November 23: Riobamba, Take II

Demolishing Ruffles Cebolla y Crema

Riobamba
A beautiful morning glory


November 23, 2009
Location: Hotel in Riobamba
Weather: Cloudy, cool

I've been here before. I didn't spend so much time here in 2007 but I did see it. It's odd being familiar with a place abroad...

Riobamba is a few hours south of Quito, about two hours north of Cuenca. When I first came to Ecuador, the very first morning in Quito, I was talking with a man in the elevator about the Mount Tungarahua area.

"Ahh... near Banos, the Land of the Flowers and the Gateway to the Jungle!" He exclaimed. "It is lovely."

And so it is. Both visits to the Riobamba/ Banos area have been pretty cool.

The hotel we're staying at is amazingly modern-looking. Our room is in an odd location: right off of a banquet hall. It makes the renters of the hall crazy when we have to get in and out of our room but they'll deal with it. It's the hotel's fault anyway. Our room is two floors, a big open room at the bottom with two beds, and two beds upstairs with a bathroom. Jessica, Antonia, Ashley and I shared the room and spent last night jamming out to reggaeton and techno and spilling Manzana Zhumir all over the place (see the video). Jessica managed to break her bead but we put it back together okay. :) They are a great group of girls. I have so much fun with a lot of people on this trip.

At first, I was really nervous that I was setting out on this trip without knowing anyone else at all going. Now I see that there was nothing to worry about at all. I am making friends that will last a lifetime.

We hiked through the waterfall and mountains of Riobamba and enjoyed the myriad of flowers and plants. I had a lot of flashbacks to the church youth group's mission trip and all the fun we'd had on the same route.

I got to see a lot more of the waterfalls here and was just as amazed at the power as I stood by and got soaked. As with much of this trip, normally I would hate being soaked, my hair frizzy and damp, but this was all part of the experience of Ecuador. No one who was there cared what I looked like because they all looked the same and they were all just as thrilled to be there, being dirty and unkempt. (Well...most of them.)

Banos was full of taffy and pigeons and it a nice break from the hiking. The taffy makers stretched huge ropes of taffy from pegs on the wall, looping it around again and again.

Now, a few Cuba Libres later, I'm ready for bed. More hiking tomorrow!