Vamos a Baños

The second week of school is completed, and we are well into the third. All sections are about to start their first full units that will last about four to five weeks. The tenth graders are beginning to read Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen on Wednesday, and the twelfth graders are starting The Scarlet Letter a week from today. I’m anxious to see the student’s responses to these works that I’ve already read. I’m reading The Scarlet Letter along with the seniors, though for me it will be revisited. I will definitely be taking reflective notes on my outlook of the novel this time around and in this context. Other than the progression of the units, the kids are getting into the groove of the year and leaving behind the laxidasical attitude of the summer. We start college essays this week with the AP seniors; it’s easy to see the pressure of this task in their attitudes. I should also mention a loss that the Colegio Menor community suffered this past week. Alegria Peña, who worked in the human resources department and close with us new teachers, passed away on Tuesday morning. I was fortunate to have known her, and attended her funeral that day with a large amount of people whom she had touched. She will definitely be missed here at school and we are still mourning, but celebrating her life.

Thursday evening, Claire, Susan, and I decided that we would venture to Baños for the weekend. The town, which is named after the Agua Santa de Baños (holy water baths) and not "bathrooms", is situated in the mountains about a four hour bus ride from Quito. It had been a long week, and a weekend away from Quito sounded healing. The three of us left straight from school to the Terminal Terrestre in south Quito to catch a bus to Baños. We passed this beautiful mountain/volcano – I’m pretty sure it was either Cotopaxi or Cayambe. Not entirely sure which. On our way we heard from Athena who decided to meet us in Baños, and arrived about two hours after us!


The bus ride was long; we stopped often to pick up and drop off travelers who hailed down the bus. This added about an hour to our ride, and we were cranky about this frequent stoppage. After finally getting to Baños, we ate, met up with Athena, and searched up and down the streets for accommodations that were appropriately priced. We ended up finding a great hostel close to the popular bars and restaurants for an awesome price - $7.50/person per night with our own bathroom. A fantastic find! The four of us freshened up and went out to a local bar called The Leprechaun. Interesting for South America, no? Nevertheless, it was full of people and good music. We were some of the only gringas in this bar, and met a lot of people from around Ecuador. Baños is one of the most popular tourist towns for Ecuadorians themselves, so most people were passing through for the weekend as well. There was an outdoor patio/bar area with a bonfire in the middle – the fire made me feel home. We danced a little salsa among the American hits they blasted throughout the night. Afterward, a recommended hamburger stand was open for after-bar patrons, and we shared a few burgers between the four of us. Unfortunately, this was the moment in the night where my cell phone was stolen. A man we met, Dario, works for an outdoor adventure tour company in town and he danced with me during a salsa song or two. He was nice, but we didn’t want to hangout with him outside of the bar and bid him and his group goodnight after getting food. As we get back to the hostel, Athena’s phone rings, and it’s my number calling her. I look in my wristlet, and sure enough, my phone is gone. My wristlet had been open while I paid for my food, and he distracted me for a split second during this moment. He wanted us to come back down to the street, so we went down the four flights of stairs and to the hamburger stand. Dario was no where in sight, and from my phone he texted Athena saying they were already to the next town, saying we should meet him there. Since we all have common sense, we said no way, that was absolutely not happening – so goodbye phone. It was a damper to the weekend, but I felt, and still feel, incredibly fortunate that the phone was the only item he took from me. Money, my identification, and my camera were all possibilities he could have taken, and the phone is probably the easiest to replace out of everything. So all we could do was progress onward with our weekend getaway and adventures!

We slept in a little the next morning before getting breakfast at a great café in town. Our plan was to rent bikes and ride Puyo where a well-known waterfall, Pailon del Diablo, is located. Geotours rented out mediocre bikes for $5 a day, and $10 for the nicer, newer models. We economized with the five-dollar line (but don’t worry; they supply clients with a “restoration” kit with a new inner tube, patch kit, and air pump incase of any mishaps. Really? Like we would be able to actually fix a something if it broke. Anyways…) and we took off for the waterfalls.

This “path” to waterfalls is primarily along the main highway that all traffic uses to get in and out of Baños to the west. We feared for our lives only a few times – usually when we had to go through narrow tunnels with fast-approaching buses. We came upon a few waterfalls on our way to Puyo; a few had cable cars attached to each side of the valley that you could take for a scenic view. The four of us took one during a rest break.
The other girls weren’t happy about it once we started moving and freaked out slightly, and I ended up being the rational calm one. Interesting, no? This is an accurate portrayal of Susan’s feelings of the cable car and the overall environment of the entire ride across. It started raining on our way to the other side so that upped the level of anxiety about the cable car. But of course, we survived, and had to wait for about twenty minutes for the rain to calm down before we were able to continue our ride.



The scenery was breathtaking and absolutely unforgettable. It's hard to describe what feelings come over you as you're biking through the Andean mountains with your friends, surrounded by waterfalls and beautiful forestry. The landscapes seemed more dream-like than my reality in that moment.







We made it to Puyo and started the decent to the waterfall we had set out to see. Twenty minutes down through the trees and we were at the Basin of the Devil, or Pailon del Diablo. We took photos and admired the sheer intensity of this waterfall. It’s neat to think of this waterfall always pumping this much water, and how it has been for centuries.





The hike back up was less than pleasant since we were hungry by now and needed energy. We ate in Puyo, and took a camioneta (or pickup truck) back to Baños.
Of course, as we are just a block away from returning our bikes, I tried and get up on the sidewalk, failed, and tipped my bike right over. My leggings ripped, knees bruised, and I laughed away while sprawled out on the sidewalk in my exhaustion. Truly a memorable end to an extraordinary adventure.

Next on our list was to get massages. Baños is known for its thermal pools and spas, so we went in search of cheap massages and facials. We found a business that gave us $5 off every service, so my package of facial and massage was $20. It was an interesting experience, and it was nice to relax a bit after our long day of biking; although if you ever want a massage, save your money while in Baños and I’m sure your best friend can give you about the same quality at home as you’ll get there.

Our group ate at a small restaurant after our massages and went back to the hostel. We weren’t in the mood for going out to the bars again, so we opted to stay in. Before we turned in for the night, we did do a lap around The Leprechaun in search of Dario the Robber, but he wasn’t in sight. Alas, it was worth the try.

After getting packed up the next morning, we ate breakfast at a small bakery and bought pastries for the ride home. We shopped around the artists shops and watched them make the taffy that Baños can be known for. This is Patricio and his brother; we watched them in awe for quite a few minutes, then realized what time it was and caught our bus just in time.



I plan on staying in Quito this weekend, and possibly taking the TeleferiQo (cable car/gondola lift) up to the top of the Pichincha volcano. There are restaurants and stores up at the top of the cable, and tourists are able to hike higher to the very top of the mountain/volcano. Hopefully we'll get a clear day to see an entire view of the city. If it's hazy or foggy, the trip can be somewhat wasted. Now on to more reading and lesson planning... aka - the glamorous life of a student teacher!