We started taking our anti-malarial pills before we got to Puyo, as it was below the "safe" elevation of ~1500 m and we were planning on going into the jungle. The locals said there isn't any malaria around Puyo, but the CDC sure thinks there is and we didn't feel like messing with it. By the morning of our second day in the jungle, we were feeling pretty awful. It didn't get much better when we got back to Puyo, or when we stopped in Riobamba the next day. After consulting our paperwork and the list of "side effects", we've decided that it is in fact the Malarone that is making us horribly, horribly ill. Aaron's got most of the list: cough, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, diarrhea. Our entire experience in Riobamba was our hotel room, which unfortunately was the China of Ecuador: dirty, dirty, and sans toilet seat.
We've moved on to Cuenca, after taking some Immodium to survive the 5-hour bus ride from Riobamba. The Malarone is making Aaron so miserable we've decided to entirely skip the coast of Ecuador as it would necessitate us to take the pills for just that much longer. Our Cuenca hotel is very nice and that's good as we're basically stuck inside it until our course is through. We did get bit by 2 (Aaron) and 1 (Hilary) mosquitoes, so again we don't really want to mess with the whole malaria thing. But damn, the decision is a close one.
We'll visit the coast when we get south of Lima: out of the tropics and out of malaria territory.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
In the Jungle
The locals call it "la selva". We got a hotel in Puyo, which sits at 950 m and right at the edge of the jungle proper. We didn't feel like spending $2k on a trip deep into the jungle (plane trip, long canoe ride, lodge in the middle of nowhere) so we asked at the desk for a recommendation on local operators. We got Pascual, a member of a local tribe and the operator of Bugyu Tours. (Bugyu is the name for the pink river dolphin in Kitchwa.) He spoke some English, and we hammered out a plan for a two-day trip to the jungle to visit a local community and do some forest things.
We left the next day with Roberto, our indigenous guide, and took a taxi an hour down the river. We stopped at a local fish hatchery/pond to check out the giant fish they have in the rivers: Paiche. They're some kind of lung fish, as they periodically came up for air. While we were there we got a net full of tilapia for lunch. The next stop was a waterfall a few km into the jungle. We stopped often to check out the plants, bugs, and birds. At the waterfall we changed into swim suits and got into the cold water; it's apparently traditional to go swimming in these falls.
We walked back toward the village, which happened to be on an island. It had rained all night and the river was high; the banks were 10 ft wider than normal in places and the water was at least a foot above its normal spot. With more than a little difficulty, a dugout canoe was poled upriver and then across to pick us up. It was not the most calming ride.
We had very yummy fish for lunch, but then didn't have a lot to do. The river was too high to accommodate our scheduled slate of activities. Ah well. We hung out a bit, kicked a ball around with the kids, shot a wooden parrot with a blowgun, etc. A little later in the afternoon, we did go for a walk up the river. Eventually we arrived at a boat: we were going whitewater canoeing. Yikes! It was quite the adventure, and we only ran aground twice. The boat managed to not tip over though Hilary got quite wet from the waves crashing over the sides.
It was crazy to see how differently the family lived (compared to us). While our guide used his cell phone to contact people from the middle of nowhere jungle-land, they had no running water, no electricity, and the kids generally watched over themselves while playing in the dirt yard all day (seriously... 3-year olds walking around playing with machetes, stripping off to jump in the fast-moving creek/river on the other side of the island, and generally self-policing). It was truly a world apart in many ways.
That night there was some traditional dancing. We wrote down some helpful English phrases (the family spoke only Spanish and Kitchwa). We went to bed inside our mosquito net; the bed was rather hard as it was basically a wooden platform covered with a thin 20-year old mat. Didn't sleep a whole lot, especially since Hilary is afraid of all the bumps in the night. The jungle has lots of night noises, including the rooster who thought the sun came up at 3:30. Also the dogs tried to eat her during a midnight bathroom break. (bathroom here equals anywhere that is not your hut.) The next morning we weren't feeling all that great, and decided to skip the 3-hour hike to another waterfall and head back to Puyo.
We left the next day with Roberto, our indigenous guide, and took a taxi an hour down the river. We stopped at a local fish hatchery/pond to check out the giant fish they have in the rivers: Paiche. They're some kind of lung fish, as they periodically came up for air. While we were there we got a net full of tilapia for lunch. The next stop was a waterfall a few km into the jungle. We stopped often to check out the plants, bugs, and birds. At the waterfall we changed into swim suits and got into the cold water; it's apparently traditional to go swimming in these falls.
We walked back toward the village, which happened to be on an island. It had rained all night and the river was high; the banks were 10 ft wider than normal in places and the water was at least a foot above its normal spot. With more than a little difficulty, a dugout canoe was poled upriver and then across to pick us up. It was not the most calming ride.
