Ecuador!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to meet a friend in Ecuador for a long weekend.  It was exactly what I needed.  Even with only a week left of classes, I felt ready to pull my hair out...even it didn't fall out on its own due to stress...so a 4 day weekend traveling was amazing.

The trip didn't start off well:  Sitting in 2 hours of traffic to get to the airport, waiting in line for another hour to check-in, arriving at the gate to find that they were short 20 seats (including one for me!).  Short version of the story: I stayed the night in a hotel next to the airport, was given a seat in the first flight the next morning, and was given a free round-trip flight anywhere that Avianca flies.  I'll take it.

I arrived in Quito, Ecuador around 11 am and headed to my friend Haley's hotel to meet her and develop our plan for the weekend.  We had already tossed around some ideas via e-mail but I knew that no matter what we decided having Haley as a travel buddy means a guaranteed fun time.  We decided to leave Quito and take a 4-hour bus ride to Baños, a small town situated next to a rather active volcano.  Cool!

The roads in Ecuador (at least between Quito and Baños) were excellent and the trip was stunning.  Hills turned into mountains and as we approached Baños we could see the smoking volcano looming over everything.  Sadly the rest of the trip there were clouds around the crater, so this was our only view of the volcano. 

We spent two nights in Baños and then returned to Quito for one night there.

Highlights of the trip:
* Hostal Timara cost $8 per night and was clean, adorable, and had hot(ish) water.

Haley in our room at Hostal Timara

* The Chiva ride up to the vista to try and see the volcano at night.  This was actually a total bust but it was so hilarious that it ended up being fun.  Haley and I crammed into a bus with too many people, music blasting, and drove up to a vista where we could so NOTHING of the volcano because of the clouds.
*Delicious meals - super cheap - we're talking $5 tops per meal.   Breakfast was bread, butter, jam, coffee, fresh squeezed juice, eggs, avocado, tomato and potatoes.  Crazy wonderful.
*Conversations with Haley
*Souvenir shopping.  Again very low prices and we got to see people making Melcocha - a type of taffy - in their doorways.

Vendor making Melcocha

*A $20, hour-long facial at the spa.
*An early morning visit to the hot springs
*Hiking around Baños, trying to get a view of the volcano.  No luck, but beautiful views all the same.

With Haley at the Casa del Arbol - Photo courtesy of Haley

View from the Casa del Arbol

View of Baños from the bridge leaving the city

Canelazo - Photo courtesy of Haley

*Relaxing evening with Canelazo and dessert at Cafe Hood.  Again, great conversation.
*Quick self-guided walking tour of Quito.

Streetview of Quito

*Ceviche at a restaurant that was technically closed, but was willing to serve Haley and I anyway (probably because the could sense the double dose of mealtime aggression that we were experiencing!)

Ceviche - Photo courtesy of Haley

*Hot cup of tea with Haley on a balcony at our hostel that overlooked Quito - gorgeous!  And their were fireworks!

Overall, a great weekend!  And one step closer to visiting all the countries in South America. :)