OTAVALO & QUITO ECUADOR - AUG 28 - SEPT 4
Clearing immigration at the Ecuador boarder only takes a couple of minutes and I then catch a taxi to the nearby bus station in Tulcan which is about 15 minutes away. I then catch a nice coach style bus to Otavalo. Otavalo is about 4 hour bus ride west and the first thing I notice is how cheap the buses are in Ecuador; the fare to Otavalo is only $2.50US. The countryside along the highway is very dry with rolling hills. As we travel west, the mountains of the northern Andes start to surround the valley that we are driving through. The terrain reminds me of the Thompson River region in BC. There are even a few cactus growing along side the highway.
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| Market in Plaza Principal |
I arrive in Otavalo around 1:00PM and get a room at the Ricon del Viajero for $11US per night. Otavalo is about 2 hours east of Quito and is supposed to have an incredible outdoor market each Saturday. The market is best known for art, clothing, textiles, jewelry and unique handbags. The art and jewelry has an Inca motif and the market is known as one of the best and cheapest places to buy Inca items. The market is so popular that there is now a daily market the fills the entire centre of the Plaza Principal. To date, I have not bought anything in any country other than the swimming shorts I bought in Mexico and some flip flops in Roatan, so I decide to go check out the market. I buy a blue and white sweater/hoody with a llama motif made of llama's wool for $15US and I'm pretty sure I will need it in the high altitudes of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. I also can't resist picking up some gifts for my nieces and my sister Kelly. From how annoyed a couple of the vendors seemed to be after I haggled a price, I think I got a pretty good deal on the stuff I bought. I'm glad I bought the sweater as the temperature plunges down into single digits that night and it is pretty cold in my room.
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| Luguna Cuicocha |
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| Trail Around Luguna Cuicocha |
The next morning, I decide to go on a nice day hike around a crater lake called La Luguna Cuicocha and I pick up a tin of tuna and some buns for lunch along with a couple of litres of water. I catch a bus to the town of Cuicocha about 15kms away for 25 cents and then take a collectivo to the lake. The hike looks kind of daunting as the start of the trail is just above the lake level which is 3070m above sea level and the trail winds steeply uphill for the first half of the hike and the total distance is about 13km. As I start the hike, the lake looks beautiful with 2 islands tucked close to the opposite side of the lake but the trail keeps going up and up. On the steepest sections I am quickly out of breath, the extra 1000 metres of altitude compared to the hikes I had been doing in Guatape sure makes a difference. It takes me about 1.5 hours to get to the highest point above the lake and there is a covered observation point where I stop and have lunch. It looks to be down hill all the way from here but I soon learn that looks can be deceiving as there are a couple of rivers that enter the lake and I have to hike down into them and up again. The first 3 hours of the hike are on the winding trail above the lake and the views are incredible. The terrain surrounding the lake is very dry with lots a dry grass and mountain flowers that are every shade of red and pink along with some that are blue and purple.
The last hour of the hike has left the lake and is along a road. The road twists its way around the lake but the lake is not in view but there is a nice view of the surrounding valley and farmlands. When I get back to the start of the trail, there are no collectivos around so I decide to walk back to the town of Cuicocha but I misjudged the distance. I thought it would take around an hour to walk there but it ended up taking over 2 hours. By the time I get the bus back to Otavalo, my legs have stiffened up and I hobble back to the hotel. I'm exhausted and go to bed early and I have one of the best sleeps that I've had for a while.
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| Native Woman in Otavalo |
The next morning I sleep in a bit and catch a 10:00AM bus to Quito which takes a little over 2 hours. The centre of Quito is 23kms south of the equator and just as the bus reaches the northern edge of the city, I cross the equator for the first time. The bus station is at the north edge of the city so I decide to take a cab to my hostel near the city centre. It takes abou half an hour to get there and the cab drops me off but the hostels is all gated off and locked and nobody is there. It appears to be closed so I decide to catch a cab to another hostel. After it drops me off, I realize that this hostel is also closed. But now I'm in the entertainment district of Quito called La Mariscal. After wandering around for another 45 minutes, I come across another of my guide books recommended hostels called the Hostel de la Reinna where I get a room with bath for $14US.
