Over the last few years I have traveled a fair bit of this planet. Along that journey, I have been to some areas of the world that people would describe as being a little dangerous. Yet over that time I have experienced very little in terms of crime, with the only incident being in Vietnam, where I had my camera pick-pocketed out of my bag.
They say that South America can be a haven for crime and often against tourists, but a lot of it is to do with where you go and how you behave. From travellers I meet, Quito is often cited as one of the more dangerous cities to visit and many of those people have just made the trip down from Columbia. Of course you hear the stories too. Often back-packers are robbed and mugged here in Quito as im sure they are all over the world. Although Ive never personally experienced it, im sure London is a pretty dangerous place if you walk down the wrong street at night. Most of the cases of crime that I have heard here in Ecuador are from people not being very street-wise. You will often hear of stories where a girl, walking down the street at night has had her camera stolen, which she was wearing round her neck. I mean - your just asking for trouble really. I always think of myself as being pretty careful, and so after 6 and a half months of living in this city I had not experienced a single incident of trouble or crime. However, it was complacency that would get me into a situation - which I hope no-one finds themselves in.......................
I dont normally go out on a week night but after some strong persuasion, I was forced (yeah right) to go out for a night on the town, in the bar haven area of the Mariscal. It was a Wednesdasy night and myself along with a whole group of people decided to go to the club - Bungalow 6. It was pretty rubbish so at about 1.30am me and my friend Leanne decided to call it a night. We were both pretty drunk to be fair and casually jumped into a the back of a taxi. I was delighted at how cheap the driver was quoting, just $2 to get home. In 6 and a half months I have never been offered such a cheap price to get back from the Mariscal at night.......................
Halfway through the journey, the taxi driver slows down. Normally taxi drivers never slow down at night, most will even drive through red lights just to get you back, as stopping can be pretty dangerous. Where this driver stopped too was pretty unusual, there was no need to slow down where he did - something wasn´t right.......................
A second later, two men jumped in, one either side of the taxi so me and Leanne were now trapped in the back of this taxi, sandwhiched in the middle with no escape. They both had screwdrivers which they held to both our stomach´s and neck´s. They poked and scratched us with them to show that they meant business. The driver was told to keep moving. We were being kidnapped.....................
The guy who was on my side then pulled out a small spray can of MACE, opened my left eye and sprayed directly into it. He did not spray my right eye. Within 4 or 5 seconds you cant see a thing. There is no point trying to open your eye - its impossible. Ten seconds later it streamed with water and then my nose started to run. Because of this I never once saw the criminal who was sitting next to me. During the whole journey I only got a glimpse of the guy sitting next to Leanne once, but it was breif and I would never of been able to identify him.........................
During this time the guys started to sift through our things. They took my mobile phone (worth very little) and about $15 in cash. They didn´t want anything that wasn´t worth monetary value, hence they let me keep my keys to the hostal. They took Leanne´s camera and a few other belongings. I didn´t know this at the time as I couldn´t really see anything but Leanne told me after that she was touched (everywhere) during this journey. Some people in this world are very sick.......................
Despite it being quite a blur, the whole event must have lasted about 10 minutes, before they drove us out to a quiet part of Quito, opened the door and kicked us both out with nothing. They got back in the taxi and drove off. Leanne at this point was a screaming mess and I still couldn´t open my left eye. Everytime I tried, the fresh air would make it burn and sting. It was pretty painful. We were now in the middle of no-where, probablly a dodgy part of town, so we didn´t want to hang around. It was dead quiet, but luckily, after a few minutes another taxi driver went by. I hailed him down and soon enough we were back in the hostal. I paid him with money that I had in my room............................
I had to wash my eye out about 5 times and about an hour of waiting before my eye could be opened. It was still pretty sore. We also found out that somehow they had managed to miss Leanne´s money, $30, which earlier that night she had moved from its usual spot (her bra) and put in her back pocket. In terms of value, these criminals didnt really get their hands on too much. I guess they will just go back and do it all again though..............................
The next morning I noticed that I had some scratch marks on my stomach and arms. They wernt serious - I didn´t even notice them at the time. It took until that afternoon before my eye was fully back to normal. Leanne was not sprayed with MACE nor was she hurt with the screwdriver. We later headed to the Police Station to write our reports. It was purely for insurance purposes, so Leanne could get money for her camera. For me it was solely to have a souvenir of the horrific event. We filled out two forms in English. The policeman didnt even read them. He just signed and stamped them both before sending us on our way. Any tourist could go in there and get a police report whether you had been a victim of crime or not. I believe they just file away their copy of the report but they may as well put them straight into the bin. They were never going to do anything about it as this sort of thing happens probably most days. To be fair, we couldnt give them much information about these guys anyway.......................