We had very yummy fish for lunch, but then didn't have a lot to do. The river was too high to accommodate our scheduled slate of activities. Ah well. We hung out a bit, kicked a ball around with the kids, shot a wooden parrot with a blowgun, etc. A little later in the afternoon, we did go for a walk up the river. Eventually we arrived at a boat: we were going whitewater canoeing. Yikes! It was quite the adventure, and we only ran aground twice. The boat managed to not tip over though Hilary got quite wet from the waves crashing over the sides.
It was crazy to see how differently the family lived (compared to us). While our guide used his cell phone to contact people from the middle of nowhere jungle-land, they had no running water, no electricity, and the kids generally watched over themselves while playing in the dirt yard all day (seriously... 3-year olds walking around playing with machetes, stripping off to jump in the fast-moving creek/river on the other side of the island, and generally self-policing). It was truly a world apart in many ways.
That night there was some traditional dancing. We wrote down some helpful English phrases (the family spoke only Spanish and Kitchwa). We went to bed inside our mosquito net; the bed was rather hard as it was basically a wooden platform covered with a thin 20-year old mat. Didn't sleep a whole lot, especially since Hilary is afraid of all the bumps in the night. The jungle has lots of night noises, including the rooster who thought the sun came up at 3:30. Also the dogs tried to eat her during a midnight bathroom break. (bathroom here equals anywhere that is not your hut.) The next morning we weren't feeling all that great, and decided to skip the 3-hour hike to another waterfall and head back to Puyo.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Latacunga and Baños
We took a 2-hour taxi ride down the bumpy roads from Cotopaxi and, after some confusion about the streets, eventually got dropped off at Hostal Tiana in Latacunga. This was a recommendation from the guy who owns Secret Garden. It should be no surprise that we checked out after only one night; the room was oddly freezing (no a/c and it was warm outside) and there was a noisy gym through our wall. At the recommendation of the front staff, we went to a "Mexican" restaurant for dinner to get nachos and tacos, but were underwhelmed.
We moved down the street to Hotel Central. Best decision ever! Thursday morning we took the bus to Saquisili to check out the weekly market. It was almost entirely food, which made us think of cooking and how much we don't do that here (i.e. not at all). Lots of bags of pasta, rice, and various flours. We're not sure what the purple flour was. Taro? Do they have taro here? Back in Latacunga we got pizza for lunch (Hilary was feeling homesick), and it was surprisingly good. They even tossed the dough and had a deli slicer for the meat. The pizza was giant and we saved half for dinner.
Friday we didn't do much...practiced a little Spanish and chilled out. Had pasta & lasagna for dinner (there is a lot of Italian food here) and saw a guy from Cotopaxi. He went to climb the mountain but his buddy got sick 150 m from the top and they had to turn around. Bummer. Latacunga was a nice town, and it was really great to be able to walk around at night.
Saturday we hopped on a bus to Ambato, then in Ambato switched to a bus going to Baños. We walked the 1.5 km to our hostel: Hostal Casa Real. Got a nice room with a hammock looking at the waterfall.
We walked around Baños for a bit, got some lunch, hung out in one of the parks, etc. While we walked around we noticed a sign that said "La Cascada Cerveceria"...Brew Pub! For dinner we went back and it was open; sure enough, it's a brew pub. We tried three beers, one made with local rock sugar and oranges, one with local berries (mora), and the IPA. Pretty good! The sandwiches were good too, including the AF&C: almond butter, fig jam, and cheese. Apparently it's the Belgian idea of a sandwich. At the bar we met a couple from San Francisco (who used to live by Lake Merritt). They took us to a local bar after we were done at the pub and we grabbed another beer. While we were there, four British tourists we met in Cotopaxi walked in. Small world! On our way back to the hostel, we saw another couple from Cotopaxi. Baños starting to get creepy at that point?
Sunday we decided to hike to Bellavista, the hill above Baños on which there is a big cross. At night they light it up and, due to the lack of other lights, it looks like it's just floating in the sky. The track was really steep, but you could see all of Baños. We kept going toward Runtun but turned toward Mirador de la Virgen when we got to this fancy cafe, Cafe del Cielo. Mirador de la Virgen is on the ridge opposite Bellavista and it has a giant marble statue of Mary on it. On our way, we passed a little old lady hiking up this crazy path with two puppies. Emphasis on little and old... she was pulling on the weeds on the side of the path to get up it. Crazy.
