Crossing new terrain in Cuenca

view from the top in Cajas

In order to warm up for Machu Picchu and stretch our legs after a 6 hour bus ride, we set our sights for Parque Nacional Cajas. Unfortunately our bus adventures were not over and we broke down on the supposedly 45 minute ride to the park. After an hour of playing Spanish word games in attempt to enhance our vocabularies, a second bus arrived to take us to our destination.
Grazing llamas greeted us at the park, which seemed like a good Omen to start our journey. We took the ¨4 hour¨ path through the mountains to the next bus stop passing many beautiful lakes and more llamas. After reaching the end in only 1 hour, we decided to take another trail, this one a bit steeper. The second trail was comparable to climbing a mountain made of squishy moss. Our feet sunk in with every step and it was delightful. The terrain appeared to have once been underwater many years ago; all the plants looked a bit like coral.
We spent the night listening to live music and watching old ladies salsa like pros.

finalmente las fotos!

quick snapshots on the top of the mountain after riding the TeleferiQo.



almost blown away on top of Quito.



Katja on top of the Basillica del Voto Nacional.



Street vendor with her baby in Old Town Quito



¡Hostel Chicago! (Old Town, Quito)



All dressed up in proper rafting attire. Don´t worry, we´re professionals.

The water gets rough in Baños

We arrived in the cute, slightly touristy (for good reason) town of Baños at night. Baños a compact town at the base of many lush moutains... a paradise for anyone in search of outdoor adventure. The town is stocked full of small tourist operations offering everything from paraguilding to repelling down a waterfall. We headed straight for a hostel our Lonely Planet bible recommended. Hostel Plantas Y Blanco was quite literally a white building covered in plants. Since many travelers seem to share our faith in the Lonely Planet guide, the place was bustling with folks in fleeces and hiking boots.

With our desire to conquer the tumultuous rapids in Ecuador only deepened by our first failed attempt, we signed up for a rafting adventure scheduled to leave the next morning. We would go into more detail about our wild ride, but we'll let you see for yourself in custom video coming soon. In addition this unusual tour of the highlands surrounding Baños, we also met some really cool travellers from around the world.

To ease our sore muscles from clinging onto the raft, we decided to visit Baños' natural hot springs (just a quick 5 minute stroll from our hostel). The hot springs, which are located at the base of a waterfall, are changed daily by cool water that gets heated quickly by volcanic rock. Locals told us the proper way to soak- start in the HOT, dip in the COLD, and repeat as necessary. We have never experienced water temperatures at those extremes before, but apparently locals do 3-4 times a week.

The next morning we woke up to rain and decided over stacks of pancakes and fresh Ecuadorian fruit that it was time to move on towards Cuenca.

¡Muy bonito in Quito!

After a solid 3 hours of sleep on our flight to Quito, we groggily tried to navigate the busy streets of our first destination. The bus proved to be a little more complicated than we bargained for, so we opted for a taxi to our adorable hostel located in New Town (La Mariscal). First order of business was getting caffinated. We went to a reccommended local joint that served delicious coffee and "orgasmic" chocolate. We explored the city, weaving in and out of the narrow streets full of cafes, hostels, restaurants, and bars. For dinner we dined at a nice Indian spot, not exactly your typical Ecuadorian cuisine, but delicious and vegetartian none the less.

We woke up very early the next day to meet up with our rafting tour guides, who unfortunately never showed. Not to worry though, we quickly rebounded after demanding for our money back and set off for the teleferiQo, Quito's sky tram. This tiny box connected to a cable brings you up 4100 meters in altitude to a breathtaking view of the city. We walked the short hike at the top feeling like morbidly obese people, fighting to breathe with each step (it literally was breathtaking) because of the little oxygen at the top. Feeling aquainted with NewTown, that afternoon we moved to the more colonial Old Town. Old town is a series of small cobblestone streets and magnificent old churches which people are permitted to dangerously climb to the top of for the best view. Of course we couldn't resist the temptation and got a beautiful view of Old Town from the top of the gothic Basillica del Voto Nacional built in 1926. Unfortunately we cannot upload photos at this time, but we included an online photo for visual effect (above). The view of the giant La Virgen de Quito statue on top of El Panecillo (below) looked quite ominous from our view at the top as a huge ligthening storm rolled in. Afterwards, we spent at least an hour wandering around in a rain storm in search of a highly recommended restaurant. Feeling defeated and soggy, we decided on a warm pizza joint- only to discover the next day that our intended destination was right next door to the pizza place, but closed for the evening.
After our first full night of sleep and showers, we felt refreshed and ready to hit the Old Town once more. The bright side of spending most of the evening wandering around a new city in a rainstorm is you know it very well the next day. On Sundays in Quito most people leave their cars behind and hit the streets on bicycles. It becomes a mass parade of bicycles, street performers, vendors, and live music in plazas around the city. After a glorious sunny day admiring the churches and architecture, we hopped a bus to Banos.

so long suckkaaas!

We are nervously counting down our last minutes on American soil squished in one chair together writing round 2 of the Kaurja McSon saga (clearly not concerned that we will get sick of each other). Bags packed, hostels booked (for Quito at least), and most current Jersey Shore episode watched; we're ready.
What is in store for Kaurja McSon you ask?

• rafting some class V rapids in Quito
• trekking the famous Inca Trail to Matchu Picchu
• spotting a jaguar in the Amazon
• mastering the art of salsa
• swimming with piranhas

admit it, you're jealous, but at least we've given you the chance to live vicariously through us.
So, sit back, relax, and enjoy our adventure.