Underestimating Ecuador

 As we stated before, we thought we would spend two weeks in Ecuador, and since our previous blog had us around the two week mark, we figured why not spend another 2 and a half weeks?!? To sum up Ecuador for us: to food and drinks were great, the roads were smooth, gas was cheap and the people were extremely kind, warm-hearted, and all around amazing! For a country we knew nothing about a month ago, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Ecuador.

August 4^th – The best hot springs in South America!!

We contemplated staying in Otavalo even longer, but we had road fever and we were excited to explore the area south of Quito so we left relatively early heading towards the community of Papallacta; however, we had a familiar issue, we were out of money.

We had plans just to go to the first bank we saw, but they were credit unions and didn’t accept our card.  This was made more stressful because we were on a toll road, so we were required to pay the toll of $1 USD but didn’t have that much money.  After a lot of stressing and digging into places where coins sometimes fall we did somehow find enough change to pay the toll and finally find a bank where we could get money out.

No problema!

We stopped to get another stamp in a Beer Passport at a local brewery on the outskirts of Quito that had delicious German food and the best pretzel we have had probably since Alaska, then made our way to the mountains.  It was at this point Paul told Kendra that we had enough gas to make it to Papallacta, so Kendra decided we wouldn’t get gas until later.  What Paul should have articulated more clearly is that we only had enough gas to get to Papallacta, but we assumed there would be gas stations in the community.  WE WERE WRONG!

Although the gas tank displayed empty the Distance to Empty display said 50 kilometers so we decided to worry about gas tomorrow and head to the reason we came to Papallacta; hot springs.

If you like hot springs and are in Ecuador we recommend the community of Papallacta where you can pick what experience you are looking for from 5 or more privately owned thermal pool places.  We went to Termales Jamaco 2 and  it wasn’t crazy busy, the water was clean and different pools had different temperatures.  We spent hours moving from pool to pool relaxing and reminiscing about our time in the Galapagos while the fear of running out of gas and the stresses of having no money at the beginning of the day washed away.  We even camped at the hot springs next to some llamas so we could maximize our time at the hot springs while minimizing our gas consumption.

 

Paul introducing himself to our llama neighbours

August 5^th – Driving to 4600 meters

We woke up to miserable weather, it was pouring rain and freezing cold.  It would have been perfect for the hot springs but we had other plans, we wanted to explore Cotopaxi the famous 2^nd highest active volcano in the world and viewable from Quito on extremely clear days (which we were not lucky to have so this would be our first time seeing it).

We had a 40 kilometer drive on an empty tank but thankfully the drive was mostly downhill and although the van was not happy with us with a few warning alarms we made it to a gas station without running out of gas.

We arrived to the Cotopaxi National Park entrance with a couple shocks.  The first was that all national parks in Ecuador seem to be free for everyone.  The second was that dogs were not allowed past the entrance gate, but there was a building that we could leave him in full of massive cages.  Poor Rupert had to go to Puppy Prison and we paid $5 to put him there…ha ha ha, but we did get him a cage with a window to look outside.

After saying goodbye to Rupert for the day we made our way up to the summit trailhead for Cotopaxi which happened to be 4600 meters (yes meters) above sea level (~15100 ft).  The drive was tougher than we expected and many vehicles we passed were not up to the challenge, but our van did it!  We drove to 4600 meters. To put that into perspective, Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, is 3954 metres high at the summit.

Kendra questioning her life choices.

The drive was the easy part as the hike, although short, was incredibly difficult taking us 45 minutes to go one kilometer. Our hearts were racing and it truly is amazing the impact altitude has on your body as you hike; we have heard there is less oxygen the higher up you go and we were breathing hard to gain 200 metres of elevation in 1 km.

The wind whipping dirt at us and the fast moving clouds added to the entire experience. We were rewarded at the end of our hike with warm chicken soup, coca tea and hot chocolate at the refugio.  What a great way to end a hike!  You can go further to touch the glacier, but it was never part of our plan, besides we were told we had to return to pick up our dog by 3pm, and it was already 2pm.  The hike itself is known to be difficult and Cotopaxi is known for bad weather, but we happened to luck out and as we started our decent the clouds disappeared giving us a clear view of the summit.  Once again we felt so lucky.

We can see the top!

The prisoner being released

Sadly, for Rupert, we were late meaning it took a little while longer to find someone with keys to let him out of his puppy prison but eventually we were all reunited again.  We decided not to leave the Cotopaxi area and instead set up camp for the night in the parking lot in the shadow of the massive volcano, which appeared one more time for us just before dusk.

 

August 6^th – The Smell of Banos

We had a choice to make, continue down through the mountainous area of Ecuador or head to the coast.  The coast is supposed to be beautiful but due to increased gang activity it has become more unsafe, so unsafe the President has actually stepped down in embarrassment.  We also had just done the Galapagos so didn’t feel like we needed to go back to the ocean, so instead drove to the mountain town of Banos. 

Banos is known for its thermal hot springs and valley views.  It is a community that local Ecuadorians come on vacation or during the weekends and it just so happened to be a Sunday so traffic was at a standstill for multiple moments on the drive.  When we did eventually make it into the community it was bustling with people everywhere going from shop to shop and visiting in the streets.  Every corner of the community had people so we spent the afternoon wandering the community before making our way to the famous hot springs.

