party – THE ONLY ERIKA IN THE VILLAGE

Itinerary: 3 days in Baños

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Baños de Agua Santa is the un-rivalled adventure capital of Ecuador. Not only is it the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon it is packed fill to the brim of exciting, adrenaline filled things to do with some hot springs to rest your weary muscles in once you are done. No wonder its such a popular stop for travellers making their way through Ecuador.

GENERAL INFO

Getting there and away:

Baños is just a short trip away from Quito. Buses take 4 hours and leave from Quitumbe station every 15 minutes before 7pm. To can also get to Baños from Guayaquil in 8 hours via bus (perfect for an overnight bus journey).

Accommodation:

I recommend Community Hostel in Baños – they have a great vibe, organise lots of activities including bar crawls and serve up a wonderful breakfast! You can book through booking.com.

Food:

The best food we had in Baños was Arepas at ‘Arepas to Go’ – a takeaway joint run by a Venezuelan refugee. These are the BEST arepas I have ever tasted. Hands down.

The other must try dish in Baños is candy! The town is well-known for its Melcocha and there are candy stores all over the town where you can see it being made along with other sweets and treats. I polished off a whole giant rainbow lollipop and felt so sick.

Top Tip:

Baños is a great place to spend New Year (as we did)! Its the perfect mix of away from the hustle and bustle of a big city and the frustrations that come with this but popular and busy enough to be buzzing with New Year spirit and have great nightlife (its a bit of a party town).

Ecuadorian New Year is fascinating. There are two traditions that you have to see to believe: Firstly, on December 31st large dolls that represent the old year are ‘burned’ in bonfires in the middle of the street. This is the cleansing of the old year and represents starting anew for the new year – extra points if you jump over the fire as the dolls are burning. Secondly, related to this is the New Year ‘Vuidas’ (Widows of the old year). These are men dressed up in drag complete with makeup and wigs who dance in the street stopping cars and collecting small change for the new year party. On new year’s eve you can’t drive down any road without getting stopped by one of these ‘tax’ collecting groups.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Bike ‘Ruta de Cascadas’

This is a great activity rain or shine as you are going to get wet under the waterfall at the end of this journey anyway! The day we biked along the waterfalls was pretty poor weather but we still had a great time. I suggest getting up early and taking it easy so you can stop for as long as you like along the way and rest or explore (especially if you aren’t really into biking like me). You can hire bikes in Baños for about 15 USD per day including a bikelock etc. When you rent a bike you will be provided with a map of the waterfall route. The Ruta de Cascadas is a 16km ride to the town of Rio Verde but is downhill almost the entire way. Pickup trucks wait at the end and will take you back to Baños for a small fee. There are 4 key spots that you should stop at (but feel free to stop and explore anywhere you like!):

First stop: Cascada Agoyan – There is a zipline here

Second Stop: El Manto de la Novia – Take the cable car for a bird’s eye view (2 USD, make sure you take the right cable car there are lots along the route).

Third Stop: Rio Verde – Bring bathing suit if its a nice day and you can pop in the water for a swim here.

Fourth Stop: Pailon del Diablo – It’s a strenuous walk to get to this waterfall but its worth it. You can hike (for 2 USD) right up to the falls and climb underneath them (you will get wet).

Visit La Casa del Arbol

Try to do this on a clear day as you are pretty high up in the mountains here. To get here, take the local bus for 3 USD or a taxi for approx. 15 USD (taxi’s are unmetered so confirm a price beforehand). Once dropped off there is a short 200m steep hike. The top attraction here is called The Swing at the End of the World and its definitely worth trying – my husband braved it even though he is afraid of heights! There are a few other activities and photo spots so its worth a little wander around and you will probably have to queue quite a while for the swing (its pretty popular!)

If you want an even bigger adrenaline rush head down the road another 3 km until you reach El Vuelo del Condor – this is an even bigger swing right out over the valley but you are properly strapped in to this one thankfully! Ask the management here to call a taxi to return to town or walk if feeling up to it (takes 2 hours but beautiful views).

Piscina de la Virgen

You can soak in the Thermal Baths (USD 2 entrance fee) only 5 minutes walk from the centre of town. These baths have a nice view as they are located next to a waterfall. It’s a great idea to rest your weary muscles after your bike ride, calm your mind after swinging out over the canyons or to sweat out your hangover. Wear jandals as the ground around the pools and the changing rooms can get a bit gross.

