Road Warriors! (Part III)

After our hike down into the crater and back up, we returned to our lodge, where we took off our dusty clothes (which Shannon & I took outside to shake the dust out), took hot showers and relaxed. Back at the top, it was quite cold again, and the sun decided to head behind the clouds. The boys went out to play in the car. (Back at home, they play in our cars for hours - whether it's Shannon's car, or Duck's (Grandpa's) van or truck). They spent the better part of 2 hours in the car, and would have spent more if it weren't time for dinner. I later asked Finn why he wanted to spend so much time in there, and he said, "Well, I've never had a Jeep before."

At sunset, the boys and I walked up to the crater for a final view, and it was stunning.

We didn't get the sunset exactly, but as we sat we watched the clouds move in, pouring down the side of the crater.

As the afternoon drew on, we relaxed in the lodge. It was quite cold in the lodge, but they fired up a wood stove and we crowded around, snacked and read books. The other guests began making their way in as well after long days hiking around the crater (and to other nearby towns), and our hosts were busy preparing the evening's meal.

 Our stay at the lodge included dinner and breakfast, and the dinner was no joke. It began with a delicious potato soup, served with tomate de arbol (tree tomato - a native fruit) juice.

After an early breakfast, we departed in a very cloudy, rainy morning. We originally planned to visit Cotopaxi that morning and stay another night in Latacunga, but with the heavy clouds, visiting the volcano made no sense. Plus, Finn was a bit homesick (both for St. Louis and our apartment in Cuenca), so we elected to head back in the direction of home, stopping through the adventure town of Baños. Baños is a hot springs town located in the shadow of one of the most active volcanoes in Ecuador - Tungurahua, and is on the downward slope to the Amazon jungle. It is the adventure headquarters in Ecuador, with mountain biking, canyoning, mountain climbing, whitewater rafting, and the uniquely Ecuadorian form of bungee jumping called "puenting". (Puente means bridge in Spanish, and unlike bungee jumping, the cord is not elastic, so one ends up swinging in a pendulum type motion).

Baños, being at a lower altitude, was much greener and more tropical than we've been accustomed to, and seeing the raging rivers, waterfalls and lush green forests, doing those activities looked like a lot of fun. Alas, the boys are a little too young for such sports, so we enjoyed a walk through the town, and got back on our way.

One of my concerns with the Baños visit was that the road toward Cuenca may have been closed due to volcanic activity. Our Lonely Planet indicated it was closed at the time of print, but it was a year or so since printing, and with all of the public works, and the fact that our GPS said we could go that way, I figured we could take a chance. Otherwise we would have to backtrack, adding a couple hours to the trip (and no one wants to backtrack). Well, we headed out of town, and quickly, the GPS told us to turn left. We looked, but didn't see a road. We continued, and the GPS kept imploring us to make a U-turn. Not seeing any other options, we turned around, and at the point of the turn, saw a dirt road heading up the mountain. We rented a 4x4, so I figured, what the heck, and we turned off...for a wonderful adventure.

The road was nearly all dirt or gravel, full of potholes and bumps. We quickly realized why it had been closed. Multiple landslides had destroyed the original paved road. It seems as though each time there is a landslide, a bulldozer will simply carve out the hillside a bit more, and the road stays open. There were several places where mountain streams went across the road, making the drive a little scary, but definitely gave us an adrenaline rush!

After about 45 minutes of driving (all in 1st or 2nd gear, never faster than 40kph), we came around a bend and saw a woman in the road beckoning us to stop. I rolled forward a few feet, and quickly saw why. The road had been washed out with a huge 5 or 6 foot deep gully in the middle of the road, several feet wide. And there on the other side of the gully was a full size, very new passenger bus en route to Baños.

People were working to get the bus through the ditch by finding rocks to fill it, and digging out the road on the other side so the bus could make the turn.

Before long, cars were piling up on both sides of the road, and people were all around. Some were simply gawking, some lent a hand, and there was no shortage of advice on the proper way to make the crossing. In normal circumstances, I've been one to jump in and help and give my two cents, but here, I was just a tourist, enjoying what I perceived to be a truly South American experience. Visions of "Romancing the Stone" popped through my head.

It took nearly an hour, with several false starts, but the bus eventually made it through. Since there was only room enough for one car to cross, we had to wait for the 20 or so cars on the other side to pass before we could get through, but we eventually made our way. As we entered the next pueblo, Penipe, signs had gone up announcing that the road was closed. Because we made crossings with extremely tight curves, I had to believe the bus got stuck yet again, and the road became more severely blocked.

In the end, it took us over two hours to travel 30 miles, and certainly didn't save any time, but it was a heck of an adventure. We continued down the road through the beautiful mountains, made it home well after dark, and collapsed in our beds after a long, eventful and wonderful trip through the Andes.