A group of us at the hostel had been hanging out for a couple of days...all solo travelers and all pretty cool. We kind of banded together for a few days, drinking, hanging out and doing day trips. I got a few of them to sign up for the Quilotoa Loop - whichI had been wanting to do for awhile - and 10 people ended up signing up for the trip which meant I got to go for free! One of the perks of being a volunteer at the hostel.
We were up at the crack of dawn - some of them hungover - hopped on our bus and began the three hoir journey to Quilotoa.
We didnt drive three hours straight which was awesome; we stopped for a yummy breakfast to fill up our bellies, then we headed to a traditional home.
The people of these traditional homes live old fashioned, no electricity, they farm and live off the land all at an altitude off 3900 meters. They speak Quechua - the old language - some speak only this language not even Spanish. The children walk about 2 hours to school. Its a tough life but they are happy. Sometimes I think us Westerners have it all wrong, we have so much but yet it never seems to be enough. We are so spoiled in almost every aspect, we have technology that we feel we need and cant survive without, overflowing bank accounts which may not seem overflowing to us or have what we want as a sufficient amount of money but its more then these people will see in a life time. We have cars, a house with bathrooms and a few
We had a wonderful visit. They aloud us into their home which was one room, no electricity, one bed - the chikdren sleep on the floor - and heaps of cuy (guinea pigs). They are not pets, cuy is a traditional dish here...yes they eat them...and artwork from the children hung on the walls. The simple life...makes me smile.
We stopped for pictures along the waywhich was great. It was so nice to get awesome scenery shots instead of just driving by them.
The whole day was based on our time. We took our time taki g photos and reallywith everything. When we arrived in Quilota, the group waites as I of course had to go in the shop and by myself an alpaca sweater. Its super warm and awesome...I figured if I wasnt payi g for the trip then i could bymyself a cozy sweater. The group waited 20 minutes for me, I felt bad but was happy about my sweater.
Tanja and I were in conversation walking down the steps to the begining of the crater. We werent really paying attention and then just stopped mid-sentence. My breathe caught in my throat. "I feel like crying" Tanja said. "Me too." I replied. It was breathtaking. A huge crater with an incredible lake. I felt like Leo Dicaprio in The Beach... the magnificent beauty of a world of our own completely shut off from everything else...it was incredible.
We took our time going down. Most of the group was way ahead of us but Tanja, Paul, Gerwin and I took our time taking pictures, climbing rocks for good photo spots, laughing and joki g around and walking down cautiously. It was pretty steep and super slippery, Tanja and slipped and slidded down, it basically looked like really awesome dance moves. "Vamos, vamos!" The guide yelled up to us at one point. "We will meet you down there!" Paul yelled down. Which we did awhile later, like I said, our own time.
We rented kayaks and kayaked in circles in the lagoon. It was so quiet, so peaceful...we cojld actually here the low tones of the guys voices who were at least 100 feet away. We werent overly keen on going too far out...the boys did, at one point we couldnt even see them anymore. I hope they didnt tip. Fish cant live in these waters so I definitely dont want to be swimming in it. They eventually became small specks and then bigger, and then back to life size again. We were wet when we got back to shore...there was water in the kayak so our butts were drenched...yuck...not comfortable...but well worth it.
None of us wanted to do the hike back up so we hired horses. Yup more horseback for me. My horse however was the leader this time. Im not gonna lie, I was freaked. Going up a steep slippery incline, on a horse who likes to walk extrmely close to the unguarded edges is not the type of adrenaline Im keen on.
I did relax a little, and it was nice not to be 10 mnutes behind everyone...finally!
We laughed most of the way up. I guess the altitude affects horses as well because the amount of farts that wers escapi g their behinds was enough to fly me back to Arequipa. "Mine is farting a symphony back here." Paul said. Poor horses...I felt bad that Enrique - my horse -had to carry my weight all the way up. He got quite tired and had to stop for breaths. I decided to sing to him .... Bailando by Enrique Iglasias...how perfect....sing to Enrique a song by Enrique...in Spanish of course. Quiero estar contigo, viver contigo, bailar contigo, tener contigo una noche loca....Bailando...I thought it was great though not sure how Enrique felt about it.
We ate lunch, soup and then chicken with rice and jot oranje juice which is amazing by the way. "I just have to run to the little shop." "Again" said our guide "what do you need this time?" He sent me with his friend to his shop. I wanted patxhes and they didnt have any but I felt bad so i bought a 10 cent bracelet for $1...oh well.
We stopped at a fruit market on the way back...i bought some avocado and took pictures of the chaos of what a local fruit market is like. " That lady just asked me to pay her because I took a picture of the food she is cooking" Paul said. "Did you pay her?" "No!" It was cow intestine, the food smelled delicious until we were told what it was.
We slept most of the way back...everyone was pooped, and I had to work when I got back, which resulted in drinks and goi f to the bar till 4 am lol.
Quilotoa was amazing. These random days with new random friends are turning out to be the best days. Hopefully this week will be the same as it is my last week here.
- My Beautiful Life-
No comments:
Post a Comment