Party in Zona Rosa

Baños is quite a party town so I definitely suggest having a night out here before you leave! There is a sign to the Zona Rosa on Ambato Street. You can Salsa the night away and make sure you have a big sleep in in the morning and a soak in the hot pools to recover from your hangover!

Let me know if your planning to go to Baños and if there’s anything you would add to this list!

Erika xx

My Impressions of Brazil

I can’t get enough of the dancing in Brazil, the flamboyant gays and transvestites, the friendly people and the ability to drink on the beach/street/wherever you like. Unfortunately, I have no idea whether I am experiencing Brazil in the midst of carnival or Brazil as it usually is. I guess I will have to come back some other time to find out.

I also cannot get enough of Brazilian barbecue – which is a bit of a shock – because eating a huge pile of meat, and only meat, for a meal generally is not my cup of tea.

Ipanema is beautiful place – Copacabana not so much (but can be more exciting and vibrant)

I can not get over how I cannot find coffee ANYWHERE. I know it is hot but I still need my coffee fix! Also, it is silly to wish for but if they spoke Spanish in Brazil it would be wonderful. I can’t understand a word of the Portuguese – I definitely don’t think the two languages are as similar as people say they are!

Also, the batons which the police carry are pretty scary 😛

Tomorrow I leave for Mexico!

Until Next Time,
Erika xx

Our costumed experience: The Gay nightlife of Rio

Note: This post originally written by Peter as Erika (me!) was too wasted. I have since edited it, and where possible have told the story from my point of view.

Last night at Carnival, peter drank too much booze in too little a time (the result of holding off on the drinking all night so that we wouldn’t have to go to the bathroom and lose our seats). Therefore, he was hungover and we slept for most of the day, waking up just in time to find some dinner. We decided to bus into Copacabana for our first Brazilian Barbeque experience. With reasonably accurate directions from our hostel and a few people along the street, we found the resturant ‘Monchique’. From the moment we walked in we were approached by waiters holding huge portions of beef, pork, chicken, lamb and meats we did not even recognise. Not only could we stuff our faces with as much of this meat as we wanted, there was also a buffet laid out with side dishes a-plenty. Peter must have still been pretty hungover, because he couldn’t eat even half as much as he normally would, but I made sure to clean my plate. After this feast, we strolled along the beach and came across a street party. We joined in temporarily, then made our way home to get ready for the Scala Gay Costume Ball.

After much consideration, we had organised outfits for the ball – mine a very short and sexy sailor girl costume, Peter’s a very short and gay Sailor boy costume. They were perfect for the occasion.

We (but mostly me) decided to have a few (but really lots) of drinks before leaving for the ball, as there were cheap cocktails at our hostel and the drinks at the last ball hadn’t exactly been great value. I lost track of time with my drinking and we missed all the buses that would get us to the ball so had to take a taxi. Strolling up to the entrance, we were suddenly surrounded by gay men and outrageous transvestites. Peter claims he clenched a little harder as we entered the club! While I was in the bathroom, Peter was flirted with – which would have been fine except it was by a blonde Australian girl named Brodie – we were at a gay ball, this was not supposed to be happening! After promising to only be hit on by gay men lest I get upset, Peter procceeds to be chatted up at the bar by a young brazilian man. Still upset (due to lack of attention towards me) we negotiated the terms of a competition between us of attractiveness to the opposite (and same) sex. Although Peter was 2 up on me, I was confident I could win! We both get extremely competitive, so we were sure to have a good time with this bet. I decided that Peter was only ahead due to me wasting my time staring at the beautiful, nearly naked big muscular podium dancers – unfortuntely Peter claims they were all winking at him!

Eventually, we did realise there were also a LOT of straight men at the ball (mainly local guys attempting to pick up tourists). These men were quite forward with their affection until Peter showed up! Competition was ‘stiff’ and the young brazilian who took a liking to Peter kept showing up like a shark circling its prey. During Peter’s time in the bathroom, he gained the attention of six men, one of them blatantly giving him the eye next to him at the urinal. When Peter came out of the toilets, he immediately had to push away a guy who had a hold of me and was atempting to kiss me. Swiftly putting an end to that, the guy kissed him instead. What’s a man to do?

