PART 4: Cusco, Peru to Quito, Ecuador
On the first day of 2011 I unfortunately had to wake up very early in order to catch my flight to Lima. And because it was so early, as well as New Years day, there were no buses and all of the taxis were filled with drunk people trying to get home! So I ended up walking most of the way to the airport, but it was nice sunny morning, so I had no problems! After an uneventful flight, I found a taxi with two nice guys from San Francisco from the Lima airport to the fancy Miraflores neighborhood. After a bit of confusion, I found the Inka Lodge at about noon and met Kristen, Kelly’s next traveling companion who had arrived that morning from Plano, Texas. I dropped off my stuff and then we grabbed some lunch and set off to explore Lima! I bought bus tickets to Piura for the following night for myself and Lela and then we checked out the historical center of Lima. Unfortunately few businesses were open because it was a national holiday, but it made for relaxed streets. We took the bus back to Miraflores, walked to the beach and gawked at the ridiculous mall that they built into the side of the bluff overlooking the ocean. After dinner we checked out a giant park with some fountains and a light show, but there turned out to be a few too many screaming children to make it enjoyable. Instead we found some ice cream and headed back to the hostel to talk with other travelers and go to bed early.
Crazy mall built into the bluff of Lima, overlooking the beach
On the morning of the second, Kristen and I hung out at the hostel and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast while waiting for Kelly and Lela to arrive off their 20+ hour bus ride from Cusco. I also took my first HOT shower in Peru that morning (after only 23 days of traveling!) and I finally felt fully clean! Once everyone was ready to go, the four of us set out for Lima Centro again and we walked around the main plaza in the sunshine and heat of coastal Lima. For lunch we checked out Chinatown and the egg rolls were incredible! Afterwards we caught a bus back to Miraflores and then walked to the beach. Even though it was very hot, it looked a bit too rocky and wavy to swim, so we watched the surfers and paragliders and Kristen and I shared an amazing mango strawberry smoothie back on the top of the bluff. On our walk back to the hostel, we passed many nice parks, fancy condos and temple ruins situated in the middle of urbanized Lima! Besides the last part, that area of Lima reminded me so much of some cities in California! Lela and I caught our 15 hour bus headed to Piura at 7pm and overall I was pleasantly surprised by all of Lima. I definitely hope to find my way back someday.
Lela, Kelly and Kristen in the Main Plaza with the Cathedral in the background
Yellow buildings surround the Main Plaza in Lima
Walking to the beach!
After a rather comfy night on the bus, we got off in the hot city of Piura in northern Peru and located our 21-year-old couchsurfing host, Stevens. He took us to his family´s very simple house and soon afterwards we were back in a mototaxi with him to find some ceviche! After that delicious lunch, with fish, octopus and prawns, we headed to the pool for a swim, but unfortunately it was closed on Mondays, so we dropped Stevens off at his work and joined his 16 year old brother Gabriel for a walk to the center of town to get ice cream and hang out in the Plaza de Armas. As it was getting dark we got dinner at a supermarket and Gabriel helped us find our way home. That night we relaxed at their house and talked with the whole family: mom, dad and four kids.
We were up early the next morning to get a start on the day before it go too hot. We found a bus that took us to the hectic port town of Paita and then another combi to the beach in the tiny town of Colán. It was pretty far away from Piura, so by the time we got to the beach it was time for more ceviche for lunch! We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach, reading and swimming. What a nice way to end a trip though Peru! After the combi and bus back to Piura, we found some street grub in the form of papa rellenas and bread pudding and then we walked back to Stevens’ place. At night we caught a mototaxi to the bus station, said goodbye to Stevens and his mom, and used up our last soles!
At about 12:30 am that night we crossed the border into Ecuador and it was a much less stressful experience than when we left the country about three weeks before! At 6 am we arrived in Loja and we were still very sleepy so we took a taxi to our next CS spot at Marcelo´s and slept for the rest of the morning. When we woke up we were ravenously hungry (as usual for Lela and me!) so we walked into central Loja and ate a traditional Ecuadorian set lunch that we had missed so much (haha, NOT!) We did get to try repe (plantain soup served with a sweet banana on the side) so it was actually pretty tasty. We also checkout out Loja´s central market and were once again impressed by how every city in Ecuador and Peru has a big, cheap, diverse market that puts Pike Place to shame! We loaded up on good old dollar bills once again at the bank and then took a city bus to the university south of town. After a little confusion, we found the university’s park, with hiking trails and nice lookouts over the city. We also made a brief stop at the Botanical Gardens across the street before catching a bus back into the main part of town. We got some fried plantain balls, hot chocolate, fresh cherries, empanadas and caramel/chocolate pastries to eat a dinner picnic in the main plaza. We finished up the night at Marcelo´s house, and talked to him a bit about his family in the Galapagos Islands and his plans to open a bar in Loja.
