So after failing to get to the beach the week previously, through a series of disasters (but still managing a trip to the thermal pools of Papallacta as compensation), I finally decided to make a stand. I didn't care who came with me but one way or another I was going to the beachside town of Canoa and no bus, landslide or person was going to stop me. Actually, this time, it all went to plan. Sarah came with me as did my American work buddy - Branden. We left Quito via the night bus on Friday after work and at 7am in the morning - we arrived in Canoa. My relaxing trip on the beach did end up as just that, but it didn't fail with at least some drama in the middle.......
Canoa is a sleepy village, with a nice stretch of beach and a pleasnat climate. Quito had been raining continuously every afternoon for as long as I can remember and not just a splash of water - but full thunder, lightning and hail. I was also having some major Ecuadorian issues, which included problems with my work contract, my work visa (as my current one has almost expired) and getting paid by my employers - the whole hassle of last year was coming back to haunt me once again!!! Apart from now being fully paid - I still have all the other problems and my visa is set to expire in less than three weeks. If I can't sort it out in time I will have to leave Ecuador whether I want to or not. I was also waiting on an answer to the PhD which I had applied for. After waiting on a decision for three weeks after the period they said they needed to get me a yes or no - frustration was starting to set in. I still to this day have not had an answer, as to whether I have got the PhD position (and hence will leave Ecuador) or haven't got it (in which case I will stay). On top of that, my Ecuadorian doctor who I was now convinced was keeping me on medication just so I could give him more money really was pushing me to the limit. I ended up resolving the situation by more or less telling him to stuff his medication, and I would sort my health out on my own. I am since fine. My point is, overall - a trip to Canoa was exactly what I needed.
First, the three of us searched and found a cheap spot on the beach - a wooden building type thing with balcony, hammocks and sea view - and all for just US$6 a night. We then had a little wonder around Canoa. There is not too much wondering to be done actually, when you're talking about Canoa. It's mainly a street on the beach, filled with restaurants, hostals and little bungalow shacks selling cocktails. There is a town behind the beachfront but it is small at best. The beach itself is wide, the sun appeared to always shine and the water was warm with big waves. Obviously, I really loved Canoa. It was far more tranquilo than say Ecuador's Montanita but that was nothing to complain about. There was an even mix of local Ecuadorians and backpackers too and on a weekend night, there was enough people around to make a party. It was going to be a good weekend.
Naturally - Sarah, Branden and I started our day lazing on the beach. After about 15 minutes of relaxation time however, we suddenly see Brenna. I had no idea that she was going to be in Canoa that weekend and of course its fine bumping into your ex, except while we were talking, a young Ecuadorian lady (Maisa) walks past - who I had recently been seeing in Quito. I also had no idea that she would be coming to Canoa that weekend either. Neither of the girls know each other, but basically it didn't matter - I had been double sabotaged. All I needed now was for Diana to turn up and the drama would have been complete. Actually, it turned out fine in the end, well, at least after Branden and Sarah had stopped laughing at my awkward situation. I mainly spent the day with Maisa, swimming a lot, eating a lot and generally frying in the sun. We even took a horse ride on the beach - it was disgustingly romantic.
That night Maisa left with her family and the three of us (Sarah, Branden & I) were back together. That night we partied in the one beach-shack bar that everyone had decided to congregate to. It was a fun night, full of much dancing and drinking (although for me - alcohol was off the menu!!!). The following day was spent much the same way as the first - lazing around. I even tried Cerviche - which is a typical dish in Ecuador and Peru, and consists of fish or shrimp in kind of a cold soup. It has lots of lemon juice, onions and a whole host of other ingredients. Traditionally they don't cook the fish - the lemon juice is supposedly meant to keep it fresh - but I think these days (for backpackers especially), they do. It has a strong, but delecious taste - apart from the fishy parts in it that is.
Unfortunately, Branden and I had work the following day and so we had to take the bus back on the Sunday night. Sarah stayed out there for a few more days. She has been living in Canoa for the last few months on and off. There she has been helping a local family build a home. She collects donations from all over the place (including from her family and friends back in the States). I donated US$10 for the cause too. Jealousy soon set in though - that she was able to stay, but, I have to work - and so Branden and I returned to Quito to continue with our volcanoes and continue with our life - back in the capital..........................
