Dream Town

On the bus again. It´s about one dollar per hour to ride the bus and it usually takes awhile. However, mass transportation is very common here and the buses are actually pretty nice. It is common to have folks step on the bus for a few minutes and sell fruit, fried food, or ice cream, and then they just hop off at the next stop.

 Two times I also had the pleasure of listening to someone ramble on about the latest health product that they were trying to sell for ¨long life¨. And don´t ask my way, but I bought it for a few dollars. Some herbal product for good digestion and to remove parasites. Which, in turn, I actually needed later as my stomach was in a knot and about one day I felt pretty horrible (most likely due to some strange food I ate). It is bound to happen and I figure only one day of this on my whole trip is actually doing pretty well !


Music on the bus is the popular music of the country and they also seem to love playing American war movies. It is quite surprising and not to mention a tad scary how these large buses go zipping up and down and all around the Andean mountains. For the most part, the roads are paved along the major routes.

I hopped onto the bus and headed South west to the little town of Banos. The streets were lined with sugar cane stalls and sweet treats of all kinds. More of a popular tourist town (for foreigners and folks within the country). Even shops that sell that beloved tourist t-shirt here. A small town with two options for hot springs, waterfalls surrounding the town, and a nice plaza.  It is a town popular for mountain biking, soaking in the hot springs, rafting, jumping off bridges (sort of like bungee jumping), and other adventures.  The town also has somewhat of an active volcano surrounding it! However, it being in the mountains, it was usually surrounded by clouds.

I actually found a somewhat local microbrewery and found out that it was owned by a family in Chicago ! Mighty tasty ! The popular-regular beer here is like drinking water, yet it is only about one dollar for 16 oz.