Notes From The Trip

These are the notes I took for blog posts that will never be made. Some of the points are covered in previous posts.

Day 1
- Saw a guy at the airport with an issue of "Life Extension" magazine. Would never have guessed there to be a subscription audience for such a topic.


- The cathedrals here, and religious discipline, are taken very seriously but to a strange extreme. Along the sides of the cathedral are altars for saints where people drop donations, make the sign of the cross, and pray. I assume each saint serves its own purpose. The iconography of the cathedrals is often dark and graphic, with images of the terrible things that happen to martyrs and cross-bearers but the inscriptions for these images are often compassionate or inspiring. The inside of the cathedral is garrish, with decorations in gold and, sometimes, neon lights highlighting dolls of the saints.

- Took a guided tour of the Museum of San Francisco. Was the only person in the whole museum. The musuem highlights the works of the Quiteño school of (I think) the 15th and 16th centuries. Looked a lot like Spanish works from the same time period, except for the eyes. Also on display were the very very old floats (?) used in La Semana Santa.

- Knowing to NEVER take the map out in public, I took the map out to see where I was and was immediately surrounded by 5 or 6 shoe-shiner kids. The first to appear wanted to shine my sneakers. That being impossible, he next offered for me to take his picture (not for free of course). I thought that reasonable but by the time the camera came out all 5 of his buddies were in the frame (which would cost me 5x as much) so I told him I wasn't interested. They followed me for a while until finally giving up.

Day 2
- Took the bus to Otavalo. (recounted in previous post)

- Kid fell asleep on me despite the bus flying through the mountains at breakneck speed.

- We stopped for 10 seconds and a woman in the back immediately started yelling "¡Vamos!".

- Saw some more neon saints.


- Haggled with vendors in the market but think they probably came out ahead most of the time. Probably should have gone 50% instead of 75.

- People-watched the plaza for awhile.

- Easy-listening Top 40 songs (think Celine Dion) converted to panpipe instrumental.

- If you're wondering where all the Sacajawea dollars went, they're here in Ecuador.

Day 3

- Walked from Otavalo to Peguche, then onwards to Cotacachi along the Panamericana. (About 5 miles straight-line distance according to Google Earth). Had a cafe con leche along the way. Played soccer with a little kid who tried to destroy the cafe.

- Mountain/valley road to Cotacachi was lined with flowers, cows, pigs, and roosters.


- Took a taxi from Cotacachi to Laguna Cuichoca. Managed to find my way back despite the cautions of the guidebook.

- Ate dinner at Mi Otavalito where the senoritas in traditional indian dress would dance to the hip-hop videos on tv. They were of very good humor. Very good restuarant.

Day 4
- Slept late.

- Took the bus from Otavalo back to Quito.

- At the station in Quito, spontaneously decided to go straight to Papallacta or Baños. One of the drivers directed me to a bus and said it would go past Papallacta. I thought the bus would to Papallacta, then on to Baños so no harm in taking it. (Stops are unannounced so I wasn't sure where or when I would get off, so if the bus ended up in Baños, that was fine).

Later the ticket boy came around to check tickets, which I didn't have. He asked where I was going and I said Baños. "No vamos a Baños" he said. "Oh, then Papallacta." He allowed me to pay without a ticket (as all the people who board at stops beyond Terminal Terrestre do). $2.

- Started to rain on the way, the roads became muddy.

- An old lady and her son made sure I got off at the right stop, which was directly adjacent to the Don Wilson. $12/night. Beautiful area between the mountains and the jungle.

- Watched the first 10 minutes of the Gary Busey hit "Eye of the Tiger" three times before the video was fixed.


- The coffee at Don Wilson's tastes like river water mixed with powdered milk. It even has a disgusting film on top. But the coffee is like this at many places in Ecuador. It is enough to break a habit. Almost.

- The hostal is the best of the trip. A large family was celebrating a birthday party in the adjoining restaurant. Apparently Papallacta is a getaway for Ecuadorians as well as foreign travellers.

