So on Friday when I woke, I felt very lonely and alone. Its sometimes hard not been surrounded by your language, your things, your technology, my areas of work and strengths. I can’t have a Diet Coke, or a little treat, I can’t buy lunch from a little restaurant I know. I am very much alone here, surrounded by people but different. I deliberately chose this, to break my normal, to question what I want, but in the moment that doesn’t stop it sometimes feeling isolated. It also gives you a chance to look at behaviors you have and wonder where they are coming from and if they help you because at 5am it’s just you. This is just one week so far, that is all. It is isolating and thought provoking. It doesn’t mean I am not concerned about Thailand after this where I’ll have a week at the end with no host family or anything, just me.

So I had booked a tour today for Mindo, a cloud forest. We suffered a serious of miscommunications that will become apparent throughout the day. Where fundamentally I just didn’t ask questions. I am trying to be all in. There are consequences.

It was a 2 hour 30 minute hike in a cloud forest, also coffee with humming birds and visiting several chocolate or coffee farms. My guide for the day was Marcelo who was excellent the tour with the private guide/driver who was English speaking was $160.00

The humming birds were lovely, sitting in a cafe as they flittered around. It was over 12 different types In this cafe on the side of a mountain. The birds were hard to photograph as very blurry. I enjoyed my chocolate, for my guides coffee and my hot chocolate it was about $4.50

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Then on to Mindo we went. Mindo is about 2 and half hours from Quito down the mountains about 1000 meters so you are about 5800 ft.

Mindo is named for the Rio Mindo in the valley, there is also a town with hostels and other things, it is a tourist spot.

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Before we start I am Gordito (Chunky). I have a desk job and even though I walk everyday, gym 3 times a week, I’m a big guy. I am healthy but not super fit. I am an asthmatic. Most of the time I have it under 100% control, but I am in my 40s not 20s, no longer as fit as I was and have exercised induced asthma, normally its manageable. This is at an altitude I do not live anywhere near. I needed to be fitter and better prepared for the below.

So we get to Mindo, I thought it was a nice hike – no different than some of the mountains I’ve done, or hills in Hongkong. I didn’t know any of the following until it happened to me as we progressed. I hadn’t counted on; that this is effectively a rain forest, the humidity isn’t in your favor. I didn’t have my hiking boots, because I wasn’t expecting something this tough or you have to cross the valley in a cable car and hike down to the waterfalls. It’s $5 to enter the park. All of this I realized as I participated, it was not communicated prior. So “oh I’ll get on this cable car”, “oh well I’ll climb down this hill”. At every moment I had the choice to go “I’m out”. I didn’t – I thought – I can either be the person who moves towards challenges or who doesn’t. I didn’t realize it would be a very steep up and down hike. You can’t just climb down and up, you have to go up and down in a pattern on the hill so its more like a series of long hairpin turns to get down. It is tough. It might have been less tough if I hadn’t left my inhaler in the car (you read that right Bethany and Renee), wasn’t wearing a jacket with probably 10lbs of equipment in it, and in sneakers at an Altitude I’d been in for 5 days. Yes, Mother, Bethany and Renee – I was a #$#$a@$.

So I get in the cable car.

Just to give you perspective this is the cable car in the distance moving away

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So if you look down you’ll are walking down to and the falls. The scenery is stunning. Ecuador is a place where the mountains touch the sky .

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So you get to the other side and you are given a choice the small hike, which is 50 minutes there and back, or the big hike which is 60 minutes there and back. I go, well which is better to see and the Guide goes the big hike (of course). He then says do you want to buy Agua from the cafe. This is the third time he’s mentioned it. You should call me Peter and him Jesus. I rebuke him, no it’s fine. I was wrong. Lesson: When the guide politely says do you want to buy water – say Hell Yes or ask a question.

So we start Hiking. It is rough…. this is a rain forest – they call it a cloud forest. However for those who don’t know the difference its humid and tough. It is lovely in nature and you can just feel nature surrounding you. After a while it feels like a soft wet blanket but when you pause its full of grace and loveliness. Here are some examples of the terrain.

