Our trip to the jungle was followed by a bus ride through central Ecuador to a place called Baños. In English, Baños means ´baths´ so you can safely assume hot springs were in plentiful supply. Actually, it´s kind of like the Ecuadorian equivalent to Queenstown, but not as touristy and cheaper. We were only here for one full day so I couldn´t get in everything I wanted to do sightseeing-wise, but it was probably good nonetheless as we were fairly rushed in the end.
Baños is located in the shadow of Mt Tungurahua, which is probably Ecuador´s most active volcano. Only a few weeks before I got there it had been going crazy, so I was pretty keen to see some lava spewing forth. Unfortunately, I only saw big ash plumes spewing forth but it was good to see anyway.
Our big activity whilst we were here was to check out a number of impressive waterfalls along the local river. We biked about 30 km in total and saw about 5 or 6 waterfalls. The most impressive was the final one, named Pailon del Diablo or ´Pot of the Devil´. It´s obvious when you you see the waterfall why its a pot, but the face of a devil in the side of the cliff was a bit more of a stretch. When I have posted photos you can make up your own mind!
Also as part of our bike tour, we did some canyoning. For those of you not familiar with this (like me prior to actually doing it) canyoning is pretty much abseiling down waterfalls. We went down five waterfalls and it was a great sensation having the water cascade over you as you descended. It took us a few hours to do the five waterfalls, with probably the highest being maybe 25 to 30 metres high. A really enjoyable day and one that tired us all out. I think I would like to do a lot more canyoning in the future after this experience.
Baños was a nice quaint town and it´s somewhere I would like to go back to if I return to Ecuador. We were going to go to a lookout at night to check out lava coming out of the mountain, but as we were all too knackered from the biking and canyoning, coupled with the fact we had a long bus ride to Cuenca the next day, we all had an early night. Oh and yes, as indicated by the title, we did get to the hot pools and have a splash around. It was actually like bathing in dirty bath water (colourwise) but it was steaming hot and soothed the joints nicely!
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Friday, 23 March 2007
Jungle Fever
After a few more days in Quito with my tour group (hopefully I will get around to posting a blog about them - sort of a pen portrait blog) we headed out of the city for a taste of the Ecuadorian Amazon. As you may know the Amazon is huge and refers to the greater jungle area that includes the Amazon river. Back in the day a Spaniard, who I understand was mates with Pizarro of pillage Inca gold fame, named Francisco de Orellana set out from Quito and made it to the Rio Napo, which runs from the east of Ecuador and forms the Rio Amazonas (Amazon River) with another river, the name of which escapes me at the moment. He and his mates ended up going all the way across the continent and out of the other side in the Atlantic Ocean. Quite a feat if I do say so myself.
So with the above in mind, I begun my Amazon adventure. We flew from Quito to Puerto Francisco de Orellana (or commonly known as Coca) which took a measly 30 minutes. Normally it would take about 9 hours by bus so I am happy we flew! Pretty much as soon as we got to Coca we jumped on a motorised canoe for a two hour trip down river to a place called (now don´t get confused) Francisco de Orellana where we trekked into our jungle lodge named La Selva (which actually means the jungle in Español). The lodge was situated on the shore of an ox bow lake. These are lakes that are formed by meanders of bigger rivers, in this case the Rio Napa. The lodge had a number of cabins and a big central hut that housed the bar and dining area.
Upon our arrival we were greated with passionfruit and rum cocktails and a lovely spread of fruit and chicken. Mmmmm chicken. I shared a room with the only other guy on our tour, Simon the Pom from Newcastle. Living in the jungle isn´t as bad as it sounds and we had hot running water, beds with mosquito nets, and a hammock on our porch.
Without boring you with too much detail we spent four days exploring the jungle, canoeing on the lake, checking out the wildlife, sweating profusely, taking muchas siestas, and fending off the mossies. A big highlight was our night walk through the jungle where we spied various grasshoppers and stick insects mating (some of our group took a lot of pictures of this for some reason!!!), and the big daddy of the jungle was also sighted, twice. When I say big daddy I mean a tarantula. We saw two different types, both hairy, but one was friendly and the other was poisonous and likes to jump at people.
The lake itself was pretty murky, and was home to piranhas, caimans (a small type of croc), and electric eels among other things. Needless to say I just had to get in for a swim and did so on two occasions. It was actually quite disconcerting being in there with all those other creatures but as I had no gaping wounds I was fine.
