Saturday, June 8, 2013

Manglaralto and Montañita: Pacific Coast

 We found a website, while we were in Panama, called HelpX.net.  It is a work exchange site, mostly for volunteer work in many different countries around the world.  Working for a place to stay, and possibly some meals would potentially help us reach our destination without spending all our money...

After joining the site, we found "Tagua Lodge" in Manglaralto, that was looking for a couple volunteers.  We exchanged emails with Luis a few times, and set up a time to come out to the coast and try it out.  Excited for the opportunity, and to have a place to stay for a bit, we booked it through a lot of Ecuador to get there.

Back on the Pacific again, the last time for us was in Santa Catalina, Panama...It's June, and it's very gloomy out, reminding me much of back home this time of year.  It's very comfortable temperature though, not too hot or humid, and not too cold.  We have been volunteering at a hostel for the past week, helping build on to two unfinished rooms.  Manglaralto is awesome.  It's small, very little vehicle traffic, and everyone is very friendly...The only downsides are, obnoxiously noisy loudspeakers placed several places in town, that are constantly blaring with a local man's voice, yelling out dollar amounts that families have donated...And, there are many people selling things via motorcycles and small trucks, also with loudspeakers, yelling out "Camaron," and "muy rico queso!"  It's a little ridiculous, but those aside, Manglaralto is just what we've been looking for.  It looks like we'll be helping out for another week or so, and looking forward to it...Luis and Cathy, the owners of the hostel, are super nice, and we couldn't ask for anything different.  It looks as if after we are done here, the road will lead us towards Peru...

Montañita on the other hand, is totally different.  It lies just 10 minutes north of Manglaralto...It is an interesting place.  Sort of reminds me of a mix of several places I know so well...Like a cross between Carpinteria, CA, and Dominical, Costa Rica.  Something like that...It's a beachside town, full of bars, cocktail carts, tourist memorabilia, and street food.  It costs $1.50 to take a cab from Manglaralto, and we've now been a few times, to eat and to check out a little of the night life.  Worth a visit, but not for everyone, especially if you're looking for some peace and quiet. 

"El Tigre," sells cocktails on the street right by the beach in Montañita


So far, we love Ecuador.  It's a mellower vibe than Colombia, while still having similarities.  Most things are cheap, especially if they're domestic...Anything imported costs three times what it is worth!  People here are friendly, and the weather, has been great.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Guayaquil: A night in Ecuador's biggest city

We left Baños after 4 nights there.  It rained almost the entire time, and it poured all night last night.  It was pretty cold, so we decided to add to our very beach oriented attire, and each bought local made Alpaca sweaters.  Kind of ironic because we will be spending some time at the beach for a bit...Oh well, they will definitely come in handy down the road when we visit more of the Andes.  Baños was great, apart from someone swiping Danica's camera in a local bar...Maybe Aguardiente and taking photos don't mix...We'd love to visit again, but now it's a night in Guayaquil, which is Ecuador's largest city.

We jumped on the bus this morning, and were told it was a direct bus to Guayaquil...An hour down the road, we stopped on the side of the road, and were told this is where we reconnect to Guayaquil.  The connecting bus was apparently already on its way, and our driver was in the middle of the road screaming at him to stop.  The bus kept going, and the driver of the previous one gave us our money back to catch the next one, which luckily came about 15 mins later right as it started to rain again.

About 8 hours later, (and two movies later), we arrived in Guayaquil, to a gigantic bus terminal station, right next to the international airport.  Just one mellow night here, search for a new digital camera, and we're off in the morning for the coast.  Maybe we'll visit more on the way towards Peru...



Monday, June 3, 2013

Baños, Ecuador

We took the bus from Quito to Baños on Monday evening.  It was only $3.50, and it took about 4 hours.  We arrived in Baños to be greeted by a little rain.  It was pretty damn cold.  We walked about 5 blocks from the bus stop to find our hostel Transilvania.  Everything in Baños is cheap.  We found a traditional Ecuadorian lunch for $2.50, which included a big bowl of chicken soup, a plate of rice, beans, chicken and salad, and a drink.  Baños is a touristy town, but is still the destination for Ecuadorians on their weekends, and vacation time.  It's small, and easy to walk around town.  The view from our hostel balcony included a waterfall in the not-so-far distance, and green mountains surrounding us.

On the bus, heading to Baños
The view from our hostel room at "Transylvania"


Saturday, June 1, 2013

Quito, Ecuador!

After getting to the bus station in Tulcan, we jumped on a bus, almost immediately headed for Quito.  Buses in Ecuador are roughly $1/hr. and Quito is about 5 hours from Tulcan, hence it was 5 bucks.  Very reasonable.  The bus ride was fine, other than a million stops along the way.  We found it kind of funny how many food vendors jumped on and off the bus within the 5 hour journey.  At one point, there were at least 6 or 7 people selling all kinds of different food, yelling out loud, "Pizza! Salchicha! Platano! Helado! Hamburgesa!" as loud as they could, fighting for business.  We finally made it to Quito at about 5:30pm, and jumped in a taxi across the city towards our hostel for the night.

So far, Ecuador seems amazing...






We spent two nights at Hotel Koala, which is really a hostel.  It was a nice place, with two kitchens, and a beautiful upstairs deck looking out over the city.  We barbequed the second night, on their small grill up on the deck, with some great local produce and pork chops from the store right down the street.  



We checked out of the hostel, and left our bags in their storage space, along with Agustina and Juan, the Argentinian couple we met, and together, we took the Teleferico up the mountain for an incredible view.  We really recommend it!

Volcan Pichincha up top

 


Ipiales: the church and the border crossing

Ipiales is Colombia's border town with Ecuador.  It's not much of a sight, as most border towns aren't...If you end up in Ipiales at a decent hour, I highly recommend taking the 10 minute cab ride to Santuario de Las Lajas.  It's an amazing cathedral spanning across an enormous gorge, with a river running below it.  The entrance is free, as it is a functioning Catholic church.  The cab only costs a few bucks from Ipiales, and you can leave your bags at the bus station.  We spent about an hour checking out the church, walking around the trails to all the different view points.

After finishing up at Las Lajas, we jumped back in another cab, which cost 4 bucks for the 2 of us, back to Ipiales (bus station).  We retrieved our bags, and jumped in another cab to the actual border crossing, which was 2 bucks a piece.  

Once at the crossing, we walked to the Colombian immigration office, got our exit stamps, and began walking across the bridge to the Ecuadorian office.  The process was very simple, didn't cost anything, and we were in another cab to the bus station in Tulcan in no time.


 


The border crossing