Part 3a: Ecuador

Quito, Ecuador

Getting there and away:
Take your last brightly colored, neon lighted, feather boaed, city bus from Panama City to the international airport. Do not get discouraged by people who tell you not to take the bus, it does not take 5 hours, it takes 45 minutes, it is not packed tightly with people and, if it is, your heavy and ominous looking backpacks will clear seats in a way that livestock can not even begin to hope for. Get off when the driver yells at you. Once in the airport go with the flow, before you know it you will have eaten an entire subway footlong, a package of oreos, the provided sack lunch on the plane and some ice cream. If you make it through the flight without blowing chunks the altitude change in Quito will only add to your discomfort! Once in Quito, pass through the H1N1 checkpoint (all they do is take your picture?) and make your way to the city bus outside. With some carefull manuevering of your backpacked body you can squeeze onto the tram and into the colonial part (read: safe at night) of this large and amazing city.

Places to stay:
La Posada Colonial, this large and high ceilinged hostel is very rustic (in a good way) with small but clean rooms, a little kitchen, which somehow services a resturaunt in high season, and shared bathrooms. Be careful when bathing as the shower lacks walls, glass and curtain. Jaime, the guy in front, speaks softly but carries a lot of keys. He is not good for much except letting you in and out of the hostel, questions about what to do and where to go reveal, that you, in 2 hours, have seen more of the surrounding neighborhoods than he has. He does not get out much.
Places to eat:
La Ronda: Not mentioned in the guidebooks due to its history as crack alley, La Ronda is now the artsy, hipster haunt. At night the street is transformed into a ¨Last Thursday¨like scene with vendors selling everything from Empanadas to Canalazo (a sweet, thick, alcoholic yummy thing).
Aladdin: Hookahs, televisions, schwarma and futbol unite in this disney namesake. Go during an Ecudadorian world cup qualifier and mingle with the delightful crowd and you can pretend to know which team is which (Warning: Colombia and Ecuador share the same colors). Aviso: An Ecuadorian journalist will befriend you and add your email address to the final pages of his notebook (and show you his coutry´s flag). Don´t get your hopes up though, he wont write!

Pluses:
This city rocks, the old city transports you to another world where horses and buses coexist peacefully. There are plazas and parks galore, walks through the city reveal new things everyday and food is cheap.

Minuses:
The Panaderias are everywhere and they look amazing. You will ooh and ah over cinnamon rolls, empanadas, bear claws and the like. Our advice is either look and dont eat or prepare yourself for dry, dry, dry and semi- flavorless. So sad. To put it lightly, the public stairs can be a daunting task. Trade your 40 in for a bottle of water.



Baños, Ecuador

Getting there and away:
Take the tram from Quito to Quitombe (the station on the northernmost end of the line). Once in the bus station follow the man yelling, ¨Baños, Baños, rapido, ahora¨, stand your ground enough to inform him you have not purchased a ticket or security will send him running back (with an exasperated glance) to purchase passage for you.

Places to Stay:
As much as your every instinct screams against following a wayward teen home from the bus station, if the teen is from Ricky Hostel, just go with it. This place is close to the terminal, ie. across the street, but has cute little rooms, private bathrooms, cable tv and kitchen access for guests. All for a whopping 5.00 each. The place is secure, and the only downside is that the massive family who owns, and lives in, the hostel, does not like to do dishes, rendering the kitchen somewhat of a hazerdous zone. Paper towels and a strong stomach will be your new best friends.

Places to Eat:
It is time the concept of the Chifa was introduced. Chifas are quite frequent in Ecuador and simply mean Chinese Resturant. They are cheap, clean, and generally pretty darn satisfying. Baños has 2 Chifas, either one is a good option for a hot, incredibly filling meal. The owners speak Chinese and Spanish, although the fluency of the Spanish has been questioned in the past. Be very clear when you point at items on the menu or you could wind up with the wrong dish!

Casa Hood: You will wish you found this place before the day you were leaving. Good varied menu. The nachos are awesome and the salad has real, not iceberg, lettuce.

Some dutch cafe: The woman who owns the place is obnoxious, she reps her food over and over, forgetting that she already told you the smoothies cost 2.00 more than everywhere else because they are 80% real fruit. When you can plug the place right along with her she lets you order. The prices are high but the food is good. Resist the chocolate cake. While the homemade bread is awesome the sweets here parody everywhere else is Ecuador. Dry Dry Dry.

El Mercado Central:
Ridiculous food, cheap, half the time you don´t know what you are getting but it´s all good. The banana empanadas are amazing.

Pluses:
This mountain city is small but charming. There are senderos (trails) for days, and views to breathe really heavily for. The "mostly downhill" ride on mountain bikes to Puyo (60 KM) rewards bike renters with the gift of gravity and the chance to take a 150 foot high cable car, as well as some arduous climbs. A beautiful, waterfall-filled ride, best taken when there will not be a downpour (or two) of rain.

Minuses:
The baños, hot baths, are enclosed in public swimming pools, packed with tourists and locals alike on one end of the town, and empty, but smelly, on the other.

Canoa, Ecuador

Getting there and away:
From Baños, board an early evening bus to Ambato. When you get off the bus, seemingly in the middle of a busy street without any signs, jump straight into a taxi, don´t try to walk to the main bus terminal, it´s really far. Once at the bus terminal ask around for the bus to Portoviejo. The bus runs overnight, young teens will come on and preach at random intervals (2:00am, 3:30am etc), giving away hard candy in exchange for ¨donations¨ which are expected because they are young, go to school and don´t do drugs. Hmmm. Once in Portoviejo, around 5:45am, repeat the word Canoa until you are red in the face. Eventually you will be hearded onto a commuter bus, chickens allowed, and 3 hours later, Canoa.

Places to Stay:
Hotel Bambu: This place is right on the end of the strip on the northern side of the beach. Bordered by the ocean on one side and a freshwater inlet on the other the camping spots are superbly located. Clean outdoor showers and bathrooms are a plus and the water from the sink is perfectly acceptable for washing fresh fruit, dishes etc. The hotel offers many lounging spots for both day and nighttime usage. What the staff lacks in hospitality is compensated for by the secuirty of a locked luggage room.

Places to Eat:

Hotel Bambu: The resturaunt and bar serve up consitently good food and drink. The ecologically minded hotel rewards trash collecting with a free cocktail for every full bag of garbage brought in off the beach! Beware that the happy hour 2 for 1 special really means 2 for 1, you order a maragarita they are going to make you 2, right there on the spot. The resturaunt, while slightly overpriced, is delicious and the ambience, right on the beach with conch cell lights on every table, is very tropical.

The Surf Shak: Operated by a couple from Denver this place has a great book exchange and a semi-decent hamburger. Word on the street is that the specials board is the only menu you should actually order from (hind sight is 20/20).

The hut on the street that has a sign for empanadas: You can feast on fried goodness at this little hole in the street for pennies. Everything is good and hot although it´s best to chow down without worrying about exactally what type of meatish thing you are eating.

Pluses: Canoa is full of friendly rasta like surfer locals who are always up for a game of futbol or volleybol. The ocean is warm and semi-calm, perfect for swimming and the caves at the northern end are a fun journey to make.

Minuses:

After a week a hot shower sounds so good but the water in your shower is cold. Summer on the coast in Ecuador does not begin until December. The weather is still kind of warm but sunshine is something to be treasured.