Simon and I also being the typical macho sporty guys paddled the canoe for one lake excursion. It was tough going at first as it wasn´t as easy as a small canoe (this one seated 15 people!) but after lots of criticism from the girls (who never offered to paddle mind you) we got the hang of it and finally navigated our way back safely to shore. We never got tipped though funnily enough.
I only managed to get one bite whilst I was in the jungle. To this day I don´t know what it was as I lay down on my hammock one afternoon and felt something bite me. It swelled up a little and after taking a few antihistamines I was right as rain. Some of the girls got eaten alive and had nice lumps developing. Being the only two guys in a bug infested jungle lodge, Simon and I got called out a wee bit to stomp on spiders and other creepy crawlies.
I must admit that in the heat and humity of the jungle you work up a bit of a sweat. You can´t go more than two minutes without the first beads dripping down your head and back, and so it doesn´t make it comfortable at the best of times. Its nice when it rains as it cools you off and the sweat mingles with the water cascading out of the sky. On one trip I was so sweaty that I didn´t even bother putting on my poncho. In terms of looks the jungle is quite similar to some of the forest back home in NZ, and at times I swear I could have been on a cub camp or a Duke of Edinburgh hike somewhere. But I can never remember being so sweaty on any of those expeditions. Maybe I am just getting too old!
Being of true Anglo-Saxon stock and the Cricket World Cup having started the day we left for the jungle, we had to get a game in sometime. A bit of old wood and a fruit resembling an oversized kiwifruit, except much harder, were all we needed for a game. With Poms and Aussies you can imagine the rivalry was intense. But after our third 'ball' distengrated after only two overs we decided to call stumps. That and the fact that the sweat had already begun to appear in bucket loads!
It was a wonderful trip to the jungle, but it was also nice to get back to Quito for a change of climate, some washing, and a nice shower in water that wasn´t from a dirty lake full of creepy crawlies. One of the girls ran out of ciggies in the jungle so she was happy to get back to civilsation and a packet of fags!
So with the above in mind, I begun my Amazon adventure. We flew from Quito to Puerto Francisco de Orellana (or commonly known as Coca) which took a measly 30 minutes. Normally it would take about 9 hours by bus so I am happy we flew! Pretty much as soon as we got to Coca we jumped on a motorised canoe for a two hour trip down river to a place called (now don´t get confused) Francisco de Orellana where we trekked into our jungle lodge named La Selva (which actually means the jungle in Español). The lodge was situated on the shore of an ox bow lake. These are lakes that are formed by meanders of bigger rivers, in this case the Rio Napa. The lodge had a number of cabins and a big central hut that housed the bar and dining area.
Upon our arrival we were greated with passionfruit and rum cocktails and a lovely spread of fruit and chicken. Mmmmm chicken. I shared a room with the only other guy on our tour, Simon the Pom from Newcastle. Living in the jungle isn´t as bad as it sounds and we had hot running water, beds with mosquito nets, and a hammock on our porch.
Without boring you with too much detail we spent four days exploring the jungle, canoeing on the lake, checking out the wildlife, sweating profusely, taking muchas siestas, and fending off the mossies. A big highlight was our night walk through the jungle where we spied various grasshoppers and stick insects mating (some of our group took a lot of pictures of this for some reason!!!), and the big daddy of the jungle was also sighted, twice. When I say big daddy I mean a tarantula. We saw two different types, both hairy, but one was friendly and the other was poisonous and likes to jump at people.
The lake itself was pretty murky, and was home to piranhas, caimans (a small type of croc), and electric eels among other things. Needless to say I just had to get in for a swim and did so on two occasions. It was actually quite disconcerting being in there with all those other creatures but as I had no gaping wounds I was fine.
Simon and I also being the typical macho sporty guys paddled the canoe for one lake excursion. It was tough going at first as it wasn´t as easy as a small canoe (this one seated 15 people!) but after lots of criticism from the girls (who never offered to paddle mind you) we got the hang of it and finally navigated our way back safely to shore. We never got tipped though funnily enough.
I only managed to get one bite whilst I was in the jungle. To this day I don´t know what it was as I lay down on my hammock one afternoon and felt something bite me. It swelled up a little and after taking a few antihistamines I was right as rain. Some of the girls got eaten alive and had nice lumps developing. Being the only two guys in a bug infested jungle lodge, Simon and I got called out a wee bit to stomp on spiders and other creepy crawlies.