Today we went into town and perused the bike rental places. We found one with the least crappy looking bikes and started down la Ruta de las Cascadas, which is the road from Baños to Puyo that follows the river and passes tons of waterfalls. The road is mostly downhill, and mostly paved except for one spot where the road slid down the hill (they're fixing it) and the numerous tunnels which require you to take the cobbled and/or gravel path around (no bikes in the tunnels). We stopped first at Manto de la Novia (Bridal Veil) falls and took a surprisingly fast cable car down to a suspension bridge and crossed the river.
Further down the road we stopped at Pailon del Diablo (Devil’s Cauldron) and took the ~1 km hike down into the valley. After paying the entrance fee, we hiked up to the viewpoint. Next to the lookout was a sign for the path to Grieta del Cielo (Crack in the Sky, or maybe Heaven's Crack?); the path however required a bit of crawling and climbing up vertical pipe cut into the rock. (You can see Aaron in the picture.) At the top was the falls. You could walk under them through a sketchy-looking tarp and then to a path on the edge of the cliff guarded by a single strand of green string, but I stayed on the near side of the falls. We were more than happy to stop back up on the road for a chicken and cheese empanada at some random woman's house. Oddly enough, we met a dude from Cornell who was also enjoying the empanadas in her kitchen. Seriously, it's amazing how small the world feels sometimes. It makes me feel thankful that we live in a place that allows us to travel... and so many of our compatriots as well.
Further down the road were lots more falls; we occasionally stopped but didn't do any more of the cable cars or hikes. We did pass through the town of San Francisco. :) At the town of Rio Negro we stopped and waited for a bus to take us back to Baños. Tonight we'll return to the brewpub to try the remaining two beers and tomorrow Hilary has a massage scheduled (Baños is the place to go for massages). Then we'll hop a bus to Puyo and see about a jungle adventure.
We moved down the street to Hotel Central. Best decision ever! Thursday morning we took the bus to Saquisili to check out the weekly market. It was almost entirely food, which made us think of cooking and how much we don't do that here (i.e. not at all). Lots of bags of pasta, rice, and various flours. We're not sure what the purple flour was. Taro? Do they have taro here? Back in Latacunga we got pizza for lunch (Hilary was feeling homesick), and it was surprisingly good. They even tossed the dough and had a deli slicer for the meat. The pizza was giant and we saved half for dinner.
Friday we didn't do much...practiced a little Spanish and chilled out. Had pasta & lasagna for dinner (there is a lot of Italian food here) and saw a guy from Cotopaxi. He went to climb the mountain but his buddy got sick 150 m from the top and they had to turn around. Bummer. Latacunga was a nice town, and it was really great to be able to walk around at night.
Saturday we hopped on a bus to Ambato, then in Ambato switched to a bus going to Baños. We walked the 1.5 km to our hostel: Hostal Casa Real. Got a nice room with a hammock looking at the waterfall.
We walked around Baños for a bit, got some lunch, hung out in one of the parks, etc. While we walked around we noticed a sign that said "La Cascada Cerveceria"...Brew Pub! For dinner we went back and it was open; sure enough, it's a brew pub. We tried three beers, one made with local rock sugar and oranges, one with local berries (mora), and the IPA. Pretty good! The sandwiches were good too, including the AF&C: almond butter, fig jam, and cheese. Apparently it's the Belgian idea of a sandwich. At the bar we met a couple from San Francisco (who used to live by Lake Merritt). They took us to a local bar after we were done at the pub and we grabbed another beer. While we were there, four British tourists we met in Cotopaxi walked in. Small world! On our way back to the hostel, we saw another couple from Cotopaxi. Baños starting to get creepy at that point?
Sunday we decided to hike to Bellavista, the hill above Baños on which there is a big cross. At night they light it up and, due to the lack of other lights, it looks like it's just floating in the sky. The track was really steep, but you could see all of Baños. We kept going toward Runtun but turned toward Mirador de la Virgen when we got to this fancy cafe, Cafe del Cielo. Mirador de la Virgen is on the ridge opposite Bellavista and it has a giant marble statue of Mary on it. On our way, we passed a little old lady hiking up this crazy path with two puppies. Emphasis on little and old... she was pulling on the weeds on the side of the path to get up it. Crazy.
Today we went into town and perused the bike rental places. We found one with the least crappy looking bikes and started down la Ruta de las Cascadas, which is the road from Baños to Puyo that follows the river and passes tons of waterfalls. The road is mostly downhill, and mostly paved except for one spot where the road slid down the hill (they're fixing it) and the numerous tunnels which require you to take the cobbled and/or gravel path around (no bikes in the tunnels). We stopped first at Manto de la Novia (Bridal Veil) falls and took a surprisingly fast cable car down to a suspension bridge and crossed the river.
