Saquisili and Banos 1

Thursday, September 11, 2008

It's goodbye to Chugchilán day. We wake up early in order to go with a group from the two hostels to Saquisilí for the Thursday market. The night prior we realized that with the market today and the first class adventure hiking of yesterday, we must have seen the best of the Quilotoa Loop and so after backtracking to Saquisilí near Latacunga, which is the start of the loop, it would not be worth our while to then go all the way around the loop. Zumbahua offered hiking but we’ve done better; Tigua and Pujili had markets on Saturday and Sunday respectively, but we didn’t want to stay that long; and one day to do the entire loop and then make it south to Baños was far too much bumpybussing for one day. So, we decided to go to Baños from Saquisilí via Latacunga y Ambato. So goodbye, Chugchilán. Thanks for everything!

Here is the short synapsis of the day with difficulty and quality grades and brief descriptions!

Chugchilán to Sequisilí – truck variation: 5.4 ***. The three-hour trip may include blankets and cushions to go with the bumps and the dust, or it may not. What it definitely does include is a three-hour goodbye to the Quilotoa Loop with wind rushing through your hair, an unobstructed view of the valleys and canyons, and you can take it seated or standing up!

Sequisilí – Thursday var.: 5.4 **. The closest town to the beginning of the Quilotoa Loop brings out all the goodies on Thursday. Plant your belongings in a hostel and wander around the market, picking up cheap yummy snacks on the market sidelines. There are a few market options including an animal market.

Alisa and I made it a quick stop but still enjoyed it, using it as an errand to pick up the following niceties: a hat, and an alpaca scarf and sweater. These were all on our to-pick-up list thanks to the chills we got at high elevations in Chugchilán.

Sequisilí to Latacunga – bus var.: 5.5. This half-an-hour-long trip is practically necessary in order to leave the Quilotoa Loop for the more southern Baños or the more northern Quito. Watch your belongings as per usual, but you should be fine.

Latacunga bus terminal: 5.6 R. It’s an easy terminal as long as your belongings are well spoken for.

Definition: Bus terminal rats. There are many bus terminal rats. Rink rats are people who hang out at hockey rinks a lot, running around, banging on the boards, and playing games and eating hockey rink food. They occasionally play hockey themselves. Bus terminal rats, at least in Latacunga, are the vultures of bus terminals. They often fall in the category of males in their late teens, or early twenties. Their time is spent eyeing females and gringos, talking, and occasionally following gringos on their buses to scalp what they can.

At Latacunga bus terminal, we arrive only to realize that I left the small guitar at the hostel in Saquisilí. We decide upon the cheapest solution: I stay with the bags at the terminal while Alisa takes a bus back to Saquisilí, grabs my gift-guitar, and takes a bus to Latacunga. All in all it should take about an hour total. While waiting, I notice all of these bus terminal rats, many of whom stare at me, laugh with other rats, and even go above the stairway to the balcony surrounding the busy part of the terminal, where they invariably were eyeing my bags and Alisa’s bags, which were sitting next to me on the bench. Thank goodness I had the forethought that even though I’d be sitting in place, having all these bags could be a problem by making me a target. So before Alisa left, we used her chain and lock to chain and lock all of the bags together. Bus terminal rats would definitely be able to notice this from a bird’s eye view. They did, I’m sure.

Latacunga to Ambato – bus var.: See Sequisilí to Latacunga.

Ambato to Baños – bus var.: 5.5 *. Quite an uneventful bus ride wherein the scenery involves passing a lot of car repair shops and car parts shops, amongst some others.

We’re in Baños now and have already taken a walk, talked with dad, who's birthday it is today, and had two consecutive dinners of pizza and good Chilean wine – not to be redundant (See: two dinners; good Chilean) - and are having a blast in this much-relaxed town that boasts taffy and thermal baths. I think we’ll stay here for a bit! Banos, it appears, is not the toilet of Ecuador!