I must admit that in the heat and humity of the jungle you work up a bit of a sweat. You can´t go more than two minutes without the first beads dripping down your head and back, and so it doesn´t make it comfortable at the best of times. Its nice when it rains as it cools you off and the sweat mingles with the water cascading out of the sky. On one trip I was so sweaty that I didn´t even bother putting on my poncho. In terms of looks the jungle is quite similar to some of the forest back home in NZ, and at times I swear I could have been on a cub camp or a Duke of Edinburgh hike somewhere. But I can never remember being so sweaty on any of those expeditions. Maybe I am just getting too old!
Being of true Anglo-Saxon stock and the Cricket World Cup having started the day we left for the jungle, we had to get a game in sometime. A bit of old wood and a fruit resembling an oversized kiwifruit, except much harder, were all we needed for a game. With Poms and Aussies you can imagine the rivalry was intense. But after our third 'ball' distengrated after only two overs we decided to call stumps. That and the fact that the sweat had already begun to appear in bucket loads!
It was a wonderful trip to the jungle, but it was also nice to get back to Quito for a change of climate, some washing, and a nice shower in water that wasn´t from a dirty lake full of creepy crawlies. One of the girls ran out of ciggies in the jungle so she was happy to get back to civilsation and a packet of fags!
Old School Quito
For those of you that don´t know, Quito is divided into two distinct areas (well for the tourists anyway). Creatively these two areas are known as Old Town and New Town. All the gringos hop it to New Town as this is safer, newer (obviously), closer to the tour operators, and slap bang in the middle of the bars, restaurants and cyber cafes. Old Town is the colonial heart of Quito and contains the most interesting architecture and cultural spots.
I headed down to the Old Town on a Sunday as it is a lot quieter in the city and, as a result, the smaller streets are not as crowded. The architecture of the buildings is how you expect them to be in South America from all those cinematic portrayals of Spanish style buildings. Those of you from Hastings think the Opera House or whatever it´s called.
There are a number of plazas that are the main sort of hubs in Old Town. Generally if you head towards those you find the more interesting churches and buildings, as well as seeing the locals congregating.
My first port of call was Plaza Santo Domingo. There wasn´t much to see there but I took some snaps of Iglesia Santo Domingo and also of the Statue of the Virgin Mary on the hill overlooking Old Town, named El Panecillo.
The next stop was the Museo de la Ciudad (or in English Museum of the City of Quito). The museum was housed in a old hospital which had two lovely internal courtyards with fountains. In one wing was a beautiful old church with a lovely gold altar and surrounds. The museum had a number of displays showing life in Quito from the colonial period of the city right up until the late 19th century.
After this museum I head up towards Plaza San Francisco but on the way my attention was grabbed by a lovely looking church named Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus. As there was no church service on at the time I had to pay a US$2 fee to get in, but boy oh boy was it worth it. My Lonely Planet guide notes that apparently 7 tonnes of gold was used to guild the interior of the church, and upon stepping into the church you knew it was all that, then some. This has to be the most inspiring church I have ever been in, it was beautifully ornate and the shine from the gold was like sunshine. If St Peter´s in Rome is just as inspiring as this church was then I can´t wait to get there! I have a policy of not taking photos in churches (and they also didn´t allow cameras inside) so unfortunately I don´t have a photo to show you just how beautiful this church was. Building of the church began in 1605 by the Jesuit order and wasn´t completed until about 1765. Just before it was finished the Jesuits got kicked out of South America and they only got the church back in the last century or so.
I finally got to Plaza San Francisco and made a beeline for the church of the same name. This is the oldest church in Quito (if not Ecuador???) and the interior, though not as beautiful as La Compañia was a good example of a baroque church. I got there just after the sermon so I stayed for the Eucharist, so I have managed to get to church one of these Sundays. Next door was the Monastery of San Francisco which holds quite an interesting museum but unfortunately it was closed.
The next stop on my Old Town Old School tour was the Plaza de la Indepencia. This square houses the presidential palace, as well as the Cathedral and another church called El Sagrario. The plaza was full of people just chillin out and I got some nice photos of the exteriors of the abovementioned buildings. The churches were closed but after La Compañia I knew they would be a let down.
