Ecuador, Baños: Literally translated as toilet....

It's hard for me to not judge Baños too harshly considering it was on arrival that I realised the inevitable had happened... My laptop had been stolen out of my backpack on the bus journey. All my music written, the essay due in 3 days that had taken 2 weeks to write, and all my music, pictures etc - gone.

I arrived tired, sad and lonely. So in true boozy Brit style I bought a bottle of rum and drank a majority of it on an empty stomach-can't say I slept much that night. I did however meet some wicked people, who really were the saving grace of the trip. And the hostel I was in (D'Mathias) was so good. Really friendly atmosphere, $6 a night for dorms that were cleaned everyday. A roof terrace, pool table, and living room with an impressive collection of DVD's and a communal computer with internet and wifi on every floor.

I have to say I spent most of my 5 nights there in the hostel licking my wounds, re-writing my essay and trying to find the police station to report my laptop theft.

Whilst I was there it turned out to be the Baños fiesta of independence which was great. A four hour carnival procession outside the hostel and down the Main Street followed by 2 days of celebration. 

That night we went to the 'Why Not?' Bar because well...why not?! Followed by the Leprachaun bar which was more gringo heavy, and lively. We entered to "Get Lucky", so clearly an instant winner. Due to it being a small town everything was done by 2am  and after following someone promising cheap drink and smoke we realised we'd become somewhat surrounded by strangers so retreated back to our hostel.

All in all I enjoyed Baños, though I do miss my laptop and all the programs that I lost with it. Just another lesson on how little we need material things, and to never leave a bag overhead on the bus. And that in the aftermath of a less favourable experience, you can be rewarded with finding new friends. My last night transpired into an engagement party for a lovely German couple who plied us with beer while we made sweet sweet music on the rooftop overlooking the town, lovely.

Cuenca; the most beautiful city in Ecuador

Cuenca was definitely worth a visit. There is a river that runs through the city and separates uptown from downtown. The hostel I stayed, La Casa Cuencana, was $8 a night and for a 4 bed dorm was very spacious and clean - even had a balcony. Well equipped kitchen and run by a friendly family.

The streets in uptown are all very well marked and easy to navigate with a map. My day out went as thus;

1st: The Museum of Modern Art-downright weird although the building was interesting. Lots of different rooms with connecting exhibitions, I probably would have 'got' it a bit more had I been able to read the signs but lots of the rooms looked like year 9 light experiments...lamps hanging at different levels and electricity models behind black out curtains and wailing music in the background. The stone carvings in the garden were cool though.

2nd: The Banc Museum, which showed the beginnings of each culture in different parts of Ecuador. Homes had been reimagined and you had to walk through them to get to the information which gave it a personal feel. No pictures allowed though.

3rd: A Museum which, from what I got via the fast speaking guide, was started as a base to educate people about Inca ruins and indigenous people. I believe it was started by a famous writer and the museum was his converted home with ruins in the back garden! And main road running next to them... 

Last but definitely not least was the ethnographic museum which went through development over the ages based on the materials that were used by different cultures. Fascinating and had an accompanying book in English-muy bein. Definitely my favourite of all the museums visited. Had to pay, but had my student card - booya! So glad I bought this baby with me, getting discounts everywhere!

On my travels I also passed some amazing churches. The woodwork and general detail was amazing. There are so many churches in South America and everyone of them is beautiful. 

 

So yes, I liked Cuenca. I felt safe everywhere and the atmosphere was chilled without feeling boring. However, I did feel as if I'd seen everything I needed to within a day. Onto Baños!

Vilcabamba: Loja, Ecuador

Vilcabamba.... What a beautiful town. Located an hour away from Loja in the mountains it's known for a laid back lifestyle and living healthy atmosphere being home to worlds largest population of elderly people....which is reflected in the nightlife...

I went out once for my birthday to a place called Breakys and it was very bizarre. Harlem Shake and Britney Spears techno remixes where dropped after a Michael Jackson medley followed by some 'salsa on speed' and then some more techno. Of the 25 people that were there I'd say 6 of us were under 35. Very bizarre.



