Salinas

Driving north out of Guayaquil we enjoyed the rice paddies and the Andes looming ever closer in the mist. We filled up with diesel for $1/gal and soon began climbing out of the heat. At the first road side stand with red banana looking things we stopped. We had seen these on the way down from Quito, and were excited to discover what they are. Moranos. Kim said they taste as if someone took the banana out and made it into banana pudding and put it back in. They are seriously yummy. I asked what this other round green thing was and as she was telling me was cutting one open. Zapote. At first I didn’t like it because of the sweet morano taste in my mouth, but it’s a bit like the cross of a mango and a melon. Onto my second piece of zapote I started to enjoy it.

Passing through Guaranda we started asking for the turn off for Salinas, a small mountain village known for their cheese, chocolate and sweaters. A very enthusiastic policeman told us that the turn off was in just a few kilometers. Have I mentioned how nice everyone one is here? At the turn off a pickup truck with 5 policeman hotboxing told us this was the right road.

After about 10 kilometers the road was covered by a landslide. There was a path through, but I wasn’t sure if it was safe. Night had fallen so I hopped out with the MagLite to check out the scene. Sinking to my ankles in mud I thought we might not be making it to Salinas. Kim and I had a good laugh about the 5 policman laughing at us ‘yup, this is the road, ha ha ha ha.’ As we deliberated what to do a pickup came up and they just drove right through, and emboldened, we followed. At the next mud slide that covered the road they got a bit stuck making me nervous. Luckily we have 400 lbs of books over the back wheels and just plowed right through! Go Tortuga.

Salinas was a very cute little town and we slept next to the town square. The bells of the church started going at 5:30 so we got an early start to the day. We decided to do a hike to some neighboring villages in the morning and see the artisans’ houses during the rainy afternoon. Unfortunately on our hike Kim started feeling sick. After a few trips to the public washroom I struck out to find her a hotel room. As luck would have it, a large group was in town for the weekend and all 2 hotels were full. So we started heading back to Guaranda, were we are now. After a nasty afternoon and a good night’s sleep Kim is feeling better, talking about food and markets. We’re still not sure what she ate/had, but we reallyreally hope it doesn’t happen again.