Further down the road were lots more falls; we occasionally stopped but didn't do any more of the cable cars or hikes. We did pass through the town of San Francisco. :) At the town of Rio Negro we stopped and waited for a bus to take us back to Baños. Tonight we'll return to the brewpub to try the remaining two beers and tomorrow Hilary has a massage scheduled (Baños is the place to go for massages). Then we'll hop a bus to Puyo and see about a jungle adventure.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Some thoughts on the highly-European-ized hostel
You can walk around with your laptop, and even leave it around charging in a common area. Everyone's got one!
If you are looking for some movies or music to add to your collection, you can find them.
Never have we met so many people from Switzerland.
Everyone speaks English (except the cooking/cleaning staff). This is sort of nice since you don't really have to try to communicate, but really bad for your Spanish skills and highly frustrating considering we're in Ecuador. Many travelers don't speak any Spanish at all. At Cotopaxi, the couple in charge of the place (a 2-ish month stint) didn't speak Spanish and seemed to willfully reject the idea of learning. Not cool.
The attitude is highly Eurocentric (they are ok with Americans too), down to even the food. They won't serve local dishes and instead come up with sub-par versions of Western dishes. In Quito we could get food elsewhere, but at Cotopaxi there wasn't anything within about an hour. We don't want banana crepes with chocolate sauce for breakfast!
It becomes almost too easy to have other people organize your adventures for you.
If you are looking for some movies or music to add to your collection, you can find them.
Never have we met so many people from Switzerland.
Everyone speaks English (except the cooking/cleaning staff). This is sort of nice since you don't really have to try to communicate, but really bad for your Spanish skills and highly frustrating considering we're in Ecuador. Many travelers don't speak any Spanish at all. At Cotopaxi, the couple in charge of the place (a 2-ish month stint) didn't speak Spanish and seemed to willfully reject the idea of learning. Not cool.
The attitude is highly Eurocentric (they are ok with Americans too), down to even the food. They won't serve local dishes and instead come up with sub-par versions of Western dishes. In Quito we could get food elsewhere, but at Cotopaxi there wasn't anything within about an hour. We don't want banana crepes with chocolate sauce for breakfast!
It becomes almost too easy to have other people organize your adventures for you.
Vulcan Cotopaxi
The last four days we spent near the volcano Cotopaxi. At almost 5900 meters, it's one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. Luckily it hasn't done much in the last few years. The volcano is at the center of one of Ecuador's national parks, just south of Quito. We stayed at Secret Garden Cotopaxi, which is the second hostel by the folks at Secret Garden Quito. We got a nice $5/person deal on the taxi between the hostels (it normally costs at least $40 to get a ride up). The ride from Quito takes about two hours, one on the Panamericana highway and then another on the cobbled (and not-so-cobbled) roads up to the mountains. The hostel is at the base of Pasochoa, one of the many mountains within view of Cotopaxi.
It was cloudy when we got there, and we couldn't see any mountains. We were told the view is best around 5:30 am (around dawn), so when the sun came in the windows the next day we took a look. Socked in fog. Ah well. We opted for the horse riding trip for the morning. The ride was...interesting. The gear for the horses varied widely. Some saddles had actual stirrups, about half (including both of ours) had wooden blocks that looked like sawed-off clogs. One set you could get your foot into if you had someone push it in (it was a tight fit, try not to need to fall off) and the other one only allowed your toes to be inside. The ride was along the 3 km driveway to the main road (whoo!), then along the cobbled road (horses don't like cobbles), then finally off the main road for a short bit along a dirt road past another hostel nearby. Not exactly an inspired route. Along the road, one horse threw its rider and fell (perhaps in the other order) when a truck went by. Holy cow! Except later the "guide" for the trip said "o yeah, that horse is afraid of cars. that happens all the time." Can you say "don't send that horse out with a rider"? Things got worse from there.
Aaron's horse was not having a good time; specifically he really wanted the bit out of his mouth. And he liked to run. And he had the "only your toes fit in here" stirrups. When the group finally got to the dirt road, the lead horses galloped off. Galloping doesn't agree with crappy stirrups, and soon there was a stirrup-less rider. Ouch. Reining the horse in seemed to piss him off (remember we think something was wrong either with the fit of the bit or the mouth of the horse). Eventually he tried to buck his rider off. Aaron got him slowed down enough to find a stirrup, got off, and walked the rest of the way to the snack break (where everyone else had galloped off to). Incidentally the horse was really friendly when you weren't jamming a metal rod in his mouth.