By this stage I was full up on colonial architecture and strolled my merry way back to gringo town for some food and a little bit of cable television. Once again, when I sort out some photos it will add to my wonderful descriptions above!
I headed down to the Old Town on a Sunday as it is a lot quieter in the city and, as a result, the smaller streets are not as crowded. The architecture of the buildings is how you expect them to be in South America from all those cinematic portrayals of Spanish style buildings. Those of you from Hastings think the Opera House or whatever it´s called.
There are a number of plazas that are the main sort of hubs in Old Town. Generally if you head towards those you find the more interesting churches and buildings, as well as seeing the locals congregating.
My first port of call was Plaza Santo Domingo. There wasn´t much to see there but I took some snaps of Iglesia Santo Domingo and also of the Statue of the Virgin Mary on the hill overlooking Old Town, named El Panecillo.
The next stop was the Museo de la Ciudad (or in English Museum of the City of Quito). The museum was housed in a old hospital which had two lovely internal courtyards with fountains. In one wing was a beautiful old church with a lovely gold altar and surrounds. The museum had a number of displays showing life in Quito from the colonial period of the city right up until the late 19th century.
After this museum I head up towards Plaza San Francisco but on the way my attention was grabbed by a lovely looking church named Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus. As there was no church service on at the time I had to pay a US$2 fee to get in, but boy oh boy was it worth it. My Lonely Planet guide notes that apparently 7 tonnes of gold was used to guild the interior of the church, and upon stepping into the church you knew it was all that, then some. This has to be the most inspiring church I have ever been in, it was beautifully ornate and the shine from the gold was like sunshine. If St Peter´s in Rome is just as inspiring as this church was then I can´t wait to get there! I have a policy of not taking photos in churches (and they also didn´t allow cameras inside) so unfortunately I don´t have a photo to show you just how beautiful this church was. Building of the church began in 1605 by the Jesuit order and wasn´t completed until about 1765. Just before it was finished the Jesuits got kicked out of South America and they only got the church back in the last century or so.
I finally got to Plaza San Francisco and made a beeline for the church of the same name. This is the oldest church in Quito (if not Ecuador???) and the interior, though not as beautiful as La Compañia was a good example of a baroque church. I got there just after the sermon so I stayed for the Eucharist, so I have managed to get to church one of these Sundays. Next door was the Monastery of San Francisco which holds quite an interesting museum but unfortunately it was closed.
The next stop on my Old Town Old School tour was the Plaza de la Indepencia. This square houses the presidential palace, as well as the Cathedral and another church called El Sagrario. The plaza was full of people just chillin out and I got some nice photos of the exteriors of the abovementioned buildings. The churches were closed but after La Compañia I knew they would be a let down.
By this stage I was full up on colonial architecture and strolled my merry way back to gringo town for some food and a little bit of cable television. Once again, when I sort out some photos it will add to my wonderful descriptions above!
Friday, 16 March 2007
Ecuador Explorations
Finally I get a chance to write about my trips outside of Quito over the last week. Three major ones deserve any sort of mention.
The first was about a week ago to Cotopaxi National Park. Mt Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world at a little under 6km asl. Its a perfectly shaped mountain in the inverted V style. It took us about two hours to travel to the national park from Quito, and along the way we could see a number of other volcanoes in the area - just think Tongariro National Park with twice as many volcanoes pretty much. We arrived at the carpark on the mountain at about 4,500m asl, and hiked up 300 metres in altitude to the refugio (hut) where we had a nice lunch of bread rolls, guacamole, chocolate, crackers, apples, and some tuna salad. My stomach was still getting used to the altitude so I didn´t really eat much.
The weather was not so good unfortunately and the mountain was clouded in. After lunch we were due to head up the mountain a bit further to check out a glacier, but because of the conditions we didn´t. Apparantly, from the glacier you can see the curvature of the Earth on a sunny day. So we trekked back down to the carpark and then the fun downhill park started. We were all given these dodgy mountain bikes to ride down the mountain. It´s been a while since I have ridden a bike, let alone one downhill so it was interesting at first. Slowly I got my confidence up and it was great fun hurtling down the mountain.
One problem. My gears didn´t work. This was okay while I was going down the mountain as I didn´t need to peddle, but when we got on the flat I got no movement at all and had to be picked up by our trailing bus! At least I wasn´t the first, two Austrians both got punctures. As we descended the mountain on the bikes, the clouds rolled away and the sun came out, so we got some beautiful views of Mt Cotopaxi. When I can sort out my camera I will post some snaps.