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Canoa
The Semana Santa Weekend & The Forcing Of Plan B: Papallacta!!!
Semana Santa is basically the term for Holy Week, which preceeds Easter in the Catholic calendar. With Ecuador being a fairly religious (okay, very religious country), specifically in the Catholic faith, everyone got a three day weekend to celebrate in style......Catholic style. My style however, was the beach. I had wanted to go to Canoa for quite some time. And with a three-day holiday this was the time to go. Unfortunately, the planning (first of all) - fell apart. We got to the local bus station to buy tickets too late and so all the Thursday night rides were gone. It didn't matter though, because on Friday afternoon - Jefferson from the La Guayunga Hostal (my Ecua-Brother) said he would take me in his mini-bus along with 10 other backpackers who quickly signed up. What this meant was - we had Friday morning free - and this particular morning (Good Friday) was special.
Semana Santa is known for it's big celebrations and processions, where people typically wear Nazarenos or a cloak and hood with a pointed top. It is the same design of clothing that the KKK adopted for their outfits, but these religious versions are generally of the purple coloured variety, or at least they were that day. The procession took place in Quito's Historic Old Town, which is basically where I live. A few nights ago we had seen the most bizarre musical production in one of the plazas. It involved some odd opera singing, mixed with dancing - which together told the story of Jesus. This procession was equally mesmerising. Hundreds off people walked the streets in purple KKK outfits, helped along with many locals dressed as Jesus - who would generally have to drag a giant wooden cross slung over one shoulder, through the streets of Quito. The crosses were often so large and heavy that people came in to help them. Then there were people dressed up as Romans and other oddly characters who would whip the Jesus paraders. Sometimes they would be whipped with vines, other times with ropes. Apparently it is a great honour to be chosen to act as Jesus in this procession. One guy was even in a wheel-chair and he was getting whipped too. Hundreds of people lined the streets to watch it, including me and half a dozen friends. The whole thing was most strange to someone who had never seen such a proceeding, such as myself - but I have an open mind so I managed to stay for well over an hour before all the whipping got to much for me to withstand. The other tradition during this time of year is to eat a special kind of soup - called Fanesca, which consists of 12 types of bean as far as I could work out. I was made some by the family at the hostal where I stay and it was very deliceous whilst being equally filling at the same time. It was certainly more healthy than the typical Easter Eggs that folk in my country of England eat during this time of year. Explaining the fact that we eat chocolate in the shape off eggs and bunny rabbits was probably about as bizarre to the Ecuadorians as it was for me watching a person dressed as Jesus parading through the streets getting whipped - so I guess we're even.
Later, we were finally ready to leave for the beach. That however, is when things started to go wrong. Actually that's not technically true - they started going wrong much earlier that day, when heavy rains had caused a large landslide on a road near the town of Santa Domingo - the same road which just happens to be the route to get to Canoa. This meant we would have to loop north past Mindo before heading back down (south-west) - and it thus would certainly add an extra three hours (maybe more) to our already 5 hour ride. After filling our bus up with all the backpackers - we set off for the shortest journey in history. No sooner had we set off than we realised the brakes were not working to full capacity. So back we went. There were many more buses at La Guayunga - they have tons of the damn things......but thats when the excuses came. I would have been happy if they had just said we couldn't go - but no, our hopes were raised and dashed a least four times with promises of another bus. One excuse followed after another, to the point of amusement - when we all decided we just wern't going to make it to the beach that weekend. With disappointment setting in - my good friends - Sarah and Kimberley, and myself decided how to salvage the rest of the weekend - and so we all decided pretty quickly......that Papallacta was our saviour!!!
Papallacta was a good alternative. It was a place I had wanted to go for a while. Its only a 90 minute bus ride away and can therefore easily be done as a day trip. Everyone that we spoke to who had been there said it was worth a visit, so, that Saturday morning - Sarah, Kimberley and myself went to see what all the fuss was about. Papallacta is a small modest town, situated at 3300m (asl) out in the Andes. The town would likely never be visited by tourists except that it has one special gift - thermal hot-pools which are dashed all over the place and which are also nicely heated (to about 40 Degrees Celcius) by the activity of the nearby Antisana Volcano. Because of its location and altitude, Papallacta has a general air temperature that is cold and hence the appeal of the thermal pools are that much more desirable.