After the snack break we switched horses. Maybe that horse just didn't like Aaron. We also told the guide that the horse was not having a good time and tried to throw me, but he didn't seem concerned. Things got worse from there. This horse didn't like Hilary either, and by now his mouth really hurt. Luckily a good bit of the trail back was along the road, so the horses were forced to go slowly. Once we got to the driveway, the lead horses went ahead to run back. We stayed behind with the guide to go more slowly. However, he started trotting his horse. The other horses trotted; Hilary's feet came out of the stirrups; the horse got reined in; the horse tried to eject the rider. After several minutes of actual pleading and yelling at the guide, we got him to stop his horse long enough for Hilary to get off. We walked the last 1.5 km back to the hostel. Again this was recounted to the staff and met without concern. 4 of 8 riders walked back off their horses--apparently this is normal? [Talking to folks who went out in groups of 4 or less however, the riding experience is very good. Just don't be those guests 5+.]
The next day we were extremely sore and bruised. Various clasps and buckles had left bruises on our legs and the experience of riding with terrible gear had really messed us up. Aaron was feeling a little stomach-ugly again, so Hilary went for a short walk to a nearby waterfall while he hung out with the staff and practiced conversational Spanish. The clouds were higher up and we got some pictures of Cotopaxi.
The next day we took the hike to Pasochoa, a small mountain topping off at only 4200 meters. The hostel sat at 3500 m, so we had only to walk out back and climb. Hiking at altitude was quite an experience, even though we'd spent 9 days at 2800+ m in Quito and the last several at 3500 m. It was a good hike though.
The hostel filled up that night, buoyed by folks who couldn't get to Banos since the road washed out at some point during the day. That of course solidified our plans to go to Latacunga before Banos, and we booked a hostel and arranged a taxi for the next morning.
It was cloudy when we got there, and we couldn't see any mountains. We were told the view is best around 5:30 am (around dawn), so when the sun came in the windows the next day we took a look. Socked in fog. Ah well. We opted for the horse riding trip for the morning. The ride was...interesting. The gear for the horses varied widely. Some saddles had actual stirrups, about half (including both of ours) had wooden blocks that looked like sawed-off clogs. One set you could get your foot into if you had someone push it in (it was a tight fit, try not to need to fall off) and the other one only allowed your toes to be inside. The ride was along the 3 km driveway to the main road (whoo!), then along the cobbled road (horses don't like cobbles), then finally off the main road for a short bit along a dirt road past another hostel nearby. Not exactly an inspired route. Along the road, one horse threw its rider and fell (perhaps in the other order) when a truck went by. Holy cow! Except later the "guide" for the trip said "o yeah, that horse is afraid of cars. that happens all the time." Can you say "don't send that horse out with a rider"? Things got worse from there.
Aaron's horse was not having a good time; specifically he really wanted the bit out of his mouth. And he liked to run. And he had the "only your toes fit in here" stirrups. When the group finally got to the dirt road, the lead horses galloped off. Galloping doesn't agree with crappy stirrups, and soon there was a stirrup-less rider. Ouch. Reining the horse in seemed to piss him off (remember we think something was wrong either with the fit of the bit or the mouth of the horse). Eventually he tried to buck his rider off. Aaron got him slowed down enough to find a stirrup, got off, and walked the rest of the way to the snack break (where everyone else had galloped off to). Incidentally the horse was really friendly when you weren't jamming a metal rod in his mouth.
After the snack break we switched horses. Maybe that horse just didn't like Aaron. We also told the guide that the horse was not having a good time and tried to throw me, but he didn't seem concerned. Things got worse from there. This horse didn't like Hilary either, and by now his mouth really hurt. Luckily a good bit of the trail back was along the road, so the horses were forced to go slowly. Once we got to the driveway, the lead horses went ahead to run back. We stayed behind with the guide to go more slowly. However, he started trotting his horse. The other horses trotted; Hilary's feet came out of the stirrups; the horse got reined in; the horse tried to eject the rider. After several minutes of actual pleading and yelling at the guide, we got him to stop his horse long enough for Hilary to get off. We walked the last 1.5 km back to the hostel. Again this was recounted to the staff and met without concern. 4 of 8 riders walked back off their horses--apparently this is normal? [Talking to folks who went out in groups of 4 or less however, the riding experience is very good. Just don't be those guests 5+.]
The next day we were extremely sore and bruised. Various clasps and buckles had left bruises on our legs and the experience of riding with terrible gear had really messed us up. Aaron was feeling a little stomach-ugly again, so Hilary went for a short walk to a nearby waterfall while he hung out with the staff and practiced conversational Spanish. The clouds were higher up and we got some pictures of Cotopaxi.
The next day we took the hike to Pasochoa, a small mountain topping off at only 4200 meters. The hostel sat at 3500 m, so we had only to walk out back and climb. Hiking at altitude was quite an experience, even though we'd spent 9 days at 2800+ m in Quito and the last several at 3500 m. It was a good hike though.
