Mon dernier message datait de dimanche 27 Jan. Depuis, pas mal de choses se sont passees.
Le lendemain, lundi, on s'est leve tot pour profiter des bains thermaux bouillants. Avec beaucoup de courage, on passait des bains bouillants aux bains glaces hehe! A force, on sentait plus rien, la couleur de la peau passant de rouge a bleu :-)
La-bas, on a rencontre quelques locaux. On leur a raconte nos aventures puis on a ecoute les leurs.
Apres une longue journee de glande, on s'est dit qu'il etait temps que ces vacances de "luxe" cessent et on est parti le soir meme pour une ville sans charme repondant au doux nom de Riobamba... Apres 10 magnifiques jours de cool auberges, p'tits dejs appetissants, bonne sante et des pays splendides, notre chance se faisait la malle: la pluie nous a accompagnees pendant notre 1.5 jour passe a Riobamba. Il n'y avait rien de beau a photographier. L'auberge de jeunesse etait un vrai cauchemar (a 3$ la nuit, on pouvait s'attendre au pire). Pour ceux qui ont vu Fight Club, cette auberge vous rappellera la maison pourrave dans laquelle Brad Pitt and Ed Norton se sont installes. La seule difference etait la presence d'une tele. Et d'ailleurs, on a regarde CSI Miami et CSI New-York toute la soiree et une bonne partie de l'apres-midi... car, pour ajouter a notre petite malchance, Cath et moi avons fait une etrange intoxication alimentaire avec turista et fievre. Enfoui dans notre sac de couchage, on a passe notre soiree a dormir ou regarder la TV par intermittence... et bien sur courir de temps en temps aux toilettes :-)
Alicia a eu le meme probleme quelques jours auparavant. Elle etait donc en forme ce jour-la. Tout ca c'est passe mardi 29, pour nous, un jour a se rappeler hehe!
Mercredi matin, on s'est leve a 5.30 du mat, un peu "grogui" par les medicaments, pour choper un vieux train pour Cuenca, toujours plus dans le sud: un trajet de 8h en pleine campagne et au milieu des montagnes.
Dans le train, l'ambiance etait au beau fixe. Un autochtone nous bercait au son de la flute de pan et les paysages montagneux etaient magnifiques. Puis le train a deraille. Alors tout le monde est sorti pour examiner les degats et voir comment les techniciens en herbe allaient resoudre le probleme. Mais visiblement, ca devait leur arriver souvent parce que 20 minutes plus tard nous etions repartis.
Apres une longue journee de voyage, on est enfin arrive a Cuenca ou on est reste 2.5 jours. Cuenca (2500m) est une tres belle ville, plus petite que Quito mais, pour ma part, plus chaleureuse et accueillante. On a decouvert la ville en bus touristique: centre historique, quartier moderne, eglises, universites, prisons, ruelles, places fleuries etc. Puis on a passe une journee avec une famille indigene qui nous a fait partager leur vie quotidienne, leur nourriture, leurs plantes medicinales, leur religion, leur relation avec la nature: comment capter l'energie de la terre etc.
Malheureusement, la seule chose qu'on a reussi a "capter" a ete un deuxieme coup de soleil. Alors, pour nous remettre de nos emotions, on a fini la journee dans un cafe a jouer a jenga :-) (pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, c'est une tour faite de briques en bois, briques que l'on doit deplacer sans faire ecrouler la tour, tres drole et tres bruyant).
Le lendemain, on est parti pour Loja et Vilcabamba, pres de la frontiere peruvienne. Sur le chemin de la gare routiere, on s'est fait "attaquer" par des gosses a coup de bombes a eau ;-) hehe! Et oui, c'etait le debut du Carnaval. Et ils le fetent pendant 3 jours en se lancant les uns les autres des bombes a eau, des oeufs, de la farine, de la mousse et des colorants.
Apres 5h de bus, on est arrive a Loja, Cath et Alicia heureuses, moi malade une fois de plus. Mais medicaments et poulet-riz m'ont retablie... enfin, pour le temps du Carnaval.
Le lendemain, on est alors alle a Vilcabamba, a 1h de Loja, pour celebrer le Carnaval comme il se devait. On s'est rapidement retrouve trempe de la tete aux pieds et couvert de mousse rose et colorants orange ;-). C'etait vraiment genial. Les enfants comme les personnes agees s'en donnaient a coeur joie, et ce, jusqu'a tard dans la soiree.
