Jungle!

Up around 8:00, packed, went for breakfast, to the bus station and asked some bus companies if they are running tomorrow. Everything is normal, all bus companies have their normal schedule. We want to get to the Peru border tomorrow, so we bought a ticket from Loja to Zumba for 12:30 tomorrow afternoon. Zumba is the closest town to the border, still about 1.5-2 hours away. Then we bought a bus ticket to Zamora to see another part of Parque Nacional Podocarpus today. My Rough Guide says the bus ride from Loja to Zamora is worth the price alone.Lisa got an email from Kirsty, there's apparently protests in Peru too, and she's having problems. She booked a 3 day white water rafting trip and it got cancelled because of protests.The drive to Zamora was awesome. Massive waterfalls, one after another after another, at the edge of the road, huge ferns, etc. Everything you'd expect in a rain forest!Our hostal in Zamora is bottom of the barrel. There aren't that many choices, and Kieran wanted cheap. I've stayed in worse, but the other three were not happy. Jason and Lisa wouldn't even sleep in the bed, instead opting to sleep in their sleeping bags on top of the bed. Cockroaches, mold, dirty floors, piss on the floor of the bathrooms. My bed linens were very clean, though, so I didn't mind.We hired a taxi to take us to the Podocarpus, got there about 2:30, and asked him to pick us up at 6:00.Beautiful rainforest, Lisa and I showered under a massive waterfall. With all the rain that has fallen over the past few days, the rivers are swollen. It rained all morning and stopped when we got to the park, then it started again when we got back.When we got back to town, we went for local food (again...it's called almuerzo, usually soup, then rice and chicken parts, or a tough piece of beef or a small fish, and a bit of veggies....it gets old very fast, but it's super cheap).So, our hotel and both meals for $8 today!Back at our room, to distract us from the cockroaches and piss and mold, I had a small bottle of local alcohol I bought before the Galapagos, so we drank that. There's no toilet seat on the toilet either, so Lisa has a tough time squatting over the toilet bowl.

Playing in the Mud

Up about 7:30, all of us (me, Lisa, Jason and Kieran) went for breakfast, then Jason needed to mail his Panama hat he bought, went to the supermarket for hiking food, dropped off laundry, withdrew some money at an ATM, converted some of it to soles (the currency in Peru). Wé'll need some when we go across the border at some small town in the middle of nowhere. We plan on not using one of the popular border crossings.About noon, me, Lisa and Jason got a taxi to Parque Nacional Podocarpus. It was raining when we started and the trail was super wet and muddy. Super nice vegetation, trees, shrubs and everything is green. At the top, it was rainy, misty and cloudy and couldn't see any views. It was a massively hard climb, we were literally climbing vertically in some parts. We actually thought we were lost, Lisa and me were going to turn around after three hours and go back because the trail was neverending up. Jason said "let's just go up this one last hill and see". Which we did. Lo-and-behold, that was the top (the paramo),a nd the trail finally started descending. On the way down, it stopped raining and clouds started to clear and we got some views.We finished hiking around 4:30, and went back to the ranger station, covered in mud. A truck came up, it was the ranger park woman. The taxi driver didn't stop at the main gate for us to pay our park fee ($10) when we came in, so when she found us, she asked us to pay. She then offered us a ride back to Loja, which was awesome, because we would have had to walk 8km to the main highway before flagging down a bus, taking probably 2+ hours extra.We rode back to town in the back of the pick-up, and got dropped off in central Loja, close to our hostal.We picked up our laundry, then back to the hostal and showered. Another girl (Deedee, from Holland) came into our room and asked us if it was safe to walk around Loja at night. We said ya, we thought so, and then invited her to join us for supper, as she was travelling alone. She would meet us back at our room at 7:30 this evening.At 7:30, we went to Parrillada Uruguay for supper. Awesome food!! I don't know if it's authentic Uruguain food, but my steak was superb.At supper, Deedee mentioned that Friday is a holiday, and most bus companies weren't going to be running busses. We had planned on heading to Peru that day. We decided when we got to the bus terminal tomorrow, we would inquire.After supper, we went for ice cream, then to bed after 10:00.One other note, yesterday on the bus, Lisa taught me how to conjugate verbs! I'm getting more smarter!

To Loja!

Got up, tried to shower, but no hot water. Sad.Lisa and I met Jason and Kieran in front of the tourist info centre and asked about Loja again. The lady and Lisa are becoming very good friends! Good news!!! The buses to Loja are running, the roadblock has been cleared! The indigineous people and the president of Ecuador met yesterday in meetings in Quito, and apparently the president has said that he'll repeal most of the controversial parts of the new water bill or something.We went back to the hostal and packed and arranged to meet Jason and Kieran at the bus station at 12:30.We got a 1:00pm bus to Loja, and arrived there around 6:00. Uneventful bus trip.Got to Hostal Londres ($5 each), went out for pasta for supper, then walked around town, then ice cream, then to bed.

