Guayaquil

December 19^th, 2021

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador with a population of over three million and it is located on the west bank of the Guayas River, and about 60 kilometres from the Gulf of Guyaquil which opens onto the Pacific Ocean.  It is the nation’s main port.  I didn’t plan on spending much time here, it was more of a transit stop on my way to a surf town called Montanita and I would fly out of it later to the Galapagos Islands.

 

The bus ride from Alausi to Guayaquil began with very windy roads along lush mountainsides that were sometimes shrouded in clouds.  I almost got a view of the Devil’s nose but the view was obscured by some low clouds. 

That's the trainline snaking along the hillside:

Some train station in a little town we passed through:

The terrain changed for the last hour of the bus ride as it was flat with lots of banana plantations and then suburb cities of the biggest city in Ecuador.  The bus terminal is right by the airport and it’s massive, three storeys of bus bays and it almost seemed like a shopping mall inside.  I grabbed a taxi to Casa Michael, the hostel I had booked for one night.

Banana plantations:

The first view of Guayaquil:

My first impressions of the hostel and the neighborhood were not great.  Old, delapidated buildings with paint peeling off of them.  Most with bars on the windows and the odd courtyard looked more like a prison yard that a backyard.  The hostel was pretty basic and seemed very empty.  I was shown to a dorm room with four metal bunkbeds but luckily there was nobody else staying in the room, in fact, there were only 3 other guests in the whole hostel.  Oh well, I’m only here for one night.

 

In the small outdoor courtyard, I met Andreas, a Swede backpacker.  I asked whether he wanted to join me in visiting the Malecon 2000, the boardwalk by the riverside that had been rejuvenated in the year 2000, and hence the name.  We took an Uber  there (my first one ever) and the first stop was La Perla, the Pearl, which is a big ferris wheel with enclosed cabins.  It’s similar to the London Eye but not quite as big and with smaller compartments, which luckily had air conditioning as the humidity is high in Guayaquil.

Some strange monkey statue just before we entered a tunnel:

La Perla:

On la Perla:

The big letters of the city or town seem to be everywhere in Ecuador:

After the ride, the other attraction I wanted to check out was the Henry Morgan replica pirate ship.  For $7 you could sail on it for an hour while enjoying some appetizers and drinks.  We walked about a kilometre down the Malecon and could see the small ship.  Andreas was bussing to Quito that night and decided that he would skip the boat ride, grab a bite to eat and head back to the hostel.  So we parted ways and I walked onto the ship, only to find out they weren’t sailing due to Covid even though there were a couple of people dining on the mid deck.  Next week I was told they would be doing some trips, well that doesn’t help.  I ran back up on the Malecon and tried to locate Andreas but to no avail.  Oh well, I decided to continue to wander around after first having a few beers on a raised little bar with a bit of a view of all of the action.

Probably a good chunk of their navy:

The Henry Morgan ship:

Enjoying a beer-verage:

Afterwards I walked up the nearby Santa Ana Hill with its somewhat colourful houses and a lighthouse at the top of the 444 stairs, which were numbered just to keep you motivated.  It was a nice vista of the city and the river.  On my descent, I stopped in at a crappy little bar that did sport a nice little patio with a good view of the Malecon before returning to the hostel.

I thought this was cool, a cop entertaining/educating some young boys with a puppet.  It's easier to be a ventriloquist when you can wear a mask!

The start of the climb:

Getting close:

The end!

Looking back on the Malecon 2000.

The lighthouse:

The view from the top of the lighthouse:

The tall building lights up nicely at night.

The terminal for the gondolas that travel across the river:

My bus to Montanita was the next morning and I think I was already to leave this big, busy and humid city.

Alausi – A Train to Nowhere

December 17^th-18^th, 2021 

While at the flight park in the summer, I saw a few YouTube videos of some amazing train rides in Ecuador.  I like trains.  It’s too bad that passenger trains in Canada just aren’t a thing…too big of a country with not enough people to support it.  Ecuador built a railroad from the capital Quito to the largest city Guayaquil.  The most challenging bit was near Alausi where the railroad needed to do a 500 meter vertical climb (or descent, depending on which way you are going) in a short length.  There is a big rocky promontory called the Devil’s Nose.  Supposedly over 3000 workers, primarily Jamaican slaves, died in the construction of this short leg of the track.

 

Before arriving in Alausi, a town of 5500 people, I researched online about the train and some blogs and websites had links to book tickets online but the website didn’t exist.  Oh well, I’ll book it when I get there.  However, a guy at the front desk of my hostel told me that the trains haven’t been running for months.  Shit.  Well, I’ve already got a place booked, and if nothing else, I’ll have a bit of chill time in Alausi.

