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Announcements
Posted by: perry on 04/02/2009 05:01 PM
Updated by: perry on 11/26/2009 03:14 AM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM
Ecuador: Hi Mom, Hi Dad
Austin and I entered Ecuador with a date to see my parents in the capital, Quito. We entered in Tulcan and worked our way south traveling through the mountains, stopping at hot springs, bombing great hills, checking out waterfalls, and eventually got there in time to meet up with them. My parents had a one week tour through Ecuador and we managed to meet up with them for a few days before and after their tour. During the week we also had our own adventures with our friend Marcela (who we met in Samuc Champay, Guatemala).
We entered Ecuador in Tulcan and quickly headed south to get as far as we could. Unfortunately we didn't know anything about the village and ended up passing a really cool cemetery (I saw pictures of it later, it look really cool). Anyhow, our first day in Ecuador took us UP UP UP into the cold high altitudes before finally dropping down. On the way down we stopped at the first village we found and immediately went in search of coffee. My hands were almost frozen solid at this time. It took forever for us to find a place which had coffee (I don't count instant coffee as coffee). Then once we were finally warmed up we went in search of a place to sleep. Well, we found a cheap hotel and had Chinese food downstairs.
The next day we were really hoping to find a ATM but all the ones I tried didn't work. So we went further on our way to La Paz. It as small village with a neat natural formation nearby. There is a river which dives underground for a little while. Also there are hot springs there. Since we are suckers for hot springs we went there. In the village we ended up talking with a few local guy and they shared their beer and whisky with us. Then we got to talking and they told us where we could go to pick up some grass. So we went with them to a brothel and waited and waited for they dealer to finally arrive. The whole time we were getting approached by sex workers which were totally blitzed out of their minds on crack, which they were smoking right in front of us. It was really quite annoying because it was starting to get late and we wanted to get to the hot springs before it got dark. Well, eventually we got our bag and headed down the old cobble stone road to the hot springs. At the exit of the river from it's cave the local nunnery build a chapel, but we passed right by it, hopped the fence to the hot springs, and soaked until we were all pruned up. Ahhh, hot water. Finally after having to jump trough hoops to get away from the brothel we finally had what we were really searching for. YEAH!
When we came up we found a few guys hanging out near to where we put up our hammocks and left our bikes. One guy came right up and started talking to me. He happened to be the local cop and was really quite friendly. I played soccer with him and his friends then joined them for a midnight dinner. Austin was too tired to play and went to sleep. Well, he invited us to a tour of the area in the morning, so we made our plans. In the morning we met up with him and he hooked us up with breakfast before taking us to the chapel in the cave. Under the chapel there were some natural rock formations which were in the shape of hearts including veins created by mineral deposits. It was really quite cool. Then after that we went and got into the hot spring again (he got us in for free). We went back and started packing and he brought us a few gifts including a lot of different fruits (some of them tasteless), t-shirts of the Ecuadorian police soccer teams, and he also invited us to stay with his mother a bit further down the road and he was going to meet us and take us to see some things around his home town.
We finally left and got back on the road and didn't travel more than 3km before Austin started having trouble with his brakes. We stopped and he spent a good 3 hours working on his cables and getting nowhere. Eventually we left and headed to the next town we though we'd maybe find an ATM. No luck. We were running out of cash. Anyhow we kept going and found ourselves going down down down into the Rio Chota valley. The ride was amazing and the road was perfect. I shattered my all time speed record by quite a lot. Eventually we got to Ambuqui and stopped at the bomberos to ask about spending the night. Unfortunately they said no, but we went to the spa/resort across the way and we were accepted warmly and shown to a few trees where we could spend the night. We also had a nice big street lamp that we could use until we wanted to turn it off. So we quickly went out for a cheap dinner then went back and smoked a bunch of pot while listening to Austin's radio for the first time. It was sounding really really great!
The next day we had a lot of climbing to do. So we decided it would be a good day to try using the coca leaves we picked up in Colombia. We both filled our mouths and started chewing. Well, neither of us really felt anything (it was supposed to give us energy). So eventually we spit out the pulp and continued climbing in the heat. Slowly slowly we made our way up to Ibarra where we finally found and ATM which worked. We got some cash and found a cheap hotel for the night. We went on a walk around the city and had a bit of street food for dinner. Yum!