The group we headed up the mountain was quite mixed. Americans, Austrians, Germans, a Finn, an Israelis, and a Kiwi (me). I spent most of my time chatting to the American guys (about American Football of course!) and the Israeli guy who had just got out of the army.
After the tour we returned to a hacienda near the National Park. It is called PapaGayo and ís about 150 years old. I had this huge room to myself, and it was quite cold at the altitude we were at, so I donned all my thermals for the night´s sleep. It actually turned out to be a really warm sleep.
At dinner that night I met up with two Americans from Oregon who had returned from a stint teaching in a little village north of Quito. Laura and Kyle are a lovely couple and we had a nice dinner and all around general chat. Laura´s parents have spent a bit of time in NZ so that was cool to hear. They have been back in Quito and we have caught up a few times. They will be heading through South America for the next few months so hopefully I´ll get to catch them throughout my travels.
The day after Cotopaxi I took my second trip of note out to a place called Quilotoa. There is a crater lake there that was formed from an eruption in the 1700s. Its a beautiful blue looking lake and on sunny days (we had another cloudy day with some rain) apparantly you can see the reflection of the sky in the water. The crater rim is at 3,900m asl and the walk down takes you to about 3,600m asl. You could hire a burro to take you back up, but I decided to trek up which was well worth it.
The trip to Quilotoa took quite a while, about four hours, but on the way we stopped at a market in Sasqusili. Economists beleive this is the most important indigenous market in all of Ecuador. It was interesting enough seeing guinea pigs, raw fish sitting out in the open, and a squealing pig being put in a bag, but markets generally aren´t my thing and as always I didn´t buy anything! So much for me helping the local indigenous population.
The first was about a week ago to Cotopaxi National Park. Mt Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world at a little under 6km asl. Its a perfectly shaped mountain in the inverted V style. It took us about two hours to travel to the national park from Quito, and along the way we could see a number of other volcanoes in the area - just think Tongariro National Park with twice as many volcanoes pretty much. We arrived at the carpark on the mountain at about 4,500m asl, and hiked up 300 metres in altitude to the refugio (hut) where we had a nice lunch of bread rolls, guacamole, chocolate, crackers, apples, and some tuna salad. My stomach was still getting used to the altitude so I didn´t really eat much.
The weather was not so good unfortunately and the mountain was clouded in. After lunch we were due to head up the mountain a bit further to check out a glacier, but because of the conditions we didn´t. Apparantly, from the glacier you can see the curvature of the Earth on a sunny day. So we trekked back down to the carpark and then the fun downhill park started. We were all given these dodgy mountain bikes to ride down the mountain. It´s been a while since I have ridden a bike, let alone one downhill so it was interesting at first. Slowly I got my confidence up and it was great fun hurtling down the mountain.
One problem. My gears didn´t work. This was okay while I was going down the mountain as I didn´t need to peddle, but when we got on the flat I got no movement at all and had to be picked up by our trailing bus! At least I wasn´t the first, two Austrians both got punctures. As we descended the mountain on the bikes, the clouds rolled away and the sun came out, so we got some beautiful views of Mt Cotopaxi. When I can sort out my camera I will post some snaps.
The group we headed up the mountain was quite mixed. Americans, Austrians, Germans, a Finn, an Israelis, and a Kiwi (me). I spent most of my time chatting to the American guys (about American Football of course!) and the Israeli guy who had just got out of the army.
After the tour we returned to a hacienda near the National Park. It is called PapaGayo and ís about 150 years old. I had this huge room to myself, and it was quite cold at the altitude we were at, so I donned all my thermals for the night´s sleep. It actually turned out to be a really warm sleep.
At dinner that night I met up with two Americans from Oregon who had returned from a stint teaching in a little village north of Quito. Laura and Kyle are a lovely couple and we had a nice dinner and all around general chat. Laura´s parents have spent a bit of time in NZ so that was cool to hear. They have been back in Quito and we have caught up a few times. They will be heading through South America for the next few months so hopefully I´ll get to catch them throughout my travels.