Once we reached Papallacta, we naturally headed straight to a thermal watery location, getting out of the cold morning breeze and straight into the natural bath. Locals say the thermal waters in Papallacta have healing powers, but with the amount of local people that filled the pools soon after we arrived - I can't imagine any water so cramed full of kids could have anything healing about it. It was still very pleasant and we stayed for the entire morning though.
Later that day we checked out the town. There isn't really much to see there but it's setting (surrounded by Andean peaks) is pretty amazing. Before we took the bus back to Quito I did manage to have a typical Ecuadorian lunch which was made amusing by the soup. They are known to put all sorts of things into the soups here in Ecuador. Most are very tasty and you just have to move aside the unedible piece of meat that is floating in it. So, when I got asked which option of soup I would like, of the choices: A. Cows Hooves Soup or B. Chicken Soup, I naturally went for option B. I was then very shocked but not suprised to see chickens testicles floating in my dish. Sarah had great fun making jokes about my meal while I awkwardly tried to eat my soup, and avoid picking up a testicle by mistake. I don't normally play with my food - my mother always told me that was bad manners, but this eating escapde soon turned into the game.....dodging testicles - and there was three of them as well.......three!!! I can't say it was a meal I want to remember but equally it will be one I won't be able to forget in a hurry. With that in my mind, we headed back to the Capital. I still had one day left of the three day weekend - and I decided to do very little with it. Despite the many disasters that had occurred along the way during this holiday - there were moments in that weekend that will be thought upon with great fondness one day. One day far away it has to be said............but one day nonetheless.
A World Of Many Cultures
This period of time was an interesting one for me. I learnt a lot about people, cultures and how different the world is depending on where you are in it at the time, but equally how people, when it comes down to it - really aren't that different from one location to the next. For about 7 months I had been seeing an Ecuadorian girl called Diana. I knew relationships were different in this part of the world just by speaking to other friends (foreigners) who had had relationships with South Americans. The way most English people have a relationship is pretty different to those here in Ecuador and it comes down to a number of factors I believe. Firstly most Ecuadorian men or women will tell their partners they are in love with them after about 3 days of knowing them. For me this is a slight issue. I have had a friend here who was asked by her Ecuadorian boyfriend to marry her after a few weeks - the proposal took place in KFC. I have had another friend who, three hours after meeting a girl in a bar, broke down crying saying she loved him and was upset because she thought she was being used. Families here are also very important, to the point that if you have a girlfriend or boyfriend you will generally meet their family after your second or third time of meeting your potential partner. Most people in England that I know (including myself) will wait a considerable amount of time before introducing them to the Family. Then there are all the other cultural differences thrown into the mix and the language barrier to overcome. All in all, it is challenging having a relationship with someone from this part of the world, especially if you are not from it. Of course relationships are often challenging anyway and the points I am making are clearly generalities. There are some Ecuadorian men and women who do not fall into the brackets I have just laid out - Im just telling you this from personal experiences and those from friends.
All in all, the relationship I had with Diana was great and I learnt a lot about people from parts of the world that I am not familiar with. My Spanish greatly improved too as Diana didn't really speak English at all. The reason we ended things was because I had always said to Diana that I was likely going to be leaving Ecuador around the end of May (2011) - in a month and a half from now. It was never definate, it still isn't, but leaving around this time was always and still is - likely. At first things were fine because my end-date was quite some time away - but as time went on, Diana started to change. In the end it resulted in our break-up - because the thought of me leaving the country made it too dificult to stay with me at all. I have travelled the world for the last 3 years more or less and am used to going through this process with other women. But with those, we have stayed together until I, or she, departed. Leaving people generally is the biggest downfall about continually travelling but in past experiences it was always the departure that forced the break-up, not the thought of the departure. To me this was hard to get my head around. In the end we decided to go our seperate ways even though deep down she didn't want to, and I still don't know if I am actually leaving Ecuador yet anyway - it's a bizarre situation!!! Speaking to other friends about this though - they all told me similar stories of friends or themselves who had gone through the same situation, where leaving each other early was easier than waiting until departure day. I guess that despite all the cultural differences, speaking different languages and just being surrounded by a different world for all of your life - it doesn't really matter where you come from - deep down, with basic feelings, people are all the same, and to me - thats a comforting thought. For me though........ life moves on.
