Adventures and fascinations of Matt Pāz
The shuttle from Antigua to Lake Atitlan took about three and a half hours and arrived at 4pm. The van approached the lake from a mountain road high above, and the lake came out of nowhere. Suddenly, I was greeted with spectacular views of an expansive, majestic, shimmering blue lake radiating the afternoon sunlight, encircled by lush green hills and towering volcanoes.… Read more
The van from San Cristobal to Antigua was a slight nightmare. It took 13 hours after several delays, and required changing vans three times.
At least the border crossing was easy. On the Mexican side of the border, the van driver took each person’s passport into the immigration office (as well as a required $20 ‘exit tax’ if you’d been in the country more than one week), and returned 10 minutes later with our exit stamps. … Read more
An hour and a half after taking off from Quito, my flight landed at Seymour Airport on Isla Baltra of the Galapagos Islands archipelago. The Galapagos Islands are one of the places people wait a lifetime to visit. After landing, I could feel excitement in the air as people started getting giddy. … Read more
My bus pulled into the Terminal Terrestre in Quito at 5am. I awoke in a daze to passengers exiting the bus. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, packed my sleep mask, earbuds, and water bottle into my daypack and meandered off the bus into the brisk dawn. … Read more
I arrived in Baños (de Ambato, aka Baños de Agua Santa), Ecuador at about 8pm. I wasn’t in the mood for humping it around the city to find a backpacker hostel with good vibes, so I went to a place right next to the bus station. … Read more