The hostel filled up that night, buoyed by folks who couldn't get to Banos since the road washed out at some point during the day. That of course solidified our plans to go to Latacunga before Banos, and we booked a hostel and arranged a taxi for the next morning.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Last Day in Quito
Today is our last full day in Quito. It was a fairly good week, though Aaron spent a couple days in bed drinking oregano tea and eating Cipro pills. Let's hope that's the last of that. A week of class was a good amount; it will take some time for it all to sink in before we're ready to cram more information into our brains. On the plus side, we've got a pretty good handle on basic conversational skills even though our vocabulary is limited. Hilary is still not sure what a gerund is though.
Our host family has been really awesome, especially during the whole "debilitating illness" portion of our stay. Homemade chicken soup and frequent deliveries of tea are a big plus for the febrile. We did learn that juice in restaurants is often diluted with tap water; let's not drink that anymore. (but it looks so good!) We've also been foregoing the little containers of hot sauce that live on the tables, despite those also being delicious. Stupid food-borne pathogens are ruining our dining experience; sucks that food is one of the highlights of our experiences in new places. No worries I guess, we are also fans of the soups, empanadas, and other steaming objects.
Tomorrow we are taking a 2-ish hour ride to the Cotopaxi area to hang out in a "luxury resort" with our own private "cabana" including two floors of hedonism: a sunken tub, a fireplace, a private bathroom, and a bedroom with no neighbors or active construction projects! 3 meals of locally produced organic veggies included: $90/night after the obligatory 12% tax. Es chevere! Oh, we'll include pictures later. :)
Our host family has been really awesome, especially during the whole "debilitating illness" portion of our stay. Homemade chicken soup and frequent deliveries of tea are a big plus for the febrile. We did learn that juice in restaurants is often diluted with tap water; let's not drink that anymore. (but it looks so good!) We've also been foregoing the little containers of hot sauce that live on the tables, despite those also being delicious. Stupid food-borne pathogens are ruining our dining experience; sucks that food is one of the highlights of our experiences in new places. No worries I guess, we are also fans of the soups, empanadas, and other steaming objects.
Tomorrow we are taking a 2-ish hour ride to the Cotopaxi area to hang out in a "luxury resort" with our own private "cabana" including two floors of hedonism: a sunken tub, a fireplace, a private bathroom, and a bedroom with no neighbors or active construction projects! 3 meals of locally produced organic veggies included: $90/night after the obligatory 12% tax. Es chevere! Oh, we'll include pictures later. :)
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Language Classes
This week we are taking language classes through the Simon Bolivar school in Quito. We're also staying with an Ecuadorian family for the week to do the immersion thing. It's been quite intense, but we are definitely getting better at Spanish.
The school is in the Mariscal district, which contains "Gringolandia". We've walked through several times, poking our heads into the restaurants and then leaving as soon as we see the prices. Many places have pricing similar to the US ($9 for a burger). Yowsa! We've been dining just outside white-people-land in the more reasonably priced areas. Today, however, we did go to one of the restaurants in Gringolandia that was a bit off the main drag. It had "authentic Ecuadorian" food, which after looking through the menu is probably accurate. We had choclo (local corn with giant kernels and humongous germs, very starchy) with cheese and haba (beans similar to fava), una humita (essentially a tamale), and llapingachos (cheesy potato blob) with chorizo & egg. So good! We'll probably go back and just get a humita and soup since all that was a ton of food. They also had cuy (guinea pig) but it was $23 for a whole one; we'll probably get that somewhere besides Quito.
Outside of class we've successfully found paper for notecards, bought several meringues, ordered lunches, caught a taxi in the rain, etc. So far, so good! Here are a few pictures of Quito from the roof of the hostel we stayed at last week:
The school is in the Mariscal district, which contains "Gringolandia". We've walked through several times, poking our heads into the restaurants and then leaving as soon as we see the prices. Many places have pricing similar to the US ($9 for a burger). Yowsa! We've been dining just outside white-people-land in the more reasonably priced areas. Today, however, we did go to one of the restaurants in Gringolandia that was a bit off the main drag. It had "authentic Ecuadorian" food, which after looking through the menu is probably accurate. We had choclo (local corn with giant kernels and humongous germs, very starchy) with cheese and haba (beans similar to fava), una humita (essentially a tamale), and llapingachos (cheesy potato blob) with chorizo & egg. So good! We'll probably go back and just get a humita and soup since all that was a ton of food. They also had cuy (guinea pig) but it was $23 for a whole one; we'll probably get that somewhere besides Quito.
Outside of class we've successfully found paper for notecards, bought several meringues, ordered lunches, caught a taxi in the rain, etc. So far, so good! Here are a few pictures of Quito from the roof of the hostel we stayed at last week:
Friday, October 7, 2011
Dos Gringos en Quito
Spanish lessons start on Monday. It's Friday. What to do? Let's wander around the city!
