Quito and Cotopaxi (photos)

March 24, 2012.  Quito.

This is it, the final countdown.  Our plan had been to travel around and then stay in Quito for the last few days to shop and relax.  Well, we shopped but we didn’t relax, at least not today. 

We started our day at 8am (well, that’s when we got out of bed).  We had to get to the travel agency to get our stuff.  It was a bit urgent because my camera memory card is full.  It topped out at the River camp.  I had to use Val’s camera to delete some pictures (remember my camera’s LCD screen is smashed) so that I wouldn’t miss the chance for photos on our community visit.  I have a second card in my underwater camera but that was in my bag with Sonia.  So we stopped there, back to the hotel.  Dropped off laundry, had a Coffee Tree breakfast and then back to the hostel to mentally prepare ourselves for the Saturday Market. 

I am almost out of money so we stopped by the bank machine.  I took out $300 thinking that would last until we leave.  Ha.  It’s all gone.  Same for Val.  The market was great.  I knew some things that I wanted.  Mostly a sweater or two (plus one for Tanya, my only friend with the wherewithal to ask me to pick one up for her) and some alpaca blankets.  But it was a bloodbath (if money were blood).  Those tiny Ecuadorian women can sell anything, at least to me.  I was weak.  I was tired.  I bought and bought.  Jewellery, blankets, coffee, socks, sweaters, purses, gifts, I don’t even know what all. 

We ate some weird street food instead of break for lunch.  It was a bowl of popcorn, tomatoes, dried bananas, onions, dried corn kernels and sauce.  It sounds bizarre, it was bizarre but it was quite tasty.  I didn’t take any pictures at the market but I’m sure there will be some pictures posted of my awesome new stuff. 

When we went back to the laundry to pick up our clothes, there was another, small, actual artisan market there too.  I bought some onion marmalade.  It is delish, we had a lot of samples.  Then morning purchases dropped, laundry dropped, we went to the regular (open all days) market.  Val found some sweaters there.  Now with the many blankets and sweaters, Val is going to have to find a new bag for our flight home.  I didn’t buy as much (but I bought way more in the morning).  A couple of ceramic birds.  More coffee, chocolate.  A baby llama for Chris.

We had a menu del dia (I don’t even know what it was, meat stew of some sort) for $2.  I seriously don’t know how a small family restaurant can serve soup, a dinner, real juice and a dessert for $2.  We tip 50%.  We got back to the hostel at about 6:30, exhausted.  Val has been watching American Idol while I uploaded the last post and wrote this one.  It is not even 9 pm and I am going to crash.  I only got about 5 hours sleep last night.  Plus, we are on the third floor and I must have gone up and down those stairs 15 or more times today. 

Tomorrow, we are going on a day trip to Cotopaxi.  Pick up at 6:50 am.  So off to bed for me.  After Idol ends. 

March 25.  8:29 pm. Cotopaxi (back in Quito).

If there is a hell, my personal one is going to involve mountains with unstable soil. 

We got picked up late because the bus had a flat on the way to pick us up.  It was a long drive to the mountain, made even longer because we had to stop and get the tire repaired.  So, the plan was to go to Cotopaxi National park to the parking lot and hike up the Refugio (Refuge, basically base camp) then return to the bus and mountain bike down to a lagoon for pick up and home.  Who have I become that I even agreed to such a plan.

Our group was an interesting mix.  A Canadian girl, Diane, a Dutch girl, Rose, a couple of guys from Venezuela and some sundry others. We finally made it to the parking lot, after traveling 16 km from the highway over logging roads.  We started up and I was immediately out of breath.  We were at 4500 meters.  But I was convinced by Val and the guide that I could do it, despite my better judgement.  It didn’t look too far but it was steep.  Our guide, Juan Carlos, said it is only 300 meters.  What I didn’t figure out until the end of the day was that he wasn’t talking distance, he was using altitude.  So, it wasn’t 300 meters away, it was 300 meters higher than where we were starting. 

