Evan Hunter's Round The World Diary

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Saquisilli Markets

Rising at 6:00, I got ready and had breakfast quickly, before walking fast, then briefly taking the bus (25c to anywhere on the route) to make my arranged meeting with Versha - 6:40 at the fountain on the way to school. We tried to catch a taxi, but found that they were all full. Eventually after about 5-10 minutes, we flagged an empty one, and were soon at the Terminal Tereste (Bus terminal). There we met with one of the teachers from the school, and got on a bus to Saquisilli.
The bus ride was very long - about 2 hours - on a highway which went through rural towns, with mountains visible in the distance. It took quite a while just to get out of Quito, as it is a very long skinny city. Near Saquisilli, we descended a very long hill, then stopped and had to change buses. The other bus was so full we could barely get on it. It was also not designed for people as tall as me, which was not very comfortable, but fortunately it was only a short ride to the town.

Getting off the bus, we walked past some markets and continued up some empty streets to the animal market. There were many trucks, pickups (utes), animals and people standing around in a big open field. There were various areas for sheep, pigs, llamas, cows, goats and horses. The sellers would have the animals on a lead which they held or staked, and stood nearby. The baby animals were quite cute. The people handled the animals as food - grabbing sheep by two legs and dropping them on their back, checking the meat on them, loading them on trucks in similar ways.
After a while there, we went back to the main markets, and after wandering around the smallish handicrafts section (mainly for tourists), we continued down some of the streets, and I soon found that virtually every street of the town had been invaded by the market. There were people selling virtually everything you can think of, and there were very few tourists - this was a market where the locals did their shopping.
We soon came to a food section, and we tried some little pancake shaped fried cheese things which were fairly good. Nere this was a large area of people selling small animals (live), like chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs (cuy - pronounced kwee - about $1 each). There were people with baskets, sacks, or cages full of animals everywhere. Our guide/teacher was talking to one of the vendors about some rabbits they were holding, and before Versha and I figured out what was going on, she had bought a pair of little white baby bunnies! I assume they were for pets, as they were checking the sex of them rather than the meat on them. (only $2.50 for the two)
We continued wandering through the markets, and I soon found that there were several parts to the food market - there was a large open square devoted to fruit and vegetables of every kind, with trucks on the borders chock full of supplies of potatoes and other goods.
There were many people walking around covered with goods, which they were selling on the move.
After wandering around most of the markets, we eventually got on a bus back to quito. A man put some of his stuff on the seat next to me, then went off the bus to get something, and after about 15 minutes, he was still not there when the bus started to leave. A woman with a basket of guinea pigs took the seat instead.
On the way back, we stopped in many places, and goods bought at the markets were unloaded from under and ontop of the bus. At one point they unloaded some chickens from the roof of the bus, but before doing that, had to throw away an egg that one of the chickens had laid on top of the bus.
When we finally got back to Quito, I found a place that had almuerzo's (lunch of the day) for USD$1.40 - soup, rice with meat and salad, and juice. After this, I used the internet for a while, read and talked to the other students in the house before dinner, and bed.

