journeywithjs - Tumblr blog

[journeywithjs]

Family need has meant that I have unexpectedly made the long journey back to the UK. 4 flights took me: Loja- Quito-Guayacil-Bogotá (Colombia)- London Heathrow. The South American airlines and airports were faultless and the 25 hr + journey went well. The kindness of Steyning friends, who met me at the airport and who are hosting me and offering all kinds of help, is overwhelming. It’s an abrupt change but after 3 months of travelling, quite welcome! And what of Mr Jay?? He decided to continue travelling and has taken the bus across the border into Peru and has made it to the coast! His first overnight stop cost the extravagant figure of US$ 8. Peru is the most affordable country so far …. Jay is delighted and without me around needing more comforts/security, he is looking forward to choosing cheap places to stay! He is also going to investigate a place to volunteer his technical skills……Watch this space.

[journeywithjs]

Friends Leo and Rita who used to live in Worthing, moved back to their home town of Loja in southern Ecuador and they invited us to stay. What a privilege to stay in their home and be given a guided tour of the city of Loja, which defied travel guide expectations on a beautiful sunny afternoon!

[journeywithjs]

We had 6 wonderful days in the very chilled area around Vilcabamba in the south of Ecuador. It is a hotspot for expats from Europe and the US both the retired and those wanting an alternative lifestyle. The communities seem to work really well together and we found it friendly and the food a welcome change. We did several walks to build up our strength after Covid.

[journeywithjs]

Just adding a map of Ecuador as requested by a few readers. Sorry, Google is infuriating at not labelling major cities! The tags are all places we have visited.

[journeywithjs]

Talking of Covid…… we boarded a very crowded bus just a few days ago for a 3 hour journey and I said, wow this would be a great place for Covid! Sure enough within 12 hours of arriving in Cuenca, we have both tested positive. Jay has it a bit worse than me but after 48 hours he is improving. We are hunkered down in our Hostal room, surviving on me going out for takeaway food. The Hostal owner seems terrified of me… insisting on spraying everything in sight, including my dollar bills, and wearing gloves. Everyone here wears a mask all the time, even outdoors. Apparently the June riots/demonstrations caused an upsurge in Covid.

[journeywithjs]

The small town of Alausi (Ecuador), before Covid, was the jumping on point for the train that zig zags down Nariz del Diablo and which was built over 100 years ago at the cost of thousands of Jamaican and other lives, as they sort to connect Quito to Guayacil on the coast. Sadly the train no longer runs and does not look like doing so any time soon.

We however enjoyed our night here at the Community Hostal in the company of Marcos the owner who took us to a wood fired bread stall and to the start of the hike above the old railway the next day.

[journeywithjs]

We didn’t expect to like the thermal spa town of Banos, as all the reviews paint a very touristy picture. However we like the buzz after the mountains and will make the most of $4 thermal baths, sauna etc tomorrow for our aching limbs!

[journeywithjs]

Our guest house LlulluLlama turned out to be fabulous and we met some actual middle-aged travellers for the first time, which was rather nice! Most guests were Dutch or French. I even made use of the yoga studio. We started day 4 of the Loop in the back of a milk truck to go down the valley and cut off 1.5 hours of the hike. Then it was a very pleasant few hours to Sigchos with fab views of the twin snow clad peaks of Iliniza. The 1:30pm bus to Latacugna left on time but an hour into the journey we ground to a halt… for the next 2 hours….as they mended the road. I spied the Quito bus several vehicles back and we joined this very full bus, as although it left 45 mins after ours, the 2 buses were now together and this was more direct. We returned to our guesthouse near Cotopaxi and our 2 main back packs and stayed the night with this awesome view.

[journeywithjs]

Today’s hike continued on the Quilotoa loop taking us from Chugchilan and the lovely Black Sheep Inn to Llullu Llama guest house in Isinlivi. We opted to get a truck for the first half hour, saving about an hour of unrelenting down hill which would have made those blisters worse. However it was a quite beautiful hike of about 4 hours and Jay did the last 45 minutes in flip flops to save his feet!!

[journeywithjs]

This is out of step time wise but we did an hours ride below Cotopaxi on the beautiful Andean sierra, even managing a canter across the wild flower strewn grassland and a path through a ravine and up its side!! The western style saddles are a lot more comfortable than I am used to, so our backsides were not too sore the next day!!

[journeywithjs]

Our incredible hike yesterday nearly did for us! We hiked part way round the stunning Laguna Quilotoa crater and then followed a famous route down through wonderful Andean scenery. The final steep descent down a ravine meant that after 4 hours we were done in. We met Enrique sharpening his knife on a stone in his field and asked for his help. He kindly took us up to his hut where there was phone signal and a dirt road and our Inn for the night sent a vehicle… those last 4 km uphill were beyond us!

[journeywithjs]

Cotopaxi in Ecuador

We made it to the base camp refuge at 4,800m. Walking through falling snow and underfoot is unusual in summer here. In fact it has rained a lot over the last 2 weeks and Ecuadorians are worried about climate change, as are so many parts of the world in this season.

This was Diana, our guide, who subsequently led a 10 person group to the summit. A highly competent business woman, logistician and mountaineer.

[journeywithjs]

An evening of music making with the host of our guest house near Cotopaxi!

[journeywithjs]

We visited various workshops and a waterfall around Otovalo, just north of Quito and which was our base for the 2 lakes. The bus journeys to get here were not too bad.

[journeywithjs]

Another mystical Lake called Mojanda, and an oxygen deficient climb up from 3700m to 4,300m… we haven’t felt so out of breath since we did the Annapurna circuit some 34 years ago. Well we were younger and fitter then for sure and carried full backpacks with camping gear as well!! Our legs are agony today.

[journeywithjs]

Cuicocha Lake with our guide John who was a fount of knowledge on all the plants and local customs. Jay and he are standing on a dance area next to the lake: 4 celebrations a year mark the seasons and the importance of the earth, water, fire and spirit air dimensions.

[journeywithjs]

We had been eating a couple of meals in the cafe of this couple in Quito. Jay was chatting with the lady on the street outside when a man decided to help himself to the change in Jay’s pocket. The husband grabbed a ‘cosh’ and ran after the man, found the police and the would be thief was asked his version of events up against the wall of a shop. Jay was suitably impressed!