We’d like to say it was magical and similar to our experience in Papallacta, but unfortunately the hot springs were packed full of people and smelled like a Bano, i.e., it smells like a toilet with a strong stench of urine in the pools.  Sometimes hot springs are cloudy due to the mineral content, but the longer we stayed, we realized there was probably too much urea in these pools and it wasn’t an intended part of the therapeutic experience. We did our best to enjoy our time but after an hour or so we had to leave and wash our bodies thoroughly.  It became evident that our bodies also smelled of urine…

We are not sure if this is normal or if it is just because it is a busy Sunday here in Banos but this community is not what we expected.

If this were a scratch and sniff it would smell like urine!

 

August 7^th – Reclaiming Banos

We had talked to quite a few travelers at the border of Colombia and Ecuador who had mentioned that they were most looking forward to visiting Banos, we had heard similar things on facebook traveler groups so we felt like we had to give it a second chance.


After a morning of heavy research into the best things to do in the area we jumped in the van and headed to Cascada el Pailon (del Diablo) where we could hike down a steep embankment to various viewing platforms.  There was even a section where you could climb through tight, slightly claustrophobic, tunnels to get behind the waterfall.  Rupert absolutely loved running up and down the tunnels, passing everyone crawling through the narrow passageways, with his lowrider body.  

Most were pretty surprised to see a dog, but the place didn’t say it wasn’t dog friendly, and no one said anything to us, but Rupert was definitely the only dog around. As with most touristy areas in Latin American, even those in nature, there tends to be a café or restaurant nearby.  

Smile Rupert!

This seemed like the best place to dry off after getting so close to the waterfall and enjoy some coffee, and to be honest, this may have been our favourite aspect of the waterfalls.   The café gave us an incredible view of the falls and of people taking 100+ photos of themselves on a bridge that overlooked the falls.

View from the top

There is a volcano hiding behind the clouds

Our next spot was Casa de Arbol, or the treehouse, a spot where many people go to take photographs of themselves for Instagram or whatever other social media of their choice.  We were definitely on the fence about going to this spot, but after reading so many glowing reviews we drove the 30 minutes up a mountain to the treehouse.  We hate to admit it but it was really cool, for $1/person we could play in this adult orientated playground with swings that swung out towards cliff faces and zip lines where you are only as safe as you choose to be.  There is usually a volcano in the background, but the clouds did a great job of hiding it today. The best part about Casa de Arbol is that no one is monitoring anyone; you just do whatever you want to do.  We had a blast, and of course took the stereotypical photos you are supposed to take.

Stereotypical Photo

On the way back to Banos we stopped in one more mirador to get a good aerial view of the community and for a canelazo, which was served without alcohol, but the alcohol was offered to us immediately after we took a sip. We were starting to enjoy Banos just as we thought we would, so we decided to go to the hot springs again.

It’s funny, Banos is known for the hot springs, but based on our experience and opinions it is the worst thing about the community.  There are so many better hot springs in Ecuador with much fewer people that don’t give you the feeling that you are sitting in a warm pool of urine.  The biggest improvement from going on Sunday to going today (on a Monday) was the urine smell wasn’t as potent in two of the pools.  Maybe it would be different if we went in the middle of the week, but we didn’t want to take the chance that we would be disappointed a third time.

 

August 8^th – Sorry Mom

A common discussion we have on the road is whether or not we would get tattoos on this journey.  We have always wanted ones but have always been nervous to follow through and purchase one.  Well a couple days ago, Paul exclaimed that he was ready to get one, and that this seemed as good of a place as any.  He had a design picked out for the last 9 years and still liked it so he felt that meant he would be happy with it for the rest of his life.  Yesterday he had contacted the best reviewed tattoo artist in Banos and Alex, the artist, drew up a design that Paul approved last night, meaning today was the day.

We arrived at the tattoo studio at 11am where the artist once again confirmed everything: design, size, placement, colours, etc.  We were both nervous as Paul sat in the chair and the buzz of the tattoo gun started; however, a little over an hour later it was done.  Paul had a tattoo!

Paul’s tattoo is of a world map inside a footprint, to him it symbolizes making your mark on this world but to keep your feet on the ground; rooted.

Now the next question is should Kendra get one...or did she?

We spent the rest of the day in a quasi celebratory mood while planning the rest of our time in Ecuador.  We wandered around, looking at various shops, buying the sugarcane toffee the community is known for and trying the onion soup, Encebollado, famous in Ecuador. Unexpectedly, a German couple we had met in Colombia was roughly three hours away on the edge of the Ecuadorian Amazon.  We didn’t think we would head to the amazon during this trip, but knowing someone in the area who already had plans made to tour the area made it seem like a no-brainer to drive that way and see them again.

Encebollado (onion soup)

Coffee!

Checking out the "night life"

We spent the remainder of the evening exploring the “night life” of Banos checking out another brewery and having some street food before heading to bed.

 

August 9^th – Into the Amazon

Fresh Tilapia

Ecuador is a diverse country and it is amazing how quickly the geography changes.  We left the green mountains of Banos and headed down towards the community of Puyo where the view changed to be slightly more humid with warmer temperatures and with fewer trees. 

