The Three Wheel Tow

I write this as I sit on the beach with my laptop watching my final Ecuadorian sunset. By the time I post this, most likely I will be back home. Once the sun drops below the ocean's horizon I will be hitching a ride 3 hours away to the Guayaquil airport to catch my midnight flight back to the United States.

Honestly, I have not been too inspired to write about my trip. And it's not because I was not having an amazing time; I have been. But I was not experiencing any of my normal misadventures. Everything was going exactly according to plan. I booked my return flight to arrive two days before I was expected to be back at work. For the first time in my life, I purchased flight insurance. I am prepared. I am acting like a responsible adult.

I departed the day after Christmas. I successfully take a series of flights and buses and arrive in Montanita early in the morning on December 27th. I spend the next few days reacquainting with the friends that I have made over the last couple of years. I am counting down the days and hours till the New Year’s celebration.

New Year’s Eve arrives. The celebration is as amazing as I remember it from the previous years. My friends and I were drinking tropical cider from TJ's beach bar, The Montanita Brewing Company. At the same time, we are collecting wood to build a bomb fire on the beach. Children gathered their home-made effigies and placed them on the bomb fire wood. It's now five minutes till midnight. We light the bomb fire. The children dance around the fire as their effigies burn. It is the new year. Release the past. Dozens of surfers line up in a horizontal line along the coast. They are all awaiting the clock to strike midnight, so they can charge the dark ocean to experience their first surf of the year, together. Midnight strikes, the sky is lit up from the copious amount of fireworks shooting through the sky like little rockets. We walk the beach into town and spend the whole night until the sun rises dancing in the streets and on the beach.

January 1st, New Year’s Day:
After resting for two to three hours, Tito and I get invited to a small party at his sister’s vacation beach house about forty-five minutes outside of Montanita. The house was beyond breath-taking. I have only seen homes like this in the movies. The glass mansion was built on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. I spent the afternoon drinking fine scotch and champagne in a pool that extended over the cliff as I looked down and watched the waves crash on the shore 100 meters below me. We return to Montanita at sunset. It was a very good day.

After a few days of living the beach life, Martin and I decide we should take a little vacation from our vacation. We decide on the city of Banos. Banos is a mountain town, about 8 hours away from Montanita via bus. We ask Tito and our friend Frankie if they would like to come with us. Tito has a van and there is something much more appealing about a bunch of friends going on a road trip with our own wheels than a couple of gringo tourists traveling on a bus. Tito agrees and he is as excited as we are. The four of us are off!

We Leave the coast around 2 in the afternoon. Our plan is just to be gone 2 days. So far our day is great. We stopped on the way out of town for snacks and adult beverages for our trip. Now we are about six hours into our journey. We are high in the mountains and the sun is far behind us. I am not sure what the altitude is, but breathing has become very difficult. It is dark and the sky is covered in a thick fog. Our visibility is close to zero. The roads are wet and windy. Simultaneously, the four of us smell some something burning. We close the windows. Within moments, all the gauges in the vehicle go dead. The van seizes as smoke bellows from underneath the hood. The vehicle comes to a complete stop. It is dead. We are stranded on the middle of the freeway in the mountains where there is zero visibility. The temperature has dropped dramatically. We are freezing, we have very limited provisions, our future is uncertain. All of this considered, the only thing that is running through my head is, “YES! Now this going to be an adventure!" In my mind, things have finally returned to normal.