Friday, July 08, 2005

The Basillica - Quito

This morning I had just got up and was preparing to get ready, when Cecilia called out from outside my door. When I answered, she told me that my teacher was sick (later I found out that she has cancer). I slowed my pace of getting ready and having breakfast.
I decided to visit the (unfinished, started in 1926) Basillica until my classes started in the afternoon.
I walked to Mariscal and caught the trolley bus to a point close to the basillica. Walking up the hill, there was a good view of the side of the basillica, with it's soaring towers. From the outside it looked complete, however, as I approached the front, I could see that there were reenforcing bars sticking out of the face of the building in many places. This seems to be a common thing with buildings here in Ecuador - many have reenforcing bars and even columns sticking out of the roof of the buildings, as though another level may be added later, however on many it is obvious that they have been like that for a very long time.
After buying a entry ticket ($2) for the Basillica, I went in, and climbed the stairs to the second floor. I found I was on a balcony overlooking the main chamer of the Basillica. It was very big, however visitors are apparently not allowed on that level. There were lots of stained glass windows, some of which however were slightly damaged. I continued climbing the stairs, and had occasional views of the city outside. I came to a point where the main staircase ended, and I went into the main part of the tower. By now it was clear that the whole building was actually concrete, however, unless you look up close, it could easily be stone. Climbing a narrow metal spiral staircase, I came to the clock room of the tower, with enormous two storey high clock faces. Still climbing, I came to another fairly open area in the tower, with excelent views of the city far far below. From here there were about 4 levels with ladders between each. I didn't feel entirely safe up there, as the ladders were just welded together reenforcing bars, and the structure (the pinnicle of the tower) was supported by big I beams, however the floors seemed to flex a little despite being concrete on steel. Up here were the bells of the belfrey. The top level just had a mesh floor, but virtually no views.
I climbed back down to the level with the best views, then descended again to the third level, above the ceiling height of the main chamber. There was a wooden walkway, which I was also did not inspire confidence, which went over the tops of the vaulted ceiling of the main chamber, and allowed access to the northern tower, in the middle of the Basillica. The northern tower is more ornate, but lower.
There was an annular balcony around the tower, from which a metal ladder/staircase went out into thin air, to one of the flying buttresses, then another went up the buttress itself. There was a viewing platform there with excellent views, down the length of the Basillica, to el Panicillo, however the metal floor of the platform also didn't inspire confidence, as it flexed a fair bit as you walked over it.
After climbing back down, and exiting, I took a few photos of the outside, and then took the trolley and walked back to the house. After lunch, I went to the school at 2:00 where I had an different teacher - Lusmila. We went through the many possible conjugations of verbs for past tense.
After class, when I returned to the house, Andrea turned up again, and had a pretty incredible story. She'd been volunteering at a orphanage, and was having to get up at 3:30 or 4:00 every morning, and work with the kids most of the day. There was barely any facilitys or food, and they had no electricity, and the hot water had broken a month ago, meaning that you could only shower in the hottest part of the day, in cold water. She said she needed a hot shower, and a good bed badly. Florien also turned up, having returned from the beach (Atacama).
After dinner, most of the other students went out with Alexandra to a bar and salsateca, but I was feeling tired, and had to get up early in the morning for Cotopaxi, so didn't join them.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Cotopaxi