The way up was a straight shot up a dirt road.  How hard could that be?  Well, let me tell you:  it was brutal.  I think today was the same amount of energy expended as the Andean hike, just compressed into half the time.  The air was so thin.  The dirt on the road turned out to be loose sand and gravel.  It was so hard to walk on.  Imagine super soft beach sand, add rocks and make it a 40% grade.  Rose, the Venezuelans, and Val and I tailed the others.  Poor Rose, she was having a very hard time.  We kept thinking she was going to pass out and keel over.  She was weaving and staggering.   It took over an hour to get to the base camp.  The view was beautiful, but really it didn’t change much from the parking lot so the payoff wasn’t great.  This was another example of a day less about enjoying ourselves than about challenging ourselves. I just kept my eye on the goal, the Refugio.  It seemed so close but took so long to reach.

When we finally made it to the hut (actually a rather large building with a huge yellow roof), we went to the bathroom and listened to other hikers puke.  At least we didn’t throw up.  We were at over 4800 meters.  I was developing a nice deep hack, which I later learned is so common it has a name, the Cotopaxi Cough.   I couldn’t even chuckle without coughing up a lung.   And it was cold, 4 degrees.  I got to wear my new alpaca sweater (featured greatly in photos).   The fog kept rolling in and out, exposing the summit of the volcano, lovely glowing white. 

Cotapaxi: 

On the way up

The landscape on the way there



Our first view of the mountain



Our Van, with bikes on top



the parking lot for our ascent to the Refugio



Here we go, that's the trail in the background



The bottom, it doesn't look so bad here.  But doesn't it look cold?  That's because it was. 



So far so good.  That's Rose beside me.



The Argentinians on the right, our guide on the left.  Our usual view, looking up our group.



The view looking back.



Hard to see, but this is our first view of the Refugio. 



She looks like she is happily posing, but this was really an excuse to rest. 



Finally the clouds parted and we could see the summit.  Beautiful



 The Refugio

It looks so close but it was still 30 minutes (or more) away at this point.  Really! 



I made it!!

Proof



Val and Rose coming up behind.  Val stayed with Rose to make sure she didn't die. 



Inside.  Warm.  Sitting on real benches. 

We had a nice rest in the hut and then Juan Carlos suggested we should continue on for another 100 meters to the glacier. Still not getting the code of altitude vs distance, 100 meters seemed ok. And Juan Carlos said it was easier than the first part. Well, of course, by now you know what easy means here. It means: not easy. Granted, it wasn’t as steep but the path was covered in snow. Again, brutal. The same five straggled behind. We were pretty close but we came upon a bunch of rocks and Rose looked like she was going to die, so Val, I and Rose sat out the last 20 meters. I watched the others up above. While the rest of the group was above us, it was foggy, no view. Then they started to come back and they were all sliding down an icy rock. I was so glad to be on my rock seat. As it turned out, they didn’t make it to the glacier either.

 The next leg:  onward to the glacier.

It looks desolate, but it was very beautiful



I can't believe how much I am smiling, I could barely breath.  Maybe I was just happy to stop for a minute



The path.  Do you see a path?  I couldn't see a path.



Just follow the other hikers, that's the path.



I'm done.  I will wait on this rock until it is time to turn around or until I freeze on the spot.



Val too.

When they reached us again, we started back down.And the sun came out.Which made the snow very slippery.I fell down a couple of times. Plus, I was so tired, my legs were getting wobbly.We all had bought chocolate bars on the way up.I kept trying to remember to eat a bit of mine.It was hard to eat and really hard to drink water.One cool thing though.We saw a fox.He crossed our path a couple of times.Juan Carlos told us there was a family of three on the mountain.That was a nice bonus. Oh, another place with Condors that I didn’t see.We made it back to the Refugio and then headed down to the bus.It wasn’t as bad as up, but it was still super hard going down.My shoes were full of sand and rocks. I managed to stay upright though for the rest of the time on that horrible, crumbly, loose dirt road.

 The Fox

I finally made it back to the bus, where everyone was putting on their bike helmets.  The bike ride was supposed to be 12 kms, 9 or so downhill, the rest on level ground to the lagoon.  But, just as I was reaching the bus, a huge black cloud rolled in and massive booms of thunder started.  As the guide and the driver were taking down the bikes from the roof of the bus, it started to hail.  Big pelting hail.  Just standing there, it was biting against my face.  I looked down the hill and could see that it was raining at lower levels.  Nope, I was out.  Val folded when I did. 