The whole event was pretty scary, but we were both fine a few days later. After hearing this tale, many have said, "oh you have to come home straight away, its not safe out there". No one said this to me during the first 6 and a half months I had been here. It´s a natural reaction I guess, but you cant let things like this ruin everything else in your life. These things unfortunately happen. I had certainly become complacent here. The lack of trouble resulted me jumping into any old taxi on that night. Legitimate taxi´s have orange number plates and a 3 or 4 digit code on the side. If you take these, your chances of coming to harm are masively reduced. There are so many taxis though that are not legitimate and these are the ones you have to be careful about getting in to. The only thing I could tell you about the taxi that we got in that night is that it was yellow. Stupid I know. Also, if something seems too good to be true then it usually is. A taxi from the Mariscal at night never costs $2 - I should have known something was up.................................
After all is said and done, there are some positives out of all this. Both me and Leanne were not seriously hurt, this could have turned out a lot worse. We will also both be a lot more careful in future. I certainly wont be getting complacent again, especially about which taxi´s I get into. The story of us both has now been told a hundred times or more around the hostals. Everyone knows it and passes it on to newcomers who dont know the city. Hopefully it will be just the advise that they need not to make mistakes like we did that night. Finally, it should hopefully be advise on how to respond when facing such a situation. We both remained very calm, let them take what they wanted and walked, relatively unharmed. Many people I have spoken to after said they would have tried to take these guys on, but when people have weapons and are desperate, like these men both surely were, then they will be willing to go far. Only in extreme circumstances, when in the most dire situation, should you attempt to become the hero. In this case, it was unnessary to take risks which could of seen us both come out of this situation in a far worse state...................................
Over the next few days, I actually had a lot of anger towards Ecuadorians. I know thats wrong but I actually couldnt help it. It took me a while, but I eventually got over it and carried on with life as normal. With one horrible incident now behind me, along came another................England Vs Germany in the World Cup. Some-one, give me a brake!!!
Monday 5 July 2010
Kidknapped, Assaulted & Mugged - My First Experience Of Crime In Ecuador
Sunday 4 July 2010
The Fever Starts - The South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Finally Kicks Off
Only a few weeks after the Tungurahua Volcano decided it was time to blow its top, far away on another continent, events were about to begin that would reunite the entire world. It was of course, the World Cup.
I cant believe that it has already been 4 years since the last one passed us by. I went out to Germany then, to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the party that only the World Cup knows how to ignite. This time I would watch the drama unfold in Ecuador. Unfortunately, Ecuador had not made the tournament. By all accounts they were pretty unlucky and narrowly missed out on making the biggest stage in football. Locals here however, told me that they would support all their South American neighbours, of which Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile had made it. They did also say that out of them all, Argentina would get the least support, as apparently the nation is a little bit arrogant when it comes to sporting events, and especially football.
For me though, there was no need to support anyone but my home nation of England. With a team full of so called superstars and one of the best players in the world, Mr Wayne Rooney fronting our line, how could I not be anything but hopefull. I watched the first ever World Cup match take place on African soil. It was brilliant. Finally the World Cup had arrived.
It didnt take long for my dreams and hopes to slowly fade away. I watched the first game in a local bar here in Quito. A miserable 1-1 draw with the USA, which was partly a result of disasterous goalkeeping that Harry Redknapp´s wife, Im sure, would have done better in keeping the ball out!!!. It was an interesting experience though. Four years ago, in Germany, me and a group of friends were filmed on TV, dressed in all our England gear, and which eventually made it onto the BBC news. This time, me and my group of friends decided to get painted up. I had huge England flags plastered onto my face. So maybe I shouldn´t have been suprised when halfway through the game, a film-crew burst through the bar door and started to film and interview us. It was for an Ecuadorian news broadcast. I got interviewed, although it was mostly given in English, before they then decided to just hold the camera onto my face and record my facial reactions during the whole of the second half of the match.
During the next game against Algeria, my misery continued after perhaps one of the worst England display´s I have ever had to endure. It ended 0-0. Again I watched this game in a bar, with the only consolation being that at half time, the bar (called The Coffee Tree) provided a free raffle of which I won first prize. I had won the World Cup football, The Jabulani, which I was delighted about, as it had caused so much controversy during this World Cup. I have had a kick about with and cant really see what all the fuss is about to be honest.
England´s last group game provided a better performance (although not totally convincing) as we beat Slovenia 1-0. I watched the game at work. the tech boys had set up a projector and a large screen to see all the World Cup games. It was brilliant. The result was enough to put us through to the knock-out stages. We were still in, just, yet our poor performances meant that we would have to face the Group D Winners and that just happened to be Germany.
It was the old enemies. Another match with the Germans would probably end up resulting in some sort of cardiac arrest for me, but nevertheless, I would still go into this game with hope and pride..........as I didnt have much else to go in with. Before that crucial game arrived though, I would have to go through something far worse than an England Vs Germany World cup knock-out game. I had become complacent in Quito and as I would soon find out, that was a bad thing to do...........................
