20th June 2006

Hi guys, well its been a long time coming and this email is my second
attempt as for some reason I lost the first one and so will need to write
the whole thing again. Fantastic.
I am going home today and that is something to look forward to, the flight
however is not and the fact that I have serious stomach cramps and I am
getting used to the altitude again does not really help. Still I dont have
the shits which is nice and I am not runnig to and from the toilet, I can do
that on the flight home wont that be fun (lets hope not)
Right I am having to get used to the height again. I am 9000 feet above sea
level and my body is currently producing loads of red blood cells to help
capture more oxygen as the air is thinner. It takes about 3 days to get used
to it and no time to come down to a lower level. So currently I am feeling
dizzy, breathless and tired with a thirst so big yet I dont need to drink.
The symptons come and go and you get used to them so its all ok.
Thats me now.
I am going to hopefully tell you about my trip from Quito to Cuenca and
back. I expect you all have maps of the country and so know where I have
been or at least google earth so you can see it from above. If not the names
and places will have no interest just what I have seen.
Ecuador has it all, Jungle, Mountains, Volcanoes, Beaches, Islands, Sea,
Sun, a pretty temperate climate and some of the best food I have had in a
long time. I put my stomach cramps down to something in the jungle probably
that monkey we had on the last night I think, not sure.
So England Paraguay, what a crap match, glad I watched it in my room so I
could hide under the covers in shame.
Close to the hotel (which is amazing by the way) there is the largest
shopping mall in quito called the quincentro mall so I wander down there to
get my photos of the galapagos put onto disk and generally have a nose to
see what is there.
I then hail a cab and go to the old town and there lots of old narrow
streets, churches and monestries and it is very hilly.
Above the old town is el panceillo which is a statue of the mother of christ
or someone and it is huge and also you can go up it and look at the city
from a high. So 1 taxi ride later and I make him wait for me I pay my 1
dollar and go up the tower, getting dizzy and breathless as I go up and to
be fair it was worth it. The views of the city and the mountains and the
countryside are amazing. Quito is 30km long and at its widest 5km across and
it is slap bang in amongst the hills, volcanoes and valleys around it.
On the sunday I visited the old town again and went to the markets and they
were not so great and they consisted of general household goods, clothes and
all the shoes in the world I think, oh and white goods as well, fridges,
freezers and the like.
I wandered around it for about3 hours and then I had a migraine so that was
good. I was going back to the mall anyway so I went to the pharmacy and with
my phrase book in one hand and my other on my head I eventually got some
pain killers and the migraine went, the headache stopped hurting on Monday
so that was fun. Finishing in the mall I get a taxi (taxis are cheap and
more easy to manage than buses especially with my understanding of spanish
and at 2 dollars for most rides from here to there what does it matter) I
went to the El Ejido park where there was a small handicraft market, lots of
paintings and the park was great. Lots of people walking through it and
playing football and generally having a good sunday time. I got some bits
and pieces and did some haggling and I may have got a good deal I dont know.
I then walked to the new town and then through the streets where all the
backpackers and the bars and clubs are until I felt too tired to go on. I
must have walked for about 4 miles through streets and avenues and saw lots
of high rise buildings, quaint spanish houses and lots of traffic.
Getting back to the hotel I went straight back out to a bar (the victoria)
and had a couple of beers and some food, it was chilli and it tasted good. I
had recieved a note from my touring company telling me that I needed to be
ready for about 8am as I was touring the city on Monday so that was good.
Monday came and I had breakfast and then tour started, there was 8 of us all
american but me and we started back in the old town and visited monestries
and some of the most beautiful churches I have seen outside rome. They were
full of gold leaf and big stained glass windows. We visited the place where
the independance from spain was signed and also saw catacombs and crypts.
The presidents residence is in the old town and so we had a look and there
were 2 ceremonial guards on duty and inside everyone carried maching guns
(the sercurity guards which are every where all carry guns and mace and some
even shot guns and they let you see them as well). From there we got back on
the bus and headed for the middle of the world the equator where you can
stand in both the north and the south hemisphere at the same time.
There is a big monument there as well to the french people that discovered
it was the equator ( you do that with the sun and shadows apparently yet the
incas knew of the equator 000´s of years ago as they measured time and the
months by it to be able to farm), still the french discovered the equator