In the morning we found a bike shop and Austin got all new brake cables and housings installed. Now his bike's working better. Good. What a waste of three hours the other day. Anyhow, we got on our way and headed towards Atuntaqui to meet up with the cop from La Paz. Well, we searched and searched and had no luck. His phone number didn't work either. So we decided to get some more km's done and headed towards Otavalo. A bit before Otavao we decided to camp for the night. There is a small village nearby called Peguche which has a waterfall we wanted to check out. We asked around for a place to sleep and ended up getting invited to spend the night at the house of a nice old indigenous lady named Carmen. She fed us and talked to us for a few hours. From her house we could see the beautiful volcano Imbarura and the full moon rising right above it's peak.
In the morning we went to the waterfall. We didn't know that it was so close. We could have just gone there and spent the night. But it was also cool to meet Carmen. Anyhow, we went and played around in the 36 meter waterfall then went on our way to Otavalo which is supposed to have some kind of artisan market. We never found the market, but we did eat a bit and headed out of town to Cayambe where we spent the night at the bomberos. We walked around town a bit and had some fun talking to the firemen. They offered to drive us to Quito the next day since they were going there themselves. So we took the offer and planned to wake up quite early.
Well, we were ready to go early (a huge feat for Austin). But they weren't ready when they said they would be. Anyhow, they took us to Quito which caused us to miss a HUGE downhill followed by a HUGE uphill. They dropped us off at the north of the city and we called Marcela, a friend we met in Guatemala. She came to meet us and she thought that she'd be able to put our bikes in her car. No luck. But we plopped all our bags in her car and raced off to her place 11 km away. We even got to her place before she did, and she was driving, and we had to stop a few times to look at our map too. It was a fun and fast ride through the city without bags.
Marcela took the rest of the day off work and first took us out for lunch in the Mariscal district. I had falafel! Then we went to the historical center of town and went to a church which has a great big painting of hell (the most redeeming quality of the church), to an ethnographic museum which was really cool, then to a big gothic church which is made of rebar and poured cement and which is falling apart (we climbed the tower). That evening we all hung out at Marcela's apartment drinking beer and talking and having a great time getting to know each other.
The next day my mom and dad came. Austin and I spent the day waiting for them while playing around on the net. Then we went to the hotel to meet them. I must say I was a bit surprised to see them. They've changed a bit. Mom's got a bit more grey and dad's got a bit more gullet under the chin. But it was a lot of fun and they brought me loads of stuff from the states! Well they were tired from the flights so we made plans for the next day and we went back to the apartment.
So, our plans were to pick them up at the hotel and to show them the waterfall that we'd been to just a few days before in Peguche. We grabbed a taxi from the hotel and took a bus out to Otavalo. From there we grabbed another taxi and went back to Carmen's house so that she could meet my parents. It was a lot of fun. Then we all went to the waterfall together, just as beautiful as the first time. After all that we went back to Carmen's house for lunch before going to the artisan market in Otavalo. But really most of the time was spent getting caught up on things with them. I hadn't seen them for nearly 2 years and a lot has happened since then. My dad's got a new job (another corporation which only looks at the accounting) and my mom's been really busy translating tombstones from Hebrew to English including finding hidden messages in the stones (she's even being credited in some articles and books, cool eh?). When we got back to Quito, I left my parents at the hotel. They left in the morning to go on their tour of Ecuador
We went back to the apartment to meet up with Marcela. She came a bit later and we all went out to eat Indian food. Our plan after that was to go to Papallacta and some more hot springs but we didn't finish eating until about 10 so we just went out dancing instead. The beer was WAY overpriced but we had a lot of fun. We met some nice people and were invited to a party the following night. So, since we didn't get to go to Papallacta we just decided to go the next day, which was amazing. We had a really good time there soaking in the water, jumping into the cold pool, then back to the hot. And for a few short minutes the sky really cleared up and we were able to see the nearby volcano with it's peak covered in ice. We left in the early evening and got back to Quito on time to go to the party we were invited to the night before. It was a lot of fun and I drank a good amount of beer. Yeah!
The next day Marcela took us on another adventure in Ecuador. She took us to a really amazing place called Quilatoa. It's a volcanic crater lake which shines in dark blues to emerald greens. The ride there took quite a while but it was totally worth it. The walk down the crater wall to the lake was really quite steep but eventually it led to a great big sand slope which Austin and I jumped down in huge leaps and nice soft landings. The locals were looking at us either as if we were crazy or as if they were wondering why they'd never though about going down the by the same method. At the lake we rented a couple kayaks. Austin and Marcela took one and I took the other with a local 6 year old boy whose parents were renting out the boats. He pointed us to a bunch of cool spots on the lake and we raced back and forth having a great time. One spot on the lake there is a sulfur water spring which we parked right up against and stuck our fingers into. It was bubble and funny feeling. Then we hiked back up to the crater rim watching the same little boy running after a horse which ran away because of Austin's horrible singing. At the top we hung our watching the clouds curl over the far crater wall and drop down towards the lake. Then hunger struck and we took off. But as we were climbing up into the mountains the sun started setting turning the sky into a collection of colors. I asked Marcela to stop the car and we sat there watching the sun set for at least half an hour through all the changes of colors above countless peaks and scattered clouds of all types above and below us. It was a truly breathtaking sunset. None of us hardly spoke except to say WOAH. Eventually we stopped in Latacunga for PIZZA! Oh how good and with perfect timing was that pizza.
