Ecuador: Saturday in Baños

Saturday.

The weekend.

Clinic and project officially ended Friday. Saturday was our last day as a Medlife group. The bus would leave at 7 or 8 that night to take us back to Quito. But not before going on one last noteworthy tour.

We woke late that morning (slept in til 7!). Since we had to leave that night, Medlife told us to pack up our belongings and bring them down to the lobby after/before breakfast; we wouldn't be coming back to the hotel. I shoved all my stuff in my suitcase and went downstairs to eat.

While we ate, I told Eddie, Keon, and Pete about the place we went to yesterday near the church that offered a great view of Riobamba. It was another picturesque day and they wanted me to take them back to that place so they, too, could capture the beauty.

I led the trot over to the park. We had to hurry somewhat for the bus was to leave soon. I had already started to sweat by the time we got there -- shaping up to be another hawt one. Keon, Eddie, and Pete took some pictures with their cameras from the platform, then Pete, Eddie, and I posed for a roommates photo. It turned out spectacularly well.

Credit Keon for framing this one. 

It was almost past 8 by then (I think the bus was supposed to leave at 8 -- or was it 8:30?), so we jogged back. It felt good to use my legs but I could have done without the morning pool of sweat that drenched my back. 

We made it back in time, for of course Medlife was running late. During our wait, we (Manjinder, Keon, Eddie, and I) started talking about jokes and Keon told a hilarious one. That talk, in turn, went back to riddles, as conversation often did that week (the Harvard crew posed a new riddle just about each day for all of us to solve. Manji had even created his own riddle, which he told me that morning. Manji is boss.)

A few minutes of lollygagging and off we went toward an unknown destination, at least, unknown to me. Some of the students had murmured that we would be heading for a place where one could bungee jump off of a bridge, a tantalizing prospect that I wanted to believe. No one knew for sure, but the ride to wherever was quite scenic. 

Pete, Eddie, and I sat by each other and told each other more jokes. I had no jokes to tell, sadly, just listened and scoffed and laughed.

Another rumor started spreading that we were to see a mountain waterfall that day. I liked that idea. I've always found waterfalls to be captivating. (Bungee jumping and waterfalls? Yes please!) This rumor was a little easier to believe, too; as we drove on, we kept passing over or driving alongside roaring rivers and swift streams.

Case in point. Taken by Andres.

It took about 3 hours to reach our destination -- the tourist town of Baños (Spanish for bath or bathtub or swim). Road signs advertising nearby falls confirmed that rumor. We drove navigated past the town proper where our road tunneled through the mountains. Very cool. 30 minutes later we stopped and unloaded, most of the students heading straight for the nearest bathroom.

A small hub of souvenir shops provided entry to the trail that led to the waterfall. We looked at the various goods on display, but I didn't even think of buying anything. By that time, I had something like $15 left of cash -- dangerously low.

At that point I was already feeling hungry, but ignored it. I didn't know when we would be fed but I couldn't afford a premature/unnecessarily purchased meal. We perused the shops until the line to the bathroom had ceased, at which point the Medlife staff directed us to the waterfall path. 

Literal Translation: "Welcome to the best tourist center of Ecuador -- Whirlpool crack to the sky." I'm not sure what it actually means, the latter portion anyway.

Our path. Once again stolen from Andres, God bless his shutterbug soul.

The actual name of the falls was Pailón del Diablo or "Whirlpool of the Devil." Intimidating. It was quite the hike to reach the official ticket entrance that allowed access to the falls, then another steep and moist climb up glistening stone steps before the trees cleared and the path opened to a two-story balcony beneath the falls. I caught my first glimpse of Pailón del Diablo and found it hard to look away. 

The torrential, vehement stream spewed out of the mountain unceasingly, its raging white water seeming to outrun gravity to the foaming, swirling basin below. Don't picture Niagra; Pailón del Diablo was about 1/1000th the size but followed Bernoulli's immortalized principle to a T: the smaller the area, the faster a fluid flows through that area, and, baby, did it flow fast. Scary fast. Mesmerizing speed. I imagined myself under the full force of its immense power and had to cringe. I wouldn't stand a chance. Michael Phelps wouldn't stand a chance.

