Big Volcano Go ¨Boom!¨
Well, well, well. Christmas has passed and now it´s on to the New Year. Christmas was really nice here. We went to Manuel´s brother´s house on Christmas Eve around 11:15 pm, where there was the biggest mountain of presents I´ve ever seen in my life. At midnight there was a toast with champagne, then present opening, then a big dinner. We left that celebration at around 2:15 and started opening presents at my host family´s house at 2:30 am. Everyone got a pretty good haul! Then we fell into bed around 3:30 or so. Christmas itself was more laid back. We all woke up late, ordered Chinese food, relaxed and watched movies.
I should probably also rewind to the weekend before Christmas. A friend of Alejandro´s was in town visiting from Colombia with his wife, and last weekend was their last chance to do touristy stuff. On a very spur of the moment decision, we all decided to take an overnight trip to a town 3 hours away called Baños. They have tons of things to do there, like hikes, hot springs, steam rooms, off-roading, etc. Baños also happens to be located right near an active volcano called Tungurahua. Anyhoozie, we arrived in Baños in the early afternoon. Hostals and food there were super cheap!! We ate a nice lunch at a French restaurant. After that, we hopped on some 4-wheelers to go offroading. We rode up the side of Tungurahua and got to see the path where the lava flowed in the last eruption. When we made it to the end of the trail to see the old lava flow, we saw a huge cloud of black smoke. Then, when we were driving down the mountain and had stopped to take some more pictures of the landscape, we heard booming noises, kind of like thunder but not quite as loud, coupled with another big cloud of black smoke. Very impressive! Luckily enough, no eruptions. We definitely didn´t realize that the volcano was going to be that active when we decided to visit Baños. What was even more surprising/nervewracking after the fact was that when we returned to Quito and read the newspaper that day, it said that Tungurahua was having higher than normal volcanic activity and that while we were busy cavorting on the volcano, a couple of the small towns closer to the eruption path had been evacuated. Yikes! Kind of thrilling, though, and makes for a good story. And I have to admit, I think that hearing the volcano was probably my favorite part of the trip.
After our excursion, we crashed at the hostal for awhile, then did some exploring in town, which wasn´t a very big place but was very picturesque. Then we had some cheap but excellent Mexican food. Finally to cap off the night, we drove up the mountain in a chiva, in which we got to ride on the roof again. We reached a lookout point where we had an aerial view of the whole town. The chiva company served us hot drinks, called canelazo, which is sweet and made from a fruit called naranjilla (similar to an orange) and cinnamon. There was also a place where we could buy grilled corn on the cob and kebabs. Finally, there was a big bonfire and jugglers that performed their acts with fire.
The next morning, we ate breakfast at a German restaurant and I satisfied my craving for pancakes (we certainly were very multicultural with our restaurant choices, and they were all cheap and fabulous!). To end our trip, we walked around the town and its 2 plazas a little bit more, took pictures, and then rolled on out of there. All in all, it was a short but really fun trip! It was nice to get outside of Quito for a little while, and the countryside while we were driving to and from Baños was gorgeous with all the mountains, clouds, and little towns.
Right now everyone is relaxing in the downtime between Christmas and New Years. I can´t believe it´s almost time to welcome in 2008! At any rate, I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful holiday and has an excellent New Year!
I should probably also rewind to the weekend before Christmas. A friend of Alejandro´s was in town visiting from Colombia with his wife, and last weekend was their last chance to do touristy stuff. On a very spur of the moment decision, we all decided to take an overnight trip to a town 3 hours away called Baños. They have tons of things to do there, like hikes, hot springs, steam rooms, off-roading, etc. Baños also happens to be located right near an active volcano called Tungurahua. Anyhoozie, we arrived in Baños in the early afternoon. Hostals and food there were super cheap!! We ate a nice lunch at a French restaurant. After that, we hopped on some 4-wheelers to go offroading. We rode up the side of Tungurahua and got to see the path where the lava flowed in the last eruption. When we made it to the end of the trail to see the old lava flow, we saw a huge cloud of black smoke. Then, when we were driving down the mountain and had stopped to take some more pictures of the landscape, we heard booming noises, kind of like thunder but not quite as loud, coupled with another big cloud of black smoke. Very impressive! Luckily enough, no eruptions. We definitely didn´t realize that the volcano was going to be that active when we decided to visit Baños. What was even more surprising/nervewracking after the fact was that when we returned to Quito and read the newspaper that day, it said that Tungurahua was having higher than normal volcanic activity and that while we were busy cavorting on the volcano, a couple of the small towns closer to the eruption path had been evacuated. Yikes! Kind of thrilling, though, and makes for a good story. And I have to admit, I think that hearing the volcano was probably my favorite part of the trip.
After our excursion, we crashed at the hostal for awhile, then did some exploring in town, which wasn´t a very big place but was very picturesque. Then we had some cheap but excellent Mexican food. Finally to cap off the night, we drove up the mountain in a chiva, in which we got to ride on the roof again. We reached a lookout point where we had an aerial view of the whole town. The chiva company served us hot drinks, called canelazo, which is sweet and made from a fruit called naranjilla (similar to an orange) and cinnamon. There was also a place where we could buy grilled corn on the cob and kebabs. Finally, there was a big bonfire and jugglers that performed their acts with fire.
The next morning, we ate breakfast at a German restaurant and I satisfied my craving for pancakes (we certainly were very multicultural with our restaurant choices, and they were all cheap and fabulous!). To end our trip, we walked around the town and its 2 plazas a little bit more, took pictures, and then rolled on out of there. All in all, it was a short but really fun trip! It was nice to get outside of Quito for a little while, and the countryside while we were driving to and from Baños was gorgeous with all the mountains, clouds, and little towns.
Right now everyone is relaxing in the downtime between Christmas and New Years. I can´t believe it´s almost time to welcome in 2008! At any rate, I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful holiday and has an excellent New Year!
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