It was now Monday and I decided that if I was going to spend the week in Quito, I might as well do something productive. I went out and found a Spanish school and went for 4 hours/day to fix my mistakes and to learn some new grammar rules. It was really worth it. Aside from that, I didn't really do all that much. But there was a really important world wide date coming up and quickly. At 7:44am Eastern Standard Time on March 20th the earth was at it's Equinox. Well, since Quito is really really close to the equator, and since it has been a dream of mine for a really long time, we went to the equator to stand on the equator at the exact time of the equinox. So on the 19th we got a lift from Marcela out to the area and we camped the night within a few meters of the equator then in the morning went to go stand on the line at that time. OK, I'm a geek. But it really was quite a cool geeky thing to me. After that we went to the Inti Ñan museum which is located on the Equator and we did all sorts of experiments on the equator such as balancing an egg on the top of a nail and stuff. The scientific equinox was on the 20th, but we found out that the real party would be the next day where the natives celebrate the change in the year. After we left the Inti Ñan museum we headed up to crater del Pululahua which I was told is one of two inhabited volcanic craters in the world (the other is Kilamajaro). We hung out around the crater ridge for a while talking with an old man who hangs out there showing pictures to tourists. It was cool but we didn't was the pay the $3 for the privilege to walk down there and look at the farmland from below.
That evening we went to a bar to drink something called Canelata (a warm spicy liquor drink) then when to a club to dance. But they quickly ran out of beer (crazy eh) and the party quickly died. Also the DJ sucked. He didn't know how to match up beats between songs or even out to use an EQ. We won't go back.
But the next day my parents were back from their trip. We picked them up and took them to Midtad Del Mundo, where Austin and I were the day before. Unfortunately we got there a bit too late for their equinox festivities but we joined them on their tour through the museum anyhow. They really liked it, but unfortunately it was raining quite a lot, especially for a place which hardly get any rain. After that we went up to the crater again but this time we went to a restaurant and eventually the clouds cleared up and they could see the crater floor below.
But the next day was a real adventure. Marcela took us all to Mindo. First we went to a hummingbird sanctuary and had a great time checking out the little birds. Austin and I were upset that we forgot to bring a tennis racket. Now that would have been funny. Then we went to a butterfly garden and I had fun watching my mom chasing after butterflies like all the little children which came through later. After all that we went to eat then Marcela dropped off my parents at an Orchard garden while the three of us went on a canopy tour. It was FUCKING AMAZING zipping across the valley and back, even upside down once. We had a great time, all of us. It was also a great way to spend my birthday.
The next day I spend walking around the old city center with my parents. We went to a museum and talked a lot trying to stay out of the rain. Then we went for a really nice early dinner before going with them back to the Hotel to say goodbye. They left early in the morning to go back to the grindstone. It was really cool to see them, get the latest gossip on the extended family from my mom and to talk about geeky stuff with my dad. Yeah, they are getting older and can't run around with me everywhere anymore, but at the same time we had a really good time. Of course my mom asked me when I'm going to stop traveling and settle down and stuff like that, but she knew ahead of time what the answer would be. And I really think she's happy to see me doing what I'm doing.
That evening Marcela, Austin and I went to Mariscal to drink some beer with the tour guide we had at the Inti Ñan museum when we went with my parents. Juan David is a really cool guy and luckily Austin met him randomly during the day while doing some errands. So we met up and went out for lots of beer by the pitcher. Then when the bar finally closed we went home and went to sleep.
So far our time in Quito has been totally amazing. Marcela's extremely proud of her country and loves going out into the nature. And we've been really lucky because she really knows really great places that we wouldn't have been able to get to by bike. I don't know if there's any way I can ever repay her for her help. She's shown us things I know we'll remember for the rest of our lives, and there's more to come. We haven't left Quito yet and we've been on more adventures, but I'll write about all that later. But there is one major disapointment in Ecuador... It's hard to find real coffee.
Happy Equinox!
Peace,
Perry
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