Altitude...buses and Peru!

The remaining few days we spent in Ecuador were somewhat uneventful. We headed down to a town call Cuenca- a typical South American City. We were both unimpressed with where we were staying, but we were in a pretty central location so made the best of it. We spent some time hiking in a national park, took a city bus tour and even took a night to cook and relax in our hostel. When we have travelled in the past we have often cooked in our hostel, but I think my germ-a-phobia mind has gotten the best of me and it is harder for me to get excited about cooking in a kitchen with 12 other people who FORSURE are not washing or sterilizing the dishes to my standards. 

We flew from Cuenca to Quito for an eventual flight to Lima. When we arrived at the airport in Quito we realized that neither of us had ANY clue which airline we were flying to Lima. We tried the one that we thought we were flying- they had no record of us. I, of course, could not find my e-mail confirmation and Angela knew her airline should be connected to United Airlines. Long story short after rushing around the airport we realized we were somehow on two different flights to Lima and they told Angela she would be flying through Panama! After some convincing- and searching- she did not end up flying through Panama, but we did fly separately to Lima. 

Lima is an AMAZING city! I absolutely loved it. It helped that we met up with some of our artisan representatives early the next morning and shared a delicious cheviche lunch and they showed us around the city a bit. Apparently we were also experiencing one of Lima's few sunshine-filled days....so that was also nice!

Later that afternoon we headed out to meet with a potential artisan group of knitters. I immediately fell in love with the women working in this cooperative. I wish I could paint a picture of the circle of women knitting, creating and chatting together. Angela and I both got tears in our eyes several times as we spoke with the women about their stories and how having access to a global market had changed their lives. These women had created a community and a place to go each day to share stories and solve problems. Meeting our artisans has reinforced for me the impact we are making with Threads. I have LOVED this part of the trip!

Peru has been comprised of more bus travel that we originally expected. Clearly Peru is proficient in bus trips- as the seats lay almost flat and they sometimes serve meals, etc.  Please don't picture anything too fancy- people still snore...and the drivers still  drive like taxi drivers making it nearly impossible to completely settle in and get comfortable. You are constantly bracing yourself for the next big curve. I have also been lucky enough to experience some altitude sickness in the Andes- which causes my eyes to become unfocused and some generalized nausea. (awesome!)

Side note: when we attempted to purchase some nausea medicine from a pharmacy- I was standing behind Angela watching her"mime" puking into her hands until she got the point across of what we needed. Oh Spanish....still getting the best of us. 

On one particular overnight bus ride I woke up in pitch black to the bus completely stopped and as I was trying to focus my eyes out the window Angela told me to 'not look down.' Later (after a lot of deep breathing) Angela confirmed my worst nightmare....we were on a single lane, winding dirt road with cliffs on one side-dropping thousands of feet- and the two bus drivers were outside with flashlights trying to figure out how we were going to get around a specific corner. I think I sang a few Sunday School songs repeatedly in my head- sure we would be plunging to our death in any second until I eventually fell asleep. 

We made one of our longer bus trips to Ayacucho which is located way up in the Andes to meet with another artisan group.  These amazing women make the belts sold by Threads and were extremely isolated compared to what either of us expected. Besides making the trip to Ayacucho- we also drove 2 hours on dirt roads to then hike up to their house. They were adorably excited to have us visit- even making us chicken soup to celebrate. They rarely eat meat and eating meat is evidence of a celebration. My near-vegetarian mindset struggled a bit, but ate almost every last bite...minus picking meat directly off the bone. Yikes!  

We eventually make it to Cusco to meet up with our dear friends, Bethany, who would be traveling with us for the rest of the trip! More on Cusco and Machu Picchu  later!

Spanglish, sprained ankles and cannonballs.....

We just finished an AMAZING 10 hour bus journey from Banos to Cuenca and we are now in the southern part of Ecuador. Rarely can you say that a 10 hour bus ride is amazing- but this ride was beautiful! The views of the Andes and rolling hills were awesome! Ecuadorians farm on the side of the hills which creates beautiful patterns on all of the hillsides.

The ride didn't start out extremely beautiful- as the curvy roads got the best of Angela early this a.m. She kept threatening that she may throw up on the bus and was even holding a bag just in case. The straw that broke the camel's back... as they say...was when she stepped off the bus at our first stop, sprained her ankle, started crying and then proceeded to puke by a grafitti'ed wall. Goooood morning! Yikes! The rest of the ride was much calmer and well worth sitting for that many hours. 

We are now in Cuenca where we will stay until we fly to Peru on Tuesday! 

The last few days in Banos were wonderful and of course filled with adventure. Our Spanglish does not seem to be improving - much to the enjoyment of the people we encounter. Angela went to order breakfast the other day and after believing she had said "can I order?"... The waitstaff quickly translated her Spanglish and said "you've just said 'can you pray?'" In addition, when we went to rent some bikes Angela apparently asked if we could please "sell two of their bikes." We seem to eventually get what we need, but often because of charades. 