 

It was a 3-4 hour bus ride from Baños to Alausi and I had to change buses in Riobamba.  I thought it was a bit odd in Riobamba that I bought my ticket and was told by the lady to be at the ticket booth in the terminal at noon, when the bus was supposed to leave versus being at some bay.  At noon, a bus conductor came up and asked me where I was going and told me to go out to the bus.  I motioned that I didn’t know where to go so he told me to wait there.  A minute later we were running out of the terminal, across the parking lot towards a bus that was slowly moving out onto the street.  Great.  Let’s do a 50 meter sprint with a 55 pound big ass backpack! 

The lush countryside:

First sighting of Alausi:

My fancy room:

Low clouds hung over Alausi and it was only a 4-5 block walk from downtown to my hotel, El Chaporen.  On checking in, it was confirmed that the train has not been functioning since Covid hit.  Oh well, these things happen when travelling, especially during a pandemic.

The train that hasn't moved in a long time...

I ventured out to find some lunch and it was tough to find a decent looking restaurant.  I settled on a place on the main street where there were only a couple of other people eating (granted it was 3:30 in the afternoon).  The waitress, an older woman in her late 60s, came over to my table and I asked for a menu in Spanish.  No menu.  Hmm.  She offered soup.  Sounds good but then I couldn’t understand my options.  A guy eating at a nearby table helped out with the translation.  The soup arrived, and it was okay.  I didn’t know what some of the vegetables were in it and the beef was hacked up with bit of bones I had to be wary of.  There was also a small chunk of corn, like an 1/8^th of a corn on the cob.  I really wasn’t sure how I was supposed to eat that with a spoon so I occasionally picked it out of the soup with my fingers to take a bite.  I wasn’t even finished my soup, which I thought was going to be the perfect amount of food, when she brought out a plate with rice, chicken, plantains, tomatoes and onions.  Whoa.  I didn’t need that.  Oh, the joys of things getting lost in translation.

The next day I thought I’d try walking along the train tracks to see if I could get to the Devil’s nose.  First, I stopped by the statue of Jesus on a small hill on the edge of town.  Yet another Christian statue in this country…I have seen quite a few!

I loved the sign for the statue...

It didn't quite match the real thing!

The view from the statue:

A nice big bug hanging out with Jesus.

When I got to the train track, a sign should that you weren’t supposed to walk along it.  I disregarded it as I knew that there were no trains running but I only made it about 50 meters along it and the combination of a dog in a nearby yard barking at me and the pain of walking on the railroad ties which never match one’s gait, I decided to turn around.  The weather forecast also showed rain coming within the hour.  So I ventured back to the main street and looked for a taxi, perhaps that’s how I can go and see it.  Eventually I found one but the guy said it would be $30 and would take an hour to get there and another to get back.  What?!?  According to the map it looked to be less than 10 kilometres away.  I told him I’d think about it.  I got confirmation about this information by a local guy who started chatting to me on a nearby street corner.  He claimed to be a poet and when he heard I was from Canada, he began to reel off a bunch of Canadian city names…I dunno, to demonstrate his intelligence or something.  He confirmed that it was a couple of hours to drive to the Devil’s Nose which I still found odd, but I decided I was defeated and returned to my room for a chill night.

Oh well, you can’t win them all.  The next morning I hopped on a bus to head to Guayaquil where I would spend one night before heading to a surf town on the coast called Montanita.

Ruta de Cascadas – Pailon de Diablo

December 16^th, 2021 

The day started with another rainy morning, worse than yesterday.  I spent the morning working on my accommodations for the Galapagos Islands (I tell you, sometimes this backpacking feels like a job!).  The precipitation slowed but didn’t stop but as it neared 1 pm, I figured I’d have to give this excursion a try.  I’ve been carrying some rain pants with me all this way and not used them yet…so today’s the day.

 

It took me a while to find a rental bike shop that was open.  Most of them were closed as they probably figured “Who would be dumb enough to go biking in this weather?”.  Well, it turns out this guy is.  It was my last afternoon in Baños so I didn’t have much choice if I wanted to ride the Ruta de Cascadas, the Waterfalls Route.  It is a 17 kilometre bike ride along the main road, but thankfully it’s mostly downhill as you are following the Pastaza River.   The route consists of a number of waterfalls, ending with the big finale of the Pailon de Diablo which is supposed to be spectacular (the Cauldron of the Devil).  I have to admit, after visiting New Zealand a few years ago where I must have seen 100-150 waterfalls in one day, waterfalls generally don’t do much for me, but I’ve got to give this a go.  In addition to cascading water, there were other man-made activities such as ziplines, cable cars and other roadside attractions.

 

The rental was only $5 for the bike, and it was a decent one with front suspension and disc brakes.  I had been told by numerous people to make sure that the brakes were good.  Starting to cycle out of town, the wind was picking up and it was in my face as the rain continued to fall.  Since there were no fenders on the bike, water was spinning off of the front wheel and the wind was blowing it back into my face.  It made it challenging to see at times.