- Spent the rainy evening drying clothes in front of the portable heater, listening to the ipod, and watching TNT movies dubbed in Spanish.

- Tonight played table tennis for a few hours with Andres (Colombian) and Sylvia (Ecuadorian?). Both want to live/visit the United States. Both are in their mid-20s. Andres was in the Colombian army. The army in Colombia is optional (not required as in Israel). He joined because it gave him access to travel. He was shot 3 or 4 times by FARC rebels in a gunfight. Showed the scars on his ribs to prove this. He claims many of the rebels involved in drug trafficking in Colombia are North Americans. He believes the theological teachings of some guy with an Indian name, a long beard, and hair down to his knees. This man claims that all religions are one, that one god exists with a million different names (he had an exact number above a million but I didn't catch it), and that when Jesus returns, he will come to Macchu Picchu, the gateway to heaven. (This had something to do with the form of the mountains or ruins being in the shape of a face, no idea). None of this information was requested. I asked Sylvia what she thought of it. She agreed. Weird. She wants to visit New York and likes learning new English expressions like "See you next time" and "Give me a second" and to ask about English equivalents to Spanish expressions. She obviously likes Americans. Andres told me about all the movie stars and bands he likes. These include Alicia Silverstone (from the Aerosmith videos of yesteryear), Cameron Diaz, Arnold, The Cure, Cinderella, Aerosmith, and Nirvana. It was a music and movie time warp. Not to mention he listens to CDs! So 90's! (Later Sylvia showed me one of the CDs with a mix of American songs on it, some of the names misspelled. It was, like almost all the DVDs and CDs I saw in the markets, a pirated CDR. Video games too often came in "original boxes" with covers printed on a personal printer.)

Day 5
- Sylvia gave me information to contact Andres who left earlier in the day for Quito. (Never contacted him).


- Spent the morning and early afternoon hiking in the mountains and valley of Papallacta. Talked to a nice guide at the thermal pools before heading out. He said Papallacta had entered an "epoch of rain". Direct translation but sounds funny to me. Offered to guide me but I wanted to go alone. Ended up at Laguna Parcacocha, a mysterious lagoon high in the mountains (5.67 miles straight-line distance in Google Earth). Climbed a steep ridge and discovered a dismembered horse, cow skull, bones, and remains of a campfire. Disgusting. Came back and had the "combo" at the restuarant, trout with rice and chicken soup. Piña juice to drink.

- Talked to Sylvia some more tonight about the weather and animals, etc around Papallacta. She told me the names of all the butterflies and birds I attempted to describe (somewhat miserably). Of course I don't remember any of them now. Saw 3 rabbits, a bunch of black birds with bright orange around the eye and beak and a deep red underwing, black butterflies, tons of strange plants.

Day 6

- Didn't take any notes this day. Explored Quito's new city, checking out bookstores, buying things, and eating. Threw caution to the wind and ate at an italian restaurant. Large pizza for $4 but not very good. Took first warm shower in some days.

Day 7
- Didn't take any notes this day. Got up at 4am for a 7am flight, under the advice of the reception staff at Hotel Eugenia. No problems getting through security. Landed in Panama City, Panama. As soon as I stepped off the plain, I was hit with a humid heat. AC in the terminal was non-existent.

- Long lines for flights bound to US as every bag was searched at the gate.

- Sat next to a high school councelor and oil refinery worker on the way from Houston to Atlanta. They talked about the Jon Benet story alot (why do people care about this?).

- Chris kindly picked me up at the airport to go back to his house for my car. Spirited ride home from Atlanta to Augusta.

A Few Pics From Ecuador

Here are a few of the pics. Others forthcoming...

I believe this is Volcán Cubilche (3802m) as seen on the way north to Cotacachi.


Morning in Papallacta


Mercado de Mayo in Otavalo.


Laguna Cuicocha (3064m).


Interesting plant along one of the trails.