We only have three bottles of water left. The choice we have to collectively make is do we use all the water to try and cool the engine or do we ration some for us, because we do not know how long we are going to be stranded in the mountains. Optimistic about the mechanics of a science that none of us are proficient in, we decide to use all three bottles on the engine. The engine boiled all the water within seconds. We accept defeat. We sit in the cold and rain while we watch truck after truck honk and pass us by. Finally, we see the red and blue lights of a police cruiser through the haze of the fog. My initial thoughts are, "we are saved!" My past experience quickly reminds me that the sounds and lights of a police vehicle in South America are not necessarily the sign of a savor. He or she could be there to help us or rob us just as equally. Tito goes out there to speak with them. He explains our situation. We got lucky, the police's intention is to help us. The police ask us to gather all of our empty water bottles in the van. There is a river about a half hour from where we broke down. The police drive there and fill up all of the empty bottles with river water for us. We empty all the water on the engine. Déjà vu, within moments the water boils and then inevitably evaporates. The police offer to call a tow-truck for us. We accept their offer. The police try over and over again to make a call. There is no cell service. They leave us to drive to the nearest town where they can connect. We are now alone again, hoping they will stick to their word. An hour goes by. Now two hours have passed. We are thirsty and cold. There are only two blankets to share between the four of us. We are beginning to lose hope and accept our uncertain fate. One by one we start drifting off to sleep, possible because of the high altitude and lack of oxygen, then we see the hazy blue and red lights from the familiar cruiser accompanied with the lights of a tow truck! We are saved! The driver loads us up on to his flat bed. He explains that he can take us to the nearest town to for 60 US dollars. We ask how much to take us all the way to Banos, which is an hour and a half away. It's 150 dollars. We accept. Our spirits are high again. We begin drinking rum, celebrating, and pretending as if we are driving while we are gliding on the top of the flat bed tow truck. The driver is going alarmingly slow. He pulls off the freeway and makes his way to a very tiny town. He needs to change his tire. It is completely flat. Yes, the tow truck driver "rescued" us with only three working tires. He changes his tire and we are back on the road. It is now 1 am. We are back on the freeway...however, we are not gong any faster than before. Five hours later, we arrive in Banos. We learn once we arrive, the reason we were going so cautiously slow was because, not only did the tow-truck driver only have three tires, in addition, he did not have any breaks! But it's okay, we have arrived. He drops us off at a gas station. We rest.

I awake a couple hours later with the morning sun beating through the van's windows. Myself, Martin, and Frankie are accounted for. Tito is missing from the equation. The three of us walk outside. We take in the sights of the mountains for the first time in the light of day. Beautiful! They were the greenest mountains I have ever seen, surrounding us in every direction with so many waterfalls erupting from the walls of the mountains. Tito joins us. He woke up early, found a mechanic, and a beautiful cheap hostel for us. The mechanic tells us that it will be two days till the van is up and operational again. Perfect!

We wake up early the next morning and rent a 4 wheeler buggy to explore the city with. There is a volcano on the top of one of the mountains that we want to see. Tito's driving. I jump shotgun. Martin and Frankie jump in the back. We cross the bridge out of town and start escalating up the tiny windy road up the mountain. It does not take long for my fear to set in as I am quickly reminded that I am terrified of heights. I frantically reach for my seatbelt. The buggy has no doors; nothing to keep me secure as we travel up this bumpy and unpredictable terrain. This particular buggy only had half the working parts of a seat belt. Now my calm is a little damaged. I try not to let my fear show, but vertigo has set in completely. I want to enjoy the view, but looking off the cliff has become almost impossible for me. The temperature has dropped at least 40 degrees. The sky is darkening. A storm is coming. Now we are completely submerged in the clouds. Visibility has dropped to nearly zero. The rain starts falling on us. For the first time in my life I felt rain fall on me while I was in the source. I close my eyes and reevaluate some of my life decisions. Banos, a town high in the mountains that is known for extreme sporting and beautiful views. Everything to do in this town takes place at a very high altitude. There are zip-line tours, bungee jumping, mountain climbing, etc. Why did I think this would be the best relaxing retreat for me? I am quickly reminded of my University days. Communication major. Why? I fear public speaking as much as I fear being up in the air. I didn't think that decision out too much either.

We arrive at the volcano. Unfortunately the storm has prevented us from seeing anything at all. There is a lone swing that hangs off the cliff. It looked really out of place there, by itself. The swing is known as the "end of the world swing." It looks as if you are swinging off into an abyss of nothingness. Of course I only witnessed this phenomenon from the safety of the area behind the fence, located several meters from the cliff-side.