Banos is sort-of a hippy Ecuadorian town packed in between really high mountains. The views are beautiful and the town is often socked in by clouds. We rented (sold) bikes the first day we were there and road about 10 miles to some waterfalls. Neither of us were huge fans of riding on the road with all of the buses and semi trucks, but we managed the ride and met some friends along the way. The nicest part was at the bottom of the ride you can throw your bike in the back of a guys truck and for $2 he will drive you and your bike back up. Best kind of bike ride ever! 

That evening we headed to the highly recommended local hot springs- just a short walk from our hostel. Much to our surprise this hot springs experience included WAY too many Ecuadorian men, women and gringos hanging out in extremely murky waters in shower caps. Some of you may know that Angela does not like water activities or specifically hot tubs- so this was a little nightmare all wrapped up with a bow for her!

 I saw major panic on her face as we purchased our shower caps. We were asked to shower before we entered the hot springs and as I was showering there was a man just staring at the showers...so I say to Angela (who is avoiding the forced-luke-warm shower)- "What?  Is that man's job to watch people shower?"  She shakes her head and as we walk out he prompltly informs her that she DID NOT shower appropriately and would have to return to the luke-warm showers.  Apparently that IS actually his job. 

As we crawled into the hot tubs and settled into our spots Angela almost immediately asks me...."how much for you to do a cannonball into this hot tub?". Of course I know this is completely inappropriate, but the competative side in me says "it is funny"...and I answer "$25". Clearly this is a good deal- because Angela takes it immediately. 

I quickly get stage fright. I can't cannonball into these families and old men enjoying their evening! However, due to an out-of-body experience....I do a complete cannon-ball into the extremely small-packed steam bath.  As I rise up out of the water there are at least 10 Ecuadorian men shaking their head at me...I realize now that this was a really bad idea.... But the BEST $25 dolllars I've ever won. We immediately exited the hot springs.

We also spent some time at Banos in the steam bath provided in our hostel. Basically, this was a box that your entire body is in- minus your head. We had an Ecuadorian woman directing us and telling us when to get in/out of the steam bath...when to splash ourselves with cold water etc.  It was an experience to remember- that only picutres can commemorate.

Cuenca seems to be a nice quiet South American city. Although we aren't completely done with Ecuador- we are close to having to move onto our next stop in Peru and are looking forward to some time with our artisans! 

Missed buses...zip-lining....and "safety" face paint.

I think I mentioned in my last blog that we had missed the bus to Mindo from Quito on Monday morning. On Sunday evening we were walking home and it was started to get dark. For some reason I never felt really safe in Quito- so decided that we should not seek out an ATM in an unknown city after the sun went down (insert my mom being proud here). Our amazing morning plan was to get up at 6:45 a.m.- finish packing- go to the ATM- and make it back for the taxi to the bus at 7:05- where we would take a 30 minute taxi ride to the the bus stop.

In Ecuador we have learned that everytime we asked for directions the person says "go two blocks and take a left/right". We laugh now- because after that two blocks we generally have to stop and ask directions from another person who also says "go two blocks and take a left/right." Finding the ATM at 7 a.m. was no different- our hostel owner said it was 2 blocks away to the right. After a 20 minute walk and eventually a taxi ride to an ATM- we clearly had missed our bus and would be staying in Quito another 9 hours. All just part of travelling...but I can assure you that the ATM was NOT 2 blocks away.

We arrived in Mindo on Monday- a cute little town set in the mountains. We both loved it immediately! There is one Main Street - the people seem extremly friendly and we love the hostel we are staying in. In fact, we loved it so much that the first night here we took warm showers and just read in our room for the evening!

We are definitely in complete travel mode again and we both have commented how we are like a 'well oiled travel machine'....we both just have certain things we do well while travelling- specific things we organize, thing we are good at (obviously mine is speaking Spanish:))...etc. We were eating dinner the other night and a moth flew into our plate of food....without skipping a beat, I reached down- grabbed the moth- threw it out of our food and we kept eating.

Yesterday we spent the day zip-lining through the rainforest and repelling down some amazing waterfalls. For any of you who remember my trip to Costa Rica- I MAY have cried on the zip-line because I hated it SO much! I don't have a ton of arm strength and in Costa Rica you have to use your  own strength to stop yourself. So...I spent a lot of time going full bore down the zip line into trees- stopping myself with my feet and it was really freaky! So, I cried.

Because of complete peer pressure I decided to try it again yesterday. I had similar feelings of fear, but they have a better system for brakes ie) they help you stop. What I was not prepared for was the 'tricks' that they wanted you to do while on the zipline. They offered "Superman" (flying face first down the zipline) or "Butterfly" (flying upside down on the zipline). Both of which sounded horrible! As per the usual, Angela razzed me enough and  told the guides that I was a "little tiny baby" in Spanish to help convince me to do the Superman. The guide replied "even little tiny babies do the Superman." And I soon found myself flying face first down the zipline. It was actually pretty cool and scary at the same time!