Earthquakes & Weirdness - In Ecuador & Around The Globe
The earthquake in Ecuador popped up quite unexpectedly for me, as I had lived in Quito for well over a year and not felt even a murmur before this. Actually thats all this really was. I was sitting on my bed when the room started shaking. It was a bizarre feeling and quite difficult to explain actually. I knew straight away that it was an earthquake, so I wasn't suprised when I went into work the next day and film crews where there, interviewing my boss about it. The earthquake was small - barely larger than a Mw = 4, but it was shallow and quite a few Ecuadorians felt it in the capital. Of all the people at work though, I was one of the only ones to feel it beneath my feet. A few weeks later however, a much larger earthquake would shock the world. The Mw = 9.0 earthquake which struck off the coast of Japan was so powerful and so devastating that it will take years for many to get their lives back in order. The tsunami, which swept across the Pacific Ocean due to that quake was the main concern for us here in Ecuador. Everyone in the institute suddenly dropped everything and concentrated soley on what was going on over on the other side of the Pacific. The Ecuadorian coast was ultimately evacuated, with some damage later being caused out in the Galapagos and Ecuador´s mainland coast. Our seismometers naturally picked up the event - with the seismic waves arriving about 20 minutes after the quake - thats how long it took to reach us from Japan. The earthquake itself was of immense scale - forming one of the most powerful earthquakes seen in recorded history. The energy released during that one event was the same as all the energy used by the United States in one month!!! It will be remembered for many years to come.
My life in Quito during this time continued as normal. A religious festival popped up, where lots of kids dressed in traditional Ecuadorian and Indigenous clothing and paraded through the streets of Quito's Historic Old Town. Flower petals were thrown over them from the sidewalk and someone was holding a large statue of Jesus on a cross, above his head. Im not really sure what it was all about but it was an interesting affair. Traditions and cultures are very different when you compare them to England for example, and I guess thats expected - but it still shocks me nontheless. In fact, some things pop up when you least expect them to in this country and shock you time and time again..............
A particularly odd thing happened to me quite recently - I got on a bus!!! It wasn't the getting on the bus that was odd - it was I got on the bus without knowing where I was going or actually what the hell was going on at all. It started when Sarah and I were walking down our street deciding where to eat. It was around 6.30pm. On the way to the Chinese restaurant - we bumped into Antonio who is part of the family that owns the La Guayunga Hostal where we both stay. He said he was taking a group of Ecuadorian dancers down south for the evening (La Guayunga has a bus service) and did we want to come along for the ride. We grabbed take-away Chinese and jumped in. It turned out that when he said south - we didn't quite understand how far south. We drove all the way to a small town just outside Latacunga which is about a 3 hour ride from Quito. When we got there the dancers got dressed in colourful but slightly odd garments. It was a small village we had ended up in and all everyone wanted to do was give out food and drink. It seemed to be a party!!!
Actually it wasn't a party at all - it was a funeral. Apparently a very important person in the village - perhaps the chief or someone like that had passed away and instead of sitting around chatting and eating sandwiches - they have a big party type affair. Everyone had gathered in the town hall and the dancers we had brought from Quito were supposedly no ordinary dancers. They were called all the way from the capital to perform two special dances and then go back home. We must have brought about 12 or so dancers. The men were dressed like munks and the women were robed in brightly coloured dresses. Then they performed some religious dance which I didn't quite understand the significance of but which generally involved dancing around in a circle and waving the cross around. During the dances I spent a lot of time admiring the scenes before me but would also glance over at Sarah once in a while with the look of 'where are we' and 'what have we landed ourselves into this time'. Once the two dances were over, we left. The villagers continued the fiesta without us as the dancers job was done. The dancers picked up a few bottles of alcohol for their own party as we headed back for the return to Quito.
