It was time to leave Tim and Kathy's nest and test out my wings in South America. Besides, I think Kathy was getting tired of Tim drinking too much and playing too many video games with me. So I hit the road and went to Mindo a magical place nestled high in the forest about 2 1/2 hours by bus from Quito. The first thing I had to do was re-acquaint myself with Latin American bus travel. It is not my favorite thing in world and I often sit white knuckled, wondering if the driver is insane and why nobody else seems to be concerned. Maybe its because many of the locals do the Catholic cross motion to themselves before the bus takes off. Maybe if I am sitting next to them, god will protect me by default.
But just 2 1/2 hours of that and I was in Mindo a small town of only about 1500 people. It was Saturday when I arrived, and the place was packed because it was Semana Santa. Fortunately there were a lot of day trippers and I didn't have much of a problem finding a hotel. One thing I love about traveling in cheaper countries is the freedom of not worrying about blowing your daily hotel budget. If once in a while you get stuck and really can't find anything in your price range, you are then obliged to bump it up a category to 10-15 USD a night. Not to much out of your pocket for one night as opposed to Europe, where the same problem may well cost you 60-80 USD, or more.
I spent three nights in Mindo and even though it rained A LOT, I really enjoyed it. After all it was a cloud forest, so rain was not a surprise. The room I was staying in had a tin roof, so during my afternoon naps I really heard the rain. I went on a few hikes while I was there, and fortunately mostly managed to avoid the rain during them.
The town really quited down on Sunday afternoon, and it was nice to have lazy strolls around, deciding where I was to eat. Of course as I said before, it was great to be in cheap country because no restaurant was really out of my price range. Although unfortunately a helping of fried chicken (I think) from Mindo ended up resulting in the worst belly issues I have ever had while traveling. But it didn't hit me until the day I left Mindo, so my experience there wasn't spoiled.
I also went tubing down the raging river that ran near town. It was a fairly common activity in in Mindo. There were countless "boats" around, with 6-7 tubes lashed around a central tube. You then went down in groups with a guide who was constantly jumping off the contraption to right the wronged flotilla. It looked like a fun job, but I bet a broken ankle is not uncommon and I was glad to just be a passenger.
Another day I went to a swimming hole after a long hike. It was a privately owned place so I had to pay a little to get in, but it was worth it. I mostly had the place to myself except a family from South Carolina, a local couple and the guy working there. There was a long cement slide that ended in a 10 foot drop into the fast moving river. Then you had to surface in time to grab a rope to keep from being swept down the waterfall that surly would have killed you. It wasn't that intense (meaning I wasn't close to death), but was fun. I also jumped into the same river from about 25-30 feet up, and had to surface for the same rope grabbing.
If you are going to Quito, don't miss out on Mindo. I actually even thought about moving there and setting up a tourism business.
But just 2 1/2 hours of that and I was in Mindo a small town of only about 1500 people. It was Saturday when I arrived, and the place was packed because it was Semana Santa. Fortunately there were a lot of day trippers and I didn't have much of a problem finding a hotel. One thing I love about traveling in cheaper countries is the freedom of not worrying about blowing your daily hotel budget. If once in a while you get stuck and really can't find anything in your price range, you are then obliged to bump it up a category to 10-15 USD a night. Not to much out of your pocket for one night as opposed to Europe, where the same problem may well cost you 60-80 USD, or more.
I spent three nights in Mindo and even though it rained A LOT, I really enjoyed it. After all it was a cloud forest, so rain was not a surprise. The room I was staying in had a tin roof, so during my afternoon naps I really heard the rain. I went on a few hikes while I was there, and fortunately mostly managed to avoid the rain during them.
The town really quited down on Sunday afternoon, and it was nice to have lazy strolls around, deciding where I was to eat. Of course as I said before, it was great to be in cheap country because no restaurant was really out of my price range. Although unfortunately a helping of fried chicken (I think) from Mindo ended up resulting in the worst belly issues I have ever had while traveling. But it didn't hit me until the day I left Mindo, so my experience there wasn't spoiled.
I also went tubing down the raging river that ran near town. It was a fairly common activity in in Mindo. There were countless "boats" around, with 6-7 tubes lashed around a central tube. You then went down in groups with a guide who was constantly jumping off the contraption to right the wronged flotilla. It looked like a fun job, but I bet a broken ankle is not uncommon and I was glad to just be a passenger.
Another day I went to a swimming hole after a long hike. It was a privately owned place so I had to pay a little to get in, but it was worth it. I mostly had the place to myself except a family from South Carolina, a local couple and the guy working there. There was a long cement slide that ended in a 10 foot drop into the fast moving river. Then you had to surface in time to grab a rope to keep from being swept down the waterfall that surly would have killed you. It wasn't that intense (meaning I wasn't close to death), but was fun. I also jumped into the same river from about 25-30 feet up, and had to surface for the same rope grabbing.
If you are going to Quito, don't miss out on Mindo. I actually even thought about moving there and setting up a tourism business.
No comments:
Post a Comment