A Few Days in Quito
Quito, Ecuador

On Thursday, we went to visit a town called Saquisili and the volcano Cotopaxi south of town. Saquisili holds a weekly market only on Thursdays, and is considered an authentic Ecuadorian market (versus Otavalo which is now set up mostly for tourists).

It was neat to be in Saquisili. There are several squares organized around town, each for sellers of different products. We visited the large animal market, and saw squeling pigs, bleating lambs, goats and llamas for sale. There were also large bales of alfafa grass that are used to feed the animals, as well as green bananas that did not make the export standard.

The entire town was covered with stalls. We visited the fruit and produce square, the potato square (did you know that there are over 2000 varieties of potatoes in Peru? In Ecuador, they have several hundred varieities). There were clothing of all sorts, tools, household goods, toiletries, furniture, mattresses, baskets, plastic goods. Pretty much everything. The Indigenous people from around the region bring their goods to this market early in the morning. It was indeed a very lively place; we saw women walk off with large sacs of food. It is by far the most interesting market that we have ever visited. Everything was also very cheap!

Next we went to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, to visit an active volcano at 5800m. The clouds covered the mountain sporadically, so we were able to see most of it. We drove up to the parking lot which is at 4500m high. Boy, not only was it freezing up there, it was also very tough to breath. We didn't get very far from our van but did enjoy the view.

Upon our return to Quito, we got dropped off at the Marriott, and got a quick peek at Miss Estonia. Any visitor to the hotel has to go through a metal detector door, and all contents in bags are checked. There were beautiful rose arrangements in the lobby of the hotel. We have been told that Ecuador is one of the world's largest exporter of roses, and constantly strive to invent new varieties. Indeed we saw many beautiful flowers, many that we have never seen before. My favourite is one called Abbacadabra; a hybrid of fine swirls of red and yellow. It was very striking indeed.

We are now travelling with our friends from home, Scott and Rochelle. Yesterday morning, we went on a walking city tour of old Quito. There is a marked difference between the layout and buildings of the colonial city in comparison to where we are staying in the new city. All the buildings were beautiful (colonial style, that is) and the city blocks are pretty consistent.

In the new city, there are several sky scrapers, streets at all angles, though surprisingly, there are also some beautiful castles. Apparently in the early 18th century, the wealthier members of the city begun to move outside the 'old city' and built their mansions. These people generally have been to Europe, and thus built their homes in the styles of the European castles. It is very interesting to drive along and see a castle between two plain old brick buildings, or even plainer grey concrete structures.

The old city have several churches. Quito was heavily controlled by the Jesuits and other religious orders; hence the presence of wealth in all their churches. We walked around the Plaza Grande (Independence Square) and got a glimpse at the Presidential Palace. It was interesting to see the guards wearing the blue and red uniforms that was previously won during their fight for independence in the mid 1800s.

It was neat to walk around the old town. There were many people out and about. Some of them were tourists like us, though the majority were just local people conducting business. We saw the shorter Indigenous people go by with a heavy sac supported by their foreheads each. Yikes. There were stores of all sorts, selling shoes, household goods, toys, souvenirs, spices, snacks.

We visited several churches, the most elaborate of which was the La Compania Church, run by the Jesuits. The interior of this church is almost 100% covered with gold leaf. Wow! It really takes your breath away to see so much shine and glitter when you are inside, both the walls and the ceiling. There was a fire a few years back, and workers have been hard at work to replace what was damaged. We got to see the men lay the gold leaf on the reliefs.

At the beginning and the end of the tour, we got to have good views from up high. In the morning, we saw the valley towards the north of the city. At the conclusion of our tour, we went up to the top of El Panecillo, where there sits the Virgin of Quito, a 7000 piece aluminium statue visible from everywhere in Quito on a clear day.

We had lunch back near the hotel, and then after a brief session at the Internet Cafe (where we visit daily), we went out for a walk towards the Marriott Hotel (yes, again). There were new rose arrangements to see, and we enjoyed drinks in their bar. While we were hanging out, many of the "Miss Universe" contestants walked by. Boy, was there a lot of excitement in the lobby as everyone went to gawk at these pretty women. With Winston's large camera and lens, we think that girls thought he was a member of the press, thus stopping to smile for him as he took their photographs. Hehe. It was interesting to see them, and there surely were many beauties there, though I wouldn't say that all were.

In the evening, we tried to have dinner at La Choza, a restaurant that specializes in Andean food (and is quite posh, which we realized when we got there). However, we didn't have reservations thus had to go on our way. We did end up back near the hotel and enjoyed our meal at a vegetarian restaurant.

This morning, we walked to the El Ejido Park. There were many artists there exhibiting their artwork. We walked through the handicraft area and came out with a few sweaters and pants. They are so hard to resist with their great prices and funky colours. We spent a few hours at the Museo Nacional del Banco Central, an archeological museum of Ecuador (though the name doesn't quite reflect its contents). We enjoyed browsing and learning about the ways of life of the people in this region back to several thousand years BC. It is fascinates me how much history and previous civilizations existed in other countries.