The day after Cotopaxi I took my second trip of note out to a place called Quilotoa. There is a crater lake there that was formed from an eruption in the 1700s. Its a beautiful blue looking lake and on sunny days (we had another cloudy day with some rain) apparantly you can see the reflection of the sky in the water. The crater rim is at 3,900m asl and the walk down takes you to about 3,600m asl. You could hire a burro to take you back up, but I decided to trek up which was well worth it.
The trip to Quilotoa took quite a while, about four hours, but on the way we stopped at a market in Sasqusili. Economists beleive this is the most important indigenous market in all of Ecuador. It was interesting enough seeing guinea pigs, raw fish sitting out in the open, and a squealing pig being put in a bag, but markets generally aren´t my thing and as always I didn´t buy anything! So much for me helping the local indigenous population.
I tried some Llama at Quilotoa and it was quite tasty. It looks like, has the texture of, and tastes like beef. I am pretty keen to get my hands on some more during my travels, along with the guinea pig or cuy as the locals call it. No doubt they will not be my only strange gastronomic experiences onmy travels through South America.
On my Quilotoa tour were a lovely couple from Paris, Sylvie and Frederic. Sylvie used to be an intrepreter so her English was pretty good, and it was nice to talk to her about France. They were climbing most of the volcanoes in the area, culminating in a climb that begun at midnight and ended about sunrise up Mt Cotopaxi. They gave me their contact details so hopefully I have somewhere to stay when I go to Paris.
My third tour of note was out to Mitad del Mundo, or the Equator. Its actually not only regarded as the Equator but the actual middle of the world. Hence the name. I had no problems getting out there on the bus, it´s about 22km from Quito. So to all of my friends who had trouble getting out there, bah humbug! Just kidding.
The Equator is an interesting place actually. There is a major tourist spot which has a huge monument showing the European calculated position of the Equator and recognising the efforts of the French guys who first calculated the spot. This place was kinda weird though, it was like a Disneyland for the Equator but in a bad way. A better analogy for those of you who have been to Splash Planet/Fantasyland is Noddy Town with bigger buildings and just as few people. It was funny jumping backwards and forwards across the Equator. The first time I had this strange feeling that a laser would shoot out of the monument and vaporise me a la Indiana Jones. I spent a few hours here but as it was only fitting, most of it was taken up by having a few drinks with Simon from my GAP tour who came out to the Equator with me.
Next door is a funny little free museum run by these five guys who say that the Disneyland Equator is incorrect and that the actual one is approximately 200 metres away. They base this on a nearby mountain where there was an ancient temple built and also the position of the sun at the summer and winter equinoxes. It was interesting to get a different perspective. They gave us a talk about how it was calculated by the pre-Inca cultures in Ecuador and it was all very interesting. I should have asked them who shot JFK, they may have had an idea about that too.
It doesn´t end there though. A little further down the road is a third Equator, this one apparantly is calculated by GPS. So you can imagine as I had been shown three Equators I was getting a bit cynical! However, the final spot was the most intersting palce. The museum, called Inti-Nan, has more than just the Equator v3, but has a few interesting indigenous exhibits, including a shrunken head. The guide we had was really friendly and informative so I tipped him a buck. So generous of me eh! They also carried out a few experiments that you can do at the Equator, like balancing an egg on a nail, and the standard water down a plug hole test. It was all good fun, and I don´t know if it´s all strictly for real, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
One thing that cracked me up about the day, was that it rained pretty much as soon as we got to Mitad del Mundo. You hardly expect it to rain at the Ecuador don´t you! All in all though it was a great day out an about. When I sort out some photos I will post some of the more interesting ones for your perusal. Hopefully, they will enlighten my blabber above!
On my Quilotoa tour were a lovely couple from Paris, Sylvie and Frederic. Sylvie used to be an intrepreter so her English was pretty good, and it was nice to talk to her about France. They were climbing most of the volcanoes in the area, culminating in a climb that begun at midnight and ended about sunrise up Mt Cotopaxi. They gave me their contact details so hopefully I have somewhere to stay when I go to Paris.
My third tour of note was out to Mitad del Mundo, or the Equator. Its actually not only regarded as the Equator but the actual middle of the world. Hence the name. I had no problems getting out there on the bus, it´s about 22km from Quito. So to all of my friends who had trouble getting out there, bah humbug! Just kidding.
