Baños was having La Festival de Baños yesterday. I woke up and lounged around. At 10:00, I met Andria in front of her Spanish School for the parade. The sun was really hot yesterday so it wasn´t the most comfortable. Michael and Natura showed up and we didn´t stay long after that. We decided that we would check out rafting the Rio Pastaza. After a little persuasion for Andria, we ended up going. It was either four people or no people, so it was good that she went. It was $25 each for the trip which was not too bad, I suppose.
When we got in the van, our guide, Brain, said that we were supposed to do a set of four class III rapids. He made up a deal because he wanted to do something else. He said, "Listen, we can do this set of four class III trip for about a hour and a half, or we can do this set of 16 class VI-V trip which will take about 60 or 70 mins. Which do you guys want to do"? We agreed on the class VI-V trip, of course.
He continued to say, "now, you guys can´t tell the boss because this is supposed to be a more expensive trip, but we´ll do it if you want to". We thought it was kind of funny to know that he was probably bored with lame groups who just wanted to do easier stuff. So we stuck with it.
I hadn´t rafted in a few years, but it´s like riding a bike, it all comes back. We got in the raft and it was great. Just after the fist rapid, we stopped to check out this waterfall on our left. Then we headed down river again. This was great. I had never been in any water that big before. It was crazy. Michael and I got all the big water as we were in front, the girl, in back. About six rapids from the end, we stopped again on the right side of the river.
We got of at a river junction with a bridge over it. We jumped from this platform about six feet high, then Brian took us to one about 10 feet high. Then, we went up near the bridge and jumper from about 20 feet. I would have never expected that this would be in our trip, it was great!
We boarded the raft again, and took off the the biggest rapids to come, the class V. It´s so amazing to think that so much water can move that quickly. We went up and down over these rapids as tall as me. With everybody still in the raft, with smiles on our faces, we arrived at the landing.
We were taken 40 mins back to Baños and we rested a bit. Baños was gearing up for the street dance right outside our hostal, so we waited. As we rested, Natura made speghetti for dinner in the hostal kitchen. About 21:00 (9:00pm), we heard music blarring, so we went out to the street. We danced and danced. About midnight Michael and Natura took off and I tried to stay out with Andria and the gang. I made it to 02:00. That was all I had in me though. What a way to spend the day.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
15 Dec, Baños, What do you do for fun?
I thought it would be a great oportunity to get out and do a run. First thing Monday morning, that´s what I did. I ran up this road that just seemed to keep going up. After a while, the pavement ended. There was still road a head of me, so I kept running. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of nowhere, which was strange because Baños wasn´t but 20 mins. behind me.
I kept going up, and up and I was in farm land quick. There was a little house to my right that read, "CAFE, BAR" in big letters, in the middle of nowhere. I wasn´t even sure how to get to it as it was a couple hundred meters to my right. Then, I came to a small drainage with some suspension bridge looking thing with no way to walk across. I was able to jump over the water and I went a bit farther. There was nothing. Just a little farm house way off in the distance. I didn´t need to go there so I turned around.
I started back and all of a sudden there was a man getting water near the drianage. It seemed a little weird to me, because I didn´t see him on my way out, and I didn´t see where he might be going. He must have been going to the house that I didn´t know how to get to.
On my way back when I hit the pavement, I had a couple visitors. Two little dogs started running after me and barking. Soon after that, two more, I kept running and then more dogs were barking, then more dogs were running after me. Before I knew it, there were seven little dogs chasing me. Good thing my stride was longer than theirs.
When I arrived back to the hostal, I wondered what to do the rest of the day. Andria said that I should rent a bike for a day and ride to Puyo. Puyo is a little town on the edge of the Amazon basin about 60km east of Baños.
I decided that would be a great idea, so I went to a bike shop. I rented this junky mountain bike for $5 for the day. I didne seem to matter which gear I was in, everytime I pedaled it made bad noises. You know the noise I´m talking about, when I gear isn´t quite in gear, yeah, those noises. It almost becomes music when you are on a bike that long.
I soon came to this bridge. I was 45 mins. into my ride and I met two other girls from Austin, Marlana and Susan. They seemed pretty cool as we chatted for a bit. They were watching this man jump off this bridge attached to a rope. He wanted them to do it for $15 each. He was showing them that is was safe by jumping first. They thought about it and said that I should do it first. I replied, "I´m not doing that"! Then, he jumped.
I actually looked pretty cool after he did it. They decided that they were going to do it, but offer $10. He took it. I watched Susan jump, then Marlana. They said, "now it´s your turn Alaska Man". So, I offered him $10 also.
You wouldn´t believe me if I told you what you feel when you know you are about to jump off a bridge. You thought your first day at summer camp gave you butterflies in your stomach, nay. The adrenaline starts flowing, your hearts begins to pound through your chest, you feel like your stomach is in your throat, then... you jump.
For that split second you are weightless. Your not really sure what to think, then, you feel the tension on the rope and you are swinging on the biggest tire swing you´ve ever been on.
I kept going up, and up and I was in farm land quick. There was a little house to my right that read, "CAFE, BAR" in big letters, in the middle of nowhere. I wasn´t even sure how to get to it as it was a couple hundred meters to my right. Then, I came to a small drainage with some suspension bridge looking thing with no way to walk across. I was able to jump over the water and I went a bit farther. There was nothing. Just a little farm house way off in the distance. I didn´t need to go there so I turned around.
I started back and all of a sudden there was a man getting water near the drianage. It seemed a little weird to me, because I didn´t see him on my way out, and I didn´t see where he might be going. He must have been going to the house that I didn´t know how to get to.
On my way back when I hit the pavement, I had a couple visitors. Two little dogs started running after me and barking. Soon after that, two more, I kept running and then more dogs were barking, then more dogs were running after me. Before I knew it, there were seven little dogs chasing me. Good thing my stride was longer than theirs.
When I arrived back to the hostal, I wondered what to do the rest of the day. Andria said that I should rent a bike for a day and ride to Puyo. Puyo is a little town on the edge of the Amazon basin about 60km east of Baños.
I decided that would be a great idea, so I went to a bike shop. I rented this junky mountain bike for $5 for the day. I didne seem to matter which gear I was in, everytime I pedaled it made bad noises. You know the noise I´m talking about, when I gear isn´t quite in gear, yeah, those noises. It almost becomes music when you are on a bike that long.
I soon came to this bridge. I was 45 mins. into my ride and I met two other girls from Austin, Marlana and Susan. They seemed pretty cool as we chatted for a bit. They were watching this man jump off this bridge attached to a rope. He wanted them to do it for $15 each. He was showing them that is was safe by jumping first. They thought about it and said that I should do it first. I replied, "I´m not doing that"! Then, he jumped.
I actually looked pretty cool after he did it. They decided that they were going to do it, but offer $10. He took it. I watched Susan jump, then Marlana. They said, "now it´s your turn Alaska Man". So, I offered him $10 also.
You wouldn´t believe me if I told you what you feel when you know you are about to jump off a bridge. You thought your first day at summer camp gave you butterflies in your stomach, nay. The adrenaline starts flowing, your hearts begins to pound through your chest, you feel like your stomach is in your throat, then... you jump.
For that split second you are weightless. Your not really sure what to think, then, you feel the tension on the rope and you are swinging on the biggest tire swing you´ve ever been on.
WOW, WHAT A RUSH!!!
After my close encounter with death, I decided that I´m ready to jump off any bridge. The best part about it, I didn´t sign one waiver.
Marlana, Susan and I rode together for a bit. After a while Susan needed to break so I split. I kept going on my way. The ride between Baños and Puyo is rather interesting. You are following the Rio Pastaza the whole way to Puyo. You can really see the flora change before your eyes. When you start in Baños, it seems pretty normal, well, to me, then, you begin to desent into the jungle and all the trees start to change. It looks thicker, more dense, and it is a lot more humid.
When I arrived in Puyo, I was pretty tired so I got some lunch. Just as I was headed to the bus terminal to go back to Baños, a bus was headed that way. The bus ride back cost $2.50 which seemed a little high, but to think that I did all that for $17, not bad.
I took it easy the rest of the night.
After my close encounter with death, I decided that I´m ready to jump off any bridge. The best part about it, I didn´t sign one waiver.
Marlana, Susan and I rode together for a bit. After a while Susan needed to break so I split. I kept going on my way. The ride between Baños and Puyo is rather interesting. You are following the Rio Pastaza the whole way to Puyo. You can really see the flora change before your eyes. When you start in Baños, it seems pretty normal, well, to me, then, you begin to desent into the jungle and all the trees start to change. It looks thicker, more dense, and it is a lot more humid.
When I arrived in Puyo, I was pretty tired so I got some lunch. Just as I was headed to the bus terminal to go back to Baños, a bus was headed that way. The bus ride back cost $2.50 which seemed a little high, but to think that I did all that for $17, not bad.
I took it easy the rest of the night.
14 Dec, Baños
Sunday morning I woke up and thought I would go for a hike to La Virgin de Baños and then head to Michael and Natura´s place on the cliff to hang out at the pool. After they found out that this reservation of their didn´t include meals, I figured I would bring them something to eat. I packed some crackers and cheese and this egg plant mix that Alysia made for us.
The Virgin is about half up the rigde on this cliff. I started walking and knew it was going to be up hill. Little did I know that the stair to the Virgin were labled, 1-600. That´s a lot of steps.
I thought 400 was a lot after that´s was I counted in Quito that I had to climb everytime I wanted to go to the park to run a few laps.
When I arrived at the Virgin, it was a beautiful view. The hike from there was mostly a traverse, which was a nice little break. I got up to the resort where the others were and they met me at the pool.
Wow, what an amazing place that was. I was gorgeous. The pool was a bit cold, but the hot tubs were great. A little while after I got there, Andria, hung over, showed up to join us. I seemed like a hour and a half of so later, some guy who works there told us we couln´t be there.
It was a little bit of a bummer, but the clouds were starting to come in and I had had enough sun for the day anyway.
Later that evening, Tim, a guy from England and Jane, a girl also from England, made Yorkshire Pudding for dinner. There were nine people between us who pitched in money for them to make it. If you don´t know what Yorkshire pudding is, it´s pretty much a big pancake. They prepared a beef roast, potatoes, veggies and this cheese sause. I was really good for English food, I thought.
The Virgin is about half up the rigde on this cliff. I started walking and knew it was going to be up hill. Little did I know that the stair to the Virgin were labled, 1-600. That´s a lot of steps.
I thought 400 was a lot after that´s was I counted in Quito that I had to climb everytime I wanted to go to the park to run a few laps.
When I arrived at the Virgin, it was a beautiful view. The hike from there was mostly a traverse, which was a nice little break. I got up to the resort where the others were and they met me at the pool.
Wow, what an amazing place that was. I was gorgeous. The pool was a bit cold, but the hot tubs were great. A little while after I got there, Andria, hung over, showed up to join us. I seemed like a hour and a half of so later, some guy who works there told us we couln´t be there.
It was a little bit of a bummer, but the clouds were starting to come in and I had had enough sun for the day anyway.
Later that evening, Tim, a guy from England and Jane, a girl also from England, made Yorkshire Pudding for dinner. There were nine people between us who pitched in money for them to make it. If you don´t know what Yorkshire pudding is, it´s pretty much a big pancake. They prepared a beef roast, potatoes, veggies and this cheese sause. I was really good for English food, I thought.