Le lendemain, lundi 4, aura ete notre dernier jour en Equateur, dernier jour passe a se remettre de la veille et a gouter a un des plats preferes des Equatoriens : le cochon d'inde. Les filles ont trouve ca ok, moi j'ai mange du poulet... ;)
J'ai ajoute une carte du Perou dans le message en version anglaise pour que vous puissiez visualiser notre trajet.
De plus, vous pouvez "admirer" nos photos en cliquant sur les 3 liens suivants.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittypic/sets/72157603831524833/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittypic/sets/72157603866346418/
http://picasaweb.google.com/cath.blanchard/Ecuador?authkey=Dv-RE3_hM20
Merci pour tous vos commentaires :)) Continuez comme ca.
Et l'histoire du Perou arrive tres bientot ;)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
(EN) Still in Ecuador
Last time I talked to you was on Sat. 26th. A few things happened since then.
As planned, in Baños, we went to discover some waterfalls on Sunday. It wasn't exceptional until we had a bath in one of them ;) very refreshing!!. Alicia didnt really feel like jumping into the water, but Cath and myself got into it quickly and enjoyed ourselves a lot :)
The day after, Monday, we got up early and went to a spa place and jumped into the boiling water coming from the volcanoe, then the freezing water of the swimming pools. God! we couldn't feel our body anymore, changing colour from red to blue.
We met plenty of local people over there and told them our story then listened to theirs. Most of them were elderly people.
After chilling out for the rest of the day, we decided it was time to put an end to these easy holidays. So, we left Baños on Monday evening and headed south to Riobamba... a pretty ugly town as we discovered it when arriving under the rain. Well, to be honest, sun or rain wouldn't have changed a thing. And after 10 days of luck with nice hostels, great breakfasts, no food poisoning, lovely landscapes and great weather, things started to change.
Rain followed us during the 1.5 day spent in Riobamba. Absolutely nothing pretty to take pictures of. The hostel was a nightmare (for 3$ the night, we couldn't expect much really). For those who saw Fight Club, that hostel would have definitely reminded you of that "lovely house" where Brad Pitt and Ed Norton moved in. The only difference was that we had a TV. Thank God! We watched CSI and the Simpsons all the evening and most of the afternoon... as, last but not least, Cath and myself got food poisoning :-( Turista + fever. Stuck in our sleeping bags, we could only sleep or watch TV... and rush to the toilets from time to time...
Alicia went through this a few days ago but was now all fine and tried the boost the troop ;) This was on Tuesday 29th. A time and place to remember hehe! ;-)
Wednesday morning, we got up at 5.30am, a bit stoned by the medicines, rushed to the train station to catch a 8h train that would take us to Cuenca, south of Ecuador: an old train full of backpackers that goes very slowly to let us enjoy the view... but derail from time to time. We passed through mountains, was amazing, the mood on the train was really great... then the train derailled. So, everyone got out and checked how the crew would fix this. As they're used to this, in 20 minutes, it was all repaired and we finished our journey in the same good mood, while a local guy played typical music to entertain us.
After a long day, we finally arrived at Cuenca where we spent 2.5 days, enjoying good weather and the start of the Carnival, a great entertainment for all.
Cuenca (2500m) is a really lovely town, smaller than Quito but, for me, more pleasant.
We discovered the town on a touristic bus, passing through old town, new town, churches, universities, prisons, flowery squares, narrow streets etc. for 1h40.
We spent the day after with an Indigenous family, learning about its community, its way of life, its food and medicinal plants, its religion and way of keeping the energy of the earth to live longer... It was very interesting and we enjoyed it a lot, tasting their food, listening to their music and trying the catch the energy of mother nature around us. Unfortunately, the only thing we managed to catch was a second sun-burn that left us all red... To recover from this, we finished the day in a café playing jenga :))
We planned on leaving the day after to Loja and Vilcabamba, close to the boundary with Peru. We left with our heavy backpack on our back and got "attacked" by kids throwing water to people passing by... hehe! This is how they celebrate Carnival in South America: for 3 days, they spray people with pink mousse, throw water, eggs, flour and colouring substances...
After 5h bus, we arrived at Loja, both Cath and Alicia happy, myself sick again, more than likely by drinking bad water... But medicine, chicken and rice helped me get rid of this annoyance. So, the 3 of us managed to enjoy Carnival properly :) We went to Vilcabamba to get a better "view" of the celebrations and got quickly soaked and covered with mousse and colouring substances ;) was amazing, kids and old people were all enjoying themselves!! An evening to remember :) This was yesterday Sunday 3rd.