It is at this community we stopped for groceries at the market where, after purchasing everything we needed we were beckoned over by a food vendor.  She was selling lunch which was Tilapia fish cooked in leaves on a coal fire.  We had been so disappointed by the fish we had in the Galapagos we decided why not try the fish here, and boy, are we glad we did.  We would later learn that the fish is fresh for the area and was cooked in the traditional manner.  It was easily the best fish we had had in the last year, only rivaling fish we had had on our last night in Haidi Gwaii and the fried fish in Gingolx.  It was unbelievable!!

Say hello to my "little" friend

The geography changed again for the remainder of the journey as we headed to the lowland jungles of the Ecuadorian Amazon where we followed the Napo River until the roads ended and the only way to go further was by renting a boat.  It was hear we found our German friends, Lisa and Chris, and set up camp for a night at a local lodge which offered tours further into the Amazon. 

We spent the evening catching up and playing games while keeping one eye on a lamppost very close to our camping spot… see if you can see why.

 

August 10^th – Down the Napo River

We decided to book a full day boat tour down the Napo River meaning we had to be ready to go for 8am.  From there we jumped into a motorized canoe and headed deeper into the Jungle.  After almost an hour we reached our first stop, a wildlife refuge where animals that had previously been taken from the Amazon as pets or been injured were being rehabilitated to hopefully one day leave captivity.  Of course, not all animals can be reintroduced to the wild since many people try to domesticate these animals by clipping wings or removing teeth or claws.  It was interesting, and maybe this fact is not surprising, but the number one offender of these practices are Americans.  When we were leaving the refuge we did overhear a very humorous phone conversation with an English speaking volunteer at the refuge.  They were trying to elicit donations from someone overseas and it wasn’t going how they thought it would.  The person from overseas assumed they were buying the animal at the refuge and were confused why the refuge would just buy the animal food.  The volunteer explained that it is to hopefully get them healthy enough to re-enter the jungle, and that they would get a certificate of thanks that they could print out showing they supported and animal at the refuge.  This seemed to confuse the person on the other end of the phone who seemed to truly believed they should be the owner of the animal for the time they were feeding it.

The wildlife refuge was fine, but nothing we hadn’t seen before.

Our next stop was a small village where we learned how the Amazonian people hunted and learned how to use a blow dart.  We even had a friendly competition where, unsurprisingly, we lost.  It was the Germans vs Ecuadorians, and while our friend Lisa was the only one other than our guide to get a dart in the target, our guide got 2 which meant Team Ecuador won. Kendra and I think we would probably end up starving in the Amazon as we didn’t hit any targets.

Our final stop on the tour was a spot known for crocodiles where we threw hunks of meat into the water and saw the crocodiles fight for it.  Pretty glad someone had offered to look after Rupert while we were on the tour.  We are sure he would have tried to take a drink from the croc infested waters, he seems to have a habit of drinking water in the silliest of spots, and then he would be a snack.

The tour was fine, but not exactly what we had hoped for; however, we also don’t know what we were expecting.  We are glad we did the tour but thought maybe we would get the experience we were looking for if we did a trek through the amazon instead, so we signed up for a couple more tours the next day and spent the evening once again playing some board games with our new friends.

On a side note, today we awoke to the news that one of the candidates who was running for president in Ecuador was assassinated at a rally just north of Quito.  This resulted in the sitting government enacting a state of emergency across the entire country. We are not sure how this will change our plans but in this area people seem somewhat indifferent to the event. It seems like there may be a larger police and military presence on the road but the election is still set to happen on August 20.

 

August 11^th – George Paul of the Jungle

Similar to yesterday we woke up early and met our guide, Fabio, to start our journey into the jungle.  During the walk we were shown various trees and flora unique to the area.   Some had medicinal properties able to cure poison, stomach aches, coughs, etc.  Many Amazonians even turned to the jungle to improve their symptoms of COVID. 

Rupert was allowed, as long as he was on his best behaviour.

I spy a frog

Monkey's hairbrush

We also learned about the exploitation of the Amazon with many referring to a primary forest and a secondary forest.  A primary forest, what we were hiking in, was an area untouched by exploitation, meaning secondary forests have been altered in some way.  Sometimes this meant the trees were harvested for housing material, or to clear land for food production.  Other areas have been altered to facilitate the removal of gold near the rivers; something that, although illegal in the area, is common.  When we had taken our boat tour yesterday we had seen many people, some with excavators, others with sluice boxes and others with gold pans, looking for gold.  We were told stories about families who had sold their land and spent their life savings to buy excavators to look for gold just to have the excavators confiscated from them by the government leaving them with nothing.  The Government of Ecuador is trying to improve the situation in the Amazon and along the rivers that feed into the Amazon; some feeling it is a little heavy handed, but others feeling they are doing what is necessary, protecting when needed and creating nature reserves where practical.  We enjoyed this tour a lot and it gave us a true appreciation for the Amazon, exactly what we were missing in our tour the previous day.