13 Dec, Baños
In the morning we woke up and walked across the street to Michael´s host families place. We ate some breakfast with Alysia and Fernando. As always, we had to sit around and talk for a hour after that. Once that was finished, we made our way to the bus terminal to go to Baños.
Michael and Natura are staying up on the cliff in some really fancy time share place that his mother was able to get some how. I am staying in Hostal Chiminea again. It´s great though. One of Natura´s friends from Alaska, Andria, is also in the area as she is traveling as well.
Andria is this great girl from Austin, Texas who happened to be in Alaska becuase of one of her friends. Natara was friends with that person. When Andria came up to Alaska, Natura was introduced to her. This might sound a little boring, but it goes to show, you never know who you will see where.
Andria has been in Baños for a few weeks on and off now. She seems to have surrounded herself with a great bunch of solo traveling women who are also staying at Hostal Chiminea. A great group of women they are. It is so great to meet so many different people. Now, we are all planning on doing this big hike/adventure on the 18th. I think it going to be pretty cool.
Andria, Michael, Natura and I hung out that night. We didn´t do a whole lot, as always, we had a few drinks and chatted. After Michael and Natura walked back up to their place, Andria and the ladies went out.
Andria seems to be quite the partier. I have no problem saying that see can party way more than I can. In fact, I´m not sure I could ever keep up with her and Marina, an Irish woman, if I tried. The 04:00 nights I mostly over for me, I think.
Michael and Natura are staying up on the cliff in some really fancy time share place that his mother was able to get some how. I am staying in Hostal Chiminea again. It´s great though. One of Natura´s friends from Alaska, Andria, is also in the area as she is traveling as well.
Andria is this great girl from Austin, Texas who happened to be in Alaska becuase of one of her friends. Natara was friends with that person. When Andria came up to Alaska, Natura was introduced to her. This might sound a little boring, but it goes to show, you never know who you will see where.
Andria has been in Baños for a few weeks on and off now. She seems to have surrounded herself with a great bunch of solo traveling women who are also staying at Hostal Chiminea. A great group of women they are. It is so great to meet so many different people. Now, we are all planning on doing this big hike/adventure on the 18th. I think it going to be pretty cool.
Andria, Michael, Natura and I hung out that night. We didn´t do a whole lot, as always, we had a few drinks and chatted. After Michael and Natura walked back up to their place, Andria and the ladies went out.
Andria seems to be quite the partier. I have no problem saying that see can party way more than I can. In fact, I´m not sure I could ever keep up with her and Marina, an Irish woman, if I tried. The 04:00 nights I mostly over for me, I think.
12 Dec, Quito
Michael and I went to the airport about 18:00 to pick Natura up at the airport. Once she decided to go to Colombia, she just went. She ended up on the Caribbean Coast near Cartejena. After having ridden on buses for over 24 hours to get there, she decided on just flying back.
Once we picked her up, we went to one of our favorite hangouts, Alladin´s. We sat around and talked about Colombia, and Cotopaxi, and ate falafel shawarmas. Later, Aaron came over to hang out for a bit. He didn´t stay long as he was on his way to the airport to pickup his parents who were coming to visit.
Michael, Natura and I went to Hostal Fausto for the night.
Once we picked her up, we went to one of our favorite hangouts, Alladin´s. We sat around and talked about Colombia, and Cotopaxi, and ate falafel shawarmas. Later, Aaron came over to hang out for a bit. He didn´t stay long as he was on his way to the airport to pickup his parents who were coming to visit.
Michael, Natura and I went to Hostal Fausto for the night.
10 Dec, Quito
Michael finished class on Wednesday. He was really excited, go figure. The class "agreed" on having a celebration dinner with all the familes of the students for finshing class. Alysia, Michael´s host mother, agreed to make lasagna for everyone.
There is a social hall in their apertment complex where they live, so they just had it there. Alysia must have made ten dishes of lasagna. She did a really great job. The turn out for the event must have been nearly 50 people. There were so many little kids running around and so many people I didn´t know, or understand when they talked to me. It was a great time though.
After the dinner, their organization gave them shirts that they designed. It has a copy of the 2008 Constiution of Ecuador on it. Personally, I would have picked something different, but they like them, and that´s all that matters.
There is a social hall in their apertment complex where they live, so they just had it there. Alysia must have made ten dishes of lasagna. She did a really great job. The turn out for the event must have been nearly 50 people. There were so many little kids running around and so many people I didn´t know, or understand when they talked to me. It was a great time though.
After the dinner, their organization gave them shirts that they designed. It has a copy of the 2008 Constiution of Ecuador on it. Personally, I would have picked something different, but they like them, and that´s all that matters.
9 Dec, Quito, Later that night
Later Tuesday night, we didn´t do a whole lot. Michael´s host mother, Alysia, made him a cake. Clare, Paulina, Laura B, Meagan and Jordan came over to celebrate. We sat around a chatted for a while and then went out.
We went to the fancy place that we went the night before for dessert. We had drinks and sat around a while. I didn´t like the price of food so I went to get a couple slices of pizza at this place a block down.
Aaron brought a couple friends that he knew from home who were traveling through the area. They were two interesting young ladies who had just traveled from Bolivia and Peru. Once Liz and Anne were introduced to the group, they continued to tell stories about where they had been and what they had seen. I must say, Bolivia sounds like an interesting place.
Later that night, when it was time to go, I found out that Liz and Anne were staying in The Secret Garden, 100m up the hill from Hostal Belmont where I was staying. We decided to ride together as it would be cheaper.
I hung out at The Secret Garden for a little while with them. Liz told about living in Mexico. Anne told about a time when she was in Papua New Guinea on a work trip. Hummm... intriguing. I think I need to see it for myself.
We went to the fancy place that we went the night before for dessert. We had drinks and sat around a while. I didn´t like the price of food so I went to get a couple slices of pizza at this place a block down.
Aaron brought a couple friends that he knew from home who were traveling through the area. They were two interesting young ladies who had just traveled from Bolivia and Peru. Once Liz and Anne were introduced to the group, they continued to tell stories about where they had been and what they had seen. I must say, Bolivia sounds like an interesting place.
Later that night, when it was time to go, I found out that Liz and Anne were staying in The Secret Garden, 100m up the hill from Hostal Belmont where I was staying. We decided to ride together as it would be cheaper.
I hung out at The Secret Garden for a little while with them. Liz told about living in Mexico. Anne told about a time when she was in Papua New Guinea on a work trip. Hummm... intriguing. I think I need to see it for myself.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
9 Dec, La Mitad del Mundo
Michael and I went to La Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth) yesterday. Quito is situated just south of this little momument. It cost us about $0.80 each to take the bus up there. He said, "it wasn´t that big of a deal. It´s just like any other tourisy place."
When we got there, I quickly learned that he was right. You might have just as well been in "The National Lampoon´s Vacation" because when we arrived, it kind of reminded me of that. You know, they show up at the Grand Canyon, took a couple pictures and took off.
We got off the bus, and walked across the street. A man was standing at an entrance gate. There is a big parking lot that you walk through. When we got across the parking lot, we came to a window where ywe paid $2 to get in. We walked down a long sidewalk and came to the monument. Once we took a couple pictures, we needed to either find something else to do or leave. We got some heladas (ice cream). It´s not really all that exciting, but I suppose just for the sake of being able to say that you have been to the middle of the world, you might as well spend a couple dollars and a few hours and do it.
I shouldn´t end without saying that there are actually other things to do there. There is a museum and some little tour you can take to the actual equator. Because the actual equator runs through some mountains and some Incans ruins they put the monument a little south.
I have heard a couple different things about where the actual equator is, for example, the monument is within 150m (492ft) of the actual equator. Also, the monument is eight degree seconds south of the actual equator, which is about 247m (810ft).
When we got there, I quickly learned that he was right. You might have just as well been in "The National Lampoon´s Vacation" because when we arrived, it kind of reminded me of that. You know, they show up at the Grand Canyon, took a couple pictures and took off.
We got off the bus, and walked across the street. A man was standing at an entrance gate. There is a big parking lot that you walk through. When we got across the parking lot, we came to a window where ywe paid $2 to get in. We walked down a long sidewalk and came to the monument. Once we took a couple pictures, we needed to either find something else to do or leave. We got some heladas (ice cream). It´s not really all that exciting, but I suppose just for the sake of being able to say that you have been to the middle of the world, you might as well spend a couple dollars and a few hours and do it.
I shouldn´t end without saying that there are actually other things to do there. There is a museum and some little tour you can take to the actual equator. Because the actual equator runs through some mountains and some Incans ruins they put the monument a little south.
I have heard a couple different things about where the actual equator is, for example, the monument is within 150m (492ft) of the actual equator. Also, the monument is eight degree seconds south of the actual equator, which is about 247m (810ft).
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
8 Dec, Quito
Monday was we started the week with celebrating Clare´s and Michael´s birthdays. Clare´s was Monday, the 8th, and Michael´s was Tuesday, the 9th. We went out to a Thai restaurant in "Gringo Landia". After eating, we went to some fancy looking place about a block away for dessert. Once dessert was over, we headed to some dive bar next door.
When we found that we were the only gringos in the place, we took a table in the back and got shots and drank beer.
Note: The beer in Ecuardor is probably the worth beer I have ever had in my life. They have, perhaps, two beers, Pilsener, and Club. They are both lighter than Bud Light and they don´t have much of any kind of taste. You can get a few other beers in the stores, but this is what you will typically find in the bars. By a few other beers, I mean Hieneken and Budwieser.
After we had settled in and a few people put karaoke request, we sang along. Then, our group was up. How funny. People from our group probably sang ten or more songs. After a while, some drunk local was trying to hit on Clare. He started bringing over beers for us. Yeah!!! More grouse beer. Oh well, it was better than nothing.
When we found that we were the only gringos in the place, we took a table in the back and got shots and drank beer.
Note: The beer in Ecuardor is probably the worth beer I have ever had in my life. They have, perhaps, two beers, Pilsener, and Club. They are both lighter than Bud Light and they don´t have much of any kind of taste. You can get a few other beers in the stores, but this is what you will typically find in the bars. By a few other beers, I mean Hieneken and Budwieser.
After we had settled in and a few people put karaoke request, we sang along. Then, our group was up. How funny. People from our group probably sang ten or more songs. After a while, some drunk local was trying to hit on Clare. He started bringing over beers for us. Yeah!!! More grouse beer. Oh well, it was better than nothing.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
5,6 Dec High on Life 19,341ft.
Thursday night Michael & I packed and he came over to Hostal Belmont. Because Hostal Belmont is only about 100 meters down the street from The Secret Garden, we got a room with two beds and we stayed there that night.
07:00 Friday morning rolled around and we were sitting on the steep curb opposite The Secret Garden eating our bread and yogurt, waiting. As always, because we are in Latin America, everyone is late for everything. This is an interesting phenomena that I have found true with anyone and everything that ever happens concerning Latin America or it's people. Thankfully we only had to wait 20 minutes.
The owner and his wife showed up and drove us to their office. We were greeted by one of our guides, Marco, who spoke pretty good English. Minutes later, two other guys who we were climbing with showed up, Rafael, and Charlie, both from Hong Kong. Charlie has lived in Toronto for the past 10 years. We put our gear in the back of the Toyota SUV and headed south.