Shrotly after the event, before we left for home, Antonio said to me that it was quite common for people to have a party like this when someone dies - especially someone important. He asked me how I wanted to go - one day of course.......so I said to him I wanted my body to be shot into space, to orbit the planet for all eternity - and everyone to have a dance and a big party at the space shuttle launch site. He gave me the same look I gave Sarah when we were watching the religious dance...........utter bewilderment!!!
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Otavalo
Otavalo is one of those tourist destinations that every backpacker coming through Ecuador usually makes a trip to. It lies just a few hours north of Quito and is easily visited as a day trip. It is famous for its market, which on a Saturday in full swing is considered one of the largest in South America. People who come to Quito usually do a trip to Otavalo within their first few days. I had now been living in Ecuador for 1 year and 4 months and still had not yet made it to Otavalo. I was about to change that.
So one Saturday, with Jefferson, Sarah and a whole host of other friends - we all jumped in the mini-bus run by the La Guayunga Hostal and headed north. First we stopped at a few places along the way - one of which was the equator. I had been to the equator before in Ecuador - to the place where most tourists venture to - but this place was different. Being a line - the equator gives a lot of opportunities for people to set up a sign and make money. This part of the equator (confirmed by GPS) was for scientific experiments though. We were given a demonstration of all things equatory, told about the work that they do here and was even persuaded (well kind of persuaded) to take their view that the world map should be tilted on its side (90 degrees) so that it follows the sun. What they are basically saying is that Greenwich is not in fact the centre of the planet and England is therefore not the motherland - which I don´t buy for a second. We all know it is!!! We then later headed to some viewpoints - mainly of stunning lakes and even an odd volcano or two, before we finally made it to Otavalo.
Otavalo really is a huge market. There are several different types of stalls. One selling all food items like herbs and spices, fruits and breads and even meats. Then there are the clothes stalls offering traditional garments of different varieties and which are mostly made of Alpaca (the wool from a special breed of small llama). There are then stalls selling art and jewellery, hammocks and sunglasses, rugs and souvenirs. Then all you have to do is multiply each of those types of stalls by 50 and you have Otavalo Market. There wasn´t anything I really wanted but it was nice to walk around in the sun chatting and looking. I am a bit of a pro when it comes to haggling for goods too (as you have to do in Otavalo), which stems from my days travelling in Asia. I was therefore suprised whan they wouldn´t sell Jefferson a hammock for US$12 and a kiss (from Jefferson of course). Oh, my bargaining techniques just arn´t what they used to be. Perhaps more worryingly was when we asked how much for the sellers baby and she said US$2000. I assumed it was a joke.
After some wondering for a few hours, we stopped to rest and have lunch in a great (organic) restaurant. It was one of our friends (Kimberley´s) birthday, so we got her a small cake and a candle to blow out too. We didn´t have time to check out the animal market (which would have been interesting), but we did later take a short drive through the town of Otavalo and out again to see some waterfalls. It was about a 20 minute walk and the waterfall was pretty impressive. There was even a small cave to explore.
After a full day out we took the ride back to Quito. I was glad I got a chance to finally see Otavalo and one of the largest markets in all of South America..............I guess next time I should actually buy something!!!
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Sick!!!
So it took me one year and three months to become properly ill in South America. I guess thats not bad going. I mean of course I have had a dodgy stomach from time to time - everyone does. This is Ecuador - where once a year every local gets tested for parasites. Living among both travelers and Ecuadorians alike, I have seen it all here; backpackers having food poisoning and stomach infections, weird plants that can somehow, if touched, allow a fungus to grow inside your skin; altitude sickness; and a whole host of other horrible things. The Amazon Jungle especially is a place where you can catch the weirdest of nasty, body-infesting bugs. That place is so full of life (and transferrable life) that you cant even take a wee in an Amazonian river. You have to be careful in this part of the world.
Normally I wouldn´t soley devote a blog about becoming ill - but it did take up three weeks of my life and will affect it for many more months afterwards. The thing is I didn´t really have any symptoms. Yes I had a dodgy stomach, which I believed started in the Galapagos - but everyone gets a dodgy stomach there - its the place to get ill. I assumed it would eventually go as it usually does - but this time I was wrong. After two months - I went to see a doctor. I can´t exactly tell you what I had - my doctor wrote the names of all my problems on a piece of paper, but doctors are renouned for having indiscernable hand-writing and this was also in Spanish - I mean what chance did I have!!! The main problem was spelled out to me as a liver infection - and I don´t even drink that much - I promise!!!
