#5 - How this all came to be

One of the excellent aspects of traveling is throughout the experience you are afforded opportunities to learn new things about places and people, and thereby learn a little something about yourself. This is not one of those occasions.

However, what follows though is one of the greatest learning experiences I've had in my short time here. It showed me the character of someone I care deeply for, and proved to me once again, that many things can happen on a day, and it is how we eventually deal with those changes that makes life interesting and worth living. And in the end, life can be no different than how it is.

#5 - Quito to Toronto back to Quito to Toronto to Busan!?!

We had just finished an exciting, at too many times frustrating, year in Ecuador. But it was the end of June, a time that is difficult for any teacher to be anything but excited. The school year was over, we had fresh new opportunities to move forward, and best of all, we were headed home - truly there is nothing finer than returning home, no matter how good the travel has been. Needless to say we were excited about the summer and what the immediate future held.

Little did we know...

A little over 10 days into our return we learned some things that were going to make it impossible for us to stay in Quito for the following school year - I do not want to delve into it any more than that for now, as there still remains some anger and disappointment, but there is enough fodder for a future post about how to treat people, or more to the point, how not to treat people.

Anyways, the news came as a shock, especially as it came while we were home visiting, and had thought we were moving forwards in a positive light. To make matters even more interesting, many of the things we hold dear to us were back in Quito. After the initial shock of if it all wore off, we got down to the business of figuring it all out - and this is where the highlights (and lessons) come for me.

We could have easily cut our losses and figured out a way to stay home, but this would have made those losses particularly difficult to manage financially as neither of us had a well paying job to fall back on, and in fact, we had been counting on the relatively low cost of living in South America to get us back in the black. As lucky as we were to have teaching jobs in Ontario, they would not be available to us until September 2009, so we had to do something. And while there was a sense of urgency, and even panic at times, it did not take long to dive headlong into the next adventure - Korea!!

And so began an odyssey that took us from Quito to Toronto through Atlanta, back to Quito, again through Atlanta, for four days to pack up all of our stuff, and then turn around back to Toronto, through Panama and Houston this time, where we got to relax in the - find a job, figure out where we are going to stash all our crap, while getting visas, record checks, etc., so we could be ready to get to go to Pusan (through Vancouver and Seoul) for the start of our new contracts - kind of way!? That was twelve airports in five countries, at a time when we were supposed to be doing nothing but catching up with friends and family. To say our heads were spinning is an understatement, but it was also where the lessons of the experience revealed themselves.

Blogger's note: Houston wins for best airport as they had amazing burritos, thanks Bones, and a piano player playing on a grand piano underneath a big chandelier surrounded by the taco joint where we got our burrito, and other run of the mill food court establishments!

It was one of those times where you wish it wasn't so, but was kind of exciting at the same time, and the less we looked backwards at what could of been, the more exciting it made what we were dealing with. Sure we left great friends and a great neighbourhood in Ecuador, but we were pretty sure that what we were doing was going to be at least half as fun. It was certainly a challenge and at times frustrating, dealing once again with university transcripts, police stations and consulates, but what it showed, especially as I get to look back on that time, is the strength of character in one Ms. Forster, but also an opportunity to revel in the love and support we get from our families and the friends we have made along the way.

And in the end, I couldn't have imagined it all falling into place better. Sure there are times when we miss the people, and the vacation time of Ecuador, but coming here has opened so many other possibilities for us that it really seems this was all part of the plan from the beginning. I mean, we are now getting ready to spend three fabulous weeks in Bali soaking in the sun, relaxing in the - should I read my book on the beach or in this nice hammock? - kind of way, and I am even going to get my diving certification for a fraction of what it would have cost me in Ecuador. Then after Bali, we get to continue fulfilling dreams (which really life should be all about) as Tasha heads to Thailand for six weeks to become a yoga teacher while I get to check off from my life's to-do list, a cross-Canada train trip.

So it's not about how it was or how it should be, but about how it is, and it is always just as it should have been all a long.

#6 - The Dragonfly Inn

Alright, for the two people who seem to be regular readers, things are going to be coming at you fast and furious over the next 10 days as I try to complete this top ten thingy we got going as well put in some final thoughts about our time here in Korea.

Hope you continue to enjoy.

And this brings us to number six...

#6 - The Dragonfly Inn

You know that dream where you are opening up a hostel in an amazing setting, and generally living the life? Ya that one. Throw away the stresses of working for someone else, be your own boss and do your own thing. A great thought, especially while on vacation tipping back a few. But it is rare when someone actually acts on that dream, and when they do, you just have to admire their willingness to do something they believe will make them happy - of course opening and running your own hostel is actually an incredible amount of work, but we're going to stick with the romanticism of it all and not the practicalities.