Hiking in Cajas

Up around 8:00, had breakfast, then to the tourist info centre to inquire about the highway to Loja. Still blocked.Lisa and me waited for Jason and Kieran to meet us at our hostal at 10:00am. They got there abou 10:10, we raced to the bus terminal (via taxi) to catch a 10:20 bus to Parque Nacional Cajas. Ended up the 10:20 bus that the tourist info centre told us about does't exist anymore, so we had to wait until a 10:45 bus.It took about 1 hour to reach the park entrance, the bus dropped us off. We paid our $10 park fee to the rangers. They were very excited to see us, and super friendly. They gave us all maps and brochures of the park, asked us how long we wanted to hike for, and recommended a couple of hikes. We did hike number 3 on the map, Valle de Quinas. Very beautiful, it's so high, the vegetation is very tundra like, like you'd see in the high Arctic. We started at an altitude of 4068 metres and our highest point was 4142 metres. It was cold near the top, and cloudy most of the hike, and on and off rain (usually a mist) all day. The altitude kicked me hard. It was hard to go uphill for any sort of time before I was huffing and puffing. I was also slightly dizzy a few times, I was certainly feeling the high altitude. We finished the hike in about 4 hours, the map and the sign said it was a 7 hour hike.We flagged down a bus on the highway to get back to Cuenca, went back to the tourist information centre and asked about Loja again. Still blocked, but she mentioned that there was an indirect route we could take, through Machala, to get to Loja. We went for ice cream, then arranged to meet up with Jason and Kieran at 8:00 for cuy (guinea pig).We went back to our hostal, Lisa showered, then I had no hot water. We walked to Jason and Kieran hostal at 8:00, then to El Maiz for the Ecuadorian specialty, guinea pig (cuy). The waiter said it would take about an hour to prepare, which was fine with us. He said one guinea pig would be enough for all four of us to sample it. We also ordered a regular meal, Lisa got goat. She's being especially experimental with her food tonight!The waiter brought out the cuy when it was done cooking. He brought it out before cutting it up, so we could take pictures. He obviously knew we were tourists trying it for the first time. There was one tooth still in the mouth, it was weird to see.After taking pictures, the waiter took it back to the kitchen and brought it back out cut up. We all grabbed a piece. Lisa loved it. She gorged on it, couldn't get enough. Me, Jason and Kieran, well, we had trouble with it. The skin was like leather, and it was hard to get any substantial meat off of it. Furthermore, for me, I just couldn't get it out of my head that was a guinea pig. Kieran just kept remarking that we were eating vermin, and he wasn't fond of it.After we paid our bill, Lisa asked how it's prepared. The waiter told us that when we ordered it, the guinea pig was still living. They are raised at a farm that the restaurant owner has. When someone orders cuy, they break the neck of the guinea pig, then have to boil it and roast it, and that's why it takes so long to prepare.Afterwards, we went to a microbrewery to hopefully sample some good beer, but they were all out of their home grown beer, except their stout, which is dark, like Guiness.

Around Cuenca

Up at 7:30, had breakfast, then went for a walk in search of a better hostal. Ended up choosing Hostal Majestic (named Casa Naranja in our old guide books), $5 each, but that doesn't include breakfast, and it looks cleaner and the showers look better. The guy at the other hostal was very nice, giving us maps of places to see, areas to stay away from, etc. We felt kind of bad leaving, but since I don't speak Spanish, Lisa had to play bad cop.After getting to our new hostal, we walked all around town, flower market, Cathedral Nueva (huge church...there was a huge mass going on there when we walked in), soccer stadium (trying to see if we could see a soccer game), some Inca ruins, the university, had Mexican food for lunch, spent lots of time on the internet, had ice cream, and later in the evening met up with Jason (from Black Sheep Inn) and another guy, Keiran (Irish) for french fries and a beer.We checked in at the tourist information centre in town, the roads to Loja are still blocked.