Paul’s favourite part of the tour happened when we came across the largest tree in the forest and our tour guide disappeared for a few moments only to swing out from behind the tree like Tarzan on a vine.  When he asked if anyone wanted to try swinging on a vine Paul jumped at the opportunity only to realize swinging on a vine is way more difficult than it looks in the movies, either way for a short moment he felt like George of the Jungle.

Our German friends had also convinced us to take part in a second tour in the afternoon, a chocolate tour.   This would be our third tour, the first in Guatemala, and the second being in Mindo, Ecuador.  Each tour has been different, with Guatemala focusing on explaining the process, and Mindo showing the process and allowing us to eat WAY TOO MUCH chocolate.  This one was far more hands on, as we went into the forest to harvest the cocoa, where we separated out the beans and left them on the drying rack, roasted some already dried beans, shelled them, ground them, added sugar, vanilla and milk over a fire, then ate the chocolate with fruit.  I wish I could say the chocolate was delicious, but we don’t want to lie.  The experience was great, the chocolate was not, but the entire experience was different than any of the previous chocolate tours we had been on.

Let's Eat!

Making Chocolate

Living his best life in the Amazon

Paul relaxing while getting his ducks in a row.

 

August 12^th – Hiking with Warm Rewards

All good things have to come to end and it was time for us to leave.  During our time in the Amazon we had befriended a fellow Canadian, originally from Nelson of all places, who was volunteering at the lodge.  She was the one that was kind enough to look after Rupert when we went on our first tour and often joined us for our evening game nights.  She had plans to get a water taxi across the river and then walk a few kilometers, and catch an inconsistent bus to a community nearby but it was a community we would be driving very close to so we obviously offered her ride.  This ended up working out really well for us as the community, Tena, ended up having a water purification shop so we could fill our water, something we desperately needed more of.

The drive back towards the centre of the country was uneventful, we did stop back at Puyo for some more food at the market and this time tried a new type of street food, best described as a mix of meat with plantains, sauce and other random things.  Obviously not doing a good job describing it, but it was delicious! Kendra’s had gelatinous meat and popcorn in it and while she would not recommend it, the price was right at $1.50.

Mystery Lunch

Dessert

Today is the day Ecuador celebrates its independence, well actually it’s Independence Day was Thursday but we were told Saturday was the day that most people celebrate.  To celebrate, many Ecuadorians were travelling to the resort city of Banos, possibly because the city of Quito, where the political assassination occurred, had cancelled its celebratory events.  Either way, the roads were very busy especially near Banos.  We couldn’t imagine what the city would be like today after experiencing it last Sunday so we were happy to drive past towards the north west corner of Sangay National Park where we had read there was a hike to a natural hot spring. 

People lined up outside of Banos

This national park is massive and we were told not very touristy.  Trying to find any information about it was quite difficult, the fact we learned about some hot spring was truly a miracle; Paul came upon it by accident while reading an old blog from many years ago.  Although we were hesitant we were basing our decisions on old information, we were happy to arrive at a car park with signs directing us up a mountain.  The only issue is the hike was 2.2 kilometers up and we had to gain 220 meters of elevation.  Needless to say, it was a steep hike, but totally worth it with predetermined resting points at unique geological features such as waterfalls, canyons and of course the natural hot springs.

These natural hot springs were to die for and made every step up worth it.  They were the perfect temperature, and somehow most importantly did not smell of urine. How has the quantity of urine in a hot pool become our new rating scale for hot springs? The hot spring pools weren’t packed so we could comfortably relax in the water. Our only complaints were the water could be a little deeper and we only had 2 hours to relax in the water until sunset.

The last 500 meters returning to the van were in pitch black darkness. We could hear rustling in some trees a short ways off the path and could see a large monkey-like silhouette in the trees. We were a bit nervous, but had a good laugh once we realized it was a man harvesting some bananas for his family. As the darkness surrounded us we arrived back to the van.  We had already asked the parking lot attendants if we could camp in the parking lot and they told us it was no problem, so at least we didn’t have any where we had to travel to.  This gave us the ability to have a delicious meal while gazing up at the night sky, a sky free of light pollution.  It was beautiful.

 

August 13^th – We are going to kill our dog!

What should have been a relaxing night turned into a night of vomit.  Rupert ate something, somewhere, that he shouldn’t have.  We guess that while we were enjoying the hot springs he was eating food deep in the mud, meaning he was probably also eating lots of mud and food that probably didn’t agree with him.  Either way, the result was multiple vomit sessions all over the van.  Remember we live in a small area so when Rupert (or us) gets sick, everything can be in the “splash zone” i.e. our bed, our clothes, our front seats, it gets EVERYWHERE.  Rupert’s upset stomach and wandering the van and jumping around lasted all night (10:30-4:30) with his stomach finally settling down around sunrise.  Kendra knew Paul would be driving in the morning so took responsibility for Rupert. Humorously, at 2:30 am she tied him up outside of the van to vomit a few more mud puddles out of his system and she fell asleep for an hour. By the time she realized what she had done it was raining and he had curled himself up under the van. Maybe the fresh air did him well because he didn’t puke after being left outside, and maybe he learned his lesson. Anyways, all three of us were exhausted all day. We also had a problem, everything was covered in muddy puke so we needed to find a laundromat!