We met up with another guide, Segundo, in Machachi, which is located about halfway between Quito and Cotopaxi. Michael and I went with him in his pickup, while Charlie and Rafael stayed with Marco.
I'm not sure how it works, but Ecuadoreans love privatization more than any American businessman. The National Park is privately run and maintained, hummm, peculiar. Now, that doesn't make much sense, does it?
About an hour later we arrived at the park entrance. Then, it was another 45 minutes of driving up and up and up. We drove through the national park which was quite fascinating just in the vistas and terrain. We drove through this huge, open valley, or páramo.
páramo, a treeless, apline plateau in the Andes or tropical South America.
dictionary.com
It was very interesting because we were on a large plateau with no trees, just small bushes, and volcanic rocks randomly scattered about. With Cotopaxi consuming the foreground, we continued up the winding road to the parking area.
When we arrived at the bottom of the snow, we parked the car, put our boots on and geared up. We noticed the decrease of oxygen in the air as the parking lot sits at 4,500m (14,763ft.)
We had a 30 minutes hike to the refuge where we would be staying for the evening.
The refuge was a nice building situated at 4,800m (15,748ft.) with a cafeteria and lounge area on the first floor and a bunch of bunks on the second floor. Marco and Segundo put together a light lunch which consisted of tea and some high carb foods like crackers, cookies, and potato chips. Refael, Charlie, Michael and I played a few hands of Gin Rummy and it was time for dinner. Dinner was a bowl of soup and some tea. After dinner, Marco gave us a short brief of what was gong to happen. He also said, "There is only one flat place on the volcano, the top".
After dinner, Marco took us up to the glacier, 5,000m (16,404ft) where we did some crampon training. By this time, it was 18:00, 6:00pm and it was time to "go to sleep."
Now, I'm not sure if you have ever tried to sleep at 4,800m, but it's isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. In fact, I barely slept at all. Michael can pretty much sleep through anything and anywhere, and even he said he didn't get a great nights sleep.
00:00, 12:00am my watch sounds and we get up along with the other 25 or so climbers from different guide services. We got geared up and ate our bread and cheese and had a couple cups of coca tea. I already had a headache, and not sleeping didn't help, especially for what we were about to do.
01:00, we were out the door and ready to go. At probably just below freezing, everyone was bundled up. People probably thought Michael and I were crazy for not even wearing a hard shell. We each had one base layer and a thin layer of insulation. We wore a thin cap and I had Spring gloves on while Michael sported his fingerless gloves. Everyone else, you could have suspected looked as though they were about to summit Everest. It must be the northern blood. With a light fog in the air and a few flake coming down we started our slow hike to the glacier.
Looking to our right, the lights of Quito sparkled in the distance about 70km north of us. It seemed so peaceful from the side of Cotopaxi. To think that music and dancing probably filled the crazy streets as the week long Festival de Quito was coming to an end.
Once we reached the foot of the glacier Charlie and Rafael roped up with Marco and Michael and I roped up with Segundo. Our breathing already heavy, we started up the glacier as the first two parties. Looking back as we ascended, you could see the lines of dots from headlamps snake up the side of the volcano as other teams came behind us. We paused every so often and were greeted with ¿Estan bien? (How are you guys?) Answers were returned as muy bien, muy bien. (very good, very good).
Marco began to complain that the snow was no good as were were breaking trail through perhaps three or four inches of snow. Now, we must have two different ideas of breaking trail, because when I think of breaking trail, it's more like six to twenty inches of snow.
Our team was breaking trail. With Marco's team behind us, we pressed on. Soon I started to notice that we were pulling away from all the other teams. We continued our snail speed appoach to the summit. Crunch, crunch, ping, crunch, crunch, ping seemed to become the melody of my life as we climbed. The crunch is our steps and the ping is the sound of our ice axes stabbing the snow.
With no sleep, and being very early in the morning, I noticed that I had to concentrate a lot on my rhythm. Breathing heavy, in a state of drunkenness, I followed Segundo and Michael followed me. Soon, it became difficult for me to keep my balance just from looking over my shoulder and the glistening lights of Quito.
It is soon interesting to actually feel the effects of hypoxia, lack of oxygen on your body. You may think you know what it would or should feel like, but until you have actually experienced the effects, you have no idea what it is like. Because everybody reacts differently, physiologically to lack of oxygen, it hard to tell someone what to expect. I will say, however, when you feel the effects, you will know.
Climbing, climbing, climbing, we continued on what seemed like having about six of your favorite drink and then telling your friend to climb up this mountain with you to your favorite bar, getting another drink every 500m until you get to the top.
We came to a part where we walked alongside a deep, wide, crevasse. I was instantly sober for about a minute and a half. It was a great relief from the complacency of the previous few hours.
I knew I was feeling the effects, but more so, I was probably feeling a combination of not sleeping and lack of oxygen. We came to the final pitch of 45 degree snow and Segundo said, "this part is the most dangerous. There won't be anymore breaks until we get to the top". I had to crawl part of the way up. Then we approached another crevasse. Soon after the crevasse, it started to level off.
Violet started to fill the sky as we reached the summit. We reached the summit at 05:30, just before a sunrise. It was so fulfilling standing atop a volcano standing 19,431ft. We stopped once we reached the high point and were above the clouds for a moment. We had a 360 degree panoramic view of Central Ecuador. Looking North, Quito was below us in the distance, the Amazon under the raising sun to the East, Tungarahua and Chimborazo in the South and and the Ilinisas in the West. We saw the crater for a split second as the clouds quickly filled it. We took a few pictures and headed down.
Coming down, we were in the shadow of Cotopaxi. The view below us was so amazing. Green farm land filled the most of the area. The contrast of the blue sky, the white snow and the green farm land is unforgettable.
Once we to back to the foot of the glacier, we took our crampons off and made our final traverse to the refuge. We were the first group to the top, and we were the firs group down. We got back to the refuge at 07:00.
On our way down, Segundo said that he knew we were strong and that's why he wanted us. He said we were one of the fastest teams to summit with him and he thanked us for that. He thanked us because he said it was a challenge for him also. Other guides don't always like strong people so they go slower. Unfortunately, Charlie and Rafael didn't see Ecuador from Cotopaxi's summit. We met them at the refuge.
I felt like I had just finished running a marathon. I didn't want to eat anything as I had a bad stomach ache. It was probably due to dehydration and not eating anything since we left. I just kept drinking tea and soon I felt better.
When we returned to the truck, Michael and I rode in the bed as Charlie, Rafael, Marco, and Segundo rode in the cab. It was great seeing where we had been and what we had accomplished.
Once we arrived at the highway, we dropped Charlie and Rafael off on the side of the road as they were headed to Latacungo. As soon as we stopped, a bus showed up and off they went. We got in the cab, and took a little cat nap on the way back to Quito.
It was hard to believe what we had been through as we arrived back in Quito at 10:30am. We dropped the gear off at Condor Trekking and took off. We ate lunch at our favorite cafe, Este Cafe, and rested for a bit.
Later we met up with some of Michael's classmates Aaron, Alice and Laura at an Indian restaurant for dinner. We went to Plaza Foch, a small square in "Gringo Landia" and had a couple drinks.
It was a great way to spend a weekend and I felt like we really accomplished something. Cotopaxi, standing less than 1,000ft short of Denali (Mt. McKinley, 20,320ft.) I feel like I'm ready to give that a shot. Granted Denali is a little bit different animal due to weather and the latitude, but I think Cotopaxi was a great warm up.
07:00 Friday morning rolled around and we were sitting on the steep curb opposite The Secret Garden eating our bread and yogurt, waiting. As always, because we are in Latin America, everyone is late for everything. This is an interesting phenomena that I have found true with anyone and everything that ever happens concerning Latin America or it's people. Thankfully we only had to wait 20 minutes.
The owner and his wife showed up and drove us to their office. We were greeted by one of our guides, Marco, who spoke pretty good English. Minutes later, two other guys who we were climbing with showed up, Rafael, and Charlie, both from Hong Kong. Charlie has lived in Toronto for the past 10 years. We put our gear in the back of the Toyota SUV and headed south.
We met up with another guide, Segundo, in Machachi, which is located about halfway between Quito and Cotopaxi. Michael and I went with him in his pickup, while Charlie and Rafael stayed with Marco.
I'm not sure how it works, but Ecuadoreans love privatization more than any American businessman. The National Park is privately run and maintained, hummm, peculiar. Now, that doesn't make much sense, does it?
About an hour later we arrived at the park entrance. Then, it was another 45 minutes of driving up and up and up. We drove through the national park which was quite fascinating just in the vistas and terrain. We drove through this huge, open valley, or páramo.
páramo, a treeless, apline plateau in the Andes or tropical South America.
dictionary.com
It was very interesting because we were on a large plateau with no trees, just small bushes, and volcanic rocks randomly scattered about. With Cotopaxi consuming the foreground, we continued up the winding road to the parking area.
When we arrived at the bottom of the snow, we parked the car, put our boots on and geared up. We noticed the decrease of oxygen in the air as the parking lot sits at 4,500m (14,763ft.)
We had a 30 minutes hike to the refuge where we would be staying for the evening.
The refuge was a nice building situated at 4,800m (15,748ft.) with a cafeteria and lounge area on the first floor and a bunch of bunks on the second floor. Marco and Segundo put together a light lunch which consisted of tea and some high carb foods like crackers, cookies, and potato chips. Refael, Charlie, Michael and I played a few hands of Gin Rummy and it was time for dinner. Dinner was a bowl of soup and some tea. After dinner, Marco gave us a short brief of what was gong to happen. He also said, "There is only one flat place on the volcano, the top".
After dinner, Marco took us up to the glacier, 5,000m (16,404ft) where we did some crampon training. By this time, it was 18:00, 6:00pm and it was time to "go to sleep."
Now, I'm not sure if you have ever tried to sleep at 4,800m, but it's isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. In fact, I barely slept at all. Michael can pretty much sleep through anything and anywhere, and even he said he didn't get a great nights sleep.
00:00, 12:00am my watch sounds and we get up along with the other 25 or so climbers from different guide services. We got geared up and ate our bread and cheese and had a couple cups of coca tea. I already had a headache, and not sleeping didn't help, especially for what we were about to do.
01:00, we were out the door and ready to go. At probably just below freezing, everyone was bundled up. People probably thought Michael and I were crazy for not even wearing a hard shell. We each had one base layer and a thin layer of insulation. We wore a thin cap and I had Spring gloves on while Michael sported his fingerless gloves. Everyone else, you could have suspected looked as though they were about to summit Everest. It must be the northern blood. With a light fog in the air and a few flake coming down we started our slow hike to the glacier.
Looking to our right, the lights of Quito sparkled in the distance about 70km north of us. It seemed so peaceful from the side of Cotopaxi. To think that music and dancing probably filled the crazy streets as the week long Festival de Quito was coming to an end.
Once we reached the foot of the glacier Charlie and Rafael roped up with Marco and Michael and I roped up with Segundo. Our breathing already heavy, we started up the glacier as the first two parties. Looking back as we ascended, you could see the lines of dots from headlamps snake up the side of the volcano as other teams came behind us. We paused every so often and were greeted with ¿Estan bien? (How are you guys?) Answers were returned as muy bien, muy bien. (very good, very good).
