike ride, or just rent our own mountain bikes for four dollars each. Being thrifty (and indeed, sensible) we picked the latter option and had a great time.
Much of the route was downhill, and took us past a number of spectacular waterfalls lining the nearby gorge (or canyon - when does one become the other?) A slight tricky section in an unlit tunnel aside - the 66 year old fell off his bike because he was wearing his sunglasses in the tunnel, then had to be manhandled to the side while a bloomin´great bus came through - it was great fun, although the condition of the roads lead to choking hazards in addition to rough terrain, and the high altitude made even some of the level surfaces hard going.
Lunchtime was taken at the foot of one of the waterfalls, reached by a rickety cable car (or a basket on a rope). Very hot, sort of sweaty and more sunburn for my poor head (hat gone AWOL), but definately worth it. Good training for the upcoming Inca trail too. I told myself as I barrelled down the mountainside catching flies between my teeth...
- posted by Vince @ 9:29 AM