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Published: February 8th 2008
Hola from Quito….again
We are back from some more adventures, and preparing for our next. So here we are writing another couple of entries about our latest exploits.
First things first I suppose. We both got a little sick when we were spending time around Cotopaxi at Hosteria Papagayo. No offence to the Hosteria, but, we ate and drank nothing but food and drink provided by them for 4 days, and both got sick. The place was very beautiful, our room was amazing, and the staff was extremely helpful, the manager even gave us a free ride into Quito because he was driving in, but we both got ill. Take it for what it is worth I suppose. But, we took a little Cipro, and we are both better. Yippie.
Now, onto the latest adventure. Yesterday we went to the Quilotoa Crater and its magnificent laguna. We originally planned to go to Chugchilan for 4 days after 3 in Papagayo, but with Jackie sick, and the bike trip delayed, and then my getting sick, we decided to go to Quito to be closer to comfort and doctors, and do the Laguna as a day trip. It turned out
Saquisili Animal Market
In all its splendor...animals....bought and soldto be a good decision in the end.
Not only did we get to see the crater and the laguna, we got to hike down into it, which we weren´t planning on doing with the old plan, and since the day trip took place on a Thursday, the day trip included the famous Saquisili Thursday market.
The day began very early, with me taking my Cipro and having an overpriced breakfast at Coffee and Toffee, the place we were to meet the guide. We were to be there for 7am; we got there at 6:30am.
The bus was comfortable, with big windows for views and photos. We started with a quick stop at Hosteria Papagayo to pick up some more people for the trip, we were 9 in total, and then the half hour drive from there to Saquisili.
Saquisili Thursday Market
Saquisili is a town about 1.5 hours south of Quito, along the famed Quilotoa Loop. It is most famous for its large Thursday market. We had already been to Otavalo, and were expecting something quite a bit different, as Saquisili is known to be much les touristy: much more a local
affair, with the local indigenous population trading in necessities, rather than tourist crafts.
We began at the animal market at about 9:30am. It was in a small clearing just outside Saquisili, with pickup trucks and animals everywhere you looked. Immediately you were confronted with cows, pigs, llamas, goats, sheep and more. Being from Canada, the Llama stole the show. They are so interesting to watch, with there pointy mouths chewing grass, and there little teeth sticking out.
There were stalls with food vendors, rope sales people, and squealing pigs reluctantly being pushed onto trucks. IT was quite a unique experience.
The next market we went to was the Guinea Pig market. Yes, that is right, the Guinea Pig market. And yes, there were lots of Guinea Pigs. There were other things as well. In a square in the town, was everything imaginable spread out. Ladies sitting with backets and cages of Guinea Pigs and rabbits, produce and fish stalls, hardware and used clothing booths, furniture and hardware, and household goods. Quite impressive. Stray dogs prowled for scraps under the food stalls where locals ate fried goodies that would made my recovering stomach toss and turn.
We
Llamas
So cute...so for sale made a last stop at the largest market, a short walk away. This was the Handicrafts and otherwise all purpose market. In a square and under a large canopy were handicraft sales people like those in Otavalo, food vendors, produce vendors, dried good vendors, cloths, shoes, and basket makers. The most interesting of all were the alterations and repairs people, and the ladies making knives.
A long row of maybe 15 people, mostly men, sat at foot powered sewing machines. They appeared to be making alterations and repairs to the clothing of the locals. It was like nothing I´d ever seen. And the sewing machines were amazing. Human powered, sparkling clean, and operating perfectly.
The ladies making knives were also very curious. Local indigenous ladies, shoes off, cutting serrated edges into steel blades, using homemade hack saws, with the raw steel blades in between their toes, they would cut the serrated edges into the blades. Astonishing. Now I know how to make a blade….oh the things we learn as we travel.
The Road to Quilotoa
Then we got back in the bus and started the long drive to Quilotoa.
The scenery was amazing. After
Alterations and Repairs
Sewing machines and their operators at the Market leaving Saquisili, we crossed the country side to Pujili, where we began the steep rise up into the highlands. Pujili is at around 3000 metres, and we had to rise up to near 4000, the elevation of Quilotoa. The road worked it´s way up the slopes of the Andes, up to the high Paramo grasslands.
At times completely barren and inhospitable with little but hardscrabble grass and open fields, and at times lush and fertile, covered in the patchwork quilt of greens and brown characteristic of rural landscapes, the scenery was truly spectacular; Possibly the most astonishing so far. Jagged rocky peaks were interspersed with the farm fields. Villages, towns, and plenty of shepherds sitting in the fields minding there flocks were common sights. As far as the eye could see in every direction was breathtaking mountain/highland scenery. You could point your camera in any direction around any corner and have an amazing photo. We took lots, that´s for sure.
At the town of Zumbahua, we made a right, and in 20 minutes were at Quilotoa, the small village that has sprung up with hostals, restaurants and artesania stalls in response to the tourist interest in the area.
But Niagara on the Lake or Mariscal Sucre it is not. Very simple, cold, small, and still very much impoverished is the area.
We had lunch at the Hostal Pachamama (mother nature in Qichua), soup, chicken, rice and potatoes, and then made our way to the Crater, and down to the Laguna.
Laguna Quilotoa
Now, there is a lot of talk of this Crater Lake, and plenty of photos online to gawk at. One might think with all the hype it is not what it is al cracked up to be. I´ll just dispose of that lingering thought for you right now. It is exactly how it seems. Breathtaking. If the ride in didn´t knock your socks off, the laguna should. It is huge. It is nearly a thousand feet deep, and probably kilometres across. Truly massive. And the water, greenish blue, and stunning. The hills and cliffs leading down are green and grey vegetation and rocks. At the bottom a small beach can be found, with a few kayaks available for rent, and a place to rest before climbing back out.
The climb down took 30 minutes. The trails is dusty and rocky, beginning
through carved out cracks and down sandy slopes, and continuing down first through rocky and then grassy areas before arriving at the beach.
On the way down we encountered a number of local indigenous folks offering mules for the walk back up. We also encountered a Sheppard, herding her sheep back up the hill, having to negotiate around them to reach our destination. Most impressive and interesting of all, was the local girl, who couldn´t have been more than 13 years old, with 2 llamas making her way down the crater, taking steep side trails, and hopping down with little difficulty in her skirt, knee socks, and dress shoes.
At the bottom the water was more green then blue, and the sand was soft and nearly white. We relaxed in this near paradise for about 20 or 30 minutes before climbing back up to the rim of the crater.
Several of the folks in our group took the 5 dollar option to ride a mule up the hill, but Jackie and I wanted both the challenge of the climb, and to save the 5 dollars. And it was worth it. Despite it being a tough climb, and
The Quilotoa Crater
An extinct volcano full of water... Jackie having some trouble on the way up, we both made it, safe and sound and proud as hell, in just under an hour (exactly how long they say it takes to climb up.)
The experience was truly remarkable. Little in my travel experience compares to the last few days. Cotopaxi and Quilotoa have been astonishing. Like the Tiger Leading Gorge, the Great Wall of China, the Sahara Dessert, or the streets of Paris, they impress beyond belief. And it is over before you know it. You are in these places, amazed, and then gone; Having experienced it in the blink of an eye. You almost don´t have time to really get it…to appreciate it…to realize what is happening. That you are in South America, on the other side of the world, in the heart of the Andes Mountains, looking at a volcanic crater at 400 metres above sea level.
Not until we return home will this stuff sink in. Memories, photos and stories will bring it all crashing back.
That is what travel is all about. Diarrhea goes away, home sickness is eventually cured, long bus rides that are torturous at the time become
fond memories. But the Quilotoa becomes better and better. You think of it less and less, but it becomes more astonishing with time. At 50 I will say to myself, Jackie or my brother Tom, dude, remember when I (we) were in South America, in Ecuador, on the equator, in the Andes, at the Quilotoa Crater? And it will come back in a flood of happy memories. That´s what it is all about.
So that was my Jerry Springer closing thought, reflection of the day. I hope you enjoyed it.
We are off to the Galapagos on Sunday, in 2 days. We just got flight confirmation, and are all set to go. Our laundry is ready, we need to hit a bank machine, and get a few things in order, but the next adventure begins soon. Expect a huge post after that for sure.
Peace
Jack and Jackie
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