Click on picture for slide-show
or here to access the set.
We are in Banos now and we can´t wait to get to Peru. The weather has been awful for most of our trip in Ecuador, except for the Galapagos. We left Cuenca and went north. From Cuenca to Ambato, then for another 2 hours to Banos. We got off the bus in Ambato, but the bus dropped us outside of town, so we had to take a cab to the main bus terminal to get one to Banos. We soon found out the cabbie took us to the wrong bus station. We met Milton there - a guy from Banos who was at the wrong terminal as well - and together with him and another woman from Banos us took we shared a cab to the "right" station where we got on the Bus.
About an hour into the trip we got stuck into what seemed to be a traffic jam that looked as if it has been going on for hours. It turned out the Tungurahua volcano just above Banos had another major landslide that took out the highway. Our bus driving started trying to turn this huge bus around on a cliffed road to go back (since it was clear things won't change very soon) while everyone else, hundreds of cars and buses were sitting there. We got off the bus and Milton, the guy we met earlier in Ambato, told us that we should start walking, since the town wasn't far away. He later told to us that this is quite common in the area, and although the solution - building a tunned - is known, nothing ever gets done, and the politicians are full of crap. So he yelled to the bus driver to open the bottom of the bus to get our bags out, grabed Angela's bag, and... vamonos!
In Angela's words: So Fritz has his bag, this guy has my huge bag and I have the little bag and we start walking in the freezing cold rain, in high altitude. We walk for about a 30 to 45 minutes (I am gasping for air because half the way we are going uphill) and finally get pass where the police blocked off the freeway. Then some truck stops and we hop in the back with the Chicken boxes and chicken you know what everywhere, we get to the landslide. We get off the truck, thank the lady and 10 others and grab our bags, walk pass the huge landslide (we wish we had the little camera because there is no way describe how huge this lahar was). The earth was hot. We walk another 45 minutes or hour then the guy we are with flags down a taxi who doesn´t want to take us. Finally he agrees. It is a hatchback and the only way for us to fit is if I sit in the trunk hatchback! Anything to get out of the rain and not walk! Then we get to Banos and get a hotel room, finally. Have dinner and next day, we both are sick. Now Fritz and I have been sick for 2 days. We are getting better and moved to a hotel with a better bathroom. Needless to say we are ready to get out of Ecuador. Wednesday we take a bus north to Quito and take an evening flight to Lima. I will be so happy to get some sun!