The best option for us was the city of Riobamba, a community we knew nothing about other than it was close to our next big destination, Chimborazo Volcano.  Although it was Sunday we were able to find a laundromat that not only was open but was able to clean all our things that day.  This meant we had the opportunity to explore the city of Riobamba, the capital city of the region.  It was a nice community but unfortunately everything was closed, but we were able to find enough cafes to supply us with caffeine and donuts to survive the afternoon with lack of sleep and enough sites to walk to take pictures of. 

We finally were able to pick up our clothes and head to a campsite for the night, which was also the location of our German friends meaning we had a warm welcome and an enjoyable night with people we were familiar with.

 

August 14^th – The farthest point on Earth’s surface from the centre of the Earth

We had a relaxing morning getting to know the other campers at the campsite and chatting to the campground host.  It was interesting as Paul finally got the courage to ask what their thoughts were about the political situation in Ecuador, specifically related to the assassination.  We had been told previously that things had gotten “bad” in Ecuador in the last few years but what we were told is many believe that the American’s may have something to do with it.  The old government (not the current sitting government) was becoming less friendly with the US government. When that government stepped down and the current government came into power the US military took up residency on the Ecuador coast.  This was also the same time the Narco trafficking started to increase.  Over the course of 5 years things got worse and worse and worse.  What is more concerning for many is that after the recent assassination of the presidential candidate, nothing really happened, the government was going to investigate but now the American FBI may be involved.  There are lots of conspiracy theories related to everything so we will continue to see what is reported on.

View from the top...of the top?

Anyway, we decided that we would explore Chimborazo, which has this fun fact: (according to Wikipedia) despite not being the tallest mountain in the Andes or on Earth, its summit holds the distinction of being the farthest point on Earth’s surface from the Earth’s centre, due to its location along the planets equatorial bulge. So, while Mt. Everest is the highest peak on Earth, Chimborazo measures 6,384.4 kms while Everest only measures 6,382.3 kms. Chimborazo is also Ecuador’s highest peak. We assumed the drive up to the highest parking lot would be as difficult as the drive to Cotopaxi’s parking lot, full of washboard and potholes and soft dirt, but we were pleasantly surprised.  The road was pretty good considering its elevation and the van did well all the way to the parking lot which was at an altitude of 4800 meters.  Even the hike to the “end” of the easily navigable portion of the hike was easier than Cotopaxi even though it was at a far higher elevation, we ended up hiking to an altitude of almost 5200 meters.  Unfortunately, during the hike, the weather did not cooperate with us meaning we never did get a good look at the top of the mountain. We did encounter an Italian hiker who is touring around Ecuador and took our photo at the lake (which did not have any water, only rocks) who exclaimed “This is the life” after a short conversation with him, and we couldn’t agree more with him.

Luckily, as we drove back down the mountain the clouds disappeared and we were able to see the top of the mountain as well as wild Vicunas, which are in the same family as Alpacas and Llamas.  All in all, it was a great way to conclude our visit to Chimborazo.

Vicuna

Our evening was spent in the communal area with all the other travelers for a large group dinner.  Everyone was responsible for bringing something, (we brought cake we had bought) and spent the night laughing (and practicing Spanish with some Colombian motorcyclists and an Argentinian motorcyclist). Very quickly the night slipped by and the alcohol was consumed ending a great day.

 

Rupert making sure everything is Todo Bien!

August 15- Brrrrr…. It’s cold.

We woke up this morning after a perfect night’s sleep.  The dog was cuddled up all night and we had put on our long underwear before going to bed, since it was chilly. We awoke to the others camping exclaiming how cold it was and how they did not sleep well due to the cold. Maybe it’s because we have Canadian blood or a small sleeping space that we can keep warm with our own body heat, but we had one of the best nights of sleep we have had in a while. After breakfast and an amazing hot shower (you don’t realize how much you miss a burning hot shower until you have only had cold and warm showers in the memorable past) we said goodbye to our new friends and hit the road.  Today would be a long driving day as we make our way towards the city of Cuenca.

The drive was not eventful or exciting. We learned that sheep balls are hairy and saw many cute villages and communities.  We stopped in the clouds for a quick croissant lunch and then continued onto Cuenca. We have some errands to do in this town and have heard there is an expat community so we are hopeful we can accomplish our tasks without too many struggles.

Paul wants to have one of his teeth looked at since it is discoloured and our previous dentist was going to monitor it to make sure the tooth wasn’t dying, Kendra needs to have her Synthroid prescription refilled and maybe get some bloodwork to make sure she gets the right amount and not to be forgotten, Rupert has a lot of plaque on his teeth which we had wanted to get cleaned back in Canada but our vet never returned our phone call, so we thought Cuenca would be the place.

Paul, surprisingly was able to make an appointment for himself today around the time we arrived so as soon as we parked the van he left to the dentist.  The dentist was also concerned so sent Paul for X-rays which work a little different in Ecuador.  Instead of every dentist office and private clinic having an X-ray machine they work with one company who provides the X-rays for a nominal fee ($14).  They then send the X-rays to your dentist (or doctor) digitally and you get to keep the original for your records.  Well the good news from the X-ray is Paul’s tooth wasn’t dying, odds are it sustained some trauma and the colour could be corrected.

