29 dec 2006 - 2 jan 2007
Its only a couple of hours to get to Banos. The town certainly has a nice reputation, so we are a bit excited to get there. This is Ecuadors premierre tourist destination, mostly for Ecuadorians. And being the weekend of New Years eve it is seriously packed. Its nice to feel the town buzzing, though the famous hot pools are rediculously packed to capacity when we visit in the evening.
We hope to see the volcano looing over the town, but its generaly clouded over. A pretty regular occurance in Ecuador it would seem...
The downhill biking to Puyo some 60km east is not quite what we expected. Theres quite a bit of uphill too! But we cant complain about hiring mountain bikes at $5 for a whoñe day. And they are brand new! Somewhat fortunately neither of us goes arse over tit with the brakes being rigged back to front.
Along the way I do a bridge swing set up by some local entrepaneurs. At around 30m its pretty tame having done so many bungeys back home, but for $10US its a very cheap thrill. I actualy go for the lesser done higher option. THis costs $15 cos they have to re rig the gear. I am most amused that they throw one of their own guys over to
check its all working fine! It does..
On new years eve itself we hire some dirt bikes and head into the hill for the afternoon. This starts badly. We hire a quad for 4 hours, only to have it cut out within 10 mins and need to be crash started. We return it and get into a blazing argument with the owneres whether we should pay for the time we used. Poor sara has to do most of the explaining and in turn cops most of their abuse. Not good.
So back to our friendly (super friendly) bike hirers from yesterday who get us some decnt bikes, albeit a bit more expensive. I get a 2 wheel 250cc, and Sara gets a quad. The ride is very cool. We get right up into the hills and around the back and beyond. A lot of it looks surprisingly like NZ. But there the bikes would have cost a fortune, and come with all sorts of legal disclaimers, rules etc..
Come night time its heaving in town. 99.8% are Ecuadorians. For days now we have seen effigies made by locals of themselves and their friends (or enemies?) to burn tonite. Its all a bit massochistic really. We spend from 9pm till 11pm up one of the hills again, this time going up in a truck. the view over town is great once again. We have a few songs sung around a bonfire, and some nice warm sugar can drink, made terrible ifthe local alcahol is added.
Back in town the fireworks go off a couple of mins early, and the effigies are set alite.
The town feels like it is being looted with a bonfire every 10 m or so. The official fireworks are big and high, but only one at a time, a display of the finacial differences between home and here. The locals set more off in the street. A blonde family (who look scandanavian) are the biggest pyros, throwing bangers, settingoff roman candles, and generaly casuing mayhem..especialy the father. Its a miracle no one gets burned...
We meet some others from NZ who we bumped into back in Cusco. Lurking around till 2am yarnign away, then beddie boos. A pretty mellow night in terms of drinking, but a nice way to start 2007 I´m sure..
Its only a couple of hours to get to Banos. The town certainly has a nice reputation, so we are a bit excited to get there. This is Ecuadors premierre tourist destination, mostly for Ecuadorians. And being the weekend of New Years eve it is seriously packed. Its nice to feel the town buzzing, though the famous hot pools are rediculously packed to capacity when we visit in the evening.
We hope to see the volcano looing over the town, but its generaly clouded over. A pretty regular occurance in Ecuador it would seem...
The downhill biking to Puyo some 60km east is not quite what we expected. Theres quite a bit of uphill too! But we cant complain about hiring mountain bikes at $5 for a whoñe day. And they are brand new! Somewhat fortunately neither of us goes arse over tit with the brakes being rigged back to front.
Along the way I do a bridge swing set up by some local entrepaneurs. At around 30m its pretty tame having done so many bungeys back home, but for $10US its a very cheap thrill. I actualy go for the lesser done higher option. THis costs $15 cos they have to re rig the gear. I am most amused that they throw one of their own guys over to
check its all working fine! It does..On new years eve itself we hire some dirt bikes and head into the hill for the afternoon. This starts badly. We hire a quad for 4 hours, only to have it cut out within 10 mins and need to be crash started. We return it and get into a blazing argument with the owneres whether we should pay for the time we used. Poor sara has to do most of the explaining and in turn cops most of their abuse. Not good.
So back to our friendly (super friendly) bike hirers from yesterday who get us some decnt bikes, albeit a bit more expensive. I get a 2 wheel 250cc, and Sara gets a quad. The ride is very cool. We get right up into the hills and around the back and beyond. A lot of it looks surprisingly like NZ. But there the bikes would have cost a fortune, and come with all sorts of legal disclaimers, rules etc..
Come night time its heaving in town. 99.8% are Ecuadorians. For days now we have seen effigies made by locals of themselves and their friends (or enemies?) to burn tonite. Its all a bit massochistic really. We spend from 9pm till 11pm up one of the hills again, this time going up in a truck. the view over town is great once again. We have a few songs sung around a bonfire, and some nice warm sugar can drink, made terrible ifthe local alcahol is added.
Back in town the fireworks go off a couple of mins early, and the effigies are set alite.
The town feels like it is being looted with a bonfire every 10 m or so. The official fireworks are big and high, but only one at a time, a display of the finacial differences between home and here. The locals set more off in the street. A blonde family (who look scandanavian) are the biggest pyros, throwing bangers, settingoff roman candles, and generaly casuing mayhem..especialy the father. Its a miracle no one gets burned...We meet some others from NZ who we bumped into back in Cusco. Lurking around till 2am yarnign away, then beddie boos. A pretty mellow night in terms of drinking, but a nice way to start 2007 I´m sure..
The next day we head for the local zoo. We dont expect much so are pretty stoked to find a very cool set up, and some trippy animals. My absolute favourite are the Cappiburros. They are the world largest rodent, but look more like a cute guinea pig than a rat. And they are Bloody HUGE!! Weighing up to 50kg, and standing up to my knees. Thats a damn big hampster. Photos dont really do them justice unfortunately...
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