On our decent down we meet up with two hitchhiking Hungarian travelers. They have been backpacking through Banos for a while. They show us on our map this impressive waterfall that they recommend we visit. It's only a half hour drive from our current location, then it is about a two-hour hike on foot. We have the buggy for about three more hours, so this adventure sounds perfect. The hike, at first, is not as difficult as I was anticipating. The incline was subtle and the majority of the path was through the jungle with foliage on both sides of us blocking the drop of from the cliff. Unfortunately, this was a brief safety net for me. All of that changed quite quickly. The forest opened up, exposing the sky and tree tops underneath me. We Arrive at a little lodge that is built into the side of the mountain. They are serving espresso and charging 2 dollars to go the rest of the way to the water fall. We rest for a few minutes while we enjoy our Ecuadorian espresso before we continue our short journey to the top of the mountain. We walk up one flight of stairs to exit the lodge. At the top of the stairs the earth seems to open up. I no long have the protection of the forest and mountain walls on either side of me. Now it is just the open air, a small path, and a few rocks to hold on to for safety. I can feel and hear the amazing power of the waterfall. I can feel the earth shake around me as my knees tremble below me. I can't stand anymore, let alone walk. I kneel down as I clench the rock next to me. I try to focus and put all my energy into the hill side and not the edge of the abyss that is only a few feet from me. I swallow my pride and tell Tito, Martin, and Frankie that I am unable to finish the journey with them. They understand. As I kneel there, embarrassed, as I watch children run past me without a care in the world, anger sets in. I am both disappointed and angry with myself. This is a once in a life time experience and I am paralyzed with fear due to a phobia that I have manufactured and only exists in my head. I tell myself it is not real. I start to climb, on my hands and knees. I am getting to the top no matter what! After about a 10-minute climb, like I am a prehistoric man, I make it to the top. The guys are happy and surprised to see me. I did it! I am able to slowly stand upright and get to my feet. Tito comes over to me and helps me get to the edge so we can get a photo next to the falls. I am happy.

We return to the hostel that evening. We meet a lovely young solo traveler, Florence, from France. She is traveling all through South America and she expresses that her next stop is Montanita. She is heading out via bus in the morning. We tell her that our final destination is Montanita. We let her know that we have a van that will be fixed by noon and if she can wait a few hours, we have the room, and we can take her. Now, from the outside looking in, we are four dirty men, offering a strange young girl to take an 8 hour ride through the mountains and desert in a recently broke down vehicle, which can best be described as a "rape van." Without hesitation, Florence smiles and agrees. This is what I love about travelers. Fearless.

The next morning the five of us check out of the hostel and head to the mechanic. We are quickly discouraged; Tito’s engine is in pieces all over the dirt and sandy floor. We know we are not leaving today. The mechanic assures us that it will be ready by noon tomorrow. We head back to the hostel hoping they have rooms available for us. They do. One more day in the mountains, no problem. We make the best of the situation. We return the next day, and the next day. We do this for 8 more days. Every time it's the same answer; "we need to get one more part. It will be ready at noon tomorrow." It's now Friday, my flight back to the states is at midnight on Sunday. I have lost faith that the van will be ready tomorrow at noon. I tell Tito, that I am sorry, but I cannot wait any longer. I need to get back to the coast. I need to leave and take a bus. He explains that we all need to get back and we should go together. Tomorrow is our friend TJ's birthday, in Montanita, and he has one of the biggest parties of the year.

We take a bus together, the five of us, and we arrive a few hours before the party. I have enough time to buy myself a bus ticket to depart on Sunday. I am sad that I have to leave, but at the same time, we are going to have an epic weekend before I go. TJ's party is amazing. It is everything I remember from the previous years. I meet two girls at the party. They are from Guayaquil. They offer to drive me to the airport on Sunday so I don't have to take the bus. I graciously accept their offer.

Now we have come full circle. The sun has past below the horizon. The girls are sitting at the beach bar waiting for me. Time to go home. Peace!