The Equator is an interesting place actually. There is a major tourist spot which has a huge monument showing the European calculated position of the Equator and recognising the efforts of the French guys who first calculated the spot. This place was kinda weird though, it was like a Disneyland for the Equator but in a bad way. A better analogy for those of you who have been to Splash Planet/Fantasyland is Noddy Town with bigger buildings and just as few people. It was funny jumping backwards and forwards across the Equator. The first time I had this strange feeling that a laser would shoot out of the monument and vaporise me a la Indiana Jones. I spent a few hours here but as it was only fitting, most of it was taken up by having a few drinks with Simon from my GAP tour who came out to the Equator with me.
Next door is a funny little free museum run by these five guys who say that the Disneyland Equator is incorrect and that the actual one is approximately 200 metres away. They base this on a nearby mountain where there was an ancient temple built and also the position of the sun at the summer and winter equinoxes. It was interesting to get a different perspective. They gave us a talk about how it was calculated by the pre-Inca cultures in Ecuador and it was all very interesting. I should have asked them who shot JFK, they may have had an idea about that too.
It doesn´t end there though. A little further down the road is a third Equator, this one apparantly is calculated by GPS. So you can imagine as I had been shown three Equators I was getting a bit cynical! However, the final spot was the most intersting palce. The museum, called Inti-Nan, has more than just the Equator v3, but has a few interesting indigenous exhibits, including a shrunken head. The guide we had was really friendly and informative so I tipped him a buck. So generous of me eh! They also carried out a few experiments that you can do at the Equator, like balancing an egg on a nail, and the standard water down a plug hole test. It was all good fun, and I don´t know if it´s all strictly for real, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
One thing that cracked me up about the day, was that it rained pretty much as soon as we got to Mitad del Mundo. You hardly expect it to rain at the Ecuador don´t you! All in all though it was a great day out an about. When I sort out some photos I will post some of the more interesting ones for your perusal. Hopefully, they will enlighten my blabber above!
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
Digs
Hola
Well the computer I have logged on to today doesn't want to recognise my camera so I don't know if I am going to be able to download some photos for a while. So it's gonna be tough to explain the range of accomodation I have had since being in Quito, but hopefully my descriptive skills will be up to the task. PHOTOS NOW ADDED
The first place I lay my head down was called Hotel Rio Amazonas. This place was pretty sweet, with a nice big bed, a spacious room, a daily clean, free internet, free bottles of water, I could flush toilet paper down the loo, and the clincher, 100 channels of cable! A bit pricey at US$50 but well worth it for the first few days as I acclimatised to the culture, the language, and the altitude. As a friend of my has described it, it's probably a four star!
Well the computer I have logged on to today doesn't want to recognise my camera so I don't know if I am going to be able to download some photos for a while. So it's gonna be tough to explain the range of accomodation I have had since being in Quito, but hopefully my descriptive skills will be up to the task. PHOTOS NOW ADDED
The first place I lay my head down was called Hotel Rio Amazonas. This place was pretty sweet, with a nice big bed, a spacious room, a daily clean, free internet, free bottles of water, I could flush toilet paper down the loo, and the clincher, 100 channels of cable! A bit pricey at US$50 but well worth it for the first few days as I acclimatised to the culture, the language, and the altitude. As a friend of my has described it, it's probably a four star!
As you can imagine the US$50 per night rate was starting to eat into my savings, so I had to bail on the Rio Amazonas unfortunately. After consulting my Lonely Planet guide, or 'The Bible' as one person has described it, I settled into a hostel called 'Crossroads'. At US$15 it was considerably cheaper, but there was a reason for this. I only had a smallish double bed, a basic bathroom, a rubbish bin to put my used toilet paper in, the staff were a wee bit grumpy, andthere was no cable!!! The room was pretty dingey too and my bathroom window didn't lock so I had to wrap duct tape around it so it wouldn't flap open. Luckily no one climbed in while I was out and about and stole my gear.
This place was actually quite noisy too. There was a constant humming coming from the wall behind my bed, so I had to put my iPod on to tune out. At one stage I took my headphones off and I could hear the couple in the room next door catching up on some quality time if you get my meaning! Needless to say the headphones were back on in a flash. I stayed at this place two nights, one either side of a trip I had out of Quito to Cotopaxi National Park and Quilotoa (updates to follow). When I returned I resolved to change hostels, and I was tempted to go back to Rio Amazonas - but my good financial sense prevailed. Once an accountant...