runs through this place and there is a big red line (as the photos show)
running through this area. Actually they are slightly out but who cares.
The monument you climb and it was a museum as well so that was good and so
you could get some great views of the mountains which surround this place.
The tour finished about 2pm and I had a message from the touring company to
be ready for 7am so I went back to the mall and brought some binoculas and
some luggage straps and a few other bits and pieces. Returning to the hotel
I watched the reply of some world cup game in the bar ad then packed and
then ate in the hotel restaurant which was ok. By 9pm I was asleep.
So you know this lot over here are fanatical about football and everyday and
every advert while the football is on there is footballs and there are
clips of the goals scored by the country all the time. It really is pumped
up.
Tuesday arrived and I was met by guide Carlos and then we went to the other
hotels to pick up the rest of the group, there was to be 8 of us all
together so a nice neat small group. It took longer than expected as the
driver got lost and when we went to one hotel there were police blocking off
the road (not uncommon here) and then outside the hotel there were riot
police and this was because there was a meeting of 4 presidents from South
America on that day to discuss trade. It was quite amazing really, mainly
because our vehicle was the only one in the street and then parked right
outside while this was all going on.
Off we go. We head south through the city and take in some of the best views
I have ever seen. The sky was pretty much cloudless and so we could see all
the volcanoes including cotopaxi which has a perfect cone and is active.
There were many others around it and so we spent about 1 hour of the trip
stopping to take photos as the guide said he has never seen the sky so empty
of clouds and that we should take advantage of it. I like mountains esp as
there are none in view in Frome and there are loads of them and so many
active ones but life goes on.
We carried on through the country side until we got to the chiva express
which was going to take us on t a 4 hour journey through the countryside. So
hats, sunglasses and cold weather coats on, we all boarded the train and sat
on the roof and put our seatbelts on. The chiva express is pretty much a bus
on train wheels that trundles along the only railway in Ecuador and you see
the coutnry side and the mountains and it is cool and the air is cold.
We lasted about an hour and then we had to get off cos the frieght train
down the track had derailed and so we got back on the bus and headed to a
ranch for coffee and snacks.
This ranch was straight out of el dorado and it as beautiful. They gave us a
cinnamon and passion fruit hot tea which was very warming esp as it had
sugar cane juice in it (firewater). Then a strange fruit drink which tasted
odd and citrussy and was green and frothy but full of iron and good for you.
Then the coffee which was ace and we had steamed corn to eat which tasted a
bit like steam pudding but was really tasty. That was first real experience
of Ecuadorian food and it was great.The journey continued by bus and we
eventually arrived a village (a village can contain 10000 people over here)
of latocunga and it is on the pan american highway and we went to the
market.
They have a great produce market and we went through it and Carlos the guide
brought us odd fruits to eat and small sweet bananas to try. There was veg
and fruits of all types. Thet grow a lot of potatoes, broad beans, peas and
other things out here. They also eat Lupin beans and the maize and other
pulses are staggering. They eat more beans than meat which would explain why
only chickens both dead and alive were found and that fish also was
available.
After the market we went to another ranch and had lunch, Whole grilled trout
which was excellent and then we carried on to Rioramba and went up into more
of a highland setting with lots of moors and fogs and big mountains dwarfing
the sides of the roads and big vallies. We stopped at a very remote place
which is in the shadow of the highest mountain in ecuador called chimborazo
and there was some authentic huts used by the tribe people and also a
railway station and tracks. At this point we were some 13000 feet above sea
level.
The huts great. The llamas outside ok and the fact that there was a railway
that used to run all through the country and stop here also interesting but
its remoteness was the mot fascinating feature. They also carve veg ivory
here (dont ask cant remember but it very good but made from a nut or a bean
or something) and the people living in the middle of nowhere seemed very
happy.
We had more strange tea and firewater and then carried on the journey to
rioramba.
On arrival there we pass an active volcano and you could see it spewing out
ash and steam into the sky and it was an awesome sight. Carlos was not so
keen to take us any closer so we never and instead we drove through the town
and to the hotel which was great.
There was a some more indian stuff to buy and so I did and then we all sat
and had dinner. There was some bad news however, the chiva express had
broken down and so we could not board it until the town of Alsui.