Marco began to complain that the snow was no good as were were breaking trail through perhaps three or four inches of snow. Now, we must have two different ideas of breaking trail, because when I think of breaking trail, it's more like six to twenty inches of snow.
Our team was breaking trail. With Marco's team behind us, we pressed on. Soon I started to notice that we were pulling away from all the other teams. We continued our snail speed appoach to the summit. Crunch, crunch, ping, crunch, crunch, ping seemed to become the melody of my life as we climbed. The crunch is our steps and the ping is the sound of our ice axes stabbing the snow.
With no sleep, and being very early in the morning, I noticed that I had to concentrate a lot on my rhythm. Breathing heavy, in a state of drunkenness, I followed Segundo and Michael followed me. Soon, it became difficult for me to keep my balance just from looking over my shoulder and the glistening lights of Quito.
It is soon interesting to actually feel the effects of hypoxia, lack of oxygen on your body. You may think you know what it would or should feel like, but until you have actually experienced the effects, you have no idea what it is like. Because everybody reacts differently, physiologically to lack of oxygen, it hard to tell someone what to expect. I will say, however, when you feel the effects, you will know.
Climbing, climbing, climbing, we continued on what seemed like having about six of your favorite drink and then telling your friend to climb up this mountain with you to your favorite bar, getting another drink every 500m until you get to the top.
We came to a part where we walked alongside a deep, wide, crevasse. I was instantly sober for about a minute and a half. It was a great relief from the complacency of the previous few hours.
I knew I was feeling the effects, but more so, I was probably feeling a combination of not sleeping and lack of oxygen. We came to the final pitch of 45 degree snow and Segundo said, "this part is the most dangerous. There won't be anymore breaks until we get to the top". I had to crawl part of the way up. Then we approached another crevasse. Soon after the crevasse, it started to level off.
Violet started to fill the sky as we reached the summit. We reached the summit at 05:30, just before a sunrise. It was so fulfilling standing atop a volcano standing 19,431ft. We stopped once we reached the high point and were above the clouds for a moment. We had a 360 degree panoramic view of Central Ecuador. Looking North, Quito was below us in the distance, the Amazon under the raising sun to the East, Tungarahua and Chimborazo in the South and and the Ilinisas in the West. We saw the crater for a split second as the clouds quickly filled it. We took a few pictures and headed down.
Coming down, we were in the shadow of Cotopaxi. The view below us was so amazing. Green farm land filled the most of the area. The contrast of the blue sky, the white snow and the green farm land is unforgettable.
Once we to back to the foot of the glacier, we took our crampons off and made our final traverse to the refuge. We were the first group to the top, and we were the firs group down. We got back to the refuge at 07:00.
On our way down, Segundo said that he knew we were strong and that's why he wanted us. He said we were one of the fastest teams to summit with him and he thanked us for that. He thanked us because he said it was a challenge for him also. Other guides don't always like strong people so they go slower. Unfortunately, Charlie and Rafael didn't see Ecuador from Cotopaxi's summit. We met them at the refuge.
I felt like I had just finished running a marathon. I didn't want to eat anything as I had a bad stomach ache. It was probably due to dehydration and not eating anything since we left. I just kept drinking tea and soon I felt better.
When we returned to the truck, Michael and I rode in the bed as Charlie, Rafael, Marco, and Segundo rode in the cab. It was great seeing where we had been and what we had accomplished.
Once we arrived at the highway, we dropped Charlie and Rafael off on the side of the road as they were headed to Latacungo. As soon as we stopped, a bus showed up and off they went. We got in the cab, and took a little cat nap on the way back to Quito.
It was hard to believe what we had been through as we arrived back in Quito at 10:30am. We dropped the gear off at Condor Trekking and took off. We ate lunch at our favorite cafe, Este Cafe, and rested for a bit.
Later we met up with some of Michael's classmates Aaron, Alice and Laura at an Indian restaurant for dinner. We went to Plaza Foch, a small square in "Gringo Landia" and had a couple drinks.
It was a great way to spend a weekend and I felt like we really accomplished something. Cotopaxi, standing less than 1,000ft short of Denali (Mt. McKinley, 20,320ft.) I feel like I'm ready to give that a shot. Granted Denali is a little bit different animal due to weather and the latitude, but I think Cotopaxi was a great warm up.
4 Nov, Quito
Because Natura went to Colombia for a bit, the two of us needed something to do for the weekend. We each threw our ideas around, and came up with our decision. We had talked about climbing Cotopaxi, the world highest active volcano (19,341ft.) even before I came down to Ecuador.
I went to a travel agent that was on the first floor of the first hostal I stayed in, The Secret Garden, and asked him about guides. Paul, the guy behind the desk, a Canadian from Toronto who has been living in Quito for the last three years, told us about "Condor Trekking" a guide service that does Climbing, Hiking and Fishing trips around Ecuador. I situated the plans with Paul and he told us where to go and what to do.
After Michael finished work for the day, we went to Condor Trekking and took care of the gear rental. It was great, transportation down and back, food, park entrance fee, and guide all for $180.
All we had to do was show up outside The Secret Garden at 07:00, Friday morning. So, we did.
I went to a travel agent that was on the first floor of the first hostal I stayed in, The Secret Garden, and asked him about guides. Paul, the guy behind the desk, a Canadian from Toronto who has been living in Quito for the last three years, told us about "Condor Trekking" a guide service that does Climbing, Hiking and Fishing trips around Ecuador. I situated the plans with Paul and he told us where to go and what to do.
After Michael finished work for the day, we went to Condor Trekking and took care of the gear rental. It was great, transportation down and back, food, park entrance fee, and guide all for $180.
All we had to do was show up outside The Secret Garden at 07:00, Friday morning. So, we did.
1-4 Dec, Quito
I started taking Spanish lessons at my hostal, Hostal Belmont, for $5 an hour. My instructor, Milton, has taught me quite a bit in the last week. In fact, I should be studying right now, but instead, I'm writing this blog.
I have a private lesson with him every morning during the week. When it's sunny, we sit on the rooftop terrace which is great. We start about 08:00 and go to 12:00. Michael and his host mother have all ready noticed a significant improvement in my Spanish.
As for everything else between the first and the fourth, I have just been studying. When Michael finishes with work, we meet and hang out. On the days he has class, we walk to his "school" and we drink coffee until it's time to start. Once class starts, I walk around a little or go hang out some where for a while until it's over. Then, I walk back to meet him and we hang out more, usually with some of his classmates.
His host family seems really great as they don't mind having me over for dinner, often. One day last week, Michael, his host parents and I sat around and played a game of Yahtzee and drank boxed wine.
I have a private lesson with him every morning during the week. When it's sunny, we sit on the rooftop terrace which is great. We start about 08:00 and go to 12:00. Michael and his host mother have all ready noticed a significant improvement in my Spanish.
As for everything else between the first and the fourth, I have just been studying. When Michael finishes with work, we meet and hang out. On the days he has class, we walk to his "school" and we drink coffee until it's time to start. Once class starts, I walk around a little or go hang out some where for a while until it's over. Then, I walk back to meet him and we hang out more, usually with some of his classmates.
His host family seems really great as they don't mind having me over for dinner, often. One day last week, Michael, his host parents and I sat around and played a game of Yahtzee and drank boxed wine.
1 Dec, Baños
Sunday Michael and I did a little hike up to the cross above Baños. It gave us great views of the city to hold on to before having to head back to the chaotic mess of Quito. We once we got back, the three of us ate breakfast and we lounged the rest of the morning.
All three of us headed up to Quito on a bus about 14:00 (2:00pm). Natura came to Quito with us because she decided that it would be easiest to head to Colombia for the eight days she needed for her visa.
When we arrived to Quito, we went to this hostal that is right across the street from Michael's place. We got a room with two beds so we could hang out one last night together before Natura took off, and Michael had to get back to work and school.
We went to Aladdin's for dinner and had some falafel sandwiches and beer. We sat around and chatted for a while. After dinner, instead of getting a couple movies to watch, we sat around in our room and watched corny Ecuadorean TV. There can't be anything worse than that.
All three of us headed up to Quito on a bus about 14:00 (2:00pm). Natura came to Quito with us because she decided that it would be easiest to head to Colombia for the eight days she needed for her visa.
When we arrived to Quito, we went to this hostal that is right across the street from Michael's place. We got a room with two beds so we could hang out one last night together before Natura took off, and Michael had to get back to work and school.
We went to Aladdin's for dinner and had some falafel sandwiches and beer. We sat around and chatted for a while. After dinner, instead of getting a couple movies to watch, we sat around in our room and watched corny Ecuadorean TV. There can't be anything worse than that.
30 Nov, Baños
Saturday morning we woke up and wanted to go for a hike. We started out by getting a ride to this bridge that cost us $0.50. The old man looked at us like, "that's it?" and we continued to walk. Natura wasn't feeling well, so she got a ride back into town and rested the rest of the day.
Michael and I decided to take this other giant laundry basket across the canyon. We hiked up this drainage system that was full of little waterfalls and sometimes big boulders. We hiked for a couple hours and came to this biggest waterfall, which wasn't very big, but the biggest.
We thought it would be a good idea to take a "shower" so we played around in the waterfall for a while. It was so much fun. The pressure of the water would just about take your shorts off it you weren't holding on to them. It was also really neat because you could go behind the waterfall and sit on this rock.
Once we had had enough fun in the water fall, we headed back down. We played around in this little swimming hole. The water was deep enough to jump for rocks situated above, so we did. I think the highest was probably only 10ft, but none the less exciting.
When we headed back to the giant laundry basket to take us back to the other side, this old man said that is was closed for the day. While Micheal was trying to sort things out with him, I took a look at the drive train.
Sure enough, with "Pontiac" stamped in the valve covers, I knew it was a car engine. It had a manual transmission and three petals. The output shaft was attached to a flywheel that would drive the cable and it had a spot where a manual break pad would slow it down.
When Michael was unsuccessful in his negotiations, we started walking on this trail on the side of this cliff along the river. Once we got back to the road, the long way around, we got a ride back into town and gave our ride $1.00.
Natura was still sleeping when we got back to the hostal. After she woke up, when went to the market and got some ingredients to make rice and bean burritos. Just as we returned, it started raining. The three of us sat around and ate. We drank cane liquor with tonic and limes and played card games like Rummy 500 and an Ecuadorean game called Cuarenta (40) with an American ex patriot, Jason, who was in the beginning his new life as a Ecuadorean.
Michael and I decided to take this other giant laundry basket across the canyon. We hiked up this drainage system that was full of little waterfalls and sometimes big boulders. We hiked for a couple hours and came to this biggest waterfall, which wasn't very big, but the biggest.
We thought it would be a good idea to take a "shower" so we played around in the waterfall for a while. It was so much fun. The pressure of the water would just about take your shorts off it you weren't holding on to them. It was also really neat because you could go behind the waterfall and sit on this rock.
Once we had had enough fun in the water fall, we headed back down. We played around in this little swimming hole. The water was deep enough to jump for rocks situated above, so we did. I think the highest was probably only 10ft, but none the less exciting.
When we headed back to the giant laundry basket to take us back to the other side, this old man said that is was closed for the day. While Micheal was trying to sort things out with him, I took a look at the drive train.