What I found with Vilcabamba was that it is beautiful, and for a 2 day visit getting massages after a hike it would be perfect. I stayed for 9 days due to illness and funds in my Eco lodge and had a great time but the town is full of tourists who have migrated there to set up base for a Nazi apocalypse (no I'm not joking). A lot of them are self proclaimed healers who drink a lot and talk at you about conspiracy theories. 

Rumi Wilco

Luckily I only met a couple of these but they are everywhere, huge characters living in this town together talking living off coke and tequila and buying land which they'll 'get the locals to build up' very strange. It's what I'd picture a town full of mid life crisis'ers to look like. 

For me, this made the overall feel of the town less 'authentic Ecuadorian place of healing' and more 'eccentric Gringos proving how spiritual they are living among local Ecuadorians'.

That being said, I had the most relaxing week up in my Eco lodge (picture to the right...) and would reccomend it to everyone. The Rumi Wilco, a short walk out of town and much nicer/well equipped than the hostels in town. I found my birthday buddy to hang out with and the cutest kitten in the world...


Most of the people I did meet were 90% lovely bar a few oddballs. The views are spectacular at Rumi Wilco and due to volunteering a couple of hours a day-super cheap If I was to visit again however, I would go with someone I could get massages and speak Spanish with!

Peru to Ecuador: Crossing the border

Ahhhhh so I actually made it across the border! I'm actually gonna break the day down a little bit because it was very surreal.

5.30am - woke up after 4 hours sleep and immediately administered the culo injections. At the time it was doable, when I look back, I feel physically sick. But hey! I did it. Hadn't eaten since 1pm yesterday arvo so went downstairs for the breakfast that I assumed was included in the steep price- Nope! Decided I'd get my bus ticket and find something to eat there. Tried to work out where the bus station was in spanglish - it wasn't going well so I eventually got a taxi BUT because I knew I was leaving Peru I had no soles left on me, only dollars. The hotel I was at had no money changing place around it so I got a pretty bad rate off them paying in dollars and got 10 soles change, 5 of which went to the taxi.

7.30am- get to the bus station which was downtown, no cash point or money changing there! Market stalls on every road, people selling everything from pet food to toilet seats-amazing! Figured I'd get my ticket and then go for a wander and get food with my 5 soles change... Nope! Get to buying my ticket and only have a 20 dollar note, no singles and the ticket was 12 dollars. Had to get 10 back, and give all my soles instead. Sitting down, I watch a french couple next to me come back multiple times with food goodies from the market stalls whilst my stomach is eating its self. I dig in my bag and find 1 sole and 10 cents so with that I manage to buy a banana and 5 bread rolls, that should keep me going for 9 hours, and they're sure to give us food on the coach right...

9.30am- get on the bus, realise very quickly that when the site said refreshments available what it actually meant was stop at every town for people on the street to get on the bus and sell you food. Which I would definitely have done...if I had but 1 sole. But I did not. I prayed we would cross the Ecuadorian border soon so I could get some water as I had a sip left.

1pm- some police officers get on the coach to check our passports, we almost drive off with one of them. Pretty funny, and what I considered a very easy border crossing.

1.30pm- we get to the actual border. We get off the coach, I go to immigration and within 5 minutes realise I've lost the all important piece of paper that allows me to leave the country. I search and search, but it cannot be found so they guy says I have to pay a 28soles fine. Fine, but I don't have any soles, all I have is my 10 dollars change from before because all my bags are on the bus. As I turn and gesture to the bus I realise that it is DRIVING AWAY. I start panicking, I can't run after it because I'm not allowed to cross the border yet and frankly my body is failing. Luckily for me, senor border man liked my passport photo so after flirting a bit I get off with a 10 dollar fine and walk across the border in blistering heat, telling myself not to panic, and finally find my bus on the other side. Phew.

6pm- I managed to get some water and fresh plaintain chips now I'm in Ecuador, but it is now pitch black and I have no idea how I'm going to get to Vilcabamba which is where I'm staying next. I also really need the toilet because I downed two bottles of water. I ask the man next to me whether we're near by and he tells me he'll take me to the bus I need to get and help me buy a ticket. After rushing off the bus, we run to another part of the station where I get a ticket with minutes to spare. He runs me to the platform, puts in a dime for me to be able to get through and then shouts which colour it is. What a legend. I get on, sit down thinking how difficult it would have been had he not helped me before remembering how badly I need the toilet...at that moment, the bus sets off...and the bumps are no joke.