Hiking near Loja with great views of the city below
On the 6th we went for a nice run along the river in Loja and ended up at the market for a cheap and delicious breakfast sitting next to lots of locals. Lela braved the cold shower back at the house, but I just couldn’t do it, so soon we were on our way again, huge backpacks and all. We caught the 12:30 pm bus from Loja to Cuenca and got in at about 5pm. While in the bus station we bought tickets to get back to Quito for Sunday night and then we did the usual and located our couchsurfing host!
We met the Manolo (an artist and architect) outside of his house, which he is working on turning into a hostel and restaurant. We went out to dinner with him at a delicious café and then we walked to where practically the entire city was celebrating the “Day of the Innocents” a Catholic holiday. There were fireworks of course, people dressed up in costumes resembling Halloween, lots of boys in skirts and people putting on little skits imitating politicians! Afterwards I went to bed and Lela stayed out with some other friends that she’d made in Cuenca when she passed through last time.
Dinner with Manolo on our first night back in Cuenca
The next morning we woke up earlier than expected and went for a nice run along the river. Manolo made us a nice breakfast and we ate it on the porch of his house that overlooks the river and the newer part of the city. It was a sunny and warm morning, so Lela and I spent some time after breakfast chilling in the courtyard and reading in the sun. Then we went out to look for a laundromat and a book exchange, and ended up at the massive and very clean Cuenca market for lunch. We devoured a plate of fried potato cakes and coconut smoothies and then finished it off with some dessert from a nearby bakery! Yum, I love market food! We continued walking around the city and then met up with Lela´s friend Chris, who took us to the hot springs about 20 minutes away by bus. We hung out there and swam in the rain for over an hour and it was wonderfully relaxing! Afterwards we went to a little café across the street for dinner and then took the bus back into Cuenca.
The following day, we made plans to go to El Cajas National Park with Chris and his friends. It took a while for everyone to get going, and it was very difficult to find a bus, so we ended up sharing a taxi and heading up there in the afternoon. The weather had been gorgeously sunny in Cuenca in the morning, but the weather at El Cajas is famously fickle and during our 3-hour hike it rained and hailed multiple times and by the end it was pouring! Another friend from Cuenca, Fabrizio, showed us a really neat route where we passed by some religious statues and climbed up to a series of lakes that were scattered among the grassy mountains. On the way back down we decided to take a shortcut and head straight towards the highway, which saved us a little time, but did not get us back before a huge rain and hail storm! We dried off by the fire in a nearby restaurant and ate delicious potato soup and hot cocoa to warm up. We easily found a bus back into Cuenca and then got out of our soaking wet clothes as soon as possible!
Hiking in El Cajas National Park with Lela and friends
The grand view from our turn-around point
Lela hung out with our Cuenca friends that night, so she wasn’t ready to venture back into the park the next day, which was our amazingly last day of vacation! It was also raining in the morning and I had a little trouble finding the bus to El Cajas, but it ended up working out in the end and I made it to the ranger station just after noon. The entrance fee had recently been lowered to $2 for everyone and they also gave me an awesome poster-sized map (which unfortunately got ruined in the rain) and sent me off on a nice 3-hour hike past a bunch more lakes and neat mountains. The trails in this part of El Cajas were the most well marked that I had seen in all of Ecuador and Peru and it was so great to finally be able to easily follow a trail! It rained on and off throughout the afternoon and the trail was super muddy in spots. At one point I sunk up to my knee in the mud! Near the end of the hike, I slurped down a mango and took in the awesome scenery, which included a few roaming llamas. The trail dropped me off near the same restaurant where we ended the day before, but I didn’t have time to stop in this time because a bus passed by right then and I was taken back to Cuenca.
El Cajas...the land of a million lakes!
I met up with Lela again and dried off a bit at our CS house and then we went out for Indian food on our last night of traveling together! I was oh so sad! At 9:30 pm we got on a bus and had a restless night trying to sleep before arriving in Quito at about 6 am. It took us 2 ½ hours to bus and walk back to CIMAS, where we were greeted very warmly! Lela headed off to Costa Rica that afternoon for a few weeks of WWOOFing, before she goes back to Washington in the end of January. I jumped right into my next quarter of school at CIMAS studying Public Health and Spanish with 9 new Washington classmates!
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