Sure enough, with "Pontiac" stamped in the valve covers, I knew it was a car engine. It had a manual transmission and three petals. The output shaft was attached to a flywheel that would drive the cable and it had a spot where a manual break pad would slow it down.
When Michael was unsuccessful in his negotiations, we started walking on this trail on the side of this cliff along the river. Once we got back to the road, the long way around, we got a ride back into town and gave our ride $1.00.
Natura was still sleeping when we got back to the hostal. After she woke up, when went to the market and got some ingredients to make rice and bean burritos. Just as we returned, it started raining. The three of us sat around and ate. We drank cane liquor with tonic and limes and played card games like Rummy 500 and an Ecuadorean game called Cuarenta (40) with an American ex patriot, Jason, who was in the beginning his new life as a Ecuadorean.
29 Nov, Baños
Last weekend Michael, Natura and I went to Baños for the weekend. Baños is situated on the side of the volcano, Tungarhua about 3 and half hours south of Quito. It is a little city with LOTS to do. It is very green town, with a town center teaming with life. It is also full of outdoorsy things to do such as rafting, biking, hiking, and much more.
Natura had been staying for some time, so she is very familiar with the area. When we arrived and Hostal Chimenea, I just left my stuff in their room and occupied a bed in the dorm for $6.00 a night. Once we got situated, we decided that we would take a little excursion to this waterfall, La Manta de la Novia about 20 minutes outside of town.
As soon as we got off the bus, we started walking on this trail of switchbacks down to the river. When we arrived at the "chocolate" looking river, Rio Pastaza, we had to cross this Indiana Jones style suspension bridge. As soon as we crossed the bridge, we arrived at this tiny development with a sign the read something like "Bienvenidos a la Manta de la Novia, Adultos, $0.50; Niños $0.25; Extranjeros, $0.75" (Welcome to the Manta de la Novia, Adults, $0.50; Children $0.25; Foreigners $0.75). No one was there, so we just decided to go to the waterfall and take some pictures.
This waterfall was pretty big and it was very beautiful. When I got closer to have my picture taken, it was rather breath taking as well. There was so much green around. There was moss and plants growing all around.
After we had our photo shoot, we followed the drainage down to the Rio Pastaza, and played around in the river for a minute. Because the area is a volcanic, the sand on the river banks is black. There is a lot of pumice stone just sitting around also.
On our way back through the little development, a man was waiting for us. We tried to get the adult rate, but there's no denying the we were three gringos looking at the waterfall. We ended up paying the Foreigners rate. A quarter doesn't sound like much, but when you come to a cheaper country where bartering and negotiating prices is a norm, it makes you cheap, really cheap.
We walked up a trail on the side of the waterfall we were on so we could take the open air gondola across the river. The open air gondola was more like a giant people moving laundry basket that took tourist back and forth across the canyon.
When we got to the other side, I noticed a man sitting behind an old car engine with a transmission "driving" our laundry basket. There are just somethings you don't expect to see, that is one of them.
We hitched back to town. We were sitting in the back of this pickup and went through this tunnel that seemed like it went on forever. The interesting thing about this tunnel, there were no lights and there was surely no ventilation. The only light that we had was the car driving 10ft. behind us, probably also trying to hitch a ride. When we arrived back to the center of town, we gave our indigenous family $1.00 for the ride.
Later that evening, we ate dinner at the hostal that Natura prepared. We had a big pot of what was supposed to be rice with veggie curry, but because there wasn't much rice, we just threw it in the curry and it turned out to be more like veggie curry soup, it was still really good.
After dinner, we decided that we would check out the beauty pageant that would lead to the Queen of Baños. This seemed more like a joke than anything, but it was still fun. There was seven young ladies who were candidates. During intermission, we got to listen to this and that probably wasn't good enough to play at a wedding reception. It was more comically entertaining than it was musically.
We didn't end up staying for the whole thing, but the "Queen" wasn't going to be announced until the next night anyway. We retired for the evening shortly after that.
Natura had been staying for some time, so she is very familiar with the area. When we arrived and Hostal Chimenea, I just left my stuff in their room and occupied a bed in the dorm for $6.00 a night. Once we got situated, we decided that we would take a little excursion to this waterfall, La Manta de la Novia about 20 minutes outside of town.
As soon as we got off the bus, we started walking on this trail of switchbacks down to the river. When we arrived at the "chocolate" looking river, Rio Pastaza, we had to cross this Indiana Jones style suspension bridge. As soon as we crossed the bridge, we arrived at this tiny development with a sign the read something like "Bienvenidos a la Manta de la Novia, Adultos, $0.50; Niños $0.25; Extranjeros, $0.75" (Welcome to the Manta de la Novia, Adults, $0.50; Children $0.25; Foreigners $0.75). No one was there, so we just decided to go to the waterfall and take some pictures.
This waterfall was pretty big and it was very beautiful. When I got closer to have my picture taken, it was rather breath taking as well. There was so much green around. There was moss and plants growing all around.
After we had our photo shoot, we followed the drainage down to the Rio Pastaza, and played around in the river for a minute. Because the area is a volcanic, the sand on the river banks is black. There is a lot of pumice stone just sitting around also.
On our way back through the little development, a man was waiting for us. We tried to get the adult rate, but there's no denying the we were three gringos looking at the waterfall. We ended up paying the Foreigners rate. A quarter doesn't sound like much, but when you come to a cheaper country where bartering and negotiating prices is a norm, it makes you cheap, really cheap.
We walked up a trail on the side of the waterfall we were on so we could take the open air gondola across the river. The open air gondola was more like a giant people moving laundry basket that took tourist back and forth across the canyon.
When we got to the other side, I noticed a man sitting behind an old car engine with a transmission "driving" our laundry basket. There are just somethings you don't expect to see, that is one of them.
We hitched back to town. We were sitting in the back of this pickup and went through this tunnel that seemed like it went on forever. The interesting thing about this tunnel, there were no lights and there was surely no ventilation. The only light that we had was the car driving 10ft. behind us, probably also trying to hitch a ride. When we arrived back to the center of town, we gave our indigenous family $1.00 for the ride.
Later that evening, we ate dinner at the hostal that Natura prepared. We had a big pot of what was supposed to be rice with veggie curry, but because there wasn't much rice, we just threw it in the curry and it turned out to be more like veggie curry soup, it was still really good.
After dinner, we decided that we would check out the beauty pageant that would lead to the Queen of Baños. This seemed more like a joke than anything, but it was still fun. There was seven young ladies who were candidates. During intermission, we got to listen to this and that probably wasn't good enough to play at a wedding reception. It was more comically entertaining than it was musically.
We didn't end up staying for the whole thing, but the "Queen" wasn't going to be announced until the next night anyway. We retired for the evening shortly after that.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
27 Nov Thanksgiving
Happy late Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope everyone ate lots of really good food. I was in Quito for the day hanging out with Michael and Natura. Because Natura´s tourist visa was going to expire, I went to the immagration office with her to see if there was anything she could do.
Because of a new Ecuadorean constitution back in September, they did some restructuring of the visa policies. Now you can only be in the country 90 days within 360 days on a tourist visa, they gave her a couple different options.
While I waited for Natura to come out, I sat at a café next door and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee. When she came back to share the news, I paid for my double americano and a bottle of water. This means nothing to you, but the price was $2.60 for the coffee and $.95 for the water. I knew I was in the new town when I have to pay that much for either of those things. When I buy a coffee in "Gringo Landia," at the same cafe (Este Café), a double americano only costs $1.35. A bottle of water would cost $.50.
Because we were in the New City, we decided to go to the Shopping Mall, which is right across the street, which is just like any shopping mall in the States. They have vendors like Baskin Robbins, Radio Shack, Sunglass Hut, just to name a few. I was a little surprised when I went into a sporting good store to see that a pair of Adidas shorts were $33. I didn´t buy them.
The point of this is that there is a huge difference in social class between the New City and the Old City. The New City has a very large population of Spanish disent. The Spanish are typically viewed as having higher income jobs, and play more important roles. You can see it, it´s like any other big city. If an Ecuadorean has the money to pay prices equal to the States, they will just because they can.
We went to Michael´s work after that. Not a whole lot happened there, but on our way back to the hostel, it started to hail. It wasn´t big hail, but it was the biggest hail I had ever seen. Some of it was probably the size of pencil erasers. We made it back to the hostal nice and wet. While waiting for Maichael to finish work for the day, Natura slept and I studied my Spanish.
One of Michael´s classmates was having a Thankgiving dinner at her place in the same condo complex where he lives. The three of us went over there to meet the rest of his class. We drank wine and chatted and ate tons of food that everyone had made. It was a nice way to show some Ecuadoreans what Thanksgiving is.
Michael made empanadas. Paulina, who grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia, who now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, made a big pot of borsch, which was great. Alice brought some candied yams, and others brought other things. Martha, the program director brought pan de yuca, which is bread made with yuca root.
The best part was when we all got quite and went around the room and told of what we were thankful for. I had never done that before at Thanksgiving, so it was really fun. I was interesting hearing about what others were thankful for as well.
Once the party came to a close, we headed back to "Hostal Fausto" were we were staying and went to bed. It was a nice, alternative way to spend Thanksgiving.
Because of a new Ecuadorean constitution back in September, they did some restructuring of the visa policies. Now you can only be in the country 90 days within 360 days on a tourist visa, they gave her a couple different options.
- Becuase she only wanted to extend her visa by eight days, she could leave the country for eight days and come back.
- She could apply for a visa extension and pay $280
- She could overstay here visa and pay $200
While I waited for Natura to come out, I sat at a café next door and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee. When she came back to share the news, I paid for my double americano and a bottle of water. This means nothing to you, but the price was $2.60 for the coffee and $.95 for the water. I knew I was in the new town when I have to pay that much for either of those things. When I buy a coffee in "Gringo Landia," at the same cafe (Este Café), a double americano only costs $1.35. A bottle of water would cost $.50.
Because we were in the New City, we decided to go to the Shopping Mall, which is right across the street, which is just like any shopping mall in the States. They have vendors like Baskin Robbins, Radio Shack, Sunglass Hut, just to name a few. I was a little surprised when I went into a sporting good store to see that a pair of Adidas shorts were $33. I didn´t buy them.
The point of this is that there is a huge difference in social class between the New City and the Old City. The New City has a very large population of Spanish disent. The Spanish are typically viewed as having higher income jobs, and play more important roles. You can see it, it´s like any other big city. If an Ecuadorean has the money to pay prices equal to the States, they will just because they can.
We went to Michael´s work after that. Not a whole lot happened there, but on our way back to the hostel, it started to hail. It wasn´t big hail, but it was the biggest hail I had ever seen. Some of it was probably the size of pencil erasers. We made it back to the hostal nice and wet. While waiting for Maichael to finish work for the day, Natura slept and I studied my Spanish.
One of Michael´s classmates was having a Thankgiving dinner at her place in the same condo complex where he lives. The three of us went over there to meet the rest of his class. We drank wine and chatted and ate tons of food that everyone had made. It was a nice way to show some Ecuadoreans what Thanksgiving is.
Michael made empanadas. Paulina, who grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia, who now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, made a big pot of borsch, which was great. Alice brought some candied yams, and others brought other things. Martha, the program director brought pan de yuca, which is bread made with yuca root.
