Vamos a Banos!

Thursday we spent our last night in Guayaquil and were off by bus, to Banos at 5:30 am on Friday. We spent the night walking down the Malecon, which is a newly renovated boardwalk the has lots of parks, restaurants, and theaters and is on the water. It was pretty impressive, but I am partial to more of the traditional areas of cities. We ended up walking around the neighborhood of Las Penas, which is the historical area of Guayaquil and it was beautiful. It reminded me of southern Spain with its terracotta rooftops and white washed buildings, although; Las Penas also had a Central American feel to it with many of its buildings having bright yellow and green colors. This area of the city if located on a large hill and it over looks the water, the Malecon, and much of the city. We were definitely surprised by how steep the incline was, but it was beautiful. For dinner I finally got to have some ceviche, which is one of the most delicious foods in the word, and is usually made with raw seafood marinated in a lime, cilantro sauce. DELICIOUS. I happen to love it with shrimp. After dinner we went back to the hostel to pack and get ready for the seven and a half hour bus ride to Banos.

This picture is me on the Malecon with Las Penas in the background.

 Las Penas

View from the top. 

Lets just say I wasn’t expecting the ride to be so windy. We rode into the Sierra, which is the mountainous region of Ecuador.  Along the way, I saw huge lush mountains, we rode through clouds, small towns with villagers hopping on the bus trying to sell fruit, drinks, you name it, but somewhere along the way the narrowness of the road, combined with the speed of the driving, definitely got me a little nauseous. When we finally got to Banos we decided we had to do exactly what Banos is for, which is fun and relaxation. A massage and a good meal later and I was feeling great.

I am not sure if this specific indigenous attire is common in all of Ecuador or just the Sierra, but there were some of the most interesting people I have ever seen in my life. I think this specific type of person lives in the mountains in the Sierra. They are under five feet tall and wear a type of hat I have never seen in my life, but it is similar to a fadora, a wool blanket/ scarf around their shoulders, their skin is darker than most here, and they are usually carrying crops or supplies with them. One woman at the bus terminal let me take a picture of her, which is posted below. They were just amazing.

More about Banos later, time for class!!!