Today was a travel day with some fabulous stops throughout the day.
Stop #1: A look out point of Quito as we were getting on the Pan American Highway to head south to the Chimborazo Province. It was super early and we were mostly asleep.
Stop #2: La Hacienda Cienega, an old home of the prosperous Lasso family. The mansion is now a hotel with a restaurant and a chapel and beautiful colonial architecture and exquisite gardens. We toured the site (llamas and alpacas met us as we entered the property, obviously) and continued on our merry way.
Stop #3: A landslide diverted our next stop so the rest of the day happened but not in the original order. We went to Aguas Termales; a group of hot spring pools at the feet of the Tungurahua Volcano. We spent an hour and a half soaking, relaxing and going in and out of various tubs.
Stop #4: Lunch was pizza in the quaint town of Los Baños. I can picture myself coming back and spending several days exploring this area and Yusuf is planning on buying a house here. It is a nice pleasant town with lots to do. It is also a gateway into the Amazon and has lots of tourists coming through to white water raft, zipline and admire many waterfalls. We had lunch at a very pretty pizzeria though they did forget our order. The Euro Cup game was on TV and by the time we left we had watched almost 80 minutes of a soccer match. Long lunch it was!
In the main plaza, we went to the church of Agua Santa. Because of many volcanoes and hot springs in the area people consider this water sacred and come here to bless themselves and sometimes their newly bought cars. We realized we entered the church as a funeral was beginning and headed out right away.
Here we also watched how caramelos (local candy made of sugar cane farmed in this area) are made. Of course, we had to try them too!
Lastly, we drank jugo de caña, juice squeezed from the sugar cane. We tried regular, with lime and with a tangerine. Nicholas bought it for us and we appreciated his generosity.
Stop #5: We had to try what Los Baños is famous for - nature and adrenalin.
6 of us gave it a go on a zipline across the canyon. One cable, loads of fun. GoPro footage to come! Nick and Michelle tried it for the first time and it was very cool to see their reactions.
6 of us gave it a go on a zipline across the canyon. One cable, loads of fun. GoPro footage to come! Nick and Michelle tried it for the first time and it was very cool to see their reactions.
Some opted out of the zip line and went across the canyon in Tarabita, a metal basket which carries many people at a time across the canyon. The whole thing was ah-mazing.
On the drive to San Andres (village near Riobamba which will be our home base for the next two nights) we drew a variety of animals on the fogged up windows, played all (!!!) of the instruments Travis has purchased and slept. Since we are now on a small shuttle bus that's just ours, we don't have to worry about bothering other groups and that's been really nice.
Another awesome day. Tomorrow off to the community to meet the locals!
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