The best part was when we all got quite and went around the room and told of what we were thankful for. I had never done that before at Thanksgiving, so it was really fun. I was interesting hearing about what others were thankful for as well.
Once the party came to a close, we headed back to "Hostal Fausto" were we were staying and went to bed. It was a nice, alternative way to spend Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
25 Nov
We did our typical 6:30 rise. We ate little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some of the bread that we had bought the day before. When you want to find anything in a place like Apuela, the pickin´s are slim.
We set off for García Moreno about 7:00. We were trying to get to this place because we had heard that to get to Junín, you had to go through García Moreno. Our ultimate goal was actually Junín. We just started walking down the road toward García Moreno as we would get a ride from a bus as it drove by. We walked for several minutes and there were no buses going in our direction. They wereall headed to Apuela. Soon after a few trucks passed, we finally found someone going toward García Moreno. We hitched a ride with them for about five miles, until the had to turn off the road. There was a sign at the turnoff that read, "García Moreno 20km." We started walking again. We figured that it couldn´t be that bad to walk for 20 km, but we were hoping for a bus. After a couple miles we heard something coming. It turned out to be a dump truck. They slowed to a stop, and asked where we were going, "García Moreno", we replied.
We hopped in the back of this dump truck full of gravel. Let me tell you, there is nothing like hitching a ride in the back of a dump truck. The view was amazing. It´s a good thing they drove us all the way to our destination too. There was a huge construction operation going on for miles. Much of it would have been walkin through mud, sometimes nearly knee deep.
I have noticed some interesting demograhics about the few places I have been in Ecuador. In Quito there is a large Mestizo and Spanish heritage. When we got to Otavalo, just north of Quito, there was a large indigenous population. Somewhere between Apeula and García Moreno, it turned to Afro-Ecuadorean. It seemed like the farther we traveled from "civilization", the more Afro-Ecuadorean the population became.
We reached the turn off for García Moreno and we started going up, way up. We had already been going up for quite sometime, but now the incline became steeper, the road narrowed, and it became more winding. Before long, we were driving through the clouds. and a chill hit our faces. After possibly 5 miles of winding up this mountain, we found ourselves in the middle of García Moreno.
We got out of the dump truck, we music flooded our ears which was coming from one chaep speaker blasting from the church. There were a lot of people who were sitting in what seemed to be a line for perhaps a healthcare clinic or something. We walked up to a building that said, " Elvis´s Hotel and Restaurant." We throught we would check it out since we weren´t sure what was going to happen with the whole Junín trip anymore.
This place looked super sketch master style so we thought about what to do. We were planning on hiking to Junín from there. Because the clouds were so thick, we were just going to hang out in García Moreno. After walking around for a bit and realizing that there was probably not a quarter of what Apuela had to offer we headed to the bus terminal to see when a bus was coming. Looking around the village a littel more, I realized that there were quite a few interesting looking people. As in, it looked like García Moreno was the State Hospital for Ecuador. Whether true or not, we were surrounded be creeps and weridos.
We talked to what seemed to be one of the only sane people in the place, the lady at the bus terminal. We walked in this one tiny, little room attached to another building and asked when the next bus would leave. She said that there was one at 10:00. I looked at my watch and it was 09:45.
"Two tickets to Otavalo please!!!" I replied frankly.
We stopped in one of the two "stores" to get some junk food for the four hour bus ride back to Otavalo. The first one filled our noses with a damp, musty, quite indestingushable smell. The second, was right across the street from the public baños (restrooms) which appeared to be unisex and had a more foul smell than any public restroom I have stepped foot in anywhere in the US or Canada.
The bus arrived and we said good bye to García Moreno.
Back in Otavalo, it felt great to be back in civilization. Although gringos, I felt we were a little more anynomous amoung the crowd as the places we were, weren´t setup for tourism in the slightest ways.
Natura and I ate lunch and relaxed a bit. Then we dicided to check out this waterfall in the village next to Otavalo called Peguche. We took the bus up to the village and started walking to "La Casada de Peguche". Knowing that Peguche was a village where many textiles were made, the longer we walked, the more looms we heard. One after another, after another, chug, chug, chug. It seemed as though every garage looking building had a loom or two chunking away.
We decided to stop in one place and check it out. There was a man and a woman sewing edges of ponchos to be sold at the Saturday market. We heard the loom chugging away was asked if we could see. Now, to see, first hand how textiles across the world are made was quite intriguing. They had two looms making big scarf looking things. The man told us a bit about the looms and said both had been in his family ever since they bought them for $2000. The second loom, he said, was about 120 years old. It was a little bigger, and a little louder, but still very impressive.
After our encounter of first hand textile fabrication, we continued on our walk to "La Casada de Peguche." We found ourselves on a stone walkway in the middle of a eucalyptus forest. With a fresh, scent lingering about, we heard the falling water getting closer. It wasn´t a huge fall, but none the less beautiful. We walked up and around it, back down and along another trail out of the park. We walked back to Otavalo as it is only about 1-2 miles.
One thing I will never foget about Ecuador is the sound of the ice cream trucks. Well, not really. We have been raised to know that the ice cream truck drives through neighborhoods and plays dorky music. Not in Ecuador. In Ecuador, when you hear the dorky ice cream truck music playing, you don´t run out and expect a truck full of treats. It´s the garbage man!!! Yes, the garbage truck plays the dorky ice cream truck music and when you hear it in your neighborhood, you run outside with you garbage!!! Hummm, how pieculiar.
It wasn´t long after we got back to the hostel. We just relaxed and ate dinner. Today we are on our way back to Quito to meet up with Michael.
We set off for García Moreno about 7:00. We were trying to get to this place because we had heard that to get to Junín, you had to go through García Moreno. Our ultimate goal was actually Junín. We just started walking down the road toward García Moreno as we would get a ride from a bus as it drove by. We walked for several minutes and there were no buses going in our direction. They wereall headed to Apuela. Soon after a few trucks passed, we finally found someone going toward García Moreno. We hitched a ride with them for about five miles, until the had to turn off the road. There was a sign at the turnoff that read, "García Moreno 20km." We started walking again. We figured that it couldn´t be that bad to walk for 20 km, but we were hoping for a bus. After a couple miles we heard something coming. It turned out to be a dump truck. They slowed to a stop, and asked where we were going, "García Moreno", we replied.
We hopped in the back of this dump truck full of gravel. Let me tell you, there is nothing like hitching a ride in the back of a dump truck. The view was amazing. It´s a good thing they drove us all the way to our destination too. There was a huge construction operation going on for miles. Much of it would have been walkin through mud, sometimes nearly knee deep.
I have noticed some interesting demograhics about the few places I have been in Ecuador. In Quito there is a large Mestizo and Spanish heritage. When we got to Otavalo, just north of Quito, there was a large indigenous population. Somewhere between Apeula and García Moreno, it turned to Afro-Ecuadorean. It seemed like the farther we traveled from "civilization", the more Afro-Ecuadorean the population became.
We reached the turn off for García Moreno and we started going up, way up. We had already been going up for quite sometime, but now the incline became steeper, the road narrowed, and it became more winding. Before long, we were driving through the clouds. and a chill hit our faces. After possibly 5 miles of winding up this mountain, we found ourselves in the middle of García Moreno.
We got out of the dump truck, we music flooded our ears which was coming from one chaep speaker blasting from the church. There were a lot of people who were sitting in what seemed to be a line for perhaps a healthcare clinic or something. We walked up to a building that said, " Elvis´s Hotel and Restaurant." We throught we would check it out since we weren´t sure what was going to happen with the whole Junín trip anymore.
This place looked super sketch master style so we thought about what to do. We were planning on hiking to Junín from there. Because the clouds were so thick, we were just going to hang out in García Moreno. After walking around for a bit and realizing that there was probably not a quarter of what Apuela had to offer we headed to the bus terminal to see when a bus was coming. Looking around the village a littel more, I realized that there were quite a few interesting looking people. As in, it looked like García Moreno was the State Hospital for Ecuador. Whether true or not, we were surrounded be creeps and weridos.
We talked to what seemed to be one of the only sane people in the place, the lady at the bus terminal. We walked in this one tiny, little room attached to another building and asked when the next bus would leave. She said that there was one at 10:00. I looked at my watch and it was 09:45.
"Two tickets to Otavalo please!!!" I replied frankly.
We stopped in one of the two "stores" to get some junk food for the four hour bus ride back to Otavalo. The first one filled our noses with a damp, musty, quite indestingushable smell. The second, was right across the street from the public baños (restrooms) which appeared to be unisex and had a more foul smell than any public restroom I have stepped foot in anywhere in the US or Canada.
The bus arrived and we said good bye to García Moreno.
Back in Otavalo, it felt great to be back in civilization. Although gringos, I felt we were a little more anynomous amoung the crowd as the places we were, weren´t setup for tourism in the slightest ways.
Natura and I ate lunch and relaxed a bit. Then we dicided to check out this waterfall in the village next to Otavalo called Peguche. We took the bus up to the village and started walking to "La Casada de Peguche". Knowing that Peguche was a village where many textiles were made, the longer we walked, the more looms we heard. One after another, after another, chug, chug, chug. It seemed as though every garage looking building had a loom or two chunking away.
We decided to stop in one place and check it out. There was a man and a woman sewing edges of ponchos to be sold at the Saturday market. We heard the loom chugging away was asked if we could see. Now, to see, first hand how textiles across the world are made was quite intriguing. They had two looms making big scarf looking things. The man told us a bit about the looms and said both had been in his family ever since they bought them for $2000. The second loom, he said, was about 120 years old. It was a little bigger, and a little louder, but still very impressive.
After our encounter of first hand textile fabrication, we continued on our walk to "La Casada de Peguche." We found ourselves on a stone walkway in the middle of a eucalyptus forest. With a fresh, scent lingering about, we heard the falling water getting closer. It wasn´t a huge fall, but none the less beautiful. We walked up and around it, back down and along another trail out of the park. We walked back to Otavalo as it is only about 1-2 miles.
One thing I will never foget about Ecuador is the sound of the ice cream trucks. Well, not really. We have been raised to know that the ice cream truck drives through neighborhoods and plays dorky music. Not in Ecuador. In Ecuador, when you hear the dorky ice cream truck music playing, you don´t run out and expect a truck full of treats. It´s the garbage man!!! Yes, the garbage truck plays the dorky ice cream truck music and when you hear it in your neighborhood, you run outside with you garbage!!! Hummm, how pieculiar.
It wasn´t long after we got back to the hostel. We just relaxed and ate dinner. Today we are on our way back to Quito to meet up with Michael.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
24 Nov
With our tickets in hand, we got on the bus headed for Apuela at 8:00am. I would have never guessed what we were about to see. We turned off the main road just outside Otavalo. We went up and up and up, then down, down, down, then up, up, up. You know how you watch the Discovery channel and you seethe Andes and they are huge and cloud covered, and there is one whindy road going the side of a mountain? The Discovery channel can show you that, but you just can´t grasp the actual felling of riding in a bus halfway up the side of a mountain with a steep cliff on one side of you and no guard rail. There would be small washed out areas, there would be other area where small land slides were. Mile after mile of wet, muddy, dirt road, the landscape would change around every bend. We would go around corners where the bus driver would have to stop and just creep to make it. We drove through coulds and we would come out atop. We drove into thick jungle like area, and drove by farm land that would be considered unfarmable by American standards. We drove through grass 25 ft. on both sides. We passed hundreds or banana and papaya trees. This is an area so rich with fruit, avocado and orange trees grow along the road.
