Off to Tena

Despite Patrick's decision to return straight to Baños yesterday, I've decided to stick to my original plan, and to go to Tena today. Patrick reckons that they're currently not offering the good stuff in Tena (i.e. Class IV rapids), due to weather conditions: but I'm prepared to take whatever they've got, which is hopefully something reasonably good — because yesterday's rafting in Baños has left me unsatisfied. Patrick also reported the road from Tena to Quito being closed at the moment, due to flooding and landslides: hopefully that will be cleared up, by the time that I'm ready to leave Tena.

Before I get on to the topic of leaving Baños, I'd just like to mention that I've had a great breakfast (about 3 times now in Baños — including this morning) at a place called Rico Pan. In my opinion, it's the best breakfast joint in town. As the name suggests, their bread is indeed very tasty (and very fresh — go early, and it's still hot out of their ovens!). Their meals are good value: for a good price, they'll give you a combo of bread, spread, hot chocolate, fresh fruit juice, and either fried eggs or a muesli / fruit salad mix. They also have excellent service — fast, efficient, and not forgetful — something that's extremely hard to come by, in this part of the world. Look out for them, just by the central park in Baños.

So, after my desayuno rico (lit: "tasty breakfast") this morning, I hopped on a bus to Tena. Took about 5 hours (as the good book says), and was rainy and bumpy most of the way. No major incidents, except that we got held up for a little while at one point, where they were doing roadworks, and were only letting a few vehicles through every few minutes. It had cleared up by the time I reached Tena. It had also warmed up a lot! Baños may have been a somewhat chilly mountain town; but Tena is most definitely a hot, humid, and laid-back jungle town.

Now that I've made it, all that remains is for me to check out the rafting situation, so that I can have a few days of fun on the rivers around here.