Friday, I opted out of clinic for a tour of the city. We went to three important places: La Libertad, La Virgen del Panecillo, and El Parque Itchimbia. La Libertad was just another lookout point of the city, and a war museum from the Battle of Pinchincha. We didn't go to the museum, but the view of course was gorgeous, as is everything here!
La Virgen was so fantastic up close and personal...the statue is just insanely gorgeous and huge. Pictures just do not do justice.
Then, we went to the same park I visited the day before, El Parque Itchimbia. It very well might be my favorite spot in Quito...one day in the near future, I would love to visit it at night. Of course, I had to take a jumping picture with Nicole and Jean :)
After our tour (and waiting in traffic for 45 minutes), we had to rush back to our homes to pack for a weekend in Baños! Baños is a town about 4 hours away from Quito, known for its natural, hot-water baths, cane-sugar taffy, beautiful scenery, and ecotourism. The drive there was amazing; Ecuador is seriously one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen. The next task was finding the hostel that my host mom recommend, Llanovientos. This was my first time staying at a hostel, and it was not sketch at all! In fact, it was nicer than some hotels where I've stayed. The night we got there, we had a nice dinner and checked out a local salsa club, then got to bed pretty early for our huge day on Saturday. We woke up, had a great breakfast, then decided to go canyoning and biking! Canyoning was AMAZING. We climbed down 5 waterfalls in total, ranging from 8 meters (27 feet) to 34 meters (112 feet)! It was such a fantastic experience.
Afterward, we had our bikes brought to us at the bottom of all the falls, and we biked 12 kilometers (8 miles) through the Andes to views about 8 waterfalls. Well, this was quite the adventure for many reasons: 1. It was pouring down rain. 2. We were biking on the road, and Ecuadorian drivers are crazyyyy. 3. We only saw one waterfall. 4. We all just hopped on a bus at our destination to take us back to Baños...not okay in los Estados Unidos. But overall, it was SO fun!
After getting cleaned up, we had an AMAZING dinner at this restaurant named Casa Hood. It was so hip, and had the most amazing chai tea I have ever tasted! It was the perfect warm and cozy restaurant with a fireplace and a library after a long, tiring, cold day. We then walked to the "Agua Santa" to try out the hot baths, but honestly, it was so gross. Lotsa old men stewing in a place that looked like the hot tub in the locker room at the Y...not okay. It's called "Agua Santa," because someone claimed that they saw the Virgin in the waterfall at some point in time. Therefore, it's now deemed "healing waters" and people come from all over to drink it...they even sell it bottled! We ended up bartering for a bus to take us up the mountain to this place called Cafe del Cielo, so we could use their 5-star jacuzzis...best decision yet. The next day, we took a quick trip to the market in town, and then came back to Quito.
Prayers for this week...exhaustion. I am so tired, and want to have the strength to keep on initiating and not staying in my bubble. I also want my quiet times to be something enjoyable, not just another check off the list in the mornings or evenings. Waking up at 5:30 AM after full days is just plain hard.
Can't wait to see everyone back in the States!
Los amo a todos,
Courtney
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