Rising at 6:00, I had a quick breakfast and walked to the school, arriving at 7:00.
Soon a car arrived with Martha (the school director) two and other students. Another car arrived, and the two students and I got in (Martha wasn't coming).
We drove south along the main highway, the same way as on thursday, when I visited Saquisilli.
It took about 1.5 hours of driving through the rural towns to reach the turnoff to Cotopaxi. The road now became an extremely rough dirt track, which shook the car around a lot, even fording a small stream. The signs of civilisation disappeared, leaving grassy plains, with some trees, and some tree plantations.
After some time, we came to the entry gate for the national park. We got out to pay the park entry fees (USD$10 for foreiners, USD$2 for local). After a bit of discussion with the park officials, it was apparent that the park officials required us to be part of a agency organised tour. Our driver asked if we had anything showing we were students at the school - we didn't - then discussed/argued a bit more with them. I realised I had my receipt for the trip and was going to show it to him when there was a breakthrough, and the officials decided to let us in.
The road/track headed slowly up, and soon was in a dry alpine area. After another 30 minutes or so, we reached a set of small lakes on a dry alpine plain at 3800m. There were amazing views of Cotopaxi, and the other surrounding mountains. The top of Cotopaxi was covered in glaciers, many of which were a jumbled icefall.
We got back in the car and started up the mountain. The ascent was slow at first, and gradually got steeper and steeper. We could see the yellow refugio far above. The track started a series of switchbacks, and it was soon apparent that the car was having trouble on them. The first gear was not low enough on the loose dirt to get going again after slowing for the switchback. On one switchback, the car stopped altogether, unable to go forward. Us students jumped out and pushed the car enough for it to get going again. We were almost instantly out of breath. The car got stuck again at the next switchback. We pushed again ..... This happened for about four switchbacks, when the driver decided to stop at a small abandoned building, two switchbacks from the normal car park.
We started climbing, up the fairly loose sandy/gravelly slope. There were almost no plants this high. I was puffing hard despite climbing only at a moderate pace. Even so, I found I was climbing signinficantly faster than the others. Near the car park, I stopped briefly for a rest, and to wait for the others. There were quite a number of tourists from here up - possibly 20 or more. We continued on upward on the now wide trail, and I passed many other people, finally reaching the refugio at 4800m. It is quite big (2 storeys), and there were a fair number of people inside, even a tiny food shop. The slope behind the refuge looked prime for rockfall and avalanche danger. There was a small patch of snow in the shade of the eaves of the refugio, but the glaciers were far above it, as it was in a gap where the glaciers didn't come down very far.
The views were amazing - both of the mountain, and of the surrounding dry alpine valleys, with their surrounding mountains. The sun was warm, but the wind made it quite cold.
It was 15 minutes before the others turned up. We took some photos, and went into the refugio, but I soon went back outside, as the kerosene fumes were terrible inside. After resting at the refugio for a while, we started back down.
Going down was much easier, especially where the soil was loose. Niall (one of the students) fell once, and also had a headache from the altitude. We were soon back to the car however, and started the trip back.
We stopped for a little while at a tiny museum in the park, then continued along the rough road back to the highway.
All us students dosed a little once we reached the highway, and we were all quite tired by the time we finally reached Quito again at about 2:30.
I said bye to the others, and went to look for some late lunch. The restaruants that served cheap almuerzo's had finished, so I bought a cheap hamburgesa and papas fritas (fries) - only USD$1.75 including a coke.
I spent the rest of the afternoon using the internet, reading, doing a little homework, and talking to the other students in the house. Andrea was gone back to the orphanage foundation.
After dinner, the others went out with Alexandra, but I was tired, so went to bed, after doing some homework.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Today, I had breakfast in the hotel, (which wasn't extra good value as I didn't want eggs), then I used the internet, copied some CD's I'd bought to my MP3 player, talked to some mountaineer guiding companies, bought some lunch.
I'd decided to try to go to Pillaró today, to After lunch, at about 2pm, I walked down to the bus terminal on the PanAmericana Highway, and caught a bus to Ambato, 1 hour away.
The bus dropped me (and two other young guys) at the intersection with the road that went to Pillaró on the outskirts of Ambato. There was a bus there, but it was going to Ambato, There was also a minivan bus there which we got in. Pillaró is not very far from Ambato, but takes 20-30 minutes to get there because there is a huge gorge between the two towns. The road snakes it's way slowly down one side, then back up the other.
The van driver dropped everyone in town, and it was pretty obvious where to go - just follow the crowds of people that were mostly blocking streets as they headed for the bull ring.
The bull ring itself was an enormous temporary structure made from wooden poles (mostly simply de-barked eucalypt trees) and planks, with sacks filling the vertical gaps between seat tiers. After walking partway around it, I went to one of the many ladders/stairs and after paying US$6 I got a seat in the first row. There were thousands of people there. The ring was square, with a dirt arena floor, and around the edge, were head high wooden walls, with occasional small gaps for escaping through, and planks to assist climbing up the wall fast. There were a large number of people (I think they were all men) in the ring - possibly over 100, but as I soon found out, most were not very keen on getting near the bull. There were a few with proper capes, who were the ones who mainly played with the bull.
I talked to (as much as my limited spanish, and their limited english allowed) a group of young people who were sitting to my left and front, and who gave me some drinks of their spirits and wine. For a fair part of the afternoon I was squashed in close to them.
The afternoon progressed with a bull being released into the ring, where it would proceed to try to attack anything that got in its way for the first minute or so. During this time, most of the people in the ring were high up on the walls to avoid the bull. After this, it would calm down a little, and the people in the ring would try to gauge how nasty it was. Some bulls seemed unpredictable, others seemed to just stand there unless someone got very close, and others kept running, aiming for whatever was closest. The unpredictable bulls caused the loose ring of the few more brave (or stupid) people to be expanded to a much larger size.
The ultimate aim was not to kill the bull, as this was not allowed, (although people being killed was a possibility). The aim was to either use a cape to have the bull repeatedly go after you, but only find the cape, or for the ultimate triumph, to overpower the bull. Twice a person was able to overpower the bull, by grabbing onto its head as it went past, and with the help of other people wrestling it to the ground or against a wall. Needless to say it was very dangerous. I also saw one person who received adulation by grabbing the tail of the bull, and managing to hang on whilst the bull bucked and spun, sliding around on the dirt like a barefoot water skier.
There were many incidents where the bull went after someone without a cape, or who had dropped theirs, and each time, the crowd roared/screamed. There were several incidents where the bull tossed a person in the air, or partly trampled or tried to gore them on the ground.
At one point there was a parade of the Queen of the event, with a small band, and several others riding horses. (There were no bulls then). They threw bottles of spirits, and wine into the crowd.
I found that the images of a bull snorting steam and pawing the ground are completely true. After a bull had been in the ring a while, you could see it was getting tired, and some would paw the ground with their front hooves, spraying dirt and dust behind them, and all of the bulls would be breathing out steam in two streams from their nostrils. Eventually when there was no fight left in the bull or, if it was a dangerous one, no fight in the people, then a couple of marshalls would come in and rope the bull and pull it out of the ring into a pen. If the bull was still feisty, then this could be quite difficult.
Night fell, and the crowd started to thin. I left with the others that I'd been talking to, and had some dinner with one guy at a small stall in the shadow of the ring. After this, I figured I'd better head back to Latacunga as it was 8pm. I quickly found a bus going to Ambato, and managed to get it to stop on the Panamericana, where I quickly caught another bus heading to Quito. Arriving in Latacunga, it was about 9:20 and I walked to my hotel and went to bed.