I can't get over how mild the temperature is here in Quito. When you re in a city on the equator, you just assume it will be hot. But with Quito's elevation of 2850m, the temperature on a sunny day is mid twenties but gets down below 15 degrees Celsius at night and there is almost no humidity. It's like being in Vancouver in the summer only a little cooler.
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| Mitad del Mundo |
I lost my pocket knife at the hostel in Medellin and I have really missed having it so I decide to try and replace it here in Quito. I go to some nearby climbing and trekking stores but none of them have a pocket knife. They recommend a nearby mall and I scour the mall from top to bottom and just when I'm about to give up I come across a store with Swiss Army pocket knives in their window display and I find just what I want. That evening, I decide to go to the new Batman movie at a local cinema. I had really like the first 2 movies with Christian Bale especially The Dark Night but find this one a bit lacking but it is nice to do something that feels like home and yes the movie was in English.
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| Andrew With One Foot im Each Hemisphere |
By the next morning, I have decided to find another hostel to stay in. The Hostel de la Reinna does not have a common area to meet other travellers, it is noisy around the hostel at night as there are lots of bars and clubs nearby and the mattress in my room is like a rock. So, I get up early and walk to a hostel that is between the old city and the modern city called L'Auberge Inn and it looks very nice with a large common area and I get a nice room for $11US per night.
In the afternoon, I to go to Mitad del Mundo which is a park right on the equator 23km north of the city centre. This park has a monument dedicated to Charles Marie de la Condamine located exactly on the equator. In 1736, Condamine's French Expdition measured the equator at this location within 150m of the actual equator location which is pretty amazing considering the technology back then. I catch a city bus to the park for less than a dollar and it takes about 45 minutes to get there. The park is pretty underwhelming but it is kind of cool to get my photo taken with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other foot in the southern hemisphere. They also have a display showing the insects of Ecuador. The size of the beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers and other bugs is impressive, Ecuador has some of the largest bugs in the world.
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| Plaza de la Independencia |
After a couple of hours I catch the bus back to the edge of the old city. The streets are teaming with shoppers and people just enjoying the incredible architecture that date back 400 years. Quito has one of the largest colonial town centres in all of Central and South America that stretches several kilometers north to south and is about 1 km wide. The heart of the old city is Plaza de la Independencia but there is also a second main plaza called Plaza de San Francisco a few blocks away. I slowly make my way north through the streets towards my hostel. As I walk, there is a hill in front of me dominated by a very large and ornate church called La Basilica. And behind me is a very large hill called Cerro Panecillo where
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| Plaza de San Francisco |
there is a huge statue of the Virgin of Quito overlooking the old city. I would like to climb to the top of Panecillo but decide to save that until tomorrow. The old city is the most impressive colonial city that I have seen yet and I decide to come back the next day as on Sundays they close many of the streets to traffic and there is supposed to be lots happening throughout the old city.
That evening, I have a quiet night with the highlight being a nice cheap but very good Chinese restaurant that I find a few blocks from the hostel. The next morning, I head back to the old city. The first thing I notice is all the people riding bikes as most of the streets are closed to cars. I head to
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| La Basilica |
the south end on the old city to climb Cerro Panecillo but just before the hill, I find a plaza with a stage setup for live music and dancing. The performers are groups of dancers from small towns around Quito. They are dressed as per local custom and are performing local dances. I stay for about an hour enjoying the music and watching the dancing. I then climb the many hundred stairs to Panecillo but the views at the top of the hill is worth the climb. The statue is hollow and made of aluminum and I climb to the top of the statue. To the south of the statue is a flat area where children and families are flying kites and there are nice views of the southern outskirts of Quito. In the distance are mountains and volcanos but the
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| Cerro Panecillo & The Virgin of Quito |
volcanos are shrouded in clouds and are completely hidden from view. I head back down to the old city and find a nice cafe near one of the plazas for lunch. There are live dance and music performances happening all over the old city. Most of the people seem to be locals and they seem to be there just to casually walk and enjoy the almost festive atmosphere like I am. It's a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
The next morning is Monday and there is a travel agency right in the hostel and I want to check out the boat tours of the Galapagos Islands. Isabelle is one of the travel agents and she starts showing me the last minute tours that are available. One really
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| Plaza de San Francisco from Cerro Panecillo |
stands out, it is a 6 day, 5 night tour which starts tomorrow and is discounted from $1540 to $1030 plus airfare which is about $450US. There are 5 classes of tours ranging from economy to first class and this tour is rated as the middle of the 5 classes. We confirm that there are flights from Quito available and I decide why not and book it. I'm still having problems with my credit cards. One card was cancelled and I still need to have a replacement card sent to me and the other I am having PIN problems with but luckily the travel agents don't have a machine that requires a PIN. But, they do want to charge an 8% surcharge if I pay by credit card. So, I have about $640US including my emergency money and I am able to
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| Local Dancers & Music |
withdraw another $500US using my bank card. So, the balance I need to pay is about $335 reducing the extra 8% to a reasonable number.
