Day 5: Hacienda la Cienega, Salsaca, Riobamba

January 7

La Cienega is  the oldest colonial style hotel in the province of Cotopaxi. Since the 7th century it has belonged to the descendants of the Marques of Maenza. It was really cool because it was still designed with antique furniture. We drank some very delicious hot chocolate before touring the grounds. 

Balcony off one of the bedrooms. Wouldn't you like to wake up to that?

The outside was just as beautiful as the inside! It was so green and luscious! Some of the walls inside were made of volcanic rock! (This location is near a volcano). The building has been converted into a hotel and restaurant.  The most expensive room is $200 a night which really isn't bad considering what we pay in Canada! At least here it is gorgeous! They also offer things like horseback riding which makes up for it!
 At the end of the tour a group called the Cotopaxi performed for us. We all got up and danced. It was so much fun and the music was really good!

When the band finished, we headed to a Salsaca community. First they showed us how they get colours to dye their clothing. They have a garden of cacti that little bugs feed off of. When you squish the bug you get a colour. This time it happened to be red, so everyone thought it was blood. It makes sense when you think about it; squish a bug, it gushes red, is therefore blood. But depending what type of plant they eat, the dye is different. It also changes when lemon is poured on it. They gave us each a little bug  to squish. It was kind of gross but also neat. 

The Squished bug with lemon 

The bug and the bug squished

Possibly the cutest little boy ever (and the plants with the bugs)

After the bug squishing we had lunch (good timing hey?) All the food we ate - and what they eat on a daily basis - was grown in their garden. It was actually very good. One of the guys was convinced that we were eating pickles. I guaruntee there were no pickles. They didn't even look like pickles! It was so funny because he was positive they were pickles. (Then he said to me, "Pickles are just cucumbers. These look exactly like that." Um, I know what pickles are and these are certainly not them!!)They were  most definitely in the potato or beat family! 

I was nervous to eat the cheese but it was so good!

After lunch we watched a typical dance. They basically walked around and stomped their feet while one guy bangs a drum and blows into a flute. The hats that they wore were made from wool but they were molded and ended up being very heavy.

Three students had the chance to learn the dance!

 In the Salsaca community, the women make the yarn for weaving. They take the wool and twist it until it turns into a thinner thread. I had the chance to try it. It was hard - your hands have to twist in different directions to make it work. It would take a lot of practice to master that technique. The clothes that they make cost a lot of money because they are all made by hand. It also takes them a really long time to make! He said that the pattern he was making came from his head. He knows exactly what size and shape he wants to make. He has been doing this since he was seven or eight so I guess he has it down!

Their machine

 After I bought a little souvenir, we headed on the bus to Riobamba. The hostel we stayed at was so nice! They had a pool but they were in the process of filling it up so we didn't actually have a chance to swim! But after we ate we practiced a little salsa dancing (which I am terrible at) and the hit up some Karaoke! I sang Genie in a bottle by Christina Aguilera! It wasn't that good but it sure was fun!