Unsurprisingly, we decided to celebrate our first day in Cuenca by checking out the local beer scene, unfortunately most were closed as it was a Tuesday.  The one that was open was called Far Out/Ale Mania which in Spanish means Germany (Alemana actually means Germany, but it’s close enough to be humorous); it was a German bar and wow was it ever German.  There were German flags everywhere, the bartender was German and he was talking to people in German.  We felt quite out of place.  The beer was fine and we enjoyed it as we talked about everything we had to do in the coming days.

 

August 16^th – Medical Tourists

Today we had big plans, which started with a walk to the veterinarian across the road from our campground.  We were quite excited to see that they do dental cleaning but, because of Rupert’s age they required a full examination before they would agree to clean his teeth, something we scheduled for tomorrow.

For the next few hours, we wandered around Cuenca.  This city was something right out of Europe with a Light Rail Train System driving past three story historic houses rising out of cobble stone roads. This also gave Paul the opportunity to find a store that sells glasses as his had broken meaning he was wearing his old pair with his old prescription.  Paul did eventually find one, provided his prescription and was told that they would be ready tomorrow for $70 usd (for both lenses, glasses and blue light protection)! Another task off our list.

In the early afternoon Paul returned to the dentist for his teeth whitening.  He’d never had such a procedure done and it was complete within about 1.5 hours with noticeable differences.  However, it wasn’t perfect enough for the dentist who asked Paul to return for a free follow up on Monday.  It looks like we will be spending almost a week here in Cuenca.

Next dealing with Kendra’s medical requirements.  She had tried to visit an English speaking doctor but the ones she contacted were away on holidays so in the end she decided to rely on Paul’s Spanish and go to the closest doctor to our campsite.  Before we knew it we had a requisition for blood work to be used tomorrow morning. Since we seem to rarely find ourselves in large cities with a variety of ethnic foods, we decided it was time to reminisce about our time in Korea by eating and drinking our favourtie things. The reviews of this restaurant were a bit entertaining, with people complaining that the restaurant staff did not speak much Spanish, so we knew we were in for an authentic Korean meal.

After filling ourselves with kimbap, dol sot bibimbap, and tteokboki we returned/waddled to the campground where our campground host had decided to give us “a” drink of Canelazo.  This is an Ecuadorian alcoholic hot drink, which we had previously had in Quito, made of sugar cane alcohol, sugar (specifically panela), and water boiled with cinnamon.  It is delicious and almost tastes like mulled wine.  The only issue is “a” drink turned into many drinks and before we knew it us, along with all the people staying at the campground (which was also a hostel that we were camping in the parking lot), as well as our campground host were slurring our words and fumbling about.  The generosity of Ecuadorian people can not be understated.

Salud borrachos!

 

August 17^th – Relinquishing Paul’s BBQ card

It was another day of medical tasks, first on the list was getting Kendra’s blood work which went off without a hitch. Again, Kendra got to pick up her own results and keep them for her own personal records.  Next was Rupert’s medical examination to ensure he is healthy enough for anesthetic.  We were told the examination would take a couple hours so we decided to do a few dog free things, which turned out to be just going for coffee and cinnamon buns near downtown.  We had no regrets.

We had hoped to do more, but by the time we were done our drinks we had a phone call saying Rupert was ready to be picked up.  Unfortunately, the results were not instant so we would have to wait until tonight or tomorrow to learn if he would be able to get his teeth clean.

We had planned to do a few things that were not typically dog friendly while Rupert was in the vet that we decided to do with Rupert, the first being visit the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  This church defines Cuenca and like many churches in South America can be climbed to see a view for the community from the roof of the church.  We assumed that Rupert would not be allowed, but when we asked (while he was in his backpack) they told us it was no problem (even though signs on the roof would have suggested otherwise.  It was a nice view though!

Our next stop of was the Museum of Modern Art which we were told was definitely not dog friendly, so we may visit it another day; however it was very close to another brewery so we had a beer break!

After returning to the campground and relaxing a bit it was time to return to the doctor with Kendra’s bloodwork results.  Within a couple minutes one of the tasks Kendra had been stressing out about was complete, we had a new prescription for her Synthroid.  We even learned that we could purchase a years worth of it since prescriptions are for the drug, not the quantity. We were able to stop at a nearby pharmacy and pick up a few months worth of Ecuadorian Synthroid/Levothyroxine – since it has a different name in Ecuador. The best part is that this drug is half the cost she paid in Canada before starting this trip!

Political campaign poster with the assassinated candidate

A new person was staying at the campground (specifically he was staying in one of the rooms to rent at the hostel).  He was from Mexico and wanted to give everyone a Mexican experience by purchasing a bunch of food from the market as well as beer and prepare everything for us, with one exception he wanted someone else to BBQ the meat.  Well Paul volunteered since he BBQs all the time.  The issue he learned hours after he had volunteered is he would be BBQing on a charcoal grill, something he had never used before.  Possibly unspringing it did not go very well.  First he struggled to start it, then once it was going, he struggled to keep it warm enough to cook meat efficiently.  In the end the chicken was good but the lamb, the main meat of the meal was tough with a lot of it inedible parts.  Paul definitely felt like he had to apologize to everyone for the meat, although those who went to the market to buy the meat were not surprised some pieces were tough because the woman hacked away at the animal carcass with a hatchet, so it may have been the butchers or the bbq’ers error.  Thankfully by the time he was apologizing most people were many beers into their meal so didn’t seem to upset.

