Getting to Ecuador, the Long Way

After hearing a ton of horror stories yesterday about potential flight delays, hours long waits at the airport security lines and the fact that there would not be a chance in hell of finding a parking spot at the airport, I was pleasantly surprised to find none of that. I pulled right into the parking lot, breezed through security and hopped on the flight to find that it was on-time and nearly empty. I had the full row to myself and could spread out for the five hour flight to Quito.

Of course just when I realized things had gone smoothly, reality decided to knock me off my perch and send me crashing back to Earth!

The trouble started as we approached Quito. The visibility wasn´t good our pilot told us, something that normally isn´t a problem as airports generally have an electronic system to guide planes in in situations like this. Quito has one, but seeing as how someone crashed a plane into it recently, it wasn´t exactly working.

So, he told us we´d be circling for an hour or so as it looked like the weather might clear. It didn´t, so an hour later we were told we´d be landing....in Guayaquil, not Quito. Once we got there, those of us that were stopping in Quito were asked not to get off the plane. We stayed on in the near sauna and two and a half hours later, we pulled back and were on our way once again to Quito. The flight went smoothly from there, but it was funny as apparently nobody told the immigration and customs people that we were on our way. They finally rounded them up though and I got to the hostel about 3 AM, absolutely exhausted.

This morning started off great though. The weather was nice and clear in Quito and I wandered around and after a litle breakfast, checked out what is probably the best museum in Ecuador, the Museo del Banco Central. It basically takes you through the history of Ecuador, from the native people to present day artists. It had some really great exhibits, but I found the exhibit on gold treasures to be the highlight. I´ve also found that I really like contemporary Ecuadorian art, go figure.

After that, I had a great lunch and hopped on a bus to Baños, where I´m at now. It was interesting, not to mention hilarious how they run the bus systems here. I don´t think I could describe it here and do it justice, but I loved the experience. The funniest part for me was that the bus I got on in Quito was called the Expresso de Baños, but it didn´t actually go all the way to Baños. It stopped in a town called Ambato, where we were shuttled onto another Expresso de Baños, which did go to Baños. I love South America.

Tonight I´ll just be hanging out here and relaxing. Tomorrow I plan on renting a bike and riding the 25 km or so along a route called the Ruta de las Cascadas, which features what else, waterfalls.

I hope everyone´s having a great Thanksgiving. I´m gonna go gorge myself on food to make it feel a little more like home.