Friday, August 05, 2005

Ecuador - Roads and Vehicles

Road Rules seem to be entirely optional. I have seen many cars runing red lights and stop signs, speeding and driving without number plates. Pedestrian crossings and centre lines are completely ignored - they are a waste of paint.
In various places in the cities, there are traffic police, who generally seem to do nothing but wander around an intersection blowing their whistle painfully loud at seemingly random intervals. I have seen one or two actually directing traffic, but never pedestrians.
Cars are mainly small, but as I have discovered, some are Very small, designed for ecuatorianas, and it is impossible for me to sit straight in the front, and only barely possible in the back. Some busses are also too short to stand straight, and the seats are very short (hence uncomfortable).
Roads are generally ok, but in the steep mountains can be very windy. Footpaths (sidewalks) are a different story, and are usually cracked up, often with obstacles like steps, holes, and posts cut off a little above the ground.
The busses are suprisingly modern, and there are heaps of them. Most drive around with the front grill panel open, which I assume is to help the radiator cope with the thin air of the Sierra. Most bus drivers (and I think car drivers) drive as though they were Michael Schumacher. Especially in places like the windy mountain road north from Cuenca, this means you are thrown around a lot, and occasionally wonder how the bus doesn't roll or fly off a corner over a cliff.
"Contaminación" (air pollution) is a big problem near busy roads, as many cars, and almost all busses, trucks and motorbikes spew out huge quantities of choking smoke.
The roadsides outside the cities are often filthy with rubbish that people have thrown from vehicles. In the city there are people who are employed to clean up the litter.
A functional horn is very neccessary in Ecuador, they are used when overtaking, for warning pedestrians that you are coming through, and also as usual in anger/frustration or to say hello.
Virtually all vehicles seem to have an alarm system, and it is common for them to go off for 30 seconds or more for no apparent reason. People also seem to have buttons in their vehicles so that they can bleep the alarm, which they seem to do at all hours of the day and night.
On city streets you will often see indigenous people begging or vendors walking around selling ice-creams, sun glasses, hats, flags, locks, batteries, and all manner of other portable things.

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