Cuenca Try Number 2

Up about 8:00, Lisa and me walked around looking for someplace to have breakfast. Lisa bought a couple of newpapers to see what she could find out about the road closures and protests. Over breakfast, Lisa read the papers. There's numerous road closures around Ecuador (including the one we were on), but the paper didn't mention anything about anyone being shot yesterday. One person did die (and numerous injured) last Wednesday at a different road block, and the worst of it was happening on the road between Puyo and Macas, where indigineous people have blocked 3km of the highway by covering it in rocks, dirt and trees. That would explain all the riot police Lisa and Jason saw in Puyo on their bike ride. Apparently the indigineous people are very upset, and are talking war, they have tied red ribbons to their spears.We headed to the bus station and inquired about getting to Cuenca again. The road is still closed, but they said the best way would to take a bus towards Guayaquil, and get off at km26, stand by the side of the highway and wait for a bus going to Cuenca. It would be an extra 2 hours (at least) on the bus trip, but we decided to do it.The bus left at 10:30. Beautiful scenery, the highway snakes along the edge of the mountains. As we were going through the mountains, the bus suddenly stopped. The local woman beside me stood up, said something to me in Spanish, with an upset look, and slapped her hand on her leg, in frustration. I said, "No hablo español" and looked at Lisa, who asked her. Road block!!!!Fortunately, this road block was just construction and we were on our way within 20 minutes. There were lots of more stops for construction. Of course, all the hawkers know where the stops are, so when we pull up to one, they all flock onto the bus, selling water, juice, bananas, ice cream, chocolate and various other snacks. At some stops, locals have even setup little BBQ's, and are selling BBQ meat on a stick.When we came out of the mountains to the plains, it got very hot, lots and lots of banana plantations and some huge Dole factories.At km26, we got off, and waited by the side of the road. I'm sure all the locals were wondering what the heck these two whities were doing here, standing on the side of the highway. Haha.We waited about 20 minutes, and a bus for Cuenca came by, we flagged it down, and it stopped for us. We were soon climbing the mountains again, road stops periodically for construction. They are upgrading all their highways right now, so much construction.The highway passes through Parque Nacional Cajas, and it's beautiful, very high, ragged mountains and lakes, with most of the park at an elevation greater than 4000 metres.We finally got to Cuenca about 7:00pm.When we got off the bus, a local sold us on his hostal, Casa Sol, for $6 each, including breakfast. It ended up being a big dive.We went to Cafe Eucalyptus for an awesome supper, on the way back, we ran into a big fiesta outside Santa Domingo church, lots of people, dancing, tons of fireworks, a priest was the DJ, and he was a dance king too, picking randoms (both locals and tourists) out of the crowd and dancing with them. It was hilrious. They also had this huge, 30 foot structure made of bamboo. It was also covered in firecrackers and fireworks. Near the end, they lit it on fire. Now, there are no safety laws or anything here, and we were about 10 feet away from this structure. As soon as they lit it on fire, sparks and booms and smoke was everywhere, everyone got scared and started to back up. I was scared! Fireworks started shooting off this thing in all directions, into the crowds, up in the air, into buildings (including the church), it was awesome bbut totally scary!After that, went back to the hostal and to bed.

What Happened on the Way to Cuenca

Up at 7:30, showered, had breakfast, then Lisa ad me walked to the bus depot, saying goodbye to Kirsty. Kirsty is nearing the end of her travels, so she's off to Cusco (Peru) in a couple of days to see Macchu Pichu, then back to Canada. Lisa and I are headed to Cuenco.We caught a 9:00am bus from Baños to Ambato, then a bus from Ambato to Riobamba, then another bus from Riobamba to Cuenco.Beautiful scenery, huge mountains, deep valleys. They cultivate everything here, right up to the tops of the mountains, and on steep angles, greater than 45 degrees. It's crazy.It's about a 6 hour bus ride from Riobamba to Cuenca. At Zhud, about 4.5 hours into the trip, traffic started to get backed up. Our bus driver was aggressive, and started to pass all the stopped traffic. There was lots of road construction. We leap-frogged ahead a kilometre or two, then were forced to stop. There's nothing moving up ahead, and no one knows why. Some of the locals on the bus were making calls, the bus dudes were on their cell phones. After 30 minutes of the standstill, stories started to emerge that the police had shutdown the highway. Our bus dudes announced they were turning around and going back to Riobamba. All the locals on the bus got upset, and most got off and started walking. We didn't know what to do. It was late, about 5:00ish, not much sunlight left, and the other backpackers on the bus (3 others) decided to stay on the bus with the few locals that didn't walk. Lisa and I were discussing staying in one of the small town near here, and catching a bus the following day. Lisa started talking to a local woman on the bus, who said this part of Ecuador is unsettled right now, and it wouldn't be recommended to stay here. Then we heard that someone had been shot on the highway ahead.....Now, I'm going to backtrack a bit. When we were on the plane either going to or coming back from the Galapagos, Kirsty picked up a local newspaper, and there was some stories about protests over water rights in Ecuador. Some indigenous groups are upset over something about water in Ecuador, and there had been some protests in some of the Ecuadorian cities. Furthermore, when we were at the Black Sheep Inn, the two Americans (the ones that didn't have enough money to pay), were heading south to teach English in Loja, but they was also stories that the teachers are upset over some changes to the education system, and they have been trying to organize a strike in some Ecuadorian cities.Back to the present, and another woman showed up on the bus, she said she just walked 60km to get to our side of the roadblock. She started walking at 11:00am that morning, so the road had been shut down since at least 11:00am.We decided to stay on the bus and go back to Riobamba, as there's no saying how long the road would be shut. The bus driver was FLYING back to Riobamba, and we made it back in record time, got back about 9:00pm. At the bus station, one of the couples on the bus recommended Hostal Oasis, so the 5 backpackers taxi'd there. The taxi driver mentioned that protests have been happening since Monday.Very nice hostal!Lisa and I discussed what we should do tomorrow, and we're not sure!