 

The man at the store had instructed me that I was to ride through the first tunnel but go around the following two tunnels.  Riding through the first one was fun, but I was thankful that no vehicle was on my tail.  The bypass around the next tunnel had the first of a few ziplines.  This one looked pretty long, maybe a kilometre, running down and over the river.  It didn’t look like it was operating and considering my late start and the heavy rain, I decided to pass.

Party truck coming through the tunnel:

A few kilometres later and around a big bend, there was a big roadside attraction with another zipline, a suspension bridge with glass floors (it made me think of Squid Games which I watched a month ago – you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it) and a bungee cord ball ride, the best I can do to describe it.  Again, I decided to continue on to my main goal, the Pailon del Diablo.

If you ever watched an online cartoon called Homestar Runner, you'll notice I'm channeling my inner Strong Bad:

The suspension bridge with glass panels for some of the deck:

A nice waterfall on the way to the star of the show:

After coming around the bypass of the third and longest tunnel (946 meters), I entered a small village.  As I approached a river with a bridge spanning it, a man standing outside a building asked in Spanish if I wanted to store my bike in his place.  I was a little confused.  I had been monitoring the kilometre markings on the side of the road and thought I had another 3-4 kilometres to go before reaching the Pailon de Diablo but it turns out I was already there…great.  It was some little tourist information centre, so I felt safe putting the bike inside and wandered a few hundred meters down along the river to the entrance.

Some pretty sad sculptures before getting to the falls:

The combination of Covid and a rainy day resulted in a pretty deserted place.  I felt bad for a few ladies here and there cooking up a bit of food for their tiny rundown restaurants that were devoid of customers.  I wondered whether I was the only tourist there but later I ran into a few others, but it was definitely quiet.  I paid my $2 entrance fee and proceeded to walk along the designated path beside the swift flowing river.  The water sped up as the channel narrowed and then it disappeared over the edge.  Okay cool so far, but I used to live by Niagara Falls during some engineering work terms in university so hopefully it will get better than this.

And that it did!  First, I had to cross a suspension bridge which then doubled back on itself.  The falls themselves must be about 250 feet high and it was impressive.  What was even more impressive was that you could literally stand right beside the gushing water and later, once I reached the other side, you could stand right behind it! 

Since it had been raining cats and dogs all day (or I guess gatos y perros here), the waterflow was definitely more than usual.  I could tell that even though I’d never been there before because I kept thinking about “How did they make these stairs, these guardrails, the gutters etc.?”  Some parts were continuously getting drenched in water.  Oh yeah, it’s flowing full power today.  It was mesmerizing to watch the water splashing back up as it hit the pool at the bottom.

What I couldn’t figure out was how one got to the other side of the waterfalls.  There were some tourists on some concrete steps and platforms.  I could see some kind of lodge with a suspension bridge to access it but there didn’t seem to be a way to get over there.  I figured that there must be another entrance and I back tracked the 4-500 meters back to the building where my bike was and crossed the bridge.  A few hundred meters later I found the entrance for the carpark.  Okay, I must be close.

That's a big leaf!

This side was more built up with a few small restaurants, bars and shops, all of which were fairly devoid of activity.  I walked down the much longer path through the forest to reach the other side of the waterfall.  After about 15 minutes of leaving the other side of the waterfalls, I finally reached the entrance for this side.  I happily paid another $2 to enter and began my way up some steps towards the falls.

Cool statue at the entrance...a little higher quality than the other side!

The suspension bridge I was on, on the first side I visited.

 Approaching from lower than the first side I visited, the splash from the waterfall was more prevalent.  I decided to take a gamble and walk down to one of the platforms and within a minute I got drenched!  Luckily my rain gear held up well, but my waterproof hiking shoes didn’t fair so well.  I got quite concerned about my iPhone, but it survived.

I climbed back up the stairs and headed further up.  The walkway turned into a “crawlway” and one had to mind one’s head as it would have been easy to smoke it on some of the overhanging rocks.  Once through, you could get right behind the waterfall…super cool, and super loud!   

A wall of water!

After soaking it all in, literally, I walked back to the entrance, removed my waterproof pants for the hike back up and also removed my supposedly waterproof shoes and wrung out my socks.  The guy at the entrance gave me a little laminated ticket and told me that this was to cross the suspension bridge to the lodge on the other side.  Huh, I thought I was finished, but I guess not.  I walked over to the other side and entered the building.  It was a nice view of the falls and I decided that I’d definitely earned a beer, and this was a fantastic place to have one.

 

Leaving the park, I saw a bus a hundred meters ahead crossing the bridge.  Shit, I’m just going to miss it.  I ran after it, but to no avail.  The guy at the tourist place told me that there was a white truck back where I came from that could take me back to Baños…perfect.  There were a couple of 21 year old American/Indian college students who had also braved the rain to bike to the waterfalls who also took the truck back to town.

Chased by a bus through a tunnel on our way back to town:

As I mentioned earlier, I’m a little jaded about waterfalls and they usually don’t do much for me but this one was special.  I’d put it in the top 5 at least that I’ve seen…well worth the price of admission!