We took some pictures from the upper balcony.

The falls.

The basin + lower balcony. Taken by Andres.

If you look at that first picture closely, you can see a group of people higher up on another stone balcony. If you look even more closely, you can see the hint of a tunnel from which those onlookers came out of. Indeed to gain access to that vantage, one had to literally crawl through a series of dank, rocky tunnels. I took video but not pictures -- I left that to Andres.

Manji said he felt a lot like Gollum. An accurate assessment.

We crawled and squeezed our way through, finally reaching a staircase that emerged onto that other stone ledge. The falls were much closer here; if one so desired, one could reach out and touch them. Manji dared...

...sort of.

Another staircase led to a small tunnel that allowed one to go behind the falls. A group of us went back there, getting soaked in the process. All in good fun. I took a buttload of pictures.

Left to Right: Me, Austin, Derek, and Manjinder, with just a hint of Pailón del Diablo.

Precious.

Really cool one taken by Stew, showing the two balconies and resultant stream below.

The group after we went behind the falls. Amalia and Andres were calling for me to join...

...so I did. Note that the speed of the falls turns it into a white haze.

Ryan and I. This is what he was awestruck by in that (hilarious) photo in the last post. Ishaan took this one.

Harvard Medlife co-presidents, Michael and Stewart. 

Ishaan and I, taken by Ryan.

                        

Preston, Eddie, and I.

Waterfall Selfy. I'm no good at these.

Once we had had our fill, we crawled back down to the main path. The Medlife staff showed us a bridge we could cross that offered a more zoomed out view of the falls. We crossed the bridge. Some people thought it would be funny to shake the bridge back and forth with us on it. It wasn't. Nobody fell, thankfully. 

On the other side of the bridge we took more pictures. 

The bridge and falls. Taken by Ishaan.

Bros pic.

"When the sun comes out, so too shall the guns." --Brocrates.

Alas, the time had come to return to the bus. Smiles on our faces and moisture saturating our hair, we tread that jungle path once more. The trek back felt a lot longer than it had on our way there. I walked with Austin, Derek, and Preston and we talked of gaming, swimming, and water -- I had amassed an incredible thirst by then, overshadowed my hunger.

We found a vendor that sold cold bottles of water. I bought one, guzzled down its contents and sat with Mayumi and Austin, talking of the exotic places we (Mayumi) had traveled. 

I want to say it was about 2:30 then. Luis took us back through the mountains and dropped us off in central Baños. The Medlife staff told us we had until 5 pm to eat and explore before we made one final bus ride to Quito.

All of us were starving. Fortunately, Baños was littered with places to eat. We split into small groups so as not to overwhelm one restaurant. Ishaan, Mayumi, Keon, Pete, Eddie, and I walked up and down the crowded streets until we came across a small café with a large menu, complete with a plethora of vegetarian options (Ishaan and Keon are both vegetarians).

I ordered a sizable sandwich and some pineapple crepes for $5 (even the tourist towns were cheap!). We all ate happily and enjoyed a healthy, non-stop conversation.

We cleaned our plates (well, I finished off Mayumi's for her), paid the owner/waiter and wandered about the cobbled streets of Baños.

Throngs of people -- some American, some European, some Asian, others Hispanic -- cluttered the sidewalks, investigating shops, munching on meals, admiring street performers, and licking at cones of gelato ice cream. Baños really was a beautiful town -- colorful, vibrant, tacky but not overly so, clean, and friendly.

Eventually our crew stumbled upon a park near a church. Various trees towered above us. Blooming flowers lined the walkways. A waterless fountain sat in the center, looking depressed.  Mist had settled over it all, blurring the sights ever so slightly. The halves of two gnarly trees jutted from the ground and supported a small bridge of sorts with their twisted limbs, like the talons of some monstrous bird grasping a branch. Ishaan's pictures will do better to describe the scene than my words.

Said bridge.

D'aww... Seriously though, I really like this picture. Shoutout to that Ecuadorian dude who took it for us.

We continued our exploration, spotting all sorts of interesting sights. Take a look:

We couldn't figure out what was being depicted in that left painting. Some sort of psychedelic Jesus, we thought. Also note the clear ripoff of the Stones' logo in the "Jack Rock Café" (probably stolen from "Hard Rock Café").