I think I got my liver infection from dodgy food or from the water as my doctor later told me part of it was caused by the Hepatitis virus - Im not sure exactly which one but I think it was A. Whichever it was it had caused all sorts of havoc in my body. As a result I was instantly put on a course of hard-core medication. I will very briefly bulletpoint everything that I went through over the space of a three week period;
1. Injections (x3) - into my arse!!!
2. Pills (x93) of five different varieties - some where the size of a small rodent!!!
3. IVF drips (x24) of three different varieties. Possible medical reason for IVF treatment - to make my urine glow in the dark. Probable other medical reason - not specified!!!
4. Liquid medicine (x1) - Tasted like Calpol - so nearly overdosed!!!
5. Electrolyte drinks (x3) - coconut flavour.
6. Unable to eat anything (x50 hours). Early Yom Kippur........complete!!!
7. Blood / urine tests (x2) - taken by abnormally small Ecuadorian doctor. Note to others: he may be a child - no way to tell!!!
8. Money (x US$750) - its lucky I couldn´t eat or drink much during this time - I couldn´t afford to!!!
After basically all that - which could easily be thought of as more medical procedures and medication than would be needed for open heart surgery, I proved to be a perfectly healthy individual in the end - at least I think I did!!! There was some repercussions though. I am now not allowed to eat fatty foods (eggs, pork, chips, chocolate) for the next 3 months and booze of all varieties is also out for 2 months too. How im going to survive without these basic food groups is beyond me. Drinking is the only way to get through an Ecuadorian day. If it wasn´t a liver infection I would have asked for another IVF drip of pure vodka to be administered into my other arm!!! Actually, Im not a big drinker and despite my physical craving for chips and chocolate - I should be able to get through the next few months unscathed. Im glad my body is now healed. I think the problems started from eating something dodgy but I can´t be sure. Still you have to be careful what you eat out here - you don´t want to end up getting something nasty. Hmmm, Im hungry - I think I´ll have fried Guinea Pig tonight.........................
Cuenca, Loja, Malacatos & Vilcabamba - All For Carnival
I had decided some time ago that I wanted to head down to the southern stretches of Ecuador when I next had the opportunity. Luckily this country is full of excuses for some time-off so I was naturally very happy when Carnival came along!!! The south of Ecuador is some distance away from Quito, especially if you take any form of transport that is not either an aeroplane or a NASA licensed space-rocket. Carnival would give me four days off work and so it seemed like a perfect time to check out parts of the country that had yet to be explored by my curiosity. This was possibly (although at the time unknown) the last chance I would get to head to this part of Ecuador too - as its some distance away.
The bus from Quito to Loja reminded me of my days of backpacking, as hours of time slipped away upon the ever rolling wheels of our vehicle. It took myself and Diana (along with some members of her family) 13 hours to reach Loja from Quito. We achieved this feat over night so luckily the gift of sleep made our journey feel that much shorter.
The first thing we did, after some family hello´s (Diana has family in Loja) and after some planning of the next few days - was to look around this new and unexplored town - well, at least unexplored to me. All of the places we were visiting were still located along Ecuador's central stretch know as the Sierra (mountain region), which forms the Andes. Thus, where-ever your eyes drift, they don't have to wander too far before being transfixed onto the high peaks which continually surround you. Loja is a relatively small mountain town, known in Ecuador for being very clean and well run. It had the first local council to introduce recycling and by walking around - it does appear to have an air of cleanliness to it.
There isn´t a load of touristy things to do in Loja but it is nice just to be there. We walked around, observing the churches and plazas that fill this area. We also headed out to a very cool little park. Inside were small versions of world famous buildings from around the world. It was like walking across the planet in an hour or two. They also had people sized chess boards and other oddities of that nature. Normally I would say that you could walk inside that park and forget which country you were still in, that is until I noticed some strange penned-in areas housing ostriches and later I spotted a small goat tied to a random tree - such absurdity can only be found in Ecuador!!!