Finally, we came to the start of a stone road which led into Apuela. After talking to a a guy who seemed to own or at least run a restuarant he offered to drive us to a hostel about four miles down the road for $4.00. After checking with a few, we settled on Cabañas Valle Hermoso which ran us $5.00 each. We told him to wait as we went back into town. We had almorso (lunch) and went to this coffee processing place. A nice lady by the name of Joan gave us a little tour of the plant. Now, I can elaborate later, but you would never beleive where your coffee comes from, it´s amazing!!!
We started walking down that road, back to the hotel and we hitched a ride with a couple guys headed in that direction. They didn´t take us all the way, as they were headed down a different road. We got close enough to only have to walk about 10 minutes.
That night, we ate bread and cheese for dinner and played some card games. We started with a game called cuarenta (40) which I can´t wait to teach some people when I get home.
Finally, we came to the start of a stone road which led into Apuela. After talking to a a guy who seemed to own or at least run a restuarant he offered to drive us to a hostel about four miles down the road for $4.00. After checking with a few, we settled on Cabañas Valle Hermoso which ran us $5.00 each. We told him to wait as we went back into town. We had almorso (lunch) and went to this coffee processing place. A nice lady by the name of Joan gave us a little tour of the plant. Now, I can elaborate later, but you would never beleive where your coffee comes from, it´s amazing!!!
We started walking down that road, back to the hotel and we hitched a ride with a couple guys headed in that direction. They didn´t take us all the way, as they were headed down a different road. We got close enough to only have to walk about 10 minutes.
That night, we ate bread and cheese for dinner and played some card games. We started with a game called cuarenta (40) which I can´t wait to teach some people when I get home.
23 Nov
On the 23rd, Natura and I got up about 6:30 and always. We started walking through the village of La Calera and 7:00. It was a quite, little village just outside Cotacachi. This was a very interesting little village, as I hadn´t really seen how Ecuadoreans lived until then. They seem to live in small, brick houses. There is no insulation, as they don´t really need it, there are many houses with no windows and they are a little shady.
We were going to try to catch a bus to a little place called Apuela, from Otavalo, but all the buses were full for the rest of the day. We just sat around and relaxed for the day. We didn´t do a whole lot.
We were going to try to catch a bus to a little place called Apuela, from Otavalo, but all the buses were full for the rest of the day. We just sat around and relaxed for the day. We didn´t do a whole lot.
22 Nov
What a day. Natura and I woke up and walked around a bit. We started by walking over to the animal market. This could potentially be a vegetarians worst nightmare. They were selling every animal, cows, sheeps, pigs, llamas, chickens, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, ducks, etc. I don´t want to forget that they were serving food there as well.
As we walked back into town, everybody was setting up for the Saturday market. Now, I had heard that it was big, big I would have never suspected the reality of it. This market was on every inch of street for about six blocks by six blocks. It was big! It gets kind of redundent though. Everybody is selling pretty much the same 10 things, paintings, pots, textiles, blankets, rugs, hammocks, jewerly, etc... It really reminded me of being in Afghanistan.
We met up with Michael and his school group for a bit and walked around and bought things for a while. They took off and it was about time to eat dinner.
While we were all up in Otavalo, Michael was staying with an Indigenous family. They were having a baptism in the family that night. Michael said he would call if we were invited to the party. He called.
While Natura and I were waiting for the call, we were actually eating and drinking at this place in town. This older lady came by and asked,"what do you guys want to eat?" in English. We were a little surprised when she spoke English. We asked where she was from and told us a story.
"Yeah, I´m from Fresno, CA. I got here back in ´75. I had some good drug dealer friends down in Colombia that I came to meet. After that, I thought I was going to New Zealand and ended up in Ecuador somehow. I just decided to stay."
With a story like that, your mind can only think of what she has done since and where she has been.
We had eaten dinner, about $5.00 between the two of us. Then we started drinking these drinks with lime, sugar and some kind of cane alcohol. We had seven between the two of us for a $1.00 each. About half way through them, a couple over heard us talking about Alaska. Come to find out, they are from Headley Alaska. We sat and talked for a bit and then we got our call. I asked the lady how much we owed her. She replied, "just give me $7.00." Not too bad for seven drinks and two free meals, eh?
Natura and I got on the bus headed for Cotocachi where the baptism was going on. We got to the church and found Michael and Aaron, as they weren´t hard to spot being the two tallest in the crowd. We sat through the baptism and hopped in the back of some family members trucks.
They took us about three or four miles to a village called La Calera. Things started out a little slow. It was a very interesting party. Frist, they serve the mother and the god mother. Then everyone else is served. Everyone was served This flour soup, with a chunk of chicken and potatoes in it. The main party was served cuy (guinea pig) with their soup. The second course was pork from a pig roast, they had roasted two pigs, potatoes and mote which is pretty much hominy. It was all quite delicious.
Some interesting things about the party were that there were probably twenty people there, maybe more and it was very quite. Also, everything had to be served to everyone on a platter. You couldn´t just hand something to someone.
About the time were finished with dinner, a truck backed up and unloaded two big subwoofers. Let the party begin! The music started and people started dancing. People don´t just drink there. Everyone walks around with a shot glass and a bottle of something. Some would have beer, some would have wine, others with champagne, and other yet with this hot liquor. Everyone gets throughly happy because it is rude to deny a shot. Someone said, if you don´t want to drink anymore, leave. So, was drank. Aaron thought it would be a great idea for he, Michael, Natura and I to get our own boxes of wine to give a little pay back, so, we did. We each got a different flavored box of wine, which is about like wine cooler and walked around. I had peach; Natura, strawberry; Michael, apple; and Aaron, some hot liquor.
Everybody became really happy, everyone was dancing, everyone was having a good time.
About 12:00, everyone took off. They invited us to just stay since it would have been crazy to go back to Otavalo that night.
Natura, Micahel and I attempted to sleep and three of us in a full bed together. I had the cold, brick wall, with a huge gap between the bed and the wall. I didn´t sleep so well. Not to mention, there was a rooster on the roof that started yelling about 1:30am. Dogs were getting in fights during the night as well. It didn´t make for a very good sleep.
As we walked back into town, everybody was setting up for the Saturday market. Now, I had heard that it was big, big I would have never suspected the reality of it. This market was on every inch of street for about six blocks by six blocks. It was big! It gets kind of redundent though. Everybody is selling pretty much the same 10 things, paintings, pots, textiles, blankets, rugs, hammocks, jewerly, etc... It really reminded me of being in Afghanistan.
We met up with Michael and his school group for a bit and walked around and bought things for a while. They took off and it was about time to eat dinner.
While we were all up in Otavalo, Michael was staying with an Indigenous family. They were having a baptism in the family that night. Michael said he would call if we were invited to the party. He called.
While Natura and I were waiting for the call, we were actually eating and drinking at this place in town. This older lady came by and asked,"what do you guys want to eat?" in English. We were a little surprised when she spoke English. We asked where she was from and told us a story.
"Yeah, I´m from Fresno, CA. I got here back in ´75. I had some good drug dealer friends down in Colombia that I came to meet. After that, I thought I was going to New Zealand and ended up in Ecuador somehow. I just decided to stay."
With a story like that, your mind can only think of what she has done since and where she has been.
We had eaten dinner, about $5.00 between the two of us. Then we started drinking these drinks with lime, sugar and some kind of cane alcohol. We had seven between the two of us for a $1.00 each. About half way through them, a couple over heard us talking about Alaska. Come to find out, they are from Headley Alaska. We sat and talked for a bit and then we got our call. I asked the lady how much we owed her. She replied, "just give me $7.00." Not too bad for seven drinks and two free meals, eh?
Natura and I got on the bus headed for Cotocachi where the baptism was going on. We got to the church and found Michael and Aaron, as they weren´t hard to spot being the two tallest in the crowd. We sat through the baptism and hopped in the back of some family members trucks.
They took us about three or four miles to a village called La Calera. Things started out a little slow. It was a very interesting party. Frist, they serve the mother and the god mother. Then everyone else is served. Everyone was served This flour soup, with a chunk of chicken and potatoes in it. The main party was served cuy (guinea pig) with their soup. The second course was pork from a pig roast, they had roasted two pigs, potatoes and mote which is pretty much hominy. It was all quite delicious.
Some interesting things about the party were that there were probably twenty people there, maybe more and it was very quite. Also, everything had to be served to everyone on a platter. You couldn´t just hand something to someone.
About the time were finished with dinner, a truck backed up and unloaded two big subwoofers. Let the party begin! The music started and people started dancing. People don´t just drink there. Everyone walks around with a shot glass and a bottle of something. Some would have beer, some would have wine, others with champagne, and other yet with this hot liquor. Everyone gets throughly happy because it is rude to deny a shot. Someone said, if you don´t want to drink anymore, leave. So, was drank. Aaron thought it would be a great idea for he, Michael, Natura and I to get our own boxes of wine to give a little pay back, so, we did. We each got a different flavored box of wine, which is about like wine cooler and walked around. I had peach; Natura, strawberry; Michael, apple; and Aaron, some hot liquor.
Everybody became really happy, everyone was dancing, everyone was having a good time.
About 12:00, everyone took off. They invited us to just stay since it would have been crazy to go back to Otavalo that night.
Natura, Micahel and I attempted to sleep and three of us in a full bed together. I had the cold, brick wall, with a huge gap between the bed and the wall. I didn´t sleep so well. Not to mention, there was a rooster on the roof that started yelling about 1:30am. Dogs were getting in fights during the night as well. It didn´t make for a very good sleep.
Friday, November 21, 2008
21Nov
This morning Natura and I woke up about 06:00. We headed out about 07:00 and walked around the town somemore. We checked out the food market. Boy, these food markets will make you think twice about what food satitation is. Everybody is selling fruit, veggies, grains, everything. That´s not to include the butchers. Num, num seeing huge chunks of meat hanging all day. Seeing chicken piled high with no refrigeration. So many interesting things are excited to be seen at the market.
After we walked around the market, we went to a bakery and got a few patries for a hike we were planning on doing. We took what they call a camíoneta to this area. A camíoneta is prety much a taxi. You tell them where you want to go, negotiate a price and hop in the back of their truck. We settled on $10.00 for him to take us about 17km up the side of this mountains where we did our hike.
The ride up this mountain was so amazing. You are sitting in the back of this truck seeing where you have been. Riding up this stone road that seemed rather endless, you couldn´t help but to be struck by the beauty of the Andes. It also seemed strange that the road would even be there. I mean, it was stone the whole way up this mountain.
Our camíoneta came to a stop in the middle of nowhere next to this lake high in the mountains. We started hiking on this, now dirt road around these lakes and mountains. We thought we were going to do a 3.9km hike, but instead it turned out being a 14.4km hike. It was still great. We walked and walked and came to a turn that went a long way up this mountain. When we got to the top, there was a sign that read, 3.981m (13,061ft).
When we arrived back to our start, there was another camíoneta waiting for a few other hikers. We got a ride down the mountain, back to the city for $5.00.