This is guinea pig -- an Ecuadorian specialty. Eddie bought a hind leg and I tried some. Not bad. Like a slimier, juicier, chewier version of turkey.

Street performer acting as a golden statue. Austin debates some merchandise in the background.

This was a kind of taffy that I ended up trying. Smart move. Fran took this one; not sure why I didn't take one of it. 

The products of the taffy. Mmmm...my taste buds can remember it like it was last night.

Another majestic church, captured by Ishaan.

Close up of it.

I snapped this one. Cool clock tower.

Photogenic foliage (that would make a good band name).

Five o'clock rolled around and we loitered at our meeting place as the other kids trickled in. We made our way to the bus. I was pretty tired but didn't sleep. Tiffany and I traded songs again on our iPods. She successfully reawakened my teenage passion for skater-rock bands like Taking Back Sunday, All Time Low, and Fallout Boy. We stopped swapping after awhile and I, once again, listened to Modern Vampires of the City as I reflected on an amazing trip that neared its end.

The drive to Quito seemed to go on for hours. Pete and I sat in contemplative silence, leaving each other to our pondering. Ishaan slept in front of me in positions that I had previously thought humanly impossible. Most everyone slept on that ride. 

3.5 (though I could've sworn it was 10) hours later, Luis pulled us over and let us out a few blocks away from the hotel we all would stay at. I was near the front of the bus and followed Luis out. He started unloading everyone's luggage and I decided to help him. I couldn't believe how heavy and cumbersome some of the bags were (oddly enough, Preston's was the heaviest. Maybe he had brought a set dumbbells with him...). 

We hauled our stuff to the hotel and sat in the lobby while Medlife Martha assigned us each rooms in turn. She also marked down when our flights would be leaving for home on Sunday and scheduled an appropriate time for a shuttle to come pick us up and take us to the airport.

Our room was on the second floor (which was really the third, they didn't count the main floor as Floor 1). Pete, Eddie, and I climbed the stairs and settled in. The room was comparable to the one in Riobamba, slightly bigger/nicer bathroom. 

I went back downstairs and helped the girls (and some of the guys) to carry their luggage up the stairs. Once the lobby was empty, Eddie, Pete, and I went with Michelle and Tiffany to a nearby KFC we had spotted on the way in. That marked the first time I had eaten KFC in over 6 years. It was the only place open by then, though, so my stomach didn't have much say in the matter.

After a greasy meal, 'twas time for one final round of Mafia. I was finally a townsperson but was still killed off pretty early. 

The fact that I didn't have Facebook upset a lot of people there, so instead of playing Mafia with us, Austin and Andres started creating a profile for me. I stopped them after I had been killed and reactivated my old profile (hence why I'm back on there, if any of you noticed). 

The game lasted a long while. I think the townspeople ended up winning. Austin had to leave at 2 am that evening/morning, but before he left, I made sure to take some...intimate pictures with him. 

I told him to give me his best "I'm about to kiss you passionately" face.
It took a while for him to control his laughter. The result was stellar, imo. 

Serious one. Austin's a real solid dude. Miss that guy.

Michael posed that we all go down to the lobby to take some final group photos while the group was still whole (though it still wasn't -- Ryan became sick that day and sadly lay in bed as we took pictures). 

Each of us non-Harvard guys got a steamy pic with the Harvard ladies, starting with Eddie (naturally).

Pete's turn.

Seth.

The dudes.

The whole crew. Ah...nostalgia, my old friend...

After taking dozens of pics, Michael ushered us back to the Mafia room where we assumed our previous positions. He asked us each to pick a favorite moment from the trip and explain it to the others. Sentiments flew, tears trickled, noses sniffled, "d'awws" were sighed. We shared secrets, laughs, hugs, and memories. It was pretty special.

Time came for Austin to leave, though. We sent him off with a massive group hug.

Somber and slightly dejected as a result of thorough exhaustion, I went to bed. For Sunday, Michael had arranged for us all to go the Ecuador early in the morning. Not much sleep was to be had that night.

I didn't mind.

End of Saturday.