We tooled around for a bit, and saw some guinea pig roasting on a pit in the street. Although I would like to try it while i'm here, I certainly would rather have it in an upscale restaurant and pay extra, than eat it off the street.
Since we were on our own for dinner, I was nervous about where to eat. Luckily I brought my trusty Lonely Planet (i swear a lot of americans just don't think about bringing a guide book to a foreign land...weird). We found a delishhhh place called "casa hood" that was pretty americanized, with the menu in dual languages. I had fajitas, but it only came with one fajita thing but all the insides were so good i ate it like a salad anyway. I also stocked up on postcards bc they only cost $25! I thought it was funny that the bathrooms had a beautifully painted sign, especially because the name of the town is the same name for bathroom.
Well, I know it's only a bathroom but it had some funny stuff in there. There was a notepad to write comments about the restaurant, with a box to put them in. The rod to hold the towel was what's that thing called-essentially it's a horse on a stick and you can ride it when you're little? And the handle of the door was a banana. So I obviously, shamelessly took pictures-go on the website to check em out, I already have too many pics in my blogs!
We roamed about, found a market, and I bought some awesome bracelets where this woman would etch a name into the stone. I love it! I probably should spend less money, but nahhh I don't think I will. I want to have stuff to keep for the rest of my life! So I'm gonna spend away, I worked hard to make it here!
We kept checking out the town, and window shopping, and we saw wayyyyy high up in the air a lit up cross. It was weird because it had to be on top of a mountain, but it seemed as if it was literally right above the next street. We didn't know what it was, but thought it was interesting...
Anyway, we ran into some Ecuadorians who said they rented a chiva, which is the Ecua version of a party bus.
They make some that are just open truck like cars with lots of rows of seats-like what you ride in Disney world or other places to and from parks or parking lots. Well, we got one that had a dance floor in the back. We listened to American and Spanish jams the whole ride, and at the top we would have had a gorgeous view of the town had it been daytime.
Ok so remember that cross way in the distance? That's where the Chiva took us! It was so cool to have the mystery solved and be that high up! I enjoyed a canalazo-delish drink that you get after rides that might make you "chilly" here, and chatted with some Ecuadorians! One girl, Melisa, was asking me about my service so it was nice to talk about that with her. We took a bunch of pictures, but it was so misty and cloudy-oh well. We also did a little dancing in the parking lot before heading back on the crazy road.
The Chiva dropped us off outside a DiscoTech-it is as it sounds, only a lot sweatier. Admission was free because of our Chiva ride, so even though we wanted to wake up early the next day to see waterfalls, you only live once! We headed in, and danced with some girls from the class. It was SO HOT and SO CROWDED. I mean dances/parties are hot, and Ecuador is hot but the two together made me feel like I was in a swimming pool. It was fun, and of course the first song we heard as we ran in was "tonight's gonna be a good night" which is almost always playing somewhere here.
We left and headed back, actually running into a bunch of other people who had left at the same time we had! Luckyyyy. While some wanted to dance/drink the night away, the girls in my hostal room wanted to head back and sleep, so we did.
I'll explain my awesome morning/afternoon in a separate blog, I think it makes more sense to just talk about the town of Baños all at once...
The next day of this weekend we had some time after we returned, and before we had to catch the bus. We walked around a bit, enjoying the little parks in the town. I found some more post cards, took pictures of some cool stuff. I found a restaurant named after me! Which is interesting because not a lot of places/things/people spell it the way I do
We roamed about, found a market, and I bought some awesome bracelets where this woman would etch a name into the stone. I love it! I probably should spend less money, but nahhh I don't think I will. I want to have stuff to keep for the rest of my life! So I'm gonna spend away, I worked hard to make it here!
We kept checking out the town, and window shopping, and we saw wayyyyy high up in the air a lit up cross. It was weird because it had to be on top of a mountain, but it seemed as if it was literally right above the next street. We didn't know what it was, but thought it was interesting...
Anyway, we ran into some Ecuadorians who said they rented a chiva, which is the Ecua version of a party bus.
They make some that are just open truck like cars with lots of rows of seats-like what you ride in Disney world or other places to and from parks or parking lots. Well, we got one that had a dance floor in the back. We listened to American and Spanish jams the whole ride, and at the top we would have had a gorgeous view of the town had it been daytime.
Ok so remember that cross way in the distance? That's where the Chiva took us! It was so cool to have the mystery solved and be that high up! I enjoyed a canalazo-delish drink that you get after rides that might make you "chilly" here, and chatted with some Ecuadorians! One girl, Melisa, was asking me about my service so it was nice to talk about that with her. We took a bunch of pictures, but it was so misty and cloudy-oh well. We also did a little dancing in the parking lot before heading back on the crazy road.
The Chiva dropped us off outside a DiscoTech-it is as it sounds, only a lot sweatier. Admission was free because of our Chiva ride, so even though we wanted to wake up early the next day to see waterfalls, you only live once! We headed in, and danced with some girls from the class. It was SO HOT and SO CROWDED. I mean dances/parties are hot, and Ecuador is hot but the two together made me feel like I was in a swimming pool. It was fun, and of course the first song we heard as we ran in was "tonight's gonna be a good night" which is almost always playing somewhere here.
We left and headed back, actually running into a bunch of other people who had left at the same time we had! Luckyyyy. While some wanted to dance/drink the night away, the girls in my hostal room wanted to head back and sleep, so we did.
I'll explain my awesome morning/afternoon in a separate blog, I think it makes more sense to just talk about the town of Baños all at once...
The next day of this weekend we had some time after we returned, and before we had to catch the bus. We walked around a bit, enjoying the little parks in the town. I found some more post cards, took pictures of some cool stuff. I found a restaurant named after me! Which is interesting because not a lot of places/things/people spell it the way I do
Closer to the bus station, there were lines and lines of shops that all sold the same stuff: a plant to chew, some snacks and treats, and LOTS OF TAFFY. also known as Melcocha. We bought the taffy from the first picture, but I think it's crazy that there were literally 20 stores that looked exactly the same (second picture)
They were stretching it while we were there! so of course i tasted some delish, warm taffy and it was delightful. I was going to save it forever, but someone said this kind loses its flavor in 2 weeks :( It definitely was NOT as good a week or so after, especially because it wasn't fresh off the maker's work station.
I found this picture, and I just like it a lot.
Well, Baños was lovely-very small town, oh you know how some towns have decorations in the street for Christmas or parades or what not? like hanging over the street from the lights? well, Baños has giant pictures of Jesus and huge Rosary Beads.
This is where Ecuador gets its power from-the Hydroelectricity in Baños. look to the left-the water was so dirty it reminded me of the Willy Wonka's Chocolate River.
Well, Baños was lovely-very small town, oh you know how some towns have decorations in the street for Christmas or parades or what not? like hanging over the street from the lights? well, Baños has giant pictures of Jesus and huge Rosary Beads.
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