I absolutey LOVED repelling down waterfalls! Let's be honest- anything that involves water I generally love. The largest waterfall we repelled down was 75 feet high and it was amazing!

On our walk out to the waterfalls the guide stopped us and was explaning that this specific fruit (that he was holding) was used to "paint" the indigneous people for safety on their journeys. As he is talking he has cracked open the fruit and is mixing its contents in his hands to create the "paint" (a bright orange paint) and begins with placing a "safety" stripe on Ang's cheek.  She proceeds to put a "saftey" stripe on my cheek and then quickly adds a mustache and pointy-clown eyebrows. Of course we are laughing uncontrollably....but seriously?! I'm about to go do this really awesome-tough adventure sport and I am painted with a bright orange mustache and eyebrows? Ang LOVED it...I think our guide was able to see some humor...and I never saw myself- but I'm sure the pictures are lovely.

Yesterday we watched Ecuador vs. Argentina soccer game and this town was pumped up! Ang and I jumped right on the bandwagon and were the best Ecuadorian fans you have ever seen- right after we figured out what color we were cheering for :)

We are headed to Banos today in the afternoon- another smaller mountain town- but on the amazon-side of Ecuador. 

Feeling tall in Ecuador.....

Feeling Tall in Ecuador...

We are back in Quito after a trip to Otavalo to meet our artisans! What an amazing visit that provided us lots of additional information as well as some heart- warming stories.  It was amazing to see them making the jewelry we sell- as well as to interact with them. I'm always proud of Threads Worldwide...but even more so after this visit. Read about our visit here: http://threadsworldwide.com/ecuador-partners/

Otavalo is about 2 hours away from Quito. We arrived at the bus stop- clearly sticking out like sore thumbs....because people immediately started directing us around- waving us here and there to get us on the right bus. My favorite part is when the correct bus arrives and 7 Ecuadorians smile and point to make sure we understand it is our bus! Thank goodness for the rest of the world understanding our language barrier! Transportation here is extremely cheap- most buses around the city are $0.25 and to Otavalo was about $2.00. Apparently the gas is subsidized by the government keeping cost down.

Otavalo is a quiet city set between three mountains. I was FREEZING in the evening- and couldn't seem to get warm. It may have been a good idea to look more clearly at the weather before we left. My one pair of jeans are not cutting it. We spent some time walking around the city where for the FIRST time in my life at 5'4...I can look over the heads of almost everyone on the street! No joke there are these sweet Ecuadorian women who are at their highest 4 feet to 4'1.  I'm like an NBA basketball player here. 

Our Spanglish has failed us several times on the trip including walking into a restaurant and Ang asking for "2 menus" and we ended up with "2 set-menu-6-course lunches"....awesome.  We also went on a 45 minute walk today to get to a bus that was 15 minutes away. I always regret taking French in high school on these trips. 

Today we went to the Center of the World! Where latitude and longitude meet at 00/00/00. There were some really cool 'tricks' at the Center of the World- including that you could balance an egg on a nail and a demonstration on water draining different ways on the North and South side of the equator. Lucky for you guys Ang was taking video of all of this....so, you can all watch when you get home! 

Today we got up extra early to take a bus to Mindo- and successfully missed the bus- so we will be taking a later bus today. The largest problem was that we needed an ATM- and received several different sets of instructions of where to find one....running us all over the city....eventually leading to us missing out bus. Ugh. We can't complain much...it is just part of traveling! 

Arriving in Ecuador...

We arrived in Quito, Ecuador last night- after a long layover in Houston and a five hour flight here. We slept most of the flight...and in fact may have slept more but the woman next to me dumped her entire water glass in my lap. Talk about shock! So...I was awake after that.

Flight was uneventful...our hostel was supposed to pick us up at the airpot- but they didn't- so we got a taxi to our hostel. We arrived around midnight and our hostel was completely closed- but a nice security guard showed us our room. I was obsessed with how clean and nice it was...and then Ang reminded me that I was comparing it to India.

We got up this a.m. and had breakfast at our hostel- we ended up eating breakfast with some people that were getting ready to take a walking tour of Quito- so we joined in! A great way to see the city...we walked around- figured out the layout of Quito and hiked to the top of the largest church in Ecuador. I'm realizing that I really am scared of heights...but the fear of Ang making fun of me for the rest of the trip- drove me to keep on climbing.

We had a "typical" lunch  in Quito today- all of the locals telling us to order this or that...and both of us cringing because the meat was coming out on huge bones. We both ended up with some sort-of shrimp dish. There was salsa on the table- which I immediately dug right into. Ang's eyes FLEW open as she reminded me of the stomach issues I dealt with in India.  Wish me luck.

We eventually took a bus to Otavalo- a few hours north of Quito. We are going to meet some of our Threads Worldwide artisans tomorrow and both of us could NOT be more excited! The reason we started Threads was to impact women around the globe- and so meeting and sharing their stories is a huge part of why we are here!

Random facts so far: Ecuador uses the US dollar as their currency & we have been served popcorn as an appetizer twice so far.