Driving up to the top of the Andes Mountains is not something any average person can easily do without killing someone or something. There are barely any guard rails and for someone who has never been around mountains that large, the site is simply breathtaking. One can easily be caught staring at the waterfalls flowing down the sides of mountains or the cows and farms that somehow balance on the steep slopes instead of the road ahead that curves at 90 degree angles. But for Gustavo, obviously a veteran Ecudorian driver, it was a piece of cake. We ALMOST hit 15 cars, 2 dogs and only one person. We managed to only cut off about 3 people too. We successfully avoided causing death or injury to anyone, barely. And made it to the top of the mountains all in one piece.
Apparently today, it was about 50 degrees on top of the Andes mountains. (at least at the part where we were) And apparently it is usually raining in the area we went to because it is the area where the rainforest meets the jungle. Gustavo, our contact here, figured it wouldn't be necessary to give us any of this information so, this would explain why a group of girls went sprinting up a hill, toward a hot spring in our bathing suits at 3pm this afternoon.
Gustavo said he didn't give us this valuable information because he figured being near a rainforest was self explanatory for "bring a raincoat." Which, granted, yea it is, but he should not give us that much credit 😉 After our initial shock of being 12,000ft up a mountain in a bathing suit and sprinting uphill, we finally plunged into the 70 degree hot spring! It felt so amazing! Once we got used to that water, we moved on to what I would like to call a hot tub on steroids. This water was HOT! And it felt soooo good! It was so surreal sitting in a hot pool of water staring up at the tips of mountains on either side of me. The mist blocked out some of the mountains but from what I could make out, it was all beautiful. There was a constant mist that made everyone's hair look like it was sparkling in the sun.
Being the adventurous group that we are, simply just sitting in a pool of water, staring at mountain tops and glittery hair was not enough to appease our thrill. So, we decided to dunk ourselves in a stream that ran down the side of the mountain. (this sounds more dangerous than it really was btw) So, I got out of the pool, held onto one of my friends, took a big breath and fell into the FREEZING icy water! Yea, that did not last long. As soon as my body went out of shock again, I jumped up and fell back into the hot water, which just made my body go into shock once again. My leg was all tingly and my feet felt like they were on fire…my bug bites felt amazing though for some odd reason…
Needles to say, this went on all afternoon and I throughly enjoyed every second.
