Sitting on the side of the road..

Right now we're sitting on the side of the road by the small town of Alausi. How did we get here you may wonder? Well after Galapagos we flew back to Quito and met up for dinner with Andrew and Justin. We had an early night so we could be prepared for our travels the next day. After some preparations we caught a taxi to the south bus terminal and luckily caught a bus leaving in 5 minutes! We bused from Quito through Banos to Puyo. We met a couple from Florida here that also didn't have a hostel booked but had looked at a nice one online. Very  cute!! Only $10 a night each with a private bathroom and breakfast included. We decided to do a tour recommended by the owner with the American couple. The next morning we met the guide and first stop was the monkey house!! Here they had many different kinds of monkeys that we think they rehabilitate but I obviously didn't ask enough questions. The main point is that you get to play with and hold monkeys! They were so cute... except one peed on me! After the monkeys we had some ice cream and then we trekked around the jungle (not really the jungle but close enough for me) to a beautiful waterfall. The indigenous people here believe waterfalls to be holy so we had to 'ask permission' before swimming in the water. It was fantastic. The next part of the tour was to ride in a traditional canoe down the Puyo river. So peaceful. From here we went to a lookout point with an amazing view of the area and then a delicious lunch. After lunch we even had time for a quick nap in some hammocks. We had a quick visit with an indigenous tribe who painted our faces and let us try a blow dart gun (and the girls kicked the guys butts in using it!). Our final stop was a pond with some enormous fish. They were about 1-2 meters. They're endangered here so they breed them in these ponds. After our tour, Anik and I gathered our things and went to the bus terminal. We had to wait a little bit but we caught a bus to Rio Bamba arriving around 10:45pm. What a long day! 

We woke up super early this morning in Rio Bamba with intentions of taking a train to the Nariz del Diablo (nose of the devil). In our lonely plant book it said a train leaves at 7 am but tickets start selling at 6am. Turns out the train doesn't run the entire way at this time and we would have to bus to Alausi and then take the train from there. We luckily caught a bus just as it was leaving and spent the next 2 hrs on the bus. Too early in the morning for me! We got to the town and bought our ticket for the train but it didn't leave till 11am. Luckily, Alausi is a small town surrounded by green mountains. Seriously gorgeous (although I'm pretty sure I've said that about everything in Ecuador). We found a big open square where I napped while Anik read. Just perfect. The train finally came. It's actually a slow moving train but is meant as a tourist attraction. Construction of the railroad ended in the early 1900s but not before taking more than 2500 lives. It was extremely dangerous to build because it zig zags up and down a mountain and because of the intense climate in the mountains. It's a beautiful little train ride with some amazing views and is a great little piece of history. 

This brings me to the present. After the train we caught a cab and told him we were going to Cuenca. He said okay but when he took us out of town and dropped us off on a highway we were confused. He said a bus would be along in 10 minutes and we just have to wave it down. Uhhhhhh okay. We waited and waited but no bus came. Another cab came and dropped of a mother and her two sons (who we found out were from France) so we felt a little better we werent sitting here alone anymore! Now just to wait for a bus...