Whilst I was out of the city I stayed at a hostel called PapaGayo (which I understand means 'macaw'). This was a lovely 150 year old homestead out in the wops. It is close to Cotopaxi National Park and was arranged through the tour company I used for the two days. I had a huge room all to myself and this dinky little bathroom that I nearly hit my head on the door jam getting in to. As I may have mentioned in some of my emails, Ecuadorians are not a tall race so I feel a wee bit taller over here. It's like Lilliput for me. As the hostel was quite high up (not too sure on the actual altitude) it was pretty cold so I donned my thermals for my night in bed. Actually I had heaps of blankets so I was snug as a bug.
So for the remainder of my time in Quito, well before I join my tour on 14 March, I have booked myself into Hostel Amazonas (not to be confused with Rio Amazonas, the luxurious accomodation). This place is the same price as Crossroads, but more importantly it has cable!!! You may be getting the wrong idea about my time in Ecuador and that all I have done is watch cable TV, but its great to have for those boring evenings and when you feel you just don't want to get out of bed till 1pm! Hey I'm on holiday.
The downside with this place is that I don't have an external window, but I do have a nice skylight. The bed is small and a little hard, but it's not all that bad. The staff are friendly, probably the friendliest of my trip so far.
Sorry this is not an exciting post, but I thought it would be a different thing to focus on for my travels. I think I will make it a bit of a theme. All in all though the accomodation has been okay and I am getting used to putting my used toilet paper in the bin!!! If I could sleep in my old bed from home, it would probably win hands down. Although there's no cable at home...
Monday, 12 March 2007
South America 101 - Ecuador! (insert Sash song here)
Hi All
Sorry it's been a while in coming but I now have an opportunity to update my blog from South America! I have been in Ecuador for about a week now and it's been great being in a totally different cultural environment.
The flight over went as well as flights do - 16 hours of travelling on planes, 7 hours of waiting in airports, and being awake for a grand total of 46 hours before I got to sleep here in Quito. I managed to order what I wanted on the plane using my limited Spanish! Ordering a plate of food at the airport in Santiago was tough, I told the waitress what I wanted okay enough, but when she started jabbering back to me in Spanish I had no idea! Needless to say all my training deserted me, and I couldn't even remember how to ask her if she spoke English. After a week here though I am getting heaps better at recognising words in spoken Spanish. My confidence in talking to people in Spanish is growing, although it's only simple sentences at the moment.
The first three days I was in Quito I took it easy. To combat the altitude I took I didn't go crazy doing touristy stuff, and drank no booze. I noticed the altitude walking up one flight of stairs at my hotel, as I was a little short of breath and the legs were heavy. It's not too bad and now I am comfy as at 3km above sea level. My appetite has also been affected too, though now it has come back with a vengance! The culinary highlight so far, has been eating llama. It's like beef, in not only texture and colour, but also in taste. I am keen as to try some more of it!
This post is just a little introductory one to my South American adventures, and I hope to portray my time in Quito over the last week in a number of different ways. I think that the first will be the range of accomodation I have had!
Sorry it's been a while in coming but I now have an opportunity to update my blog from South America! I have been in Ecuador for about a week now and it's been great being in a totally different cultural environment.
The flight over went as well as flights do - 16 hours of travelling on planes, 7 hours of waiting in airports, and being awake for a grand total of 46 hours before I got to sleep here in Quito. I managed to order what I wanted on the plane using my limited Spanish! Ordering a plate of food at the airport in Santiago was tough, I told the waitress what I wanted okay enough, but when she started jabbering back to me in Spanish I had no idea! Needless to say all my training deserted me, and I couldn't even remember how to ask her if she spoke English. After a week here though I am getting heaps better at recognising words in spoken Spanish. My confidence in talking to people in Spanish is growing, although it's only simple sentences at the moment.
The first three days I was in Quito I took it easy. To combat the altitude I took I didn't go crazy doing touristy stuff, and drank no booze. I noticed the altitude walking up one flight of stairs at my hotel, as I was a little short of breath and the legs were heavy. It's not too bad and now I am comfy as at 3km above sea level. My appetite has also been affected too, though now it has come back with a vengance! The culinary highlight so far, has been eating llama. It's like beef, in not only texture and colour, but also in taste. I am keen as to try some more of it!
This post is just a little introductory one to my South American adventures, and I hope to portray my time in Quito over the last week in a number of different ways. I think that the first will be the range of accomodation I have had!
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