We met Julio downstairs (another $25 each) and we hopped into the truck. This time we headed southeast of Quito and got onto the Ruta Viva which eventually turned into the E20. It was going to take about an hour or so to get there. We all watched the scenery go by as we drove. At one point I saw a sign for the continental divide. We also joked about the oso (bear) signs. I was about to drive across the South American continental divide according to the sign up ahead. Now, I can say I've been across both. The North American continental divide was conquered July 2010 in Colorado.
We continued along the road towards Papallacta until we started seeing small communities as we got closer. It was very rural out here. A lot of people who did live out here had livestock, many acres of land to grow crops on and small little cinder block houses that a family of 7 or 8 live inside of. Most little homesteads all looked the same.
Julio made the left hand turn into the resort and we followed the road it was around 11 a.m. This place had a lot of stuff to do. We drove past several restaurants, hotels and small get away bungalows. We parked, grabbed our stuff and headed into the Termas Papallacta Balnerio. We paid our entrance fee of $9, which covered everything inside the spa, except for food and drinks. We found out you had to have a bathing suit, which I am super glad I brought mine. Mom had to go to the snack/supply building to get a swimming suit because she didn't have one. She was upset that she had to buy one to enjoy the hot springs with us. She found one she liked and we found the building that housed the locker room.
We all got changed, grabbed a basket to put all of our stuff in and headed to our first pool to relax and soak in. We put our stuff inside of a locker for safe keeping. I did bring my phone with me so we could take a few pictures.
That first pool we relaxed in I had totally forgot my phone was in the top of my swim suit. It dunked in the water for at least 20 seconds before I realized it. Oh no! I said pretty loudly. Mom asked what was happening and I told her. I checked it immediately and found out that it was fine. Apparently the Galaxy 9+ is somewhat waterproof. I am not sure to what degree, however, my phone still worked. Thank goodness.
We spent at least three hours going from pool to pool and Josh dared me to jump into the pool that was being fed by the cold Rio Quijos (see photos). I had a really hard time getting myself to jump in. Josh just jumped right in and told me to just jump in because the sooner you did, the sooner you could get back in the hot springs. So I just did it and it was frickin cold!
Close to the end of our time in the pools, we ended up talking to a lady that looked like medusa. She was from Venezuela and moved to Ecuador. She spend time in the states for a good portion of the 1970's. She now takes care of her grandson and they do a lot of traveling together because she is now retired. It was quite an interesting conversation we had with her. We all decided we were done and got cleaned up in the locker room plus we were all getting hungry. I grabbed Termas Papallacta (GC7A5F4) before we headed back to the truck. Our skin was very soft and smooth from the minerals we soaked our bodies in. It was refreshing and rejuvenating...especially after that hike mom and I went on the previous day.
We drove less than a quarter of a mile to one of the restaurant/hotels we saw on our way here. We parked in front of the building and went inside. It was a very nice hotel and restaurant. The restaurant was called Sucrus. It featured a diverse menu where you can find traditional Ecuadorian food and other international cuisine made with fresh ingredients and vegetables grown in their small garden.
We were seated and there really weren't that many people inside the restaurant so we were served pretty quickly. Again, we learned that the chef had lived in the US while learning how to cook. I ordered steak and potatoes and it came with some veggies on the side along with a Coke. Mom ordered the mac and cheese. Amy and Josh also ordered the steak and potatoes along with a few Cokes and some small appetizers. We chatted while we ate.
On the way back out to the truck I noticed a mail box and thought it was pretty cool since it isn't something I've seen at all while I've been down here and I've been to Ecuador twice.
We drove back to Quito and Julio took us down to the zoo. When we got there we found out it was closed on Mondays and we were all bummed out. I guess we should have noticed something wasn't right when we got closer and there wasn't any traffic. Julio apologized and we told him that it was okay. We wouldn't have known either way. Instead he took us to a nearby village (we thought maybe he took us here because he was either from here or had relatives that lived here). We parked the truck and walked around for a while. We visited the beautiful church in the middle of the town square and checked out some of the shops. I noticed there was a pretty large thunderstorm off in the distance.
It started to get dark so Julio took to one more place. We headed up a hill to go see Itchimbia, which was a great place to see a panorama of the city but sadly that too was closed because it was getting dark. He just ended up taking us back to the hotel. We thanked him and before we left we decided what we wanted to do tomorrow before we had to leave Quito to head northwest to Cotocachi. We hired him to take us to the cable cars, the church and to take us two hours north tomorrow. The entire day would cost each of us $50 including our luggage. We went to our rooms and dumped off our stuff. Josh and Amy wanted to walk down the street for some snacks.
We walked to a place that sold cookies, cakes, bread etc. Kinda like a bakery but they also sold meals, drinks and other odds and ends. Mom and I shared a fog cookie and I got a Coke, Amy and Josh shared a pastry with a Coke.
As soon as we sat down it poured down rain. Flash flood poured down rain. I watched the streets of Quito turn into rivers in a matter of minutes. Quito is situated in a mountainous valley and I sure hoped they had a good drainage system wherever the lowest point in town was. We sat there for a while waiting for the rain to subside a little bit. We were definitely going to have to puddle jump our way back to the hotel.
Once the rain lightened up a bit we hustled down the street to the hotel. The rest of the night was spent getting cleaned up, ready for bed and we worked on our NCAA March Madness basketball brackets. I had forgotten to print a blank bracket off before we left so I spent a while hand drawing them and it was tedious. We had to get them done and submitted before time ran out. It was the last night to do them.
Mom had to email hers to Dr. Blackner. I just had mine just in case someone was curious on who I picked. Mostly for Ben and whoever else asked me. I had Duke winning it all and I knew eventually they would ruin my bracket somewhere along the line. I spent some time before bed reorganizing my suitcase since this was our last night in Quito.
We went to bed shortly after 10 p.m.
Next Adventure: Teleferico, Basilica and Heading to Cotacachi
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