Friday, February 20
We spent all day nearly writing reports on interviews and the past week. There was much to say and much care to be taken to get it right. After supper, we had a very good conversation with Albert and Magdalena. They are such good people, very kind, hard-working and hospitable. We are invited to visit Baños with them tomorrow. Albert's grandmother has a home there, very rustic, and we will visit the famous hot springs there. We are both looking forward to it.
Saturday, February 21 - Sunday, February 22
We were to leave at 6 a.m., but because Albert and Magdalena needed to deliver some finished products, we left closer to 8 a.m. With dismay, Albert realized that this was a work day, to make up for the holidays enjoyed earlier in the week. The traffic was pretty bad (not as bad as Manila, say, or Los Angeles). Albert was very, very patient, and as people took chances with their lives to get into the flow of traffic, there was a lot of sudden braking, but almost no honking of horns. Magdalena observed that people here were fairly "tranquilo," or calm. Not a lot of road rage! We drove for over four hours to reach Baños, stopping for brunch and an ice cream in a little cafe. The volcanoes (many of them snow-capped) were very beautiful, like exotic dancers disappearing behind veils of cloud, then tantalizingly reappearing against the dark blue sky. To me, Chimborazo is the most beautiful of all, its blown out peak looking like a silver crown. There's a whole line of them crossing the equator, but only a few are currently active.
We reached Baños in early afternoon, spent some time cleaning the house of ash, which is constantly falling on the city of Baños from nearby volcano Tungurahua (Throat of Fire), then decided to walk around the town. We had tea, fruit and bread for supper and then each couple sought one of the two double beds in the main room. A comedic scene in the middle of the night played out when Susanne, needing to find the outdoor bathroom in the dark, woke the entire household trying to open a door which was latched shut. Early Sunday morning, we walked to the baths and got in quite quickly with no line. A few hours later, the line was hours long, so it was good we had gone with Albert and Magdalena, who know the drill. The water was lovely, relaxing and the famous waterfall was mesmerizing, dropping nearly straight down 260 feet to feed the community laundry (dozens of stone basins free for all to do their washing). Toward noon it began to be very crowded, with people stepping on our toes to go past and kids splashing wildly, so we retreated to a restaurant for a very nice lunch. I learned not to spent five hours in a hot bath by becoming very dizzy and nauseous after exiting the pool. But really? The alternative was to plunge myself into an extremely cold waterfall for several minutes longer than I felt I could survive. So as they say here, "Vale la pena." It was worth the pain. The church here is beautiful, and built of volcanic rock in the center. Afterward, Albert drove us up to the tree house on a high hill adjacent to Tungurahua, where there is a bit of a tourist attraction just sitting on the lawn looking up at the mountain, wreathed today in clouds, and watching the young people swinging out over a 400 foot drop into the ravine at the base of the volcano. There was a long line of people wanting to climb the tree house, while we demurred and simply enjoyed the view. Such beautiful views were available on the back side of the waterfall behind the town of Baños! We found ourselves to be totally relaxed, carefree and mellow--without any artificial aids. What a wonderful weekend this was.
Our generous hosts were pleased that we had enjoyed it so much, while we were blessed that they gave us such a treat. It is amazing, when life is pared down to the essentials, how simple and lovely it is. Thank you, Albert and Magdalena.
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