Weekend update: riding buses

Ah changing plans and circumstances. All travel requires some degree of flexibility. Take this weekend for example. Juan Carlos and I had talked about doing something this weekend, but we hadn't firmed up any plans. And I was largely unable to reach him Thursday and Friday. I had a cab driver on Friday who gave me his cell and he would bring me places as day trips. Nice idea, but it wasn't my favorite, although he was very nice and helped me out on Friday and gave me a tour. But it was hard to make other plans when I didn't know if I already had some. Long story short, we connected Saturday morning and decided to go to Papallacta. Sounded great - new place for me. Too bad I didn't know anything about it..... We took the trolley to the bus station, and then took a bus to Cumbayá. There's a nice church there I should see, so we wandered there for a bit. Then finally we found a bus to take us to Papallacta. The rain started on the way. Then we missed the stop and had to walk back uphill in the rain. I had an umbrella, but no hat, coat, jacket. We must have been about 11,000 feet too so it was chilly. Finally, we arrived in Papallacta about 3:30 and decided to eat first. Lovely lunch. But guess what? It's a spa and hot springs. So naturally, what don't I have with me? Right. So we wandered for a while, trucked back down the mountain, and had to wait for a passing bus back to Quito. It was super jammed - we were the only two allowed on, and we stood and sat up front with the driver. Actually, there were about 8 of us up front. I was glad they made me sit and I couldn't see, as it was downhill the whole way. After about an hour, seats freed up. Today, we met at the trolly at 7a because we wanted to take the historic train to Machachi and it left the train station at 8:15. We got there in plenty of time, only to find out that there were no seats. :( So I still want to go. Juan Carlos will know later this week if he has to work next weekend; if so, I'll probably go on my own. I'm also going to go tomorrow to an agency to arrange a trip to Mindo this week. But I digress. So to the bus station so he can pick someplace to go. Close, not complicated, easy transport. He chooses Salcedo, because the bus stops and starts there and it's only a hour away. (Well, not exactly, but that's another story.) Nice little pueblo town. Being Sunday, it's a big market day. So we had this fabulous lunch of roasted whole pig and mashed potatoes and we wandered for hours. Oh, and we had the famous Salcedo ice cream too, which is vanilla, taxo, and I can't remember the other two flavors. No matter, it's the taxo that is remarkable. Then back to Quito, just before 5p. I'm going to catch up on a few things tonight (blog, laundry, Quito friend emails), and see if I can find any highlights of the day's Olympics coverage. It's likely to be an early night. Traveling by bus doesn't seem that tiring, but I think it's a combo of the mountain air and the not working that's doing me in. Tomorrow, aside from the travel agency, I'm going to do some shopping and see friends at my old language school, Monday being a day that many museums are closed.