Yo soy Jose...
I guess I did anger the travel gods because my camera was run over by a car. More on that later…
We met our tour group at Q restaurant for free coffee and decided to pass on the $9 breakfast. We jumped in a decent van for an hour ride to Papa Gayo, very nice hotel run by Israelis (and they have 3 puppies!). We then jumped into a 4x4 with our tour guide and 4 others to Cotopaxi (a hibernating volcano) to begin our mountain biking adventure. On the way we crossed a crazy river (yes river not stream) sans bridge. I first thought there was no way we were going to cross it, but apparently a little water like that ain’t no thang. We stopped at a museum for a quick info session, drank some Coca Tea, and bought some Coca candy to aid with any potential altitude sickness (and just to try this stuff of course). Alas, I didn’t receive a buzz because there are no narcotics in it(major disappointment) but the tea was really tasty- I would drink it normally even knowing there was no buzz. We jumped back into the truck and drove to the parking lot a bit up the volcano and started the clime (hiking not biking).
It was really cold and raining and windy, and when I say really cold, I mean I was freezing my ass off and I was getting really wet with the raining hitting me sideways. We started walking up the volcano taking our time. At this altitude there’s no need to rush. The wind was blowing really hard so we took the path between two mountains to shield us from the wind. The weather wasn’t too bad at this point, or I was ready to pass out and I couldn’t feel pain anymore. It was really steep and I had to stop to catch my breath from the high altitude. We were walking on volcanic soil and snow, it wasn’t compacted, so there was some slipping. Overall it was pretty exciting to be hiking at high altitude on a volcano. Andy was first of course to reach our destination and I was second. Our destination was the Refugio Jose F Ribassj, altitude 4,810M= 15,875 ft.
My excitement for reaching the top and taking pictures only lasted a couple minutes until the wet coldness set in. I was so happy to head for the building for warmth, but of course it was not heated. Andy gave me his down jacket since he always over packs because I apparently don’t understand how to pack for myself. You would think by now I would realize I’m always cold?! We eventually had some hot chocolate and soup made which made everything OK. Everyone was freezing and Andy had a damn t-shirt on, he was steaming. WTF? Lunch consisted of soup, Doritos, Ruffles, guac (it was really good), bread and queso. I was so hungry the meal was delicious. We headed back down the hill- so much easier than walking up. The way down started off warmish, then it turned into cold rain once again. Everyone else chickened out because of the horrible weather. Andy and I were the only ones to ride the bikes down the mountain. Even the guide couldn’t believe we were actually going to volunteer to be in this weather. It was so damn cold and the bikes were shit. It was a one size fits all type deal, brakes didn’t work, no suspension- it made the ride that much more difficult. The first hill was very steep with many ruts. The brakes hardly worked so I went fast and though I was going to crash. As we descended the weather got better and I was actually quite warm- maybe the three jackets was overload? We stopped along the way to take some pictures of us riding the bikes and the amazing scenery. Plants and flowers at the bottom of the volcano were so beautiful. We had to bike for a couple miles which seemed like 20 as I was sweating my ass off and my pants kept getting caught in the spokes. We finally made it to the lake where we were meeting the group, then I realized I lost my camera. We quickly jumped back in the truck and found it but it was run over. It appears to still work but the screen is broken. I seriously need to stop messing with the travel gods. On the way back the 4x4 truck we were in started swaying side to side. The sway started off slow, then it got harder and harder until we almost flipped over. We have no idea why the driver didn’t slow down or have a concern that he was going to flip the damn thing. We started saying slow down, slow down! What's with the lack of concern of flipping the car?
We went back to Papa Gayo and ate some german chocolate cake with lemon tea. I called Efrain’s (Tom Brown’s sister’s husband) fellow travel agency friend to book the Amazon trip he so graciously hooked us up with. The tour dropped us off back to the Marscal (the last time we’re hopefully here) and had coffee with our new friends Tom and Marcio from Israel. Tom was just finishing up an 8 month tour of South America and his dad came down to meet up with him to go to the Galapagos (unfortunately they aren’t on the same boat as us). They told us about a hotel in the Old Town with warm water (we were 1 for 3 so far with warm showers) and wi-fi so we decided to stay there. Maria’s travel agency (Jungal Tour) was close so we walked over, braving the dangers of the Marscal. She was amazing, so friendly not to mention she was coming in on her day off, and we booked a trip to the Amazon. We booked a three night/day trip from Lago Agrio down to the Amazon! I’ve been wanting to go to the Amazon since I did a project on it in 5th grade. I even remember my closing statement: yes the Amazon can survive the modern man, but only if we stop the deforestation now. How come I can remember that but I can’t remember what happened last week?
Finally we left for the hotel in a cab and ready for dinner. The electric connectors came off a bus on a narrow street we were on so we were stuck in a cab for a bit. When we were sitting in the cab, a strange dude started walking up to Andy’s side of the cab. Any and the driver saw him, and the driver immediately told us to lock our doors. So we can even get mugged in a damn cab? Everyone on the buses around us got off and started walking. Figuring we were going to be here for a while, we decided to get out and walk with everyone else although the cabbie told us it was a little dangerous. Yes we are two gringos with large backpacks on, but we’re walking with a large crowd of people, safety in numbers? We walked around for a bit because the hotel’s map was wrong. I was nervous that we looked like we didn’t know where we were going (because we didn’t), but it didn’t really matter since we were obviously not locals. We finally found the damn hotel (not on the street the map showed). We gave Marcio his jacket back that he left behind during coffee and he asked us to dinner. We really enjoyed spending time with them so we were happy to. We took a much needed shower and met up with them for dinner. We walked (yes walked) to the square (beautiful at night) where we previously saw a protest the other day. We went to dinner at the same building we ate lunch the first day. It was a good thing we were there before because it was the only thing open. You would have never guessed it was there since you had to walk through a door and down a hall to reach the courtyard within the building. We talked about Americans, how all Israel’s have to serve in the military, travelling, and politics. Marcio asked us to stay in Israel with him and his family sometime. Guess we’re going to Israel! We told him we’re not the kind of people to pass on this opportunity and he was happy to see that we are serious. The four of us walked back to the hotel, braving the danger. I honestly wouldn’t have walked back if Tom and Marcio weren’t with us, but we probably wouldn’t have had a choice since there were no cab around and the hotel was only a couple blocks away. Tom had made me a little more nervous since he said he was a bit nervous earlier from some shady individuals.
We were exhausted and ready for bed. We packed for our early flight, brushed our dirty volcano shoes, and jumped into bed for our 530 alarm. Then the local alcoholic started yelling ‘yo soy Jose Ar….’ over and over again. How long could he go on? A very long time. Needless to say it took us a while to go to sleep, then I woke up at 3 from some screaming. We’re out of this joint in the morning and heading for some warm weather- Galapagos bound. I’m not sure if I’m ready for sharks, but I have no choice at this point. I’ll be offline until the 6th- wish me luck!