Later that day, after lunch with 40 of Diana's family members (and thats just her fathers side), we headed off about 30 minutes further south to a small town called Malacatos. Diana's cousin (mothers side) owns a sort of holiday home there. Surrounded by nothing but mountains and vegetation, this tranquil spot is the perfect location to get away and do nothing. The place was like a huge farm house although there were only a few chickens around the place and the odd mischievious dog. We set up the music, got the food on and the liquor out and started the Carnival celebrations. We also played Ecua-Volley - which is basically volley ball with an extra high net. I used my abnormal height advantage to my streghth!!??!!??!!
The following day started with a huge water fight. Nobody was spared. Behind the house is what looks like a large fountain but actually can be converted into a hot-tub. This provided the fuel for the water fighting mayhem. By the end of it all everyone was soaked as keeping with tradition for an Ecuadorian Carnival.
Later that day we took the hour trip further south to a place called Vilcabamba. Its odd - Vilcabamba is like many of the other small towns in this part of the world. It has stunning mountain scenery, a fresh, clean air about it and is quiet enough to go about doing nothing and not be noticed by anyone. The difference with Vilcabamba is sometime ago a tourist popped through here, loved all the out-door naturey things and then told a load of other tourists about it. Why Vilcabamba became the town to visit for backpackers im not quite sure. It does have perfect weather for hiking and horseback riding and other things of that nature, yet a lot of places in this part of the country do. Still it is an amazing place with a laid back vibe - and we had come here because Diana´s family (fathers side) were celebrating a birthday. It was Diana´s aunts 50th and she owned an amazing holiday home in this tranquil part of the country. It was located quite close to the main town centre (if you can call it that), but was positioned up high, perched on the side of a large hill - with a stunning view from all angles. There was perhaps 50 or more people at this party, with food and drink, games and dancing - you name it, it was all happening. I got to meet a lot of the family - but mostly spent my time talking to the youngsters. Diana has about 4 cousins of similar age to us (mid 20´s) and they were all really great guys. They actually all live in Quito and one of them even studies at the Politecnica University where I work. We all arranged to meet up in Quito for a night out.
The party was in full swing for quite some hours. It was a fantastic event in a great location. After the party (or at least towards the end of it) Diana and I had to leave. We took a series of buses to our final destination - Cuenca. It was a bit of a mission - we first had to take a bus from Vilcabamba to Loja and then a night-bus on to Cuenca. We ended up arriving at some ridiculous hour in the morning but had booked a nice hotel to treat ourselves after spending so many nights on a moving vehicle. When we woke up - we finally got the chance to see Cuenca.
Cuenca is quite unique in Ecuador I would say. Its a relatively large town but is famous for its cobblestone streets and colonial buildings - some of which are on grand scales. Cuenca´s historic centre is now a Unesco World Heritage SIte and it´s easy to understand why. Huge Cathedrals, soaring steeples and an old-world feeling about the place makes Cuenca an interesting and beautiful city for just walking through!!! There are so many churches and plazas of all shapes and sizes its difficult to get around them all. However, Cuenca is generally not a place too many Ecuadorians come for Carnival, in fact, many of them left for the coast. The town centre was therefore a bit of a ghost-town. We pretty much had the streets to ourselves - apart from the odd local who would randomly throw a water-bomb at us when we were least expecting it. That is the tradition here in this country for Carnival so you just have to accept that you are going to get wet and get involved yourself. Actually it was a lovely hot and sunny day so no-one complained about a bit of water.
We walked the plazas and saw the grand churches. We ate in cool, continental restaurants and we walked along the river - Rio Tomebamba. We even headed to a large park where most of the town had congregated for a big concert and party. At night we found another even larger fiesta, with food, alcohol and music. Suddenly all the Cuencan´s popped out from no-where and created a great event. The water fight didn´t stop and now foam was also added in to the chaos. It was a lot of fun though.
Later that night we took the 9 hour bus back to Quito, arriving in the capital early in the morning. It was a great trip, despite all the traveling and bus rides. In three days I got to see four amazing locations and experience some great things, both with just me and Diana or with her whole family. Unfortunately is was back to work - but with only a three day week - I counted down the days to the weekend..............and for more Ecuadorian fun!!!
