Hiking in the Hills Above Salinas

We decided we didn't need a guide after all.  Maya saw a giant swing perched above town, and so we made our way up there.  At the foot of the path up the hillside there was a sign requesting an enterance fee of $1.  We waited a respectable amount of time before we just entered on our own.  I huffed and puffed my way up and we lounged and swung at the top for a while.  There was a path leading even higher so we followed it up to a really beautiful view of cliffs and a verdant valley below.

From the top we could see paths leading to the caves in the hills above town.  We followed several footpaths whitch led us to cross the bottom of the valley.  In our trips there always seems to be a decrepit bridge that we need to cross.  

Back up the other side of the valley on the paths to the caves, which really weren't caves at all, just minor depressions in the rocks.  Nothing much to explore but we had done a fair bit of arduous hiking up and down at that point.  I am glad we didn't pay anyone to take us where we could easily take ourselves.

It was getting late and the wind was picking up.  We made our way back down to town and stopped in an open doorway where a woman was preparing French fries served in a bag covered in onions, lettuce, and spicy mayo.  And two peices of hot dog? It was tasty for $1.  We went into the non descript church that anchors the square.  It had the usual dramatic, wounded, bloody statues of Jesus.  

Searching for a place to eat dinner we found an open doorway to a windowless hovel that we decided to return to at dinner time.  I don't know why, but Salinas has several pizza places.  We did eat at one, and it was pretty good but who wants to eat pizza in South America. 

 Salinas is a quiet place without an obvious social life in the square or decent traditional food.  It's cold, ant 40 F in the daytime and very windy so no one wants to be hanging around outside at night.  We are glad we made our way up here for the hiking though. 

After a cheap ($3.50 for both of us) and  tasty dinner, we are sitting in the common area at La Minga in front of an iron stove with a wonderful fire.  Tomorrow we will make our way back to Guaranda and get a bus to Riobamba.