In the end it was a successful night with a final flirting tally of 34-34 – a clean draw. Then Peter got to take me home…and put me to bed because I was drunk.

Until Next Time,
Erika xx

The best of both worlds

While in Rio de Janiero, Peter and I were interested in taking a tour of a favela, an activity which had been recommended to us. Today was the perfect day for us to take this tour, but unfortunately we had not organised in advance. Miraculously, after emailing the company at 11:30 pm the night before, there was space for us and a reply before the 9:30 am departure this morning. The favela tour, like so many experiences which are the result of travel, is unfortunately something I will never be able to accurately describe. A favela is definitely eye-opening. Incredibly scary and dangerous, however, in many ways you want to leave the overly safe tour and explore on your own; experience the danger. The experience is also a strange combination of fun and exciting yet disgusting and filled with despair.

We hopped onto motorbike taxis which took us up the hill and right into the epicentre of the Rochina favela, the largest in Rio, along its only proper road. These motorbike taxis were not only our form of transport, but were also significant in that they are the most commonly used transport service in the favela. Our group was led onto the roof of one of the dwellings to see the view. As we filed past, we were examined through a doorway by the ‘drug watchers’ who keep an eye on anybody coming into the favela. The tour operators are required to bring us past these guards as a condition of having the priviledge to provide these tours.

During the tour, we visited some wonderful places in the favela, including an art gallery in which children of the favela are taught to paint by resident artists. This service is provided to any of the children who want to learn, as long as they provide their report cards to show that they are attending school. We bought a beautiful painting from this gallery, of which the money we spent went to the artist and only the artist, who we met while we were there. We also visted the favela bakery, and bought a beer and a pastry, although I was a little put off my food as we walked further and further down the hill of the favela. The small winding paths were cramped, maze-like, stinky, and covered in literal shit. We were informed that the worst housing was at the bottom of the hill, where the sewage from all the homes in the favela collected.

Our very informative guide also explained to us the gravity of the situation in the favela. None of the people living in the favela owned the land on which they live. The average house here cost 8000 to 36000 real (about 3,500 to 20,000 American dollars). This is essentially the cost of materials. Houses are built wherever space can be found, and when no space is left the residents begin to sell their roofs so that other families can build on top. The average incme in the favela is only 800 real a month and the houses are technically illegal, these people could have their homes bulldozed and be thrown off the land at any time. It must be terrible to live in fear as there is a good chance you could lose everything. No wonder drug dealing is such a temptation in the favela.

As we travelled through the winding paths, we passed children entertaining themselves in the doorsteps of the many homes. These kids had learnt the words ‘gringo’, ‘money’ and’photo’ in english. Our guide had told us not to give the children money, as they were trying to teach the kids in the favela to work for their money, not to beg for it. However, the kids absolutely loved it when you took photographs of them. It felt good to be helping the families by being on the tour in the first place, as 70 percent of the money we had paid went to fund the favela’s day care centre. As we got closer and closer to the edge of the favela, these photographs had to stop in case we accidentally captured someone with a gun, grenade, walkie talkie, or blatantly dealing drugs, on camera. The favela tour was finished by 1 pm and after a shower to wash off the muck, Peter and I headed to Copacabana beach to relax for the afternoon.

Tonight, we were headed for the main event – the Carnival Samba Parade! Outside the stadium, we got distracted by the hundreds of food stalls (where we ate LOTS of dinner) and the hundreds of people wandering around in costume who we just had to get our photos taken with! Unfortunately, this meant that we arrived at our previously booked ‘sector’ just in time for the start of the parade and realised there was no space left! We eventually squeezed in right up in the back row, but without seats and behind others who were also standing. I couldn’t see a thing! Despite this situation, we saw more and more people wandering around looking for places to stand or sit and realised we had better stay where we were.

We ended up perched on top of the concrete barrier wall, four stories above the ground, but at least we had a great view from there! We eventually got told to get off the wall, but found a seat later in the night as people began to leave. We survived until about 4 am, absolutely mesmerised by the beautiful parade. By this time, the rain which had slowly started to drizzle down during the night had become unbearable. The parade continued on without us until about 8am, but we continued watching on TV in the hostel, while Peter began making up for lost drinking time (we had decided not to drink during the parade for fear of losing our seats if we needed to go to the bathroom). What a long night!

Until Next Time,

Erika xx

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