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So this is 40 mins in and we reach the first waterfall. I ask the guide, do we go down or continue on. He goes its better to see the others rested…. So I say… lets go on. I notice that not many people are continuing on. Some are in the waterfalls but because I am wearing trousers, long sleeve shirt and trainers I make the decision not to do that because hiking in wet clothes is hell. I’ve learnt that before. Also its a bit brisk.

We continue on halfway to the third water fall and after staring up a flight of stairs I ask how far till the next – my lovely guide goes “some meters”. So at least a 100meters plus of vertical climb we are at the third waterfall. So I confront him “some meters”. “Well positive better”. So we reach this waterfall which is either the 3rd or 4th.

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So at this point, the guide says we have to cross the river. Do you see those rocks. Did I mention I am in trainers? So at this point I look at the trail on the other side and I go how far a climb. He gives me a look. I know the remaining waterfalls are better on the other side however my breathing is bad. My legs are bad and this is Ecuador the only person who is going to get me out of this is me. Not my 5’1 guide. At this point I accept to share his water. Again I accept I am a dumb#$$.

At this point, we turn around. The heavens open and it starts to rain and we start the long climb out of the valley.

So we get out of the valley. My legs are rubber, I am soaked. We get to the car and I strip off my shirt and climb in car. Marcelo offers me a spare jacket, he is sure it will fit, it gets a third of the way across my chest. His eyes are wide.

So now we drive on these earth roads back to Mindo where there are tarmac roads. As we are driving down this happens:

THE RESCUE

So the car in front of us is on the right hand side, on the left is a car coming up the mountain, it gives way to the left for the car in front of us.

It goes too far and slides over rolling on to its side down into the 50ft-60ft gorge to the river. We can’t see it. We stop. The car in front of us just continues on, they must have seen what happened but….. The car behind us just tries to pass us and we yell at them.

We stop and jump out. Looking over the side. The car is stuck about 10-13 feet down on the hill held by bamboo, it is a steep gorge and the people inside are able to get themselves out of the car but cannot climb hill. One of them is helping pull the others out of the car.

I hand Marcelo my shirt (the one in the picture I am wearing), I lower him over the side holding his arm, he holds out the shirt. The people grab it and one by one I pull the guide, the shirt and the person up. We yell at the couple in the car behind us to help but they just stand there.

3 minutes later we have pulled a mother, father and 4 children up on the road (15,11,10,7 I reckon). I check them for injuries and worry about shock (they are just in shorts in the rain). The mother is hysterical. We get them situated. We get the father in the car and drive him to the bottom of the hill and to a tubing company for the river. They call for a tow truck. The man doesn’t have insurance like he is meant to of course but he is very lucky he and his family are alive

RESCUE OVER

At this point Marcelo and I go to lunch, I can tell we’re both a bit shocky so I order a jug of pineapple juice ($3.50), to share with lunch. I thought we’d get about 3-4 glasses. Try 6-8. We ate our meal and continued on -we were meant to do this butterfly thing but they were closed to we drove back to Quito where we arrived to see the festiva Chiva’s all lit up and blaring music.

I talked with the family about it and David (a student) played holding out for a hero on his phone and teased me. However it wasn’t until Marcelo explained it to them the next day that they really understood. They were all pretty amazed, it hadn’t happened to Marcelo either before.

Mentally – its taken me a day to write this down. More because it’s made me think a lot about life. I am aware that after one of the hardest physical experiences of my life, I had to in that moment to do more. I remember my mum once saying along the lines “I didn’t expect to organize a bucket brigade to put out a rice paddy fire at any point” (she doesn’t speak Cantonese) but I think it has a new resonance with me after this.

I didn’t have anyone to get me out of that hike but me, because I got myself into it. It didn’t matter if I was tired and hungry, weak and in pain – when that car over the edge Marcelo and I had little choice. I think that its a good parable for life, life isn’t neat, it isn’t easy. Its when you are at your worse you are given choices to dig deep or to give up. Maybe you don’t like that choice but its the one you have. I am grateful I was there and able to help that family, but I am also very aware of some of the things in life I take for granted.