7.30pm- after being told Vilcabamba was 45 minutes away I am now getting slightly worried that we may have somehow passed it. The mountain has lots of tiny towns all over it where people have been steadily getting off (there are no bus stops here you just tell the driver when you want to get out). After doing some meerkat staring, I ask a guy with glasses (we four-eyes stick together) who says I just need to hang on. Soon after, we get to Vilcambaba, I get a room at the closest hostel I can find and here we are!

The bed was the hardest I've ever slept on, there are massive gaps between the windows and the walls but you know what?! I'm so happy. This is what I'm talking about. Got me quarter of a chicken, some fruit, and some water. The journey has officially begun. Went to bed watching the Avengers, and woke up to this in the morning :)

Huacas del Sol y de la Luna

A very interesting site I visited was the sun and moon temples. There are two temples situated opposite each other at the base of a mountain. The Huaca del Sol was dedicated to politics, whilst the other was for religion, Huaca del Luna. At the time of my visit, the Huaca del Sol was still being excavated, but we were shown round the Huaca del Luna, which was quite something.

Built by the Moche people, a civilisation that came before the Inca's, they believed that the God's would keep them safe. High priests were the most powerful in society and were trusted to appease the God's through ritual sacrifice. 

These sacrifices were performed in the temple at the base of the mountain. Before death multiple individuals were kept naked, in a small pen at tortured. This picture to the left is of the pen they were kept in.
One at a time, they were then taken to an altar were they were cut in such a way that would force all their blood down the remainder of the mountain to be collected in a cup at the bottom.

The cup of blood was the offering.


The way that the temple had been excavated was amazing. You could picture the ceremonies walking around. And the colours (red, white, black, blue, and yellow) were produced purely through minerals and have managed to last 1,500 years.

The architecture itself was impressive also. The temples were made from putting large boulders on top of other large boulders. Each layer being done once the one before it was complete. Technically it shouldn't have been strong enough to withstand anything but it did! 

Though I was very aware of how old the temple was when walking across the infrastructure that could potentially collapse at any moment... Walked across that bit pretty quick.

When natural disasters began to occur more often-floods and earthquakes- people began to question the abilities of the priests. 

It seemed they could not pacify the God's anymore. The faith in the high priests was lost, and with it all of their political power. They, and their temple's were abandoned and the people moved on to the Huaca del Sol where they began a new society based on agriculture and trade. 

 I've always found ancient civilisation fascinating, the beliefs in God's and such. However, until that visit when talking about it afterwards it occurred to me that I'd always assumed those beliefs were held by everyone of the time, but what it they weren't? There must have been people that were sacrificed against their will, and what for? Because some powerful figures claimed that's the way it had to be in order to keep their loved ones safe... That sounds worryingly familiar.

I guess being Western, I am conditioned to believe that things that aren't based on fact are whimsical and self indulgent. People's everyday lives that truly depended on the God's being pacified were simply misguided, they hadn't found science yet. If they had, they would be doing crazy things like torturing people to prevent punishment...but then people are still being sacrificed for religion now.

People are still being told there is a need for fear and blood and pain to ensure safety in some societies. Religion and politics still hold hands even now, so really how much have we evolved in 1,500 years?

At least back then the sacrifices were a lot more up front and people generally knew what they were dying for. As a race, are humans conditioned to be this bloodthirsty and power hungry?

I don't class myself as a religious person but not because I have anything against religion, I've just never felt strongly enough about any of the choices on offer. I wasn't born into it and haven't yet felt there was anything I wanted to devote myself to in that way. But I wouldn't call myself an atheist either, because I consider that to also be a choice. 

Once you take a stand, you're effectively saying that everyone that doesn't agree with you in wrong which is what I find dangerous about religion. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but it's a shame that some feel those beliefs are worth dying, or killing for.

'thou shalt not steal! thou shall not kill!- these words were once held to be holy. But I ask you: has the world ever seen better thieves and killers than these holy words?'- Nietzsche