Papallacta to Quito

I´ve been out in the country hiking in the mountains the last two days. Stayed at a place with no heat or hot water, so obviously no internet access. I have notes I´ll have to post later about some of things that happened there. This morning I returned to Quito, this time to the new part of the city, which is more touristy. I like it better than the old part of town because its not so hectic and you can actually fit in some of the buildings. But in all, Quito itself cannot compete with any of the towns I´ve visited in Spain, which it emulates in many ways. However, the surrounding areas more than make up for it. It would be a great place to return to for a more serious hiking and camping excursion. The people are perhaps the most friendly and helpful of all the places I´ve been. It is strange that such a seemingly friendly place has such a high level of security, at least in Quito. Many of the businesses have private security forces out front, all with either a machine gun, a pistol, a shotgun, or some combination of the latter. The plazas have a dozen or more soldiers standing around in full riot gear, shields and all. Even the Burger King has an armed guard. The Baskin Robbins next door affords 2 armed guards for just 31 flavors. But apart from this, you´d think nothing bad ever happened here, particularly in the country where you don´t see such things. Yesterday, a young man was shot in Guayaquil, it was on the national news. In the States you´d never hear about that beyond your evening local news. Then again, this country is small enough that just about everything is local. Anyway, enough observation. All set to come home tomorrow.

Otavalo Again

I decided to stay in Otavalo another night. I like it better than Quito because its smaller and more relaxed, easier to figure out. Today was a good day. I spent some time in the plaza this morning. Then went to the markets. They're more active on Saturday but there was plenty to buy today too so I picked up a few items. My pack is now completely full. I may have to dump the t-shirts and socks before I come back. This is mainly because the items I bought are cloth and some of them quite large and expensive (Joe Spencer!).

Then I decided to walk out the Pan-American highway... and walk and walk. I stopped and had a weak cafe con leche, played some soccer with a little kid until he started destroying the restaurant and his sister made him go outside. I also stopped in some of the "villages" along the way. I wasn´t very impressed with these as they are basically just neighborhoods and everything was closed (I guess because its Sunday.) It is Sunday right? Anyway, I kept thinking I´d walk to see what was over the next hill, then the next, then the next. Eventually I saw a sign for Cotacachi (sp), 3.5 miles it said. I figured that was shorter than walking all the way back so took the side road. It wound down into a very nice valley and then, to spite me, rose again to a fair height. There must have been a "Welcome to..." sign every 500ft but it seemed I´d never get to the city. However, there were some great views of the volcano and the surrounding area. During the morning the volcano is always crowned with clouds but sometimes later in the day it clears up. By this afternoon it was completely clear. It looks like a fun volcano to climb, but that would be a trip unto itself. Anyone? Anyway, the city of Cotacachi (such a hard time remembering this name) is a city of leather. It´s plaza area is almost as nice as Otavalo´s and the people are at least as friendly. While walking around I noticed a sign that said "6k to Laguna". In the book it said you needed to hire a ride and have it wait for you at the crater or risk being left there with a 3 hour walk back. 6k is NOT 3 hours! So I decided to risk it, I took a taxi out to the crater which is filled by a very beautiful blue lake and two large islands in the middle. There are boat tours that go out near the islands for $1.80, but the line was very long. I walked some trails nearby and took some photos then started asking taxis for a ride back but all of them had been hired to stay. Eventually a taxi driver pulled up delivering styrofoam cups and agreed to take me back. He dropped me off in Cotacachi, where I hoped the bus back to Otavalo, for 25 cent. And so here I am.

I just took a brisk shower before dinner and am about to go over to a place I think is called Mi Otavalino. I happened on it this morning but they didn´t have any food then. Tomorrow morning I go back to Quito and maybe on to some hot springs south of town, just depends on the timing. If not that then I´ll be in Quito covering the items I didn´t get to yet, like El Mitad Del Mundo, the Panecillo, and the ride up to the top of one of the peaks.