 

August 18^th – Dealing with a drugged up dog

Late last night, right before the start of the BBQ, we did get a call from the vet that Rupert was healthy enough to undergo anesthetic for a proper teeth cleaning, so as soon as they were open we dropped Rupert off.

We decided to return to the Museum of Modern Art in Cuenca now that we didn’t have dog.  It was a free museum and definitely thought provoking having us discuss the merits and normality of some art in todays world. 

From there we decided to head to a chocolate museum which Kendra had read was more like a café.  It wasn’t, but it did have some good chocolate so we decided to spend no money on a tour and just spend money on chocolate!

By the time we had finished every dog unfriendly thing we could think of, our phone rang meaning Rupert was done, he had done well, none of his teeth needed to be extracted but he would be “out of it” for the remainder of the day.  We picked him up and it was obvious he was not himself; he was falling all over the place meaning we ended up carrying him back to the campground. 

We had thought to do more today, but decided to instead stay with Rupert until he was feeling more himself as we vegged out in the van laughing at Rupert as he was higher than a kite.

 

August 19^th – A dog on a human on a horse

The generosity of our campground host continued as she invited us to go with her and her family (along with others staying at the campground/hostel) to a mirador overlooking Cuenca.  She told us how beautiful it was and the she recommended us getting to the mirador on horseback, when we questioned our ability to go with Rupert, she proudly boasted this place was dog friendly.

Before we knew it we were whisked into the back of a taxi and driving to the opposite side of the city and up a mountain to a small cabin.  From here we hired horses to take us to a mirador.  As you would expect people were incredibly amused by Rupert’s backpack and further amused once Rupert was loaded onto Kendra’s back and she climbed onto the horse.

Now Kendra doesn’t have a lot recent experience on horses and Paul has next to no experience on horses, but this was quite a ride.  Our group was led by Jose, the Mexican cowboy staying at the campground/hostel who owns a ranch in Texas and Mexico and loves travelling by horses.  He seemed to make it his mission that our trip to the mirador was the most fun, making the horses gallop and taking videos of us against the backdrop of the Cuenca skyline.  I do not think we will forget this trip.

The mirador was beautiful, there was even a restaurant where a lot of food and drink was ordered as we relaxed in the sunshine.  It really made us understand what you are “supposed” to do at a mirador.  We usually went to one, took a picture or two then left, but they are really meant to be a location where you stay until you are almost bored.  Where you relax with your family, drink and eat and relax; letting the stresses of the week wash away. 

The trip back to the cabin in the mountains was just as fun as the ride up, if not a little scarier with some steep sections for the horse to traverse.  Once we returned to the campground we realized just how much sun we had gotten and ended up spending the rest of the evening in the van fading in and out of consciousness until we were almost starving.

Once again we decided to find a local brewery and enjoy some beers with some food, but surprisingly, especially since it was a Saturday night, everything was closed.  We couldn’t find any brewery, pub or bar that was open anywhere near the campsite meaning we ended up walking a few kilometers to one that google said would be open.  Thankfully it was, and it was delicious but it really made us wonder, why was everything closed on a Saturday?  Was this normal?

 

August 20^th – I guess we broke the law

A rebel enjoying his breakfast!

Today is election day in Ecuador, most analysts say Luisa of the leftist party will win, but in Ecuador if no party is able to acquire over 50% of the vote a run off election will occur 2 months later (October 15 is the date if needed).  Most people say Luisa won’t get 50% so another election is sure to come, which is good since it is unlikely that protests will erupt.

In order to keep the peace during an election the government of Ecuador has introduced the Ley Seca, meaning dry law where alcohol can not be sold (and technically consumed) 1.5 days before an election until the afternoon following the election.  Since the election is on Sunday (today), you are legally not supposed to drink starting Friday afternoon until Monday afternoon meaning that yesterday we technically broke the law. No wonder all the bars seemed closed, the fine for breaking the law is $193 USD.

We did wander around Cuenca again, but pretty much all businesses were closed except for, surprisingly, Cuenca Brewing Company.  Kendra made Paul ask if we could purchase beer there which was quite something to watch.  Paul asked the waiter at the door just as, unbeknownst to Paul, a security guard was about to walk by. The waiter leaned in and after the security guard passed said, that if we bought food that he could find a way to give us some beer. We did think about going in, or returning later but in the end decided to socialize at the campground for the rest of the day.

We did make a few decisions today related to future travel.  We decided to book tickets to Machu Picchu as we had been told by fellow overlanders that tickets book up months in advance and we did not want to miss out on the opportunity to visit such a famous site.  October 4^th is when we will be visiting Machu Picchu!  We also decided to purchase Paul a plane ticket from Trujillo to Lima to return to Canada for his friend’s wedding.  We decided we wanted to visit Northern Peru and not rush through it like so many people choose to do.  By booking this flight we could take our time and take the route we always envisioned ourselves taking.