I suggested that we still get up at 6am and go volcano spotting (yes 6am, i
have been up early almost everyday being out here) and it was agreed that we
would.
Well it was cloudy and cold the next day and so we drove around in the bus
for a bit and then gave up and went back and had breakfast and instead we
went into town and was able to spend an hour in it exploring it.
Rioramba is a small town full of narrow streets and markets like everywhere
except england and so we explored the place and it was good. I was with some
americans and one managed to destroy a shop by knocking over milk and eggs
and smashing a glass over a local (they paid) before leaving it.
We left soon after that on our way to the town of Alusi and the ride on the
devils nose. We stopped at Ecuadors oldest church, that was nice and then
continued through hils and vallies until we got to the town.
The devils nose is a rock. The railway runs through it or rather round it
and it involves lots of switchbacking and hills and slopes it descends over
800ft quite quickly and the railway is quite simply a feat of engineering.
There are two trains that do this ride twice a day. The first was full
including the roof and the inside and ours because it had been booked had 10
people on the roof and no-one else so we had lots of room to slide around
and take photos.
The journey to the bottom and back is amazing as you are literally hanging
out cliff and precipice and there are rocks going straight up and down and
the track is old and battered. The journey takes about 45 mins to go down
and (if you check the photos) it is a great journey. Once you are down you
ascend back up and that again is a great trip. At the bottom is an old
staion and church all disused. The railway used to continue but due to
landslides it does not run which is a shame cos it is a great ride.
The trains are mercedes and they are buses on train wheels although the
wheels are not in great shaps as the track is knackered.
The next part of the journey is long and tedious through hill and dale and
then in fog for an hour until we arrive at the inca ruins of Ingaprica.
These are the only inca ruins in the country and they consist of stones laid
out where the streets houses and storerooms used to be and the still almost
comlete sun temple which lines up exactly with the sunrise and the sunset.
We wandered aroiund in poruing rain and got cold and damp for the cause but
it was definately worth it. I have been to ruins like this and whilst they
are only 500 years old they do show how clever the incas were as they had no
wheel to carry anything and they knew stars and seasons. There is an inca
trail which runs along the mountains north to south and apparently is very
good. The ruins are not like peru they are small but well preserved.
Heading over the hills we headed into the countries 3rd largest city Cuenca
and it was dark so we saw not much. The hotel we stayed at was like a big
spanish country house and it was superb.
Cuenca (last day honest) was great.
Firstly we all watched Ecuador win 3-0 in the hotel which turned the city
into 1 big party area, England also won which turned me into one big party
person, esp after such a nerve racking game.
We visited many old churches and cathedrals and the place is full of
colonial spanish buildings and streets. The tour was great we went through
yet another market by the cathedral and there were flower stalls,
handicrafts and sweets. The sweets are there as it s also corpus christie
(those who are catholic will or should know, i dont and did not ask, england
were playing so i was not paying too much attention) and there was a big
parade of local catholic schools and nuns and bands and girls it was really
good. To be fair I paid little attention as I kept going from shop to shop
to see the latest score on the tv as every shop, stall etc has a tv on with
the football playing. I was lucy however to see both england score and make
all the locals jump by my shouting and enthusiasm as I was the only english
person in the city with an english shirt on.
But the city was cool
Our lunch lasted 2 hours and then after that we went to a monestry and saw
how the nuns used to live and to be honest it was interesting and the art
and the dolls and the stuff on show was ok.
Then as time was marching as it is now ( I have to leave for the airport
soon) we went to a panama hat factory and saw how they were made. Great
I was the only one from the group leaving to return to Quito so at 5pm I
said my goodbyes and they left me at the airport as they had more to see.
The flight back was ok. The plane left at 6.15 and arrived at 7pm and then
it took about 20 mins to get the bags.
I was due in the amazon the next morning and all my memory sticks were full
so the people that collected me at the airport took me to the mall but
because Ecuador won the streets were full of people partying and so we never
made it.
And so I returned back to the hotel with a mission the next morning, but
thats another story.

I am flying home today in fact in 30 mins I am off to the airport so better
pack etc and make sure all sorted.

The andes and the trip south was great. No condors though and that was a
shame.
In the UK tomorrow and so maybe I will get a tan as it is cloudy here

See you all very soon. Girls in La Strada see you Thursday.

Ciao