Thursday 1 July 2010
Quito Buses, A Whole Load Of Touristy Things & Saying More Goodbye´s
I barely remember how to catch a bus in London. From what my vague memory does conjour up - it was a pretty simple and un-exciting affair. Things are quite different here in Quito. Catching a bus in Ecuador is an art-form, mess it up and you could be in trouble. Im not afraid to admit it took me about 2 months before I started using public transport here in Quito. My main reason for that was becuase buses are everywhere and not even the driver (it appears) knows the route he is taking. They dart off all over the city without a care in the world, especially a care about where he´s meant to be going.
The great thing about wanting to get a bus is if you are on a main road then a bus will be in view every 20 seconds. It thus means that once you work out which one you want you dont often have to wait very long. They are also very cheap, a ride costs just $0.25 so you cant go wrong - where-ever you end up!!! I have now successfully worked out which buses go my route to and from work and I have now worked out how to get on and off them. There are official bus stops but the vehicle will slow down for you where-ever you are as long as you wave one of your arms around at it like some sort of deranged hitch-hiker!!!
The buses never actually stop though, so to get on you have to brake into a gentle jog before leaping onto the moving bus. When your on, you are often treated to the delights of people selling stolen sweets for cut-down prices or some weird speach or song, with the general end-product of them trying to flog something completely pointless to anyone mad enough to think its a great purchase. The last time this guy was trying to sell some weird stone on a necklace, but not before getting everyone on the bus to perform some bizarre voo-doo ritual with them first. Getting off the bus is equally as challenging as the buses again dont stop. It thus involves jumping off the bus but then running for the first few meters as the momentum takes you forward. When its a crowded street the difficulty level increases exponentially, as you are forced to continue your run whilst weaving in and out of people.
Anyway, enough of buses. Tungurahua Volcano was still bubbling and Quito was, well, still Quito. My American buddies however were all getting ready to leave. Their University course was over and they were all returning to their homes in the States. Brenna was leaving too. Before she left she wanted to do some touristy things in Quito. I really wanted to join her as I had done very little touristy activities in the city that I had now lived in for 6 months. It´s always the way - you never do these things in your own back yard. In my home town of London, I still havent been on the London Eye yet!!!
One of the things we did was to climb up the Basilica. Situated in the Historical Centre of Quito´s old town, the gothic Basilica del Voto Nacional stands upon a hill. I can see it every night from the terrace of the Secret Garden but had never ventured to take the scary climb up one of the towers. The ascent requires crossing a rickety wooden plank inside the main roof and then some steep stairs and a ladder to the top. From there you get a fantastic view over the old town of Quito. The church is pretty spectacular too, with instead of gargoyles engraved on its side, it has turtles and iguanas carved on. Its pretty cool.
We also went to the Museo Etnografico de Artesania de Ecuador, which displays pieces representing Ecuadorian culture and art. We headed to Carolina Park, with its Botanical Gardens of worldly flora but especially with a large range of samples from the Amazon Rainforest and finally we headed out to Guapulo. This is a very odd place. On a busy street in Quito is a large, modern hotel, simply called Hotel Quito. It is a huge building complete with Casino. However, take a walk around the back of this hotel and hiding there is a huge expansive view, which sprays off into the horizon. There on the other side of the hill is a large valley and within this lies the town of Guapulo. It is known as the back-drop of Quito and it is impressive especially if you can find it in the first place. I bet most travelers passing through this city never even know of it´s existence and thats a shame in a way. For us though it meant no tourists cluttering up the narrow, cobbled streets that lead down the hill-side. From behind the hotel is the official look-out point but then you can walk the steep streets through the quiet town of Guapulo. Theres a large church / sanctuary at the bottom which you can visit too. Along the walk down you can stop in small cafes, which generaly sell a cold beer and an incredible view. Here you almost feel like your not in Quito anymore.
Before Brenna left, her parents came over to Ecuador as a vacation. We met and had a good chat over dinner. Her Dad used to work at GNS in New Zealand where I had worked just last year. He was a geologist and so naturally we got on famously.
Eventually all my American friends had to leave and that included Brenna. We did some final parties out in the Mariscal, and then once again I said goodbye. It never gets any easier.
However, at home in London, one of my friends Ricky is getting married, but not until next February. He is however having his bachelor party in September and he is having it in Las Vegas. I decided that it was an impossible invitation to ignore as all my boys would be there. It would be one hell of a reunion on an incredible occassion. A few weeks later I booked my flights. I would be spending 4 nights in Vegas with the boys at the end of September, but then I will stay on in LA for 6 more days, where I will see Brenna once again.
I will have 4 months to wait though, still, im sure there will be some more chaotic events here to keep me pre-ocupied until then. As it turned out I didnt have to wait very long..................
