Day 11: Naturally Hot and Cold and enjoying it.

At Sunday I wake up after a fine rest. I hadn’t slept so well in a while. Riwal had been going to the hot baths of the hotel already, but I decide to take it easy, sleep as long as I can and write some blogfood.
At about 9 we get to breakfast, which for me was a coffee, a juice and a cheese sandwich. Which is to say, a croissant baked into a croque monsigneur with Ecuadorian white cheese (which tastes like nothing really). After breakfast, we go to a waterfall not far away. When we get there, there is a man who charges a dollar a person, despite that we heard it would be free. He lets us go to decide later whether we pay, because we don’t exactly trust him. When we have enjoyed watching the waterfall we return to see our taxi has arrived as well. The man of before is talking to the driver and it seems alright. We enjoyed the place, so we pay him.

After that we are dropped off immediately at the Papallacta springs, a place with a number of hot pools of different temperatures, but also with some cold pools and a freezing river pool. Inside we meet Andrea and her mother, both from Quito and friends of Sarah. During the day, we visit several pools, alternate between hot and cold and enjoy the scenery. Meanwhile, the burning sun makes sure that my skin gets red at the end of the day, despite the bit of sun lotion I borrowed from Sarah.
In the complex we take a nice big lunch. Although again very little vegetarian on the menu, I get enough. Here again Sarah is offered a nice piece of pie and we all decide to take a desert as well. I took the fried ice cream (though not as good as Joep makes them). After the dinner, it has started to rain a bit and it’s much much colder. 4 of them take some more baths, while I take some pictures with Maggie and Mattieu.

At around 5.30 we pick up our stuff at the hotel and take the busses back to Quito again. A long ride, especially because we had to stand most of the way. Now back home, did my homework for tomorrow and tired. Sleep will come soon I hope.

Day 10: 1 May

The next morning I’m waiting in front of Kallari, waiting for Riwal and Sarah. Together we take a couple of busses to Papallacta – the hot springs. The journey takes almost 3 hours and when we get to hotel Pampa Llacta, we eat something, put our stuff on our beds and take a camionetta to a nature reserve closeby (cayambe-coca). The weather is not very good, but we keep going, putting my umbrella up and down all the way. Along the way, we encounter a deer (dama?) that was not at all afraid at all. We could approach up to 2-3 meters.
When we leave the path one more time later on to climb alongside a waterfall, we get cold and wet and the weather gets even worse. We decide to go back to the hostel to try out the natural hot baths. Along the way, Sarah makes a big smack to the ground, which made me regret not taking my medpack from Quito. Luckily she had her own alcohol-spray to clean the wound on her hand.
About an hour later we are enjoying the hot baths at the hotel with two other French friends who had arrived in the mean time: Maggie and Mattieu. Afterwards we drink something and eat something in the hotel, play some pool. Because Sarah has her birthday on Sunday, we are offered a cake (baked with plantain, a bit odd) and a warm alcoholic drink of which I already have forgotten the name. And despite the amount of French talk at the table, and the mediocre food at the hotel, I’m having a great time!

Night of day 9: 30 April

In the morning, before going to classes, I get a text message from Mariela that I she has no time to meet today, maybe some other day. I sms back later that it’s no problem, that she should call me if she still want to go out tonight. While I’m buying chocolate at Kallari later that day, Mariela is sitting there doing her math homework. We talk a bit about going out to dance. She says I should only go with a smile and some nice dance moves, but she’ll teach me something. And oh, did she say I should pay for the girls’ drinks (hers and her friends)? Later I find out that it’s custom to pay for the drinks of the girl you are taking out, not for her friends In the end, I just paid one cuba libre for one of her friends, fresco.

Around half past 7 I get a phone call from Mariela, saying her friends can’t make it and if we could meet earlier. Half of the phone call I don’t get, because the line is bad and Spanish on the phone is even more difficult than live. I put my homework down and get ready. We meet each other in front of a cybercafé. After trying to reach her friends (perhaps they will come after all) we walk with her arm holding mine (no idea if that’s custom as well) to another, more quiet, café. The streets are already filled with people drinking, drunk and partying.
In the café we talk a bit and order a drink. We talk about our countries, customs, ex’s, families, etc. When it appears her friends are going to join, we go to pick them up. M. is waiting right on the corner on the street. For E. we have to walk a bit further down Av. Rio Amazonas. Now 4, we go back to the cybercafé and find R. and another guy waiting for us. With the whole group we start looking for a place to drink and dance. Right when we want to enter a place, I get a phone call from Riwal and his friends that they are also waiting at the cybercafé (because I text him earlier about going out). We quickly go in to reserve a table and Mariela and I go pick them up. Riwal and Sarah are the two with whom I will go to Papallacta the next morning. They also brought another girl.
With the whole big group we drink, dance and the Ecuadorians sing along with the songs of the band. And although my dancing is crappy like a Dutchman, Mariela dances with me anyway and tries to teach me a little. For the first time, surrounded by new friends, I feel at home in Ecuador.

About a half hour after the French party leaves, we decide it is time to go home too, since we all need to get up quite early. Outside, Mariela helps me pick a taxi. I give her a kiss on the cheek and we promise to call after the weekend. Then the taxi drives me to the hotel.