Que Bonita es Carnaval!!!!

It has been a while since I have posted anything I know! I was away for the better part of a week for carnaval and before that I was doing physical therapy and stuff, nothing really noteworthy. These following images are from my AMAZING time at carnaval! We decided to go to a small city called Guaranda because I had read that they have one of the most, if not THE most, super celebration for carnaval. Trust me, I was not disappointed! We stayed in the mountain cheese town of Salinas, which is one of my favorite places in the world, due to the raising of prices and lack of rooms in Guaranda. It made for a pleasant time, partying in Guaranda and waking up in the tranquility of Salinas. Not to mention the amazing cheap pizza place right across from the hostel where for $6 we got a large mushroom pizza that I washed down with a coke with ice. Not to mention goat cheese and toast things. Best hangover snacks ever! Things got a bit out of hand, and here are the resulting images! I hope they help you get a better idea of the insanity. I don't really know how the tradition became this way, but people battle with foam and dump water on each other while rubbing flour on your face all while drinking as much booze as you can handle. It was dirty and tons of fun. My goal is to return next year! And the year after. And the year after.

Guy watching the parade. He was eyeing me for a while, and after a few minutes I asked if I could have his picture. I think this was the first I took of the weekend.
Alpaca decorated with balloons in the parade. The next images are from the parade as well.










Hat guy!
Pig head and cuy on a stick.
This is the classic can I take your picture look. Standing tall and looking proud. I kind of love this guy.
We rode in the back of a truck with chickens and chairs to our hotel in Salinas. This was the guy who the chairs were for.
And this is a kid playing on one of the chairs.
And this was the guy who the chickens were for.
Landscape in between Guaranda and Salinas. Not bad for being taken in a moving truck eh?
Door at a block party.
House decorated for carnaval with guy on roof.
These kids were looking for their next victim!
Ladies with their water guns!
Some little girls at the dead pig and papas stand.

Guy selling espuma for the slaughter.
This guy was getting ready to buy some foam, but I think my picture taking chased him away.
We battled this little girl! She was sweet.
This is what she looked like after our battle! Super fun, I wish I had a picture of me! It is a fun time for the kiddies. Most of my foam battles with the kids ended with me giving them the rest of my can of foam to attack more people!


I chased these kids down the street for this photo. I have NO idea what the trophy was for. Notice Goro drinking beer in the background.
Family selling foam.

Hats are way important. So much so that a lot of people put bags over their hats to protect them. I pretty much love these two. So sweet.
This is my homie. Nuff said.
These guys started us on the pajaro azul. Pajaro azul is a local drink, it translates to blue bird, so I call it that a lot. It will mess you up. Especially if you have only had breakfast the day you drink it for the first time. I pretty much blacked out and woke up with a huge scrape on my knee. Ah, booze.
Me and this kid had the most epic battle EVER! I was chasing him down the street to get him with the foam and slipped and fell on my ass in front of a huge party. Not only did I fall on my ass, but I slipped into a guy selling foam wares and he was pissed. The next day someone was like, you're that gringa that fell on your ass!!! Guilty as charged.
I gave this little girl some foam. She was confused on what to do with it!
This bathroom was my saviour all weekend.
Shop owner. Love it.
Drunk guy. Love it.
Kids having fun. Love it.
Fun family. Love it!
This guy made me dance with him. I did so for like two seconds and was like ok. Enough.
These people were awesome. They became my friends.
I just like this guy. No reason. He was nice.
This lady and I had a foam fight. It was sweet.
Pajaro azul.

This guy told me to ask him his name. I did and he said, "Bond. James Bond". It was funny.
Band playing the que bonita es carnaval song for ever and ever! They were sweet.
Chocolate pajaro azul! This neighborhood party was just all about getting us wasted.
Couple with some Bols. That booze is nasty.
More Bols.
Mama Carnaval.
That isn't coke in that coke bottle! More pajaro azul!
Taita (father) Carnaval with some pajaro azul. It's blue. It's blue bird. It will make you fly.
We had fun.
I danced with this guy. He was so cool.
Kids from Salinas in the truck on the ride back.
This was upon our return to Salinas. The lady on the right thought I lived there for a while because she remembered me from the last time I was there.
This guy was looking for change for a purchase I made. He was nice.
We had to ride in the back of a truck for a few hours to get on a bus to go back to Quito. It was cold. But a fun experience.
It doesn't look cold. But we were riding through clouds. Underneath that cloud behind the sunned hill is Chimborazo the tallest point from the center of the earth. It is technically taller than Everest due to the bulge of the earth. It is beautiful when you can see it.

Rucca girl!

The cute little pee monster.

Baños!!!

Basura.
Vendor guy dude.

Hehe... there is a lot going on here. You figure it out.
The thermal baths in Baños.
The Iglesia in the town center. It is beautiful.

Looking for Tungurahua. Found this instead.
Ash from the volcano Tungurahua spews in the atmosphere, making it impossible to view the hot lava. I am sure some clouds were mixed in here too.
Cascade in Baños.
A carnival!

Liquor store and all the drunks outside.
Man at the market.
Meat market!
Fish lady! She was nice. The fish lady liked me.
Goro, "Haven't you ever seen a catfish before?", after I asked the lady what kind of fish it was! Uh, no dude, what's a catfish? Haha.

The chicken ladies did NOT like me. At all. Goro hypothesizes it is because I really like chickens alive. I was politely reminded that I didn't need to photograph ALL the dead chickens. I disagreed.
Hombre de Chancho.



This house was the burrito lady's house!!! See the cart in the yard? She was slanging burritos on the street to the drunks the night before! I love the burrito lady and her house.
Goro gets zen on the wet bench.
These guys photograph tourists with these horses all over town in different noteworthy locations. Today they were by the waterfall.
Eating some sugar cane at the juice ladies stands.

One of the ladies who made me delicious sugar cane juice fresh from the machine. Natures Kool Aid.

For my fellow Polaroid fans.
This guy was way super cool.
Me with some leaves about as big as me. Ah, nature.
This guy was awesome too!
Cutest little old lady in the world!!! And by little, I mean little. And by cute, I mean CUTE! You can't tell in the picture, but she was probably about a foot and a half shorter than me, and as sweet as that sugar cane juice I drank all weekend.