Unfortunately, we had come to an impasse with our German friends.  They wanted to take the coastal highway into Peru while we wanted to take a rural mountain border into the land of Incas and cloud warriors.  Since this would likely be our last day with them we decided to go for lunch at a chocolateria (a place that makes chocolate) for various chocolate filled goodies and to say goodbye.

Once we returned to the campground we decided to make our last meal and prepare the van as after we completed a few more errands around Cuenca we would be destined for Peru.

We were awakened by our third earthquake of the trip, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake (at 12:30 in the mooning it was reported as 4.9) that hit the coast of Ecuador, roughly 200 kilometres away.

 

August 21^st – False start

The countries of Boliva and Paraguay require you to be vaccinated against yellow fever to enter and lucky for us we could get that vaccination for free in Cuenca (we could have also gotten it for free in Cartagena, Medellin and Quito but our timing was always bad).  We had been told that if we arrived in the morning (earlier the better) we would be able to get the vaccine, so at around 8am we arrived at the Health Centre.  It turned out our timing was bad again; they only offer this vaccine on Tuesday and only 20 people a day could receive it.  We discussed skipping town and trying to get the vaccination in Peru, but after asking some other travellers currently in Peru where to get it, we quickly learned that it depends on many things and it would cost money. People reassured us that the cost in Peru would be cheaper than it would cost in the USA, but you can’t really beat the cost of free. I guess we would stay one more day.

We were surprised to see our German friends had also decided to stay one more night, they had found other travellers (the Colombians on motorcycles we met in Chimborazo) who had decided to drive the coast with them, but the other travellers had come down with a cold so decided to take it easy for a day hoping to that they’d feel better tomorrow.  We did have a couple other tasks to complete today so Paul left on a walk to various pet stores hoping to find Ruperts special Hydrolyzed Protein dog food.  The 5^th and 6^th pet store had some so we spent almost 2 days budget on Rupert hoping we would have enough food for him until we arrive in Chile. 

Paul also returned to the dentist to receive his final teeth whitening and to celebrate that today would actually be our finally day in Cuenca we purchased a 6-pack of Duff beer (yes from the Simpsons) to celebrate.  If you are wondering the beer was over twice the amount of any other beer and was not anything special.  We do not recommend, Doh!

August 22^nd – Back on the road

Once again we had woken up early to get to the health centre for 8am, unfortunately this is where we learned we needed proof that we would need the yellow fever vaccine; specifically proof of travel but more specifically an airplane ticket.  No matter how much explaining we did let them know we were driving to places where we needed the yellow fever vaccine, they wouldn’t budge on their rule.  It seemed almost incomprehensible to the health officers that we would drive to Bolivia.  Thankfully Kendra asked if our Machu Picchu tickets would suffice and surprisingly the health officer said they would accept the tickets as proof of onward travel, the only issue was we needed to get them printed.

Without much more discussion we ran out of the health centre looking for a place that would print our tickets.  This task was made more stressful as people would continue to trickle into the health centre while we were away and if more that 18 arrived before we returned we would not be receiving our vaccine.  The task was made more difficult because we had decided not to “recharge” our cell phone because we would be heading to Peru shortly meaning we had no internet to navigate us to the nearest copy store; thankfully the health officer did point us in the correct direction. 

We found the copy shop, obtained their wifi password to send them our Machu Picchu tickets and had them printed for a few cents.  With that we started our run/jog back to the health centre.  After waiting in line, we were able to get our yellow fever vaccine, we were #17 and #18.  Surprisingly they also wouldn’t give us the vaccine without giving us another COVID-19 booster.  We didn’t ask for it, but we got it.  At least it was all free and we have the COVID vaccination card and a Yellow Fever booklet to prove it!  Thanks, Ecuadorian taxpayers!!

We returned the van, said our final goodbyes and we were back on the road for the first time in almost a week. We wanted to fill up our propane, but were un successful and unfortunately, just before leaving the greater Cuenca area Paul reached into his pockets and found the keys he was supposed to return for the campground gate.  For a few seconds we did debate not returning the keys, but in the end decided driving the 20 minutes back to the campground was the “right thing to do”. We felt like we were back in the 90’s navigating by whatever maps showed on our phones and trying to figure out which roads were one way roads, but we managed to make our way back to the campground.

We had planned to be in the town of Vilcabamba before night fall and were a little stressed if we would be able to arrive before the sun went down.  We even debated skipping Lunch (and Breakfast) but our stomachs won the debate and we stopped in a small hole in the wall restaurant in Loja.  The people seemed super surprised by us and the food was…edible.

We did make it to Vilcabamba and set up for the night just as the sun was setting.  We had hoped to check out this community more but we did not feel that we had the time.  The community itself reminded us of some Mexican communities as it was full of white English speakers.  It was quite surreal walking around the small town, as the sun went down, that seemed to be a quasi retirement capital of the area.  It seemed that for every 1 Ecuadorian person we saw there were 3 white English speakers.  There was, at least, a microbrewery (that was closed, but a restaurant serving their beer open) so we had a couple pints, watched the sun go down settled in for the night.  Tomorrow we would be in a new country.