Hot Baths, Mountain Biking, and Turkey Day!

How much did everyone miss us for Thanksgiving? Don´t lie, we know that you all sat around and cried when we weren´t there to pass the mashed potatoes.

For our first holiday away, I think we did quite well. We went to an expensive restaurant and paid a whopping 8 bucks for a steak and turkey lunch. We tried to go to an American held thanksgiving dinner at a clubhouse of some sort, but our fellow countrymen rejected us and we were left on the streets to celebrate on our own. After our lunch we walked around Old Town in Quito for hours, stopping in various churches and monastaries hoping that we wouldn´t burst into flames the second we walked in. Two were particularly memorable...one church was lined with over 7 tons of gold and the other was a monastary where 25 nuns live in captivity...no talking for 23 hours a day! Jess and I definiely wouldn´t be able to do that.

Since we last wrote we have been on the move quite a bit. The last morning in Baños we woke up really early to head over to the hot baths so we could go before the crowds. It is an odd experience. There were lots of older people loundging around in the hot water (taken from the springs heated by the volcano) who appeared to come on regular basis. They bathed in the freezing cold showers with the water from the waterfall immediately next to us and then hopped into the water to either sit around or do their morning workouts. We spoke to two older guys who came to Ecuador 30 years ago for 3 months...and never left. Here is a picture of how crowded the baths can get in the afternoon:

That same day we went jumped on a bus to Riobamba. The buses here are really interesting. The whole country´s transporation system revolves around a vast network of buses that stop just about everywhere. Even if the bus is said to be ¨direct,¨ it stops about 30 times before it get to it´s ¨direct¨ location. The passengers range from indigenous women (with baby tied to back and corn in hand) to business men looking to get to work to...2 tall white gringos. Anyhow, we got to Riobambo only to find out that the train was in fact broken by an earthquake last week and we wouldn´t be able to take the ride. In order to make up for it we signed up to hike/bike Volcano Chimborozo. The sight was pretty amazing and the bike ride was...fast. We learned quickly why they put us in heavy raingear and bulky pads as 10 minutes after starting downhill I wiped out and flew 10 feet from my bike and immediately after it started to pour rain. The ride was made all the more interesting when we were attacked by some angry dogs...and even more interesting when we had to stop for a woman who appeared to be taking her sheep for a walk. That night we returned to Ambato, where we went to Marcelo´s bar and Jess learned some spanish from a bunch of his friends...and how to drive a manual car. Here is Jess, cheerleading in front of the volcano. Why so much snow on a volcano?

That brings us to now, in Quito. Tonight we are going to Ibarra with Lorena´s mom and will be touring around tomorrow to...who knows, really. They say ¨let´s go¨ and we go.

More pictures soon.