Costs pp: Train to Hidroelectrica 24s, collectivo van to Santa Theresa 3s
We slept for 14 hours! Packed and down to the train only to find that todays train is full. Why they allow people to stand in the aisles in the buses and not in the trains we have no idea. After a few moments and a few calls on his mobile phone the ticket guy gives us the thumbs up, yes we can get on the 12.34pm train, the only train of the day back to Hidroelectrica. We take our tickets and packs and go down to wait.
While waiting we talk to 3 guys who arrived walking from H yesterday (they didn't know the train was working) and went up Putucusi, the hill right beside AC the summit of which is reached by ladders and ropes and some heavy duty climbing, and camped the night up there. This morning they came down and were heading up MP in the afternoon then walking back to H in the evening and going to stay the night in Santa Theresa. Wow! How's that for fit and energetic!
Off the train at H and rush to jump in a collectivo van, Kent purched with only one buttcheek on a tiny seat and Carol on the floor of a stuffed van.
At Santa Theresa we found Hospedaje Auqui in Calle Union with rooms 10s per person, the room was not impressive but the bed was great and also the bathrooms were very good and had hot water. Luckily for us the owner had a new washing machine sitting in the courtyard waiting to be installed so Kent installed it and a power point and saved us the cost of the room for the night and made a very happy hostelier. Of course we had to test the machine (after running a wash thru to clean out the cockroach droppings) and got all our clothes washed and hung out to dry.
We caught a collectivo (1s) down to the hot pools and found a surprisingly big and well developed site with 4 pools (the hottest only just hot enough). In the pools we met 2 kiwis and amazingly one of them had gone to school with Carols nephew William. It was great to have a soak for our poor tired muscles, but the pools in Rotorua are much hotter.
The best part of being in Santa Theresa was the cremosas we found at a local restaurant *-* YUM!
Local price per person in ST for a room is 10s, however if you are going to go to the hot pools and you have a tent you can camp there for 10s per site plus the entry fee to the pools of 10s each.