To bike or not to bike

That's hail swirling around



Nope, not gonna happen



The rescue.  It was raining so hard, they all tried to huddle under that tiny roof.

More Cotapaxi pictures (as we drove away).

Wild horses live in the plains below the mountain



Notice the condor.  hmmph

But the rest of the group went forth.  Juan Carlos didn’t go.  Val asked him why not.  He said, of course not, it is raining.  We felt a bit wimpy.  But it was horrible out.  We stayed in the van to follow the bicyclists.  Then we had to pick up Rose on the way.  Then one of the Venezuelans.  As we were driving, the hail turned to rain and started to come down even harder.  The dips in the road were filling with water.  They were beyond puddles, I would call them ponds.  At about the half-way point, we came upon the rest of the group, huddled under a sign with a tiny roof.  They were drenched.  And miserable.  As soon as we opened the bus door, they all piled in and said we had made the right decision.  They were soaked through and freezing.  Val and I already were happy with not going, but now we were even happier not to be in their shoes.   One last girl, Laura, an Australian, had carried on alone to the lagoon but had to be rescued by strangers who drove her back to the bus.  We had to go and pick up her bike.  We found the bike being ridden by some Ecuadorian visitors to the lagoon.  Also, there was a new bird there, an Andean Gull. 

We were running very late.  We were supposed to go for lunch after the bike ride, around 3pm.  We finally arrived at the restaurant at 5:15. We were all ravenous.  All we had to eat all day was my chocolate bar and some sugar covered peanuts that Val had bought.  Chicken in BBQ sauce.  It was delicious.  Or not, we were so happy to have food, it wouldn’t have mattered. 

We reached our hostel around 7:30 and we watched the results show from last night’s American Idol.  That show is very addictive.  Now Val is watching a dance show.  And I am going to read a bit and hopefully finish my book.  I don’t want to bring The Onion Field home, it just isn’t that good. 

 March 26.  8:25 pm.  Quito.

It is our last full day today.  We needed to find Val a new bag because she had bought way too much to try to fit into her backpack.  We decided to start our day with a Coffee Tree coffee and continental breakfast.  But the coffee machine was broken.  We were so disappointed, we wandered around for about 15 minutes trying to figure out what to do.  It was kind of sad.  Eventually, we just went back and had tea with our breakfast.  TEA!!!   But we came up with a plan B.  Return to the Basilica coffee shop that we had visited on our first day in Quito (so long ago) and have another delicious mocha.  Plus, bonus, it is also a gift shop.  A few more things bought.  Oh, did I mention the stop at a bank machine to replenish the coffers. 

Then we slowly made our way toward Old town.  We just turned every time we saw a church spire, keeping our eye out for a place that might sell a huge suitcase.  We happened upon a market for locals, lots of plastics and kitchen gadgets.  But this market was particularly cool.  There was lots of metal work going on.  Men welding stuff.  And stalls with used clothes and shoes.  There were a few used bags but none were quite right.  But then we found it.  A giant duffle bag.  Pink and green stripes with only a couple of holes and a musty smell.  For cheap.  Perfect. 

A bit more shopping. I found a beautiful ceramic hummingbird that I loved so I bought it.  We ended our morning shop at a supermarket where we bought weird stuff because we are insane and have no concept of weight or space needed in luggage.  Then another visit to the tourist market in the afternoon where I bought a nice little gift for Kirsten and Tommy to try to thank them again for contributing to this computer.  I love having my little notebook, it makes the blog so much easier.  I can`t imagine traveling without it on future trips.

Anyway.  We had dinner at our Mexican restaurant again, fajitas with extra guacamole again.  It is like a revisit of our first day here.   Back in our room, we just tried a pre-pack.  My extra bag ripped open at the top.  There will be some duct tape involved in my luggage.  I have three bags.  One checked, one carry-on and one ridiculously huge ‘personal bag’ full of alpaca blankets. That counts as a purse, right? 