We got a map, roughly figured out where we were, and set out for Old Town Quito. Apparently the last pre-colonial rulers burned the city down on their way out in 1534, so old town dates to slightly after that, after it was set up as a colonial capital. If we're reading the signs correctly, some of the buildings--churches actually--date to the 1500s. Wow. We wandered through some squares, past statues and crosses, lots of old churches, and lots and lots of small shops. The architecture of the old buildings is very cool, and some of the carvings on the churches is incredibly intricate.
Like any old city, the streets are narrow and not terribly straight. Walking around was an adventure as most intersections had no traffic control signs of any kind. Traffic just moves slowly enough that no one runs into each other, or the pedestrians that randomly cross the streets. Horns are used liberally. And gas is only $1.40/gallon.
The hostel does breakfast and dinner, but we were walking around the city at lunchtime. We decided to embark on the list of things the state department tells you not to eat by randomly choosing a local place with a mostly-indecipherable menu and attempting to order lunch in halting half-Spanish. The waiter was patient with us and we got our 4-item lunch for $1.65/each: juice, fruit or soup, a chicken & rice dish, and a "purple mousse". There was a shrimp option instead of chicken, but we got the sense that the waiter was trying to dissuade us from ordering it. We're still not sure what it is and Google isn't helping. Anybody know what cameron murado is (maybe fermented shrimp)? The food was great, and after we left we looked up the menu items in the dictionary. Apparently the opaque white juice we liked best was "oat juice", whatever that is, and the chicken was in a mushroom sauce, which we guessed while we ate it. The fruit is "sliced" and the soup was a bean soup. Yum Ecuador! So far we're feeling fine.
We got a map, roughly figured out where we were, and set out for Old Town Quito. Apparently the last pre-colonial rulers burned the city down on their way out in 1534, so old town dates to slightly after that, after it was set up as a colonial capital. If we're reading the signs correctly, some of the buildings--churches actually--date to the 1500s. Wow. We wandered through some squares, past statues and crosses, lots of old churches, and lots and lots of small shops. The architecture of the old buildings is very cool, and some of the carvings on the churches is incredibly intricate.
The hostel does breakfast and dinner, but we were walking around the city at lunchtime. We decided to embark on the list of things the state department tells you not to eat by randomly choosing a local place with a mostly-indecipherable menu and attempting to order lunch in halting half-Spanish. The waiter was patient with us and we got our 4-item lunch for $1.65/each: juice, fruit or soup, a chicken & rice dish, and a "purple mousse". There was a shrimp option instead of chicken, but we got the sense that the waiter was trying to dissuade us from ordering it. We're still not sure what it is and Google isn't helping. Anybody know what cameron murado is (maybe fermented shrimp)? The food was great, and after we left we looked up the menu items in the dictionary. Apparently the opaque white juice we liked best was "oat juice", whatever that is, and the chicken was in a mushroom sauce, which we guessed while we ate it. The fruit is "sliced" and the soup was a bean soup. Yum Ecuador! So far we're feeling fine.
Bienvenidos a Quito!
Hola from Quito!
Our flight from Miami was slightly early. We arrived in Quito to cool and rain, just like Oakland! The hostel we're in (Secret Garden) is very British-y. Getting used to the altitude, today we'll do some city walking.
Our flight from Miami was slightly early. We arrived in Quito to cool and rain, just like Oakland! The hostel we're in (Secret Garden) is very British-y. Getting used to the altitude, today we'll do some city walking.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Final US Road Trip Stats
Time to wrap up the road trip. Here's the final Map.
Some stats...
States/Provinces visited: 32 (29 US, 3 Canada)
National Parks visited: 15 (11 US, 4 Canada)
Miles driven: 14,048.9
Bears spotted: 2 (both in Shenandoah, go figure)
Traffic tickets: 0 (whooo!)
Most Common out-of-state License Plate: Florida (by a landslide, these people are everywhere!)
Easiest-to-find chain restaurant: Subway (even in towns without gas stations)
Cheapest gas: $3.099/gallon in southwestern Virginia
Most expensive gas: not really sure, something like $4.30/gallon along the West Coast and a few cities in the East
Gas Mileage (according to the car's number): 31.2 mpg
Most Northern/Southern Latitudes: 52.0 N (Kinbasket Lake, BC)/ 24.5 N (Key West, FL)
Most Western/Eastern Longitudes: 124.6 W (Rialto Beach, WA)/ 68.2 W (Bar Harbor, ME)
Great trip so far, bring on Ecuador!
Some stats...
States/Provinces visited: 32 (29 US, 3 Canada)
National Parks visited: 15 (11 US, 4 Canada)
Miles driven: 14,048.9
Bears spotted: 2 (both in Shenandoah, go figure)
Traffic tickets: 0 (whooo!)
