Wow what a weekend. On Friday night we headed down to "gringolandia" for a night out on the town with the other people from Casa Vida Verde. First stop was Papaya Net (an internet cafe) which is on one of the two main strips in the new town. These streets run perpendicular to each other, with Papaya Net on one corner, and consist pretty much of restaurants, pubs, and bars. Not many cars drive down there because most people gather in the middle of the street and all of the patios are open (i.e. no fences). On an average Friday night there must be thousands of people in the streets and squares. Beer was cheap (a 2.5 litre jug for $5.00). We stayed at Papaya Net for a couple of pitchers with the others and then headed to a Salsatecha (salsa dance club), just around the corner. Unlike Canada, there was no cover, but there was smoking inside. Surprisingly, it wasn´t bothersome. An interesting thing about the bars here is that there is only one bathroom for everyone. We left early as we have yet to learn how to salsa.

Saturday we explored the indigenous market in the Mariscal Sucre area of the new town. Braden bought a man-purse and got ripped off in the process. But, it is made of leather and is good for trekking around with the camera. Afterwards, we headed back to the old town to explore some more. We found some 400 year old churches and old colonial Spanish mansions. Braden found the area really interesting because all of the buildings sit on perfectly carved huge Inca stones which the Spanish stole and built on top of with their poorly carved small stones. Maya looked at shoes and purses... of which there were many. While the buildings and squares were beautiful, we were both struck by the poverty in the area. Those the worst off all appeared to be Quechua (the idigenous tribe of Ecuador). Small children selling clothes pegs, shoe laces, cigarettes, and other random items were a common sight.

On Sunday, the real adventure of the weekend began. Earlier in the week, we had decided to head northwest of Quito (to the other side of the world - the equator) to see the Cloud forest. Leaving our house at 7, we made our way to the bus station. The main bus terminal in Quito is not somewhere you would like to hang out by yourself. Forty or fifty bus companies, all with small booths, yell out ticket prices, bus times, and destinations as you walk past. There are many people selling things and wandering around so you have to keep a close eye on your pockets and bags. After trying a couple booths, we found a bus passing through Nanegalito (our transfer point to the cloud forest). Two hour ride - tickets were 3 dollars for both. Got on the bus soon after and were quickly hassled by two young men who wanted us to switch seats and take care of our bags for us. After seeing we were unwilling to let go of our bags, they left, never to be seen again.

First lesson of the trip: no falling asleep on the bus. No, our bags were not stolen, but we did not make it to Nanegalito (at least not as quickly as we hoped). Soon after crossing the provincial border, we fell asleep. When we woke up, we were back in Quito. For some reason, yet to be discovered, our bus had turned around and was trying (with the help of many passengers and bystanders) to figure out an alternate route. Needless to say, our two hour bus ride quickly turned into a 3 hour one. However, the scenery was amazing as the whole trip was on a road cut into the side of a mountain. The people on the bus were very nice and tried to help us understand what was going on, but they all spoke too fast. The young girl sitting across the aisle from us laughed at Braden for the whole trip.

Upon our arrival in Nanegalito (which is essentially one road with a few restaurants and lots of people standing around, one of which was holding a giant machete), we hired a truck to drive us to the cloud forest. A 12 kilometre drive, on a road made of rocks and a bit of dirt, took us an hour (partially because of all the cows on the road).

The Cloud Forest was truely an amazing sight. However, what we thought was going to be a nice, leisurely nature walk turned into the toughest hike either of us has ever done. At the front desk, we borrowed gumboots and a paper map of the trails. Leaving our shoes behind, we donned our raincoats and bag, and headed towards the recommended trail (eduactional walk along trail A, followed by a walk along the stream to a waterfall, and then along the road back to the lodge). After the first 10 minutes, our trail quickly disintegrated into a muddy downhill slope, no more than two feet wide. As we navigated our way down the hill towards the stream, both of us slid several feet down the trail. Maya had a few nice falls. We should add that at this time, the rain started to come down in buckets and didn´t stop. After trekking downhill for about an hour, we reached the stream, where the path promptly disappeared. Apparently, what we were told was a walk along a stream, was actually a walk IN a stream, for what the sign said was 300m. What the sign failed to mention was that in spots, the stream was about 3 feet deep, with slippery rocks, and a swift current. About five minutes in, Maya´s boot sprung a leak.

After 20 minutes trekking upstream we reached the first of three waterfalls. Interestingly, there was no path alongside the waterfall. Rather, there was a small wooden ladder propped up against the rock directly beside the waterfall, followed by two 10 foot ropes to pull yourself up the rest of the way to the top. Sketchy? Liability? I think so. However, it was either scale the waterfall, or head back down the river and up the 45 minutes of mudslide from which we just came. Braden was very impressed with Maya´s agility and strength of character as she followed him up the waterfall.

At the top, we realized that the second rope was to belay ourselves down to a deep pool at the bottom of the second waterfall. We climbed up this waterfall using a downed tree. Unfortunately, Braden sunk to his knee in the pool and filled his boot with water. Another 10 minutes on the stream, 35 minutes up the mountain, and we were back on the road. Unfortunately, our map had disintegrated by this point and we took a wrong turn. Three kilometers down the road, and past numerous "danger" signs, we realized our mistake. Turning around, we hustled back to the lodge to meet our driver. Thankfully, our driver offered to take us all the way back to our hostel in Quito for only $40 (a 2.5 hour drive).

A cold shower, a load of laundry, some dinner and a cup of tea, and our day was complete. Back to school now for five more days, then off to Otavalo. However, we have been told that Baños (our next stop) is in some danger (amber warning) as there is an active volcano there that has been shooting up steam and ash. We are evaluating our plans to go there after Otavalo.

Off to find Maya a purse. Thinking of you all lots.

Lots of love,

Maya and Braden.

xoxo