When we got back to town, we looked for a nice little hole in the wall place to have almuerso. Yup, another great $1.50 meal that filled us up. Once we finished that, we went back to the hostal, and I took a nap.
After we walked around the market, we went to a bakery and got a few patries for a hike we were planning on doing. We took what they call a camíoneta to this area. A camíoneta is prety much a taxi. You tell them where you want to go, negotiate a price and hop in the back of their truck. We settled on $10.00 for him to take us about 17km up the side of this mountains where we did our hike.
The ride up this mountain was so amazing. You are sitting in the back of this truck seeing where you have been. Riding up this stone road that seemed rather endless, you couldn´t help but to be struck by the beauty of the Andes. It also seemed strange that the road would even be there. I mean, it was stone the whole way up this mountain.
Our camíoneta came to a stop in the middle of nowhere next to this lake high in the mountains. We started hiking on this, now dirt road around these lakes and mountains. We thought we were going to do a 3.9km hike, but instead it turned out being a 14.4km hike. It was still great. We walked and walked and came to a turn that went a long way up this mountain. When we got to the top, there was a sign that read, 3.981m (13,061ft).
When we arrived back to our start, there was another camíoneta waiting for a few other hikers. We got a ride down the mountain, back to the city for $5.00.
When we got back to town, we looked for a nice little hole in the wall place to have almuerso. Yup, another great $1.50 meal that filled us up. Once we finished that, we went back to the hostal, and I took a nap.
20 Nov
Yesterday I came to Otavalo. It´s a little town of approx. 50,000 people about a hour and a half north of Quito. A large portion of that is actually indigenous people. They are supposed to have one of the largest, if not the largest, indigenous markets in the world. Many of their prducts include hats, mittens, textiles and other hand crafted things.
I got a ride up with Michael´s class because they were coming up here for some study thing. This is he first trip I have actually taken outside the city. It is quite interesting, I must say. Not to mention, I get to hang out with Michael´s girlfriend, Natura, who is also here just hanging out.
Yesterday I didn´t do a whole lot other than check in to a little hostal, Hostal María, which is running me about $5.50 a night. It is situated about two blocks from downtown. I also walked around the town a bit to get a feel for it.
Natura showed up about 17:00 amd we caught up a bit it as it has been nearly two years since when last saw each other. Once she got here, we walked around somemore and looked for somewhere to eat. The great thing about Ecuador is that they have this lunch deal called "almuerzo", and dinner which is called "merienda". Both are set meals and typically include soup, a meat, rice, some veggies and a glass of juice. This nice little meal will run you about $1.50.
I got a ride up with Michael´s class because they were coming up here for some study thing. This is he first trip I have actually taken outside the city. It is quite interesting, I must say. Not to mention, I get to hang out with Michael´s girlfriend, Natura, who is also here just hanging out.
Yesterday I didn´t do a whole lot other than check in to a little hostal, Hostal María, which is running me about $5.50 a night. It is situated about two blocks from downtown. I also walked around the town a bit to get a feel for it.
Natura showed up about 17:00 amd we caught up a bit it as it has been nearly two years since when last saw each other. Once she got here, we walked around somemore and looked for somewhere to eat. The great thing about Ecuador is that they have this lunch deal called "almuerzo", and dinner which is called "merienda". Both are set meals and typically include soup, a meat, rice, some veggies and a glass of juice. This nice little meal will run you about $1.50.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
17 Nov
Monday we went to this park on top of a big hill called Parque Itchambia. It was beautiful and had bike trails and little playgrounds. We played with these little kids on the zip line for a while. From there, we walked quite a way and ended up at a little market. It was nice seeing some of the native things. I didn´t buy anything yet though. After that, we went to Michael´s host father´s art studio. We sat and drank coffee and I listen while Fernando and he conversed for a while.
We had lunch after that, and stuffed ourselves for less than $2.00. After that, we had coffee and then went to his house. Michael had to go to class so I got on the bus and and went back to the hostal for a bit.
After school, I was to meet him at a bus stop where he and I would meet with some more of his classmates at Alladins. We ate, and hung out a bit. Everyone split up and I went back to the hostal for the night.
We had lunch after that, and stuffed ourselves for less than $2.00. After that, we had coffee and then went to his house. Michael had to go to class so I got on the bus and and went back to the hostal for a bit.
After school, I was to meet him at a bus stop where he and I would meet with some more of his classmates at Alladins. We ate, and hung out a bit. Everyone split up and I went back to the hostal for the night.
16 Nov
Because it was the weekend, Michael decided to stay at the hostal a couple nights. Sunday morning, we met an Australian guy and two Australian girls and anouther girl named Titia, and went to this mountain with a gondola. We convinced this cab driver to take all six of us and the same time to the gondola in a car not much bigger than my Neon. I layed across four people in the back seat. For a dollar a piece, he drove up to the gondola. The gondola was called the telefarico and for $4 it took us to the top of Pichincha. At the top, you can look over Quito. It´s so beautiful. We hiked just a little way up this trail and came to a sign that said, 13,451 ft. above sea level. After that, we came over a small hill and there was a man and his wife letting people wear ponchos and sobreros and letting people take pictures with his llamas, named Inti and Pacha and his alpaca.
We went back down and went to the "Basilica", a Gothic stlye cathedral that we paid $2 to climb up the towers. Now felt so criminal because if you would have fallen, you would have died. First you walk up lots of steps, then you walk over the top of the arches on this Indiana Jones bridge and start taking smalled stairs and latters. You can climb all the way up, past the clock, past the bells, and come out through a little hole in the roof and hang your feet over the edge. Too cool.
After that, we went to a little square where people gather and we had some lunch. Lunch in Ecuador is the big meal of the day. We started with soup, and juice and then had some veggies, rice and some part of a chichen for $1.50. We spent more on a cup of coffee than the meal.
For all you living in Alaska, I have great news, Alaska doesn´t have the worst service in restaurants in the world. I think Quito beats it 10 fold. If you don´t ask for your bill, they won´t give it to you.
After that, we took our $0.25 bus ride across town to the airport where we were led on a wild goose chase to retrieve my bag which had supposedly come in on the 14:00 plane. We went from office to office to office and finally found someone who could help us. Victory!!! My bag was there and it was all good.
Back to the city we went and had some dinner. We ate at this Middle Eastern place called "Alladins" and we sat around a while and caught up on live for the past nearly two years.
We went back down and went to the "Basilica", a Gothic stlye cathedral that we paid $2 to climb up the towers. Now felt so criminal because if you would have fallen, you would have died. First you walk up lots of steps, then you walk over the top of the arches on this Indiana Jones bridge and start taking smalled stairs and latters. You can climb all the way up, past the clock, past the bells, and come out through a little hole in the roof and hang your feet over the edge. Too cool.
After that, we went to a little square where people gather and we had some lunch. Lunch in Ecuador is the big meal of the day. We started with soup, and juice and then had some veggies, rice and some part of a chichen for $1.50. We spent more on a cup of coffee than the meal.
For all you living in Alaska, I have great news, Alaska doesn´t have the worst service in restaurants in the world. I think Quito beats it 10 fold. If you don´t ask for your bill, they won´t give it to you.
After that, we took our $0.25 bus ride across town to the airport where we were led on a wild goose chase to retrieve my bag which had supposedly come in on the 14:00 plane. We went from office to office to office and finally found someone who could help us. Victory!!! My bag was there and it was all good.
Back to the city we went and had some dinner. We ate at this Middle Eastern place called "Alladins" and we sat around a while and caught up on live for the past nearly two years.
15 Nov Arriving
Dad dropped me off at the Detroit airport about 8:30pm on the 14th of November. From there I flew to DC where I slept at the airport. The morning of the 15th, I flew to Panama City. Not staying at the airport but about an hour, my plane was off to Quito. I arrived in Quito all right, too bad my bag didn´t. No worries though.
My friend Michael was waiting for me at the airport. We took the bus to an area of town the locals like to call "Gringo Landia", for a good reason. Many gringos like to hang out there. As we were walking to a cafe for a cup of coffee, we met a Dutch woman who seemed a little confused. We invited her to have coffee with us and we just sat around and chatted a bit.
From there, we took another bus to my hostal, The Secret Garden, to check in. It seems like a great place, but it´s a little on the pricey side, $8 a night. The crowd seems great, and the view from the top is overlooking the Old City.
After check in, Michael and I went over to his host family´s place for dinner. We had chicken and potatoes, rice, empanadas and coconut juice for dinner. It was great having a home cooked meal my first night in Quito. I haven´t been able to converse with them yet, because they don´t speak English. Soon enough and I will be well on my way to speaking Spanish.
From Michael´s place, we met some of his classmates down at a little bar called "Baritillo". Baritillo is a bar where you pay a flat rate ($5.50) and you have a tap at your table and you drink as much as you want. It was nice meeting with some of his friends and getting to see a little of the town.
My friend Michael was waiting for me at the airport. We took the bus to an area of town the locals like to call "Gringo Landia", for a good reason. Many gringos like to hang out there. As we were walking to a cafe for a cup of coffee, we met a Dutch woman who seemed a little confused. We invited her to have coffee with us and we just sat around and chatted a bit.
From there, we took another bus to my hostal, The Secret Garden, to check in. It seems like a great place, but it´s a little on the pricey side, $8 a night. The crowd seems great, and the view from the top is overlooking the Old City.
After check in, Michael and I went over to his host family´s place for dinner. We had chicken and potatoes, rice, empanadas and coconut juice for dinner. It was great having a home cooked meal my first night in Quito. I haven´t been able to converse with them yet, because they don´t speak English. Soon enough and I will be well on my way to speaking Spanish.
From Michael´s place, we met some of his classmates down at a little bar called "Baritillo". Baritillo is a bar where you pay a flat rate ($5.50) and you have a tap at your table and you drink as much as you want. It was nice meeting with some of his friends and getting to see a little of the town.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Getting Ready for my Trip to South America.
Hello to everyone visiting my blog. This is the first time I have ever used a blog, so we'll see what happens. I'm not sure how long I will be able to sit around and blog while I'm away, but I'm willing to give it a shot.
In the last week or so I have been trying to get ready for my trip. I haven't started freaking out yet, but I'm sure the time will come. You know, crunch time, that day of, or the day before you are supposed to do whatever it is you're doing. Whatever it is, you know what I'm talking about, that exam, that paper, that meeting with a friend, or getting everything ironed out before a big trip.
Lately I have been working on getting some little things worked out. The biggest thing is the yellow fever shot I need to travel around much of South America. I called several places trying to get this vaccination and either everyone was booked until after my date of departure of they weren't answering. Thankfully the place called me, letting me know that they had a cancellation the day before my trip.
In the last week or so I have been trying to get ready for my trip. I haven't started freaking out yet, but I'm sure the time will come. You know, crunch time, that day of, or the day before you are supposed to do whatever it is you're doing. Whatever it is, you know what I'm talking about, that exam, that paper, that meeting with a friend, or getting everything ironed out before a big trip.
Lately I have been working on getting some little things worked out. The biggest thing is the yellow fever shot I need to travel around much of South America. I called several places trying to get this vaccination and either everyone was booked until after my date of departure of they weren't answering. Thankfully the place called me, letting me know that they had a cancellation the day before my trip.
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