Most Common out-of-state License Plate: Florida (by a landslide, these people are everywhere!)
Easiest-to-find chain restaurant: Subway (even in towns without gas stations)
Cheapest gas: $3.099/gallon in southwestern Virginia
Most expensive gas: not really sure, something like $4.30/gallon along the West Coast and a few cities in the East
Gas Mileage (according to the car's number): 31.2 mpg
Most Northern/Southern Latitudes: 52.0 N (Kinbasket Lake, BC)/ 24.5 N (Key West, FL)
Most Western/Eastern Longitudes: 124.6 W (Rialto Beach, WA)/ 68.2 W (Bar Harbor, ME)
Great trip so far, bring on Ecuador!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Last Leg: Appalachia
After our stint in Florida, it was time to head north and make our way back toward Philadelphia where our plane leaves on the 5th. We drove up the west coast of Florida and into Georgia. After a brief stop for peach cider, pecan rolls, and mayhaw jelly, we drove to northern Georgia and the southernmost Appalachians. We stayed the night in Gainesville (there's one in Georgia too apparently).
The next morning we got to the mountains. We stopped briefly at Tallulah Gorge to check out the (supposedly) deepest gorge east of the Mississippi at around 900 ft. You couldn't really see the falls from where we were, and frankly the gorge looked rather quaint.
We drove into North Carolina and got to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After some looking around a bit, we settled on a campground in Cherokee territory. It was mostly deserted and our site was on the end of the row next to a creek. Nice!
We went for a walk on the NC side of the park. The leaves were starting to turn, but it wasn't full-blown fall just yet except for the chilly air. Still very pretty. The next day we drove across to the Tennessee side and hiked to Ramsey Cascades. We had to drive through Gatlinburg, which was a total crazy town of tourists. Yikes! The trail was very nice and the falls were wet.
We really liked the Smokys, especially the NC side which had much less traffic and fewer folks on the trails. Cherokee land was lovely. On our way out of the park, we took the back way from the camp to the Blue Ridge Parkway--up a dirt road with switchbacks occasionally passing some houses and farms owned by the tribe. Very nice. It kind of felt like a farewell to our trusty Subaru, since it can't come with us to South America.
We took the parkway for 40 or 50 miles, then headed to Asheville. The city looked right up our alley, and we decided we should move there.
Just north of Asheville we dropped in to Fox Hill Meadery. Jason, the owner/meadmaker, met us at the door (the meadery is adjacent to their house) and opened several bottles for us. It was a great tasting and resulted in more than a few ideas for a future weekend meadery of our own. We came away with two bottles of spiced mead and a bottle each of berry, ginger/apricot, and reserve mead. Excellent stuff!
We drove north through the mountains and hit the I-81 corridor. We'd decided to just drive as far as we could and see where that got us. We wound up in Lexington, VA (there's apparently a Lexington in VA too). The next morning we took a short drive and detoured into Shenandoah National Park. We stopped at a lot of the overlooks and took a walk to a ruined mission. Good park, but we liked the Smokys better since the park encompassed more undeveloped areas.
After Shenandoah we got back to 81 and drove to PA, stopping in Lancaster again at Court & Elyse's. No more states to visit! Somehow we've reached the end of the road trip. We'll be in Havertown for a few days getting packed and prepping the car for our absence, and then we go to Quito. Wild.
The next morning we got to the mountains. We stopped briefly at Tallulah Gorge to check out the (supposedly) deepest gorge east of the Mississippi at around 900 ft. You couldn't really see the falls from where we were, and frankly the gorge looked rather quaint.
We took the parkway for 40 or 50 miles, then headed to Asheville. The city looked right up our alley, and we decided we should move there.
Just north of Asheville we dropped in to Fox Hill Meadery. Jason, the owner/meadmaker, met us at the door (the meadery is adjacent to their house) and opened several bottles for us. It was a great tasting and resulted in more than a few ideas for a future weekend meadery of our own. We came away with two bottles of spiced mead and a bottle each of berry, ginger/apricot, and reserve mead. Excellent stuff!
We drove north through the mountains and hit the I-81 corridor. We'd decided to just drive as far as we could and see where that got us. We wound up in Lexington, VA (there's apparently a Lexington in VA too). The next morning we took a short drive and detoured into Shenandoah National Park. We stopped at a lot of the overlooks and took a walk to a ruined mission. Good park, but we liked the Smokys better since the park encompassed more undeveloped areas.
After Shenandoah we got back to 81 and drove to PA, stopping in Lancaster again at Court & Elyse's. No more states to visit! Somehow we've reached the end of the road trip. We'll be in Havertown for a few days getting packed and prepping the car for our absence, and then we go to Quito. Wild.
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