I went for a morning of horseriding with a couple I met from the Netherlands, Mike and Pauline. Before setting off we had some bonding time with our horses in the cow paddock (with the cow) for about 15 minutes. We initally followed a dirt road which was fine until a tractor came past us with a piece of white plastic which was flapping in the wind. Well, my horse 'Rudillo' didn't like it very much and started freaking out. He managed to back himself into the tractor, I think in an attempt to turned around and bolt, but there was not enough room, so instead he got his leg caught between the tractor body and the wheel. He tried to buck me off several times but I managed to hold on, before jumping off as the guide came over to help me. Thank goodness the horse was not injured so after some deep breaths and a prayer I was able to get back on and keep riding. Not such a good experience for the nerves especially when I hadn't horseridden for as long as I can remember. Anyway the rest of the ride was uneventfulbut it was great to go horseriding again, forgot how much fun it can be when you are not just following the leader!
With Justin back safely, after a successful summit of Cotopaxi, it was time to get on a bus and head to Banos. Before moving on, I have to say to Justin what a great achievement, as I have met a lot of people who didn't make it, turning back because of altitude sickness or tiredness.
On route to Banos we had another pretty interesting bus ride to Banos (as usual), with some local guy trying to rob us on the bus, he kept moving and sitting behind us, but we knew what he was up to, so we walked away unscathed.
Banos is a pretty town, set in a valley surrounded by mountains and volcanos. (Note: baños means "toilets" in spanish, it was a little confusing). The hightlight in Banos was our day mountain biking, we visited the local waterfalls of which there were quite a few. You really couldn´t call it mountain biking though as we were riding on a sealed road most of the time, but the waterfalls were amazing. Walked under a waterfall that was falling from about 100m´s above and got absolutely saturated at the same time. We also saw a condor, which was pretty exciting. And that is about it for Banos.
Next stop Cuenca, a small colonial town close to the Ecuador/Peru border, actually one of the nicest towns we visited in Ecuador. We went for a run one morning and couldn´t understand why it was so hard to run, until some one told us we were at 2800m above sea level. We had a couple of great dinners with Mike and Pauline who we had met in Cotopaxi. We also visited a museum which had a number of ´shruken heads´ on display, an indigenous ritual performed on ones enemies (after they've been killed). They cut the head off, take out all the brains & bones, boil the head in a concoction of herbs so it shrinks, sow the lips together to prevent the soul escaping and then they wear it around their neck for a year before putting it on display for all to see. Fortunately they don´t practice this on human's anymore, although they still do it to animals, so they don´t lose the skill.....
Next stop, Mancora in Peru! And crossing the border was going to be quite an experience. Knowing this we checked all the bus companies and timetables the day before we set off. Now, when we arrived at the bus terminal the following day, the company that ran the "border crossing" buses we wanted was closed, and their last bus had left at 9pm, not at 11pm as we'd been told. So, we found another company that would take us to the border town of Huaquillas, getting there at 4.30am, not ideal but we decided to go anyway as there was 3 of us, so it was safety in numbers. After what felt like only a few hours the bus stopped, it was 3.30am, I got off to use the facilities. I wasn't sure where we were but when i crossed the road I saw a sign saying "Officina Migration", which looked like a truck stop but it was the Ecuadorian border. No one from the bus had bothered to tell us, so who knows what would have happened if I hadn't worken up, we'd probably be back in Cuenca. Anyway, we all got off ther bus and luckily there was another bus company there which was going to Mancora, so we got our exit stamp for Ecuador, jumped on the new bus to the Peru Immigration office, a further 7km's down the road, we got our entry stamp and then back on the bus. This all happened in the wee hours of the morning, we got to Mancora at about 7am....
JD looking sharp in a horseriding helmet
Under the 'Pailon del Diablo'
The 'New Cathedral' in Cuenca (another church but still pretty impressive)
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