Today, Monday 4th, we'll head to Peru, taking an 8h night bus. So, tonight will be our last night in Ecuador, after 2.5 weeks of visits.
I added a map of Ecuador, spotting the places we visited.
As planned, in Baños, we went to discover some waterfalls on Sunday. It wasn't exceptional until we had a bath in one of them ;) very refreshing!!. Alicia didnt really feel like jumping into the water, but Cath and myself got into it quickly and enjoyed ourselves a lot :)
The day after, Monday, we got up early and went to a spa place and jumped into the boiling water coming from the volcanoe, then the freezing water of the swimming pools. God! we couldn't feel our body anymore, changing colour from red to blue.
We met plenty of local people over there and told them our story then listened to theirs. Most of them were elderly people.
After chilling out for the rest of the day, we decided it was time to put an end to these easy holidays. So, we left Baños on Monday evening and headed south to Riobamba... a pretty ugly town as we discovered it when arriving under the rain. Well, to be honest, sun or rain wouldn't have changed a thing. And after 10 days of luck with nice hostels, great breakfasts, no food poisoning, lovely landscapes and great weather, things started to change.
Rain followed us during the 1.5 day spent in Riobamba. Absolutely nothing pretty to take pictures of. The hostel was a nightmare (for 3$ the night, we couldn't expect much really). For those who saw Fight Club, that hostel would have definitely reminded you of that "lovely house" where Brad Pitt and Ed Norton moved in. The only difference was that we had a TV. Thank God! We watched CSI and the Simpsons all the evening and most of the afternoon... as, last but not least, Cath and myself got food poisoning :-( Turista + fever. Stuck in our sleeping bags, we could only sleep or watch TV... and rush to the toilets from time to time...
Alicia went through this a few days ago but was now all fine and tried the boost the troop ;) This was on Tuesday 29th. A time and place to remember hehe! ;-)
Wednesday morning, we got up at 5.30am, a bit stoned by the medicines, rushed to the train station to catch a 8h train that would take us to Cuenca, south of Ecuador: an old train full of backpackers that goes very slowly to let us enjoy the view... but derail from time to time. We passed through mountains, was amazing, the mood on the train was really great... then the train derailled. So, everyone got out and checked how the crew would fix this. As they're used to this, in 20 minutes, it was all repaired and we finished our journey in the same good mood, while a local guy played typical music to entertain us.
After a long day, we finally arrived at Cuenca where we spent 2.5 days, enjoying good weather and the start of the Carnival, a great entertainment for all.
Cuenca (2500m) is a really lovely town, smaller than Quito but, for me, more pleasant.
We discovered the town on a touristic bus, passing through old town, new town, churches, universities, prisons, flowery squares, narrow streets etc. for 1h40.
We spent the day after with an Indigenous family, learning about its community, its way of life, its food and medicinal plants, its religion and way of keeping the energy of the earth to live longer... It was very interesting and we enjoyed it a lot, tasting their food, listening to their music and trying the catch the energy of mother nature around us. Unfortunately, the only thing we managed to catch was a second sun-burn that left us all red... To recover from this, we finished the day in a café playing jenga :))
We planned on leaving the day after to Loja and Vilcabamba, close to the boundary with Peru. We left with our heavy backpack on our back and got "attacked" by kids throwing water to people passing by... hehe! This is how they celebrate Carnival in South America: for 3 days, they spray people with pink mousse, throw water, eggs, flour and colouring substances...
After 5h bus, we arrived at Loja, both Cath and Alicia happy, myself sick again, more than likely by drinking bad water... But medicine, chicken and rice helped me get rid of this annoyance. So, the 3 of us managed to enjoy Carnival properly :) We went to Vilcabamba to get a better "view" of the celebrations and got quickly soaked and covered with mousse and colouring substances ;) was amazing, kids and old people were all enjoying themselves!! An evening to remember :) This was yesterday Sunday 3rd.
Today, Monday 4th, we'll head to Peru, taking an 8h night bus. So, tonight will be our last night in Ecuador, after 2.5 weeks of visits.
I added a map of Ecuador, spotting the places we visited.
Also, here are 3 other links with new pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittypic/sets/72157603831524833/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittypic/sets/72157603866346418/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittypic/sets/72157603866346418/
(here, you'll find some pics are the same, but Cath updated the link and added some more pics)
Thanks for your comments by the way, its nice to have feedback from you guys :)
Thanks for your comments by the way, its nice to have feedback from you guys :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)