To have a vision, act on that vision and see it through to fruition is a lesson I hope I can emulate as I continue along my journey. But when that dream and vision is this....

....well, it leaves me awestruck.

A beautiful building that is both luxurious and welcoming, in an Ecuadorian valley town found in a cloud forest on a river, that attracts birds, butterflies and other beautiful creatures -

- it is all enough to make someone never want to leave.

Aside from the incredible lay out and the beautiful location, the reason The Dragonfly makes the list is because of the times we had inside. We celebrated openings, births and imminent weddings. We drank, and sang, and danced. And most of all, we laughed!

Good friends and good times...all worth dreaming about, and an easy addition to the top ten! And as those good times continue down through the years, as they have this year, it leaves me longing for a return, but even happier in the knowledge someone has done something they've always wanted to, and it's brought happiness to them, their families and so many others.

Well done Todd, Lorena and of course Raycito!! And thanks!

Finally, if you would like to read more about the place, a really talented writer wrote a little piece about it here.

#7 - A hike worth doing...lots

Just to be clear. I've done a fair bit of exploring over the last couple of years on this little odyssey, but that is certainly not the case here in Korea. In fact, the furthest I've traveled in country is my daily hour commute to work. This is in part because of the fact I am in my once every three years 'nose-to-the-grindstone' mode where I am trying to save for what's next or pay off what was. In this case, it is both.

But it also has to do with the belief that again I might be in the nicest part of Korea anyways. A twenty minute walk to a beach, or a fifteen minute one to a mountain, not to mention a multitude of restaurants and entertainment options just out my door. But I have talked about this before. The reason I mention it now is because there are times in traveling there is no need to do anything else than enjoy something right around the corner, something you've done over and over again, and something you could do again and again. Which brings me to number seven on the list of things I've done over the last couple of years.

#7 - Hiking to Papallacta

To begin, Papallacta is pronounced 'papa-yacta' with the double-'l' sounding like a 'y' - kind of like tortilla (torti-ya). Got it? Good. Because this little village outside of Quito is a place I could visit time and again, and if you ever end up in Ecuador you have to go here.

By my count it was five times in my eight months in Ecuador that I visited this little slice of paradise. Which really isn't a whole lot, but when you consider everything I was trying to squeeze into our time there, to do something that much in such a relaively short period of time means it's got to be pretty special, and it was.

What made it so special?

HOT SPRINGS!!!

But there is more! See this is a hike to a remote village high up in he Andean mountains - it is roughly situated at 13,000 ft. or about the same height at Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies....

....where you finish off with ecstatic cries to your god, usually reserved for the most private of places, as you dip your body into the physically and spiritually rejuvinating waters of the thermal springs.

OHHHH....god that is good!

You can of course take a bus from Quito almost directly to the village, but the true experience lies in the hike, where you get to traverse a trail that peaks at about 14,500 ft. before descending into the village where you get to drop your weary body into the hot springs after four hours of hiking. And sure the hot springs are more than enough reason to drag my sorry ass off the couch or away from the computer for a while, but it is the hike that makes this whole experience cathartic.

There are two nice things about this hike - obviously not including said hot springs - that make this something to do time and time again. First is the proximity to where we lived - it is roughly an hour bus ride to the drop off point from our loveable little barrio, Guapulo. Second, despite it's elevation, it is a relatively easy hike that even the most inexperienced hikers (or out of shape as the case was with me) can do. In fact, the hike is one of the first things visitors get to do after a few days in the city. Nothing says acclimatization like at stroll at 4000 metres.

I'm not sure there is anything more humbling or awe-inspiring than to be at the roof of the world and take in the expanse in which we find ourselves. It is not so hard to believe way up here, that this is a place the gods once roamed....

....or at least some really big animals!!

And then to be surrounded by mountain lakes walking around a new peak every so often, only to be blown away once again at the sights, is something I hope everyone gets to experience at least once in their lives. It makes you truly appreciate the gifts we have here on Earth and that they can be enjoyed at 4000 metres or at 1 metre, but that they just need to be enjoyed. Fully.

And so to be able to wake at a not too early hour on a Saturday morning, and some six wonder inducing hours later, find yourself soaking in hot springs with your friends, all in a similar appreciative mood, is truly a little taste of heaven here on Earth. And really there isn't anything else I can write to do justice to the experience....