With a few hours to spare before meeting up with our group, we took a taxi out to the Mitad Del Mundo (the Center of the World ). This large monument is built right on the Ecuator. We enjoyed our lunch here, and also visited the 'miniature Colonial Quito', a beautiful scaled model of the old city. While we were there, there was a 24hour light simulation, and it was very cool to see the building light up with twilight.

It is now Saturday evening, and we are all set to head off to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow morning. Leaving at 8am, we will be gone till next Sunday (late afternoon, I think). See you then!

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Exploring Ecuador
Quito, Ecuador

We had a full day trip up to the Northern Highlands last Friday. We travelled with Grey Line, which luckily uses minivans rather than the huge tourist coach buses to transport their tourists. Our first stop was at the Ecuator line, which was a small stop along the PanAmerican Highway. There were some vendors there, selling Indigenous souvenirs. They girls were very cute, and happily posed for photographs. I got to give out some stickers to the younger girls and it was cute to see the brightly glittered decal on their beautiful white embroidered shirts as we left.

In the town of Cayambe, we went to get some biscochos - salty shortbread biscuits. They were delicious warm out of the oven! Thanks for the recommendation Anne. Yummy. We also stopped by to see a beautiful lake along the way (I can't remember its name right now, but it's the largest in the area).

Our main reason for this trip was to the market of Otavalo. If you ever want to see clothing and crafts made out of wool, here's the place! The market included both food and artisan goods, as well as the tacky tourist souvenirs that you see in all countries. However, walking through the stalls and bargaining with vendors was delightful. The people were very polite and not at all rude when you pass by their stall. In fact, I had a lot of fun bargaining with those who spoke no English at all. It's a good thing I understand my Spanish numbers. Whew. It sure was tempting to leave with lots of beautiful wool sweaters; alas, I refrained so didn't actually buy too much. I did leave with a huge bunch and a half of sweet bananas for just 50 cents though.

I can't remember if we've mentioned it before, but Ecuador uses the US Dollar, so currency is a very straight forward affair. Ecuador does mint their own coins, exactly the same denominations and size as the US coins. They will accept coins from the States, though I am sure that Ecuadorian coins will not work back home.

Anyhow, the next two towns we stopped at before heading back to Quito were Ibarra and Cotacachi. Ibarra is known for its woodworkers; it was very quiet when we got into town but still lovely to walk around the square and visit some of the stalls. We had lunch in Cotacachi, then visited some leather shops (they are everywhere) before walking in on an Indigenous wedding at the Catholic Church. It was quite neat to witness this special event; girls and women threw rose petals everywhere as the newly weds came out from the church. They were both dressed in their traditional attire (which most of them wear all the time anyway) though they also had hats on. It was beautiful to see the brims of their hats covered with rose petals. The people there did not seem to mind a few gringos watching outside the church; in fact one older woman saw Winston taking photos and urged him to get closer to the door.

On Sunday night, Vanessa returned from her trip to the Galapagos and we joined her and her travel mates for dinner. It was refreshing to hear their stories from the islands, and we're eager as beavers to get out there. We have been warned though, that everything we own might smell like sea lions after a few days. I guess there isn't much we can do about that!

We spent the last 2 nights at Bella Vista, a resort up in the Cloud Forest region nearby. Two hours west of Quito, at an elevation of 2250m, lies a mountain valley full of primary and secondary forests. Not only are there many endemic plants, there are also hundreds of species of birds in the area. Though neither of us are birdwatchers, we can't help but be in awe of the many hummingbirds that feed in the area, and the different types of birds that we see or hear.

A cloud forest by definition, is a forest that lies up in the mountains and vary in terrain. A rainforest is low lying. Both get plenty of rain! We didn't really prepare for that much precipitation as all the brochures show people out and about in shorts with blue skies. Next time if I hear the word forest, I will think 'rain'. Anyhow, it rained everyday there, in fact all through the night. The only time that we are actually able to see any blue skies is between 6 and 7:30am. Needless to say, there were walks that started at 6:30 in the morning, though I only managed to get up early one day.

We were surrounded by trees and birds; as I mentioned before, hummingbirds were everywhere. We saw several species buzzing around just standing in one spot. The smaller ones are unable to stand on the feeder, so they are constantly flapping their wings as they feed, while the bigger ones just stand tall to sip.

We did several walks through the forest; with all the rain, the tracks get quite muddy and slippery. The resort did provide wellies, so that was very useful, though there isn't much traction on these boots. The wettest and muddiest hike I've ever done was the one to the waterfalls (cascadas). Boy, we sure got wet and dirty. We had to hike all the way down to the waterfall, climbing down loose rocks, broken steps and slipper mud. It sure was a fun adventure though.

We are off to Saquisili and Cotopaxi tomorrow, then plan to visit the Old City with Scott and Rochelle when they get here on Friday. There is a free musical event for the Miss Universe delegates on Friday night; we hope to make it there as well, but it might be VERY crowded. Hasta Luego, I have to go find dinner now.

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