After paying, I only have about $15US left for the day and I can get more money tomorrow using my bank card. I still need to pay my hostel around $50US, get a cab to the airport in the morning (about $10US), pay an airport fee of $10US and pay a $100US cash park fee when I arrive in the Galapagos Islands. I spend the rest of the day getting some laundry done and running some errands. I repack my stuff to reduce what I bring to summer wear and my snorkel gear so that I can leave my large pack behind in the hostel's luggage storage area.
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| Sunday at Plaza de la Independencia |
By the time I have dinner, I'm out of cash and ready to go. My flight leaves at 8:30AM and I'm told I need to be at the airport at 6:30AM as there is a special screening of all luggage going to the Galapagos Islands to ensure nothing is brought that could be dangerous to the islands like vegetables or fruit. So, I decide to stay up until midnight so I can get some more money from the local ATM and go directly to the airport in the morning. Just after midnight, I walk to the nearby bank where I withdrew money from the ATM that afternoon. When I try and make the withdrawal, I get a message saying I have exceeded my daily maximum limit. I'm starting to get nervous and head back to the hostel to make a Skype call to my bank. I'm thinking the issue may be the 2 hour time difference as it is around 10:15PM in Vancouver.
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| La Bisilica |
The lady I talk to from my bank says she sees the transaction that I made but it is dated Sept. 4th not Sept. 3rd which may have to due with the fact that this day is a holiday in Canada (Labour Day). She then tells me I may be able to get more money when it is past midnight in Vancouver or I may need to wait until the following day but I can withdraw $80US more and will still be under my daily limit. I'm getting even more nervous because I need at least $170US to pay the hostel, the taxi, the airport fee and the park entrance fee. I will also want some money before the cruise leaves in the afternoon. But, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that the card should work by midnight Vancouver time but there is no way I can sleep now until I have the money.
I head back to my room and nervously read until just before 2:00AM. I walk through the lobby and I am about to leave when I realize I don't have my bank card. I head back to my room and it's not there. I head down to the common area where I made my Skype call from and it is not there either. And to make matters worse, it is in a small carrying case with my credit card and my drivers license so they are all missing. Over the next 30 minutes I search my room about 3 times and every inch of the common area, hallways and stairwell with no luck. I'm driving the poor night staff guy crazy as he is trying to sleep in the common area and I keep waking him up. I'm also thinking that there is no way that I can catch my plane in the morning which likely means I just threw about $1500US away and I have no money and no way of getting more money and no credit cards.
I head up to my room one more time, I've already emptied my day pack but I decide to check some of the small pockets where I never keep the cards, and sure enough I find it. I head to the bank and while keeping my fingers crossed, I try and withdraw $500US and I'm so pleased when I hear the sound of my money being counted out by the machine. It's now almost 3:00AM and I have to walk 4 blocks back to the hostel and I'm suddenly nervous by the prospect of walking back. I stick $40 in my wallet and put the rest of the money in my sock and quickly walk back to the hostel. I wake the poor staff guy up one more time and pay my bill. I tip the guy $10 so now I'm his best friend. I'm now totally exhausted and go to bed but I have to be up in 3 hours to catch a taxi to the airport.
The next morning I'm out of bed at 5:55AM and down in the lobby by 6:00AM to catch a taxi to the airport. I'm through the special screening, check-in and security in about 25 minutes. I wish I had slept for another hour instead of getting to the airport 2 hours early. Three hours of sleep was not enough but hopefully I can sleep on the plane. My plane stops at he coastal city of Guayaquil before continuing to Batra in the Galapagos and I sleep nearly all the way. It's cloudy as the plane makes the approach to the airport and I'm excited to start the 6 day cruise around the Galapagos Islands and to see all of the unusual wildlife but more on that on my next post.
