A week with my brother

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Well, Sunday night found me saying adios to my brother after traveling Ecuador for a week with him. We had a great time (I´ve even heard the trip has gotten rave reviews back home), and stayed in accomodations well beyond what I´m used to.

My brother (he´s a wholesale florist, and Ecuador´s third largest export is cut flowers) had a work contact that helped us plan the trip, furthermore, she kindly offered to take me to the airport to pick up my brother at midnight, a trip we made two nights in a row as a result of bad weather in Chicago. On top of all this, she even put me up for the night when my brother no-showed at the airport.

Upon arriving in Quito, we immediatetly headed to the hostel where I had made reservations, I had thought ahead when making this reservation and stepped up my usual accomodations, generously doubling the amount I usually spend. However, when doubling miniscule dollar amounts, it doesn´t yield the greatest step up, and while we had our own room and fairly warm water, the distinct smell of urine in the mattresses grossed even me out. Before turning in, my brother showed me a receipt from his lunch at the airport, and he pointed out that he is glad to spend more on his bed for the night than lunch.

The next day we toured some rose farms with our friend, the work contact and it even turns out I can actually see one of the rose plantations from my family´s house in the community. The tours were quite interesting and something few visitors get to see due to security concerns. However, in that the floral industry is such a huge part of the economy - everybody knows somebody that works on the farms, and another person that sell them internationally - it was especially interesting to see how the supply side works. On top of this seeing a greenhouse the size of a football field, filled entirely with roses is impressive in itself.

After the tours we headed up to visit my host family in the community. After the walk up and playing with the students for a bit, my brother quickly realized that the Andes are a bit higher than Chicago, and was huffing and puffing like an old man. Obviously, I took delight in mocking his condition, never acknowledging that I was the exact same way a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, no chicken foot, chicken head or guinea pig for my brother, merely fried potatoes and soup. However the tiny chairs (I don´t know why but all the chairs are about the size one would find in a kindergarten) and experiencing the, ahem, ¨active¨ household left both of us ready for an early bed time.

However, two full grown men sharing a fairly small bed was a . . . hmmm, experience? I slept a bit and my brother not at all, and rose bemoaning the ¨two by four¨ in an uncomfortable place. Seems as if he´s not entirely used to a wooden plank with a reed mattress. We talked about it, and it´s probably been about 15 years since we even slept next to each other in a car, we agreed that if another 15 years before we sleep next to each other again, that it would be more than fine for both of us.

After breakfast we hopped a bus to Quito for a flight to Cuenca. Cuenca is a beautiful colonial town nestled in the Andes and it seems as if every block has a church, or wonderful museum housed in an old building that oozes character. After spending a day wandering the town and its museums, the next day we had a chance to check out Ingapirca, a complex that is the most significant Incan ruins in Ecuador. We gawked at the famous mortarless stonework and trapezoidal doors - an experience added to by the driving rainstorm.

However, that was not to be the end of our experience of rain in Ecuador, as we flew back to Quito and buzzed to a lower altitude for some quality rainforest time. We can both now attest the truth in advertising of the term rainforest, as indeed it rains - alot. Through the rain we walked to an attraction, where you ride an open gondola across 1,000 meter valley, about 500 meters in the air, a ride which puts you at a trailhead to numerous waterfalls. We slipped and slid through the mud and checked out about half the waterfalls, and after that both agreed that we had had our fill of falling water (both from the sky and over cliffs). Tromped back to dinner and then a well deserved glass (plastic cup actually) of wine in our tree house.

The remainder of the trip was a bus ride (my brother got to experience a true Ecudorean bus ride, where we found ourselves standing (more accurately hunching over) for half and finally gettting seats - on the floor) to the equator (or with 240 meters of it, as the guide books point out). We met our friend, and all three of us also had time to check out Mitad de Mundo (the Equator) which was fun and the building on the equator held a charming museum laying out the basics of clothing and culture for the various regions of Ecuador. After that, the three of us had dinner in a fantastic restaraunt perched on a hill smack dab in the center of Quito, providing great views of the sunset and the lights of Quito slowly flickering in as darkness set in.

I then hopped a bus back to Otavalo, arriving entirely content but exhausted.

However, before finishing the story, I need to admit, I´ve travled a bