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Published: October 27th 2009
Hola
When I arrived at the secret garden hostel in Quito I met two London boys who agreed to do the equator with me the following day. I was writing my blog and they went for pizza without me, so I walked across the street to what must be the best pizza deal going in Ecuador. I ordered a personal Hawaiian pizza with a tasty passion fruit drink for $3.30 - and joined a group of 6 Brits who were already eating. Found out they were going to the equator the following day and agreed to join the girls at 7:15 the next morning to walk to the market to get fruit.
The following morning, bright and early I was walking with Maeve - from Ireland. All of them were headed to Colombia so I was sharing my tips. She kept asking me who I was with in Colombia - I told her my friend came to meet me for a couple of weeks. She asks “what is your friend’s name?” I said Lena - she responds “I know Lena.” Turns out - that Lena and Maeve were tent mates when they did an overland trip of South America
in 2006. We were unbelievably excited and it felt like I had a friend from home... small world. I treated myself to a 40 cent papaya at the market, then a fresh orange juice on the way back.
Since there were 9 of us we decided to cab to the equator - it is only 22 km north of Quito, but Quito is like 35km North to South so it still took over an hour. Basically - we went to the fake equator - the one where they built a monument with a line, but it is actually about 200 meters off the correct GPS coordinates. That didn’t stop us from paying the $2 and spending half an hour taking stupid jumping pictures. I hope you enjoy, I can tell you it is smoking hot at the equator - or the fake equator. We walked to the real one that has a museum where they do tricks with toilet water twirling different ways on each side of the line, but we decided we didn’t want to spend $3 and instead we paid 45 cents to take the bus back to Old Town.
I decided my split-end fro was
about due for a haircut, so I walked into a "salon" and paid $5 to have my hair washed, cut, and blow dried. She did a really good job, considering all I did was tell her "a little" in Spanish. I can't tell you how nice it was to have my hair blow dried, I felt like a princess. I went back to the hostel - put on my heals and was ready for a fun night on the town.
Later that night we went for a cheap yummy curry in New Town, then had a connection with a couple of locals who took us to a salsa club. Their version of a cover charge was that everyone has to spend a minimum of $8 on liquor. Since there were 9 of us, we ordered bottle service - we got a bottle of Finlandia vodka and a bottle of rum, plus coke and orange juice for $73. Plus, since we ordered the vodka before 10:30 we got an extra 7 shots of vodka. The locals dancing were insane! I couldn’t even comprehend how fast some of them were moving - I busted out some moves and got to dance
with some locals - but spent a lot of the night trying to teach some of the British boys the basic step - much to the amusement of the locals.
At 2 am I couldn’t even finish my last drink because I couldn’t dance anymore - I somehow was really really drunk. I realized I love cheap bottle service, especially the tasty fresh orange juice they serve with the vodka here. I got 4 hours of sleep in my dorm before I woke up with a massive hangover, said goodbye to Maeve, and then spent most of the day being lazy with the remaining British boys. We decided to walk ten minutes from our hostel to the Basilica - you can climb the towers above the church. Totally unsafe - but for $2 it was a full hour of entertainment, most of which was me screaming in the rain as we climbed up sketchy ladders.
On Monday I took the organized transport to the Secret Garden Cotopaxi - the owners of the Quito hostel moved to a valley between volcanoes and built their dream home. We paid $25 a day for a comfy bed in the dorm on
the most stunning piece of land I have seen in this country - and it included 3 meals a day and snack time. We were at 3500 meters, and I was hoping that by sleeping there for 3 nights and climbing Pasochoa (4200m) I would be able to acclimatize so I could try to hike Cotopaxi - Ecuador’s second highest peak at 5897 meters.
I spent the three days chilling out, enjoying the views, and hanging around the kitchen. Katherine - the wife - took a 6 month intensive culinary course in Buenos Aires - and made the most delicious gourmet meals at dinner. They raise as many animals at the home as they can - rabbits, guinea pigs, turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, pigs, etc. They have a massive greenhouse and use as many local veggies as they can. I think my favourite dinner was the roasted lamb, served on cheesy mashed potatoes, roasted cauliflower, broccoli and Swiss chard, and also a purple cabbage salad. A-maz-ing. I was treated to tiramisu, trout, and corn empanadas. And after I had stuffed myself on food and too much tea, I would go back to the dorm room with a pot belly
stove with a toasty fire going.
I left the Secret Garden Cotopaxi and stopped in Latacunga to book my Cotopaxi trip. Christine, my Swiss friend who I spent 3 days with in Colombia - told me that making the summit was so amazing, and convinced me I must do it. I met a South African girl and a British guy at my hostel who were going to do the day trip to the refuge, then bike down for $45 - instead I paid $200 to try to make the summit. There was an Aussie guy and a French guy trying the same day as me. Here is what the next 24 hours went.
We arrived at the car park at 4500 meters - it then took us 40 minutes to walk 300 vertical meters up to the refuge at 4800. We had soup and popcorn and then went on a walk to the glacier to practice with our crampons and ice picks. This was sort of fun and we were all feeling alright.
We had dinner at 5 pm and they told us to try to sleep at 6 pm because we were getting up at midnight to
Made it to the first tower
- then off to the one in the backgroundstart climbing. However, at this altitude it was too hard to sleep - instead I snuggled my sleeping bag between the boys and we spent the next few hours giggling and listening to Mitch snore. I think I fell asleep for about 10 minutes, but then woke up in a panic because it was hard to breathe. Oh - when you go up in elevation, things expand. For example - my sunscreen spewed open at this altitude. Now - think of all the “air” in your belly. It expands too and it wasn’t too funny - it was almost painful -if you catch my drift.
At midnight we woke up - I had some yogurt and half a bun, and downed that with a hot cup of water. We set off at 1 am and before we even reached the glacier at 5100 we had to put on the crampons, and Nick had to go back because he had a bad headache and wasn’t going to make it. Mitch and I were each attached by rope to our own guide and started up the volcano in the dark. The next few hours dragged on in the most painful way
possible. It felt like we would walk for an hour and my guide would tell me, we’ve done another 100 meters. I would stop to sip Gatorade and eat chocolate, sour candies, and I had one Oreo cookie. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but they recommend keeping energy up and not get dehydrated.
Slowly step by step I kept climbing, a head ache started, the guide said this was normal. My stomach started hurting; the guide said this was normal. Finally I could start to see the top, but with each step I took, the snow would break and I would lose one step. I was defeated, crawling in the snow, trying not to cry. My guide forced me up the mountain for another hour and a half, and when I didn’t think I could go anymore I had found myself at the top, on all fours, crying my face off because I was in so much pain. The guide wanted me to walk 12 meters to see the crater, but I couldn’t move. Totally degrading, he pulled the rope like I was a stubborn donkey and I kept going. He took my camera while I sat at the
top of the volcano, crying, and suffering in pain from altitude sickness. I can’t explain how degrading the whole process was, walking 1 more meter seemed like the hardest thing, breathing was impossible, and everything hurt.
It took about 90 minutes to get down, part of it he let me slide on my ass as he held me back. Half way down we had to stop so I could barf up what little remnants there was in my stomach - basically a green sludge mixture of Gatorade, sour candies and the Oreo. More crying, finally when we made it to the refuge Mitch took care of me. Taking my gear off, laughing at me a little, and taking my photo. The guide brought me tea, I took 5 sips, I laid down, then had to yack the tea back up in the cup because there was no garbage can. We stayed for an hour - then when I started to walk to the car park I had to stop to dry heave some saliva on the stairs. Then an hour later had to get the jeep to stop so I could do it again.
When I got back
to Latacunga (2800 meters) I had missed the South African and the Brit who left to Banos without me. I was in no shape for a bus ride, but didn’t want to stay there by myself. So... I ordered a fruit salad and parked myself on the couch in the internet room. The next 3 hours went like this, sip of Gatorade... wait 10 minutes, eat some banana slices, and lay down. Sip of Gatorade... wait 10 minutes, eat some banana slices, and lay down.
Finally my stomach was feeling better so I got on the bus and did the 2 hour trip to Banos - only 1800 meters. I ran into Benita who hugged me and made me feel better. I went to bed at 9:30 and slept till 7:30 am - a major accomplishment for me. When I woke up the killer headache was gone and I downed an amazing fruit pancake for breakfast.
Now I am feeling better and chilling in Banos - a gringo (foreigner) filled town that is chilled out and relaxed. Today I went to one of the thermal baths and then had a Spanish lesson. The market is amazing here -
I’ve found myself a fruit juice lady who takes care of me, and her friend next door makes empanadas with bananas in them for 10 cents, which she then sprinkles with sugar. Bob Green was worried that with all the hiking and barfing in Ecuador I would be skinny - nope. The greasy empanadas are keeping me at a nice 200 pounds.
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Shawna Yeske
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auntie Sharman
You don't look that bad, Koco still recognized you!