Our last day in Quito (my last four photos)

We went on Air Canada’s website this morning to see what our baggage allowance is.  As usual the info is clear as mud.  AC allows one checked bag up to 50lbs, plus the carry-on and personal bag.  An extra bag is $70.  But, if we start our trip with another carrier (we are, Avianca) they will determine our baggage allowance for the trip.  So we checked Avianca.  They allow TWO checked bags of up to 70lbs EACH!!  But, back at the AC website, they mention that if we have to recheck our bags, we might have to follow AC rules.  We do have to recheck our bags because we have to go through customs in Toronto.  But, for some reason, a second bag for domestic flights is only $20.  But will we be domestic or international at that point.  Ack. Air Canada (shake fist in air)!  It is just too confusing so we are just going with one checked bag each, although Val’s is gi-normous.  And I am saddled with two bulky carry-ons, neither of which has a functioning zipper (one is a grocery bag).   Those of you who get an alpaca blanket for Christmas better love it.

Medical updates:  Val's feet and legs are recovering nicely and peeling up disgustingly.  Tummy trouble overcome.  And her cough from the beginning of our visit is long gone.  My cough has diminished greatly since I descended from 5000m.  and finally, the radiant cat is alive and well back home.

I am going to post this now and then go to bed.  Next time you hear from me, I will be back in Victoria, enjoying sleeping in my own bed, with clean pajamas on, and two angry cats ignoring me to teach me a lesson about leaving them with Chris who ‘tortures’ them with attention and wet food (or so they will claim).

Thanks for reading this beast.  Pictures next week hopefully.

Riobamba (now with photos)

March 2, 5:30 Riobamba

Our plan last night was to go to Ambato today but then we reread the Lonely Planet and discovered there wasn't too much going on in Ambato. It is a launching pad for Cotapaxi (a volcano) but it wasn't going to work out timewise because, according to LP, the train from Riobambo to Alausi (then down to Naris del Diablo - (Devil's Nose - sounds safe?) - then back to Alausi) leaves Riobambo on Sunday morning. AND there is a Saturday Market. So we came straight here.

By the way, we were not killed in our scary hostel and it was quiet but sewer smell was wafting up from the shower drain in the morning. And the shower was freezing. We had anticipated something bad so we had already scouted out the neighbourhood and booked a different hostel for our last weekend in Quito - Queen's Hostel on Calle de Riena Victoria. a little more expensive but it is much nicer.

After our walk-about/research into various hostels, we decided on Mexican for dinner. We shared a chicken fajita that rivaled anything served in Victoria (but not Mexico). It was huge and we ate so much guacamole it was embarrassing. Val finished the second serving of the quac with a spoon, it was so good. 

In the morning, ANOTHER bus station in Quito, Quitumbe, which serves South. It was an hour drive from Mariscal. The bus ride was far more entertaining than our previous rides. We took the 'express' so we didn't stop in at any stations en route, however, we did stop at every street corner to pick up random passengers. But the best part was the vendors. They would line up to get onto the bus. Val bought a cook book and a naturopath thing - 'eat cauliflower to keep health'. We also bought cookies to save a boy with our love (and 50 cents) and some pan de banana that was still piping hot. We have decided that people in Canada should sell stuff on city buses. More people might take them.

After 4 hours, we reached Riobamba. We are staying in the Hostel Oasis. It is very nice. There are caged birds, two dogs (a French bulldog and some sort of terrier), a cat and two chickens. Our room (with en suite) is off of a lovely little covered court yard with a fireplace. We are sitting out there right now. We just met our neighbour in room 7, Ron. Ron is an American expat. He just spent 20 minutes explaining the truth behind a number of conspiracy theories, 911, bin Laden, Vietnam, any number of dead dictators, cancer cures, CIA, etc. We agreed with everything of course. Disagreement is no fun when talking to the slightly off of the world.

Hostel Oasis:

 



The outside is kind of scary but wait...



You enter into this lovely outer courtyard with chickens and cats and dogs

This is the covered inner courtyard with padded seats and pillow and a fireplace

And our room.

We discovered upon arrival that the train from Riobamba is out of service. We will have to take the bus to Alausi and then do the Devil's Nose portion of the train ride. It is only a couple of hours but we have been looking forward to it so we have adjusted our plans. Now, we will spend two nights here, bus it on Sunday morning to Alausi, get a room, take the train and then leave for Cuenca from Alausi on Monday morning. Cuenca is supposed to be amazing, a world heritage site.



The defunct train station

Back to now. Once we had our room, we wandered into town. Saw the closed train station. They are doing a lot of road work here. Nothing too interesting though. We had spaghetti carbonara for dinner with mango juice. Not too traditional but it was surprisingly good.

Now we are hunkered down until morning when we will find the market. While we were in Quito, we stopped by the daily market to see what is available there. That way, if it is available in Quito, I will be less likely to buy stuff as we travel because I will know I can get it on our last weekend. But, alternately, if I see something that is unique to a region, I may have to just buy it and carry it.

March 3. 3:42 pm. Riobamba.

We love our room and plan to live here forever. Well, maybe not forever. The morning sounds here were geese through one wall and a tea kettle though the other. We slept in until 8. Once we got ourselves going, we found a restaurant for breakfast. We had already sat down by the time we realized we were in a Medieval themed karaoke bar!! So we ate breakfast surrounded by spiked weapons, yokes, spears and shields attached to black walls. Thankfully, no one took advantage of the karaoke machine.

Then we found the market. Again, it was amazing. Not only do I love to stuff for sale but the ambiance is incredible. So many indigenous folks, wearing their local clothes. I love it. Val bought a wooden molcajete (mortar and pestle). I got sucked in by two tiny, tiny old ladies who barely spoke Spanish and definitely no English. They were selling hand woven, hand dyed, rough wool scarf/blanket. It is so awesome but I have no idea what I will use it for. I just loved the ladies so much I wanted to give them all of my money. My haggling consisted of me counter offering with the same amount they asked for plus a photo. I towered over these ladies, they were so tiny. Then I bought a brass ring (that looks enough like gold to probably get me killed) and a change purse because my current wallet can't handle all of the dollar coins - (I left my new wallet in Quito).

Riobamba and some of the people who live there:

The woven products here are much rougher than in Quito. More sheep wool, less alpaca. And you can just tell the dyes are from naturally, locally harvested plants. But we refrained from buying more. Once we had pawed everything and gawked at everyone, we left the market. We came back to our room to decide what next.

The market:

This is the woman who sold me (and I assume) wove my beautiful red blanket/shawl

Beyond the market and the now defunct train station, Riobamba doesn't have a lot to offer. But I noticed a park (Parque Guayaquil) at the edge of town on the map with a lake so we decided to go there. Plus, it showed that there was a 'cow monument'. How could we miss that? I packed my bird book and binoculars and off we went. When we arrived, we found a city park with a tiny cement 'lake' with paddle boats. Not exactly a bird sanctuary. So, no new birds. But there was a cool play area for kids with tiled animal statues to play on, so we played on them. Unfortunately, the cow monument was nowhere to be found.

Parque Guayaquil:



This is the 'lake'

Then we made our way back through town. We saw a vendor selling mango. We ordered two. The man prepared two cups with shredded mango and then he proceeded to squirt berry syrup, chocolate, (at this point it was too late to stop him so we just went with it), honey, caramel & sweeten condensed milk. It was sweet (no kidding) but the tart green mango countered it and it was delicious. 

Our mango snack:

Then we went for lunch. Val accidentally ordered the menu of the day by asking for the menu. Food just started arriving. Potato lentil pasta soup, beef with rice and a fried egg, and the obligatory juice (unknown fruit but tasted like orange/pineapple) and half a banana. $2.

We took another cruise through the market. No purchases this time but I managed to sneak a few more pictures. I miss India where the people lined up to have their photo taken. Here, they don't seem to like it. Fair enough. But bad anthropologist that I am, I am going with 'what they don't know, won't hurt them'. Let's hope I am not stealing their souls.

More market photos:



The hat section.  Everyone wears hats here.



Even Val, although barely willingly

This ends today's recounting of 'what Joanne & Valerie ate and bought on this day.'

PS.  We had Wi-Fi at our hostel and a free evening so I uploaded some pictures to the 'We're here' and 'Mindo' posts.  It was this or watch Pretty Woman.