A random mixed group of us left the hostel nice and early for breakfast at the market and then the supposed four hour hike up to Casa Del Arbol to play on the giant swing. There was Radek and myself, a German girl, Yohanna and two Swedish girls, Antonia and Caroline.
We managed to get there within two hours without too much trouble and while the clouds obscured full panoramic views of the volcano, it was a beautiful spot where we made the most of our time playing on the giant swing. The swing itself was nowhere near as scary as I had expected but every bit as awesome. We stayed swing-side for quite a while, had coffee and chatted hoping the clouds would clear. They looked pretty set in so we started the trek back to Banos via the road.
After walking for two hours and still feeling like we still had a good two hours to go we decided to try and hitchhike back. When you are walking with two very attractive Swedish girls you will never wait long for a lift and within about two minutes of conceding we had enough of walking we were all in the back of a ute cruising back to town. The journey was completely free of course.
Back in town we all went to the markets for more tasty juices and some soup. As most far as street and market food goes, sometimes part of the adventure is not knowing what you may actually get. This is what happened with my soap con pollo - which was actually sopa con paras de pollo (chicken’s feet). Not a win but edible, sin paras. Post lunch we did some fruit and veg shopping for dinner, walking away with what turned out to be a feast for 3 people for less than $3 in total.
We retreated back to the hostel for some more couch time and watched a movie before cooking up dinner together and settling in for more couch time. Definitely found home away from home and again, more awesome people to hang with.
