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Well we are in Banos, the home of the Volcan Tungurahua (volcano) which in 2006 was last active.
It has been an interesting couple of days and there is an unfortunate reason why we haven´t updated our blog until now.
We returned to Quito after the animal and craft market at Otovalo.
The animal market was pretty cool. They sell pretty much any animal including guinea pigs, or cuy as they are known here. They are considered a delicacy and are eaten roasted, like on a mini spit.
After a good look around and a little bargaining for some local art work it was back on the bus to Quito.
After being dropped back at our hostal we found they had lost our reservation and we were shunted across the road into the Hostal Jazmines. We should have trusted our instincts and looked for another place as it turned out to be the worst two nights sleep we have had as yet!! Not due to noise but a really bad mattress and pillows.
The next day it was off to Mitad del Mundo, the equator monument. After trying our luck on the local buses we were pleasantly surprised to get where we wanted to with all our belongings. . . this time.
The equator monument was pretty damn impressive with a really good enthnographic museum of the local tribes.
After a good look around and the obligatory photos it was back to Quito and to the La Virgin de Quito, the only madonna in the world to have wings.
This was truely impressive.
Things to ponder:
1. How do they get the concrete wings to not fall off?
2. Are churches really that well off that they can afford to build these monuments considering this one is set on the side of a hill?
After this we caught a bus into the Old Town for a look around before heading back to our Hostal.
We made our way to the bus station the following morning to make our way to Banos. Reasonably painless and we were on the bus for the three hour trip for $3.50 each.
And this brings us to our "incident".
After having been told and retold to put our bags on the floor on our trip to Otovalo it appears this was not the thing to do to Banos. Although our feet were laced in the straps of our backpacks, it appears this is not enough to stop people slashing our bags from under the seat!!
Upon arrival at Banos Phil realised that his bag had been slashed down the side and our computer stolen.
Although they had a go at my bag they were unable to get in. I think I must have moved around at the right time and disturbed them.
The silver lining in this is that they got nothing else as Phil had his camera on him and there was no money in his bag. Luckily as it turns out it wasn´t my bag which had more stuff in it. It was the best case scenario of things to get stolen.
Lesson learned.
Although we do have a Police report from South America as a souvenir. Should be interesting when we come to claim as it is in Spanish :)
Turns out Banos is actually a really lovely place and we are staying in a wonderful eco-friendly hostal run by an Australian and his New Zealand wife.
Doug and Rebecca have been really helpful and we would recommend this place to anyone. It about 2.5km out of town which is giving us good walking experience in preparation for the Inca Trail as it is all up hill.
Off to do some exploring and locate a coffee.
Buenos Dias
- comments
Glenn and Fi Oh no that sucks! using bags as pillows from now on? Least not as bad as could've been, fingers crossed for no more theft :) Poor guinea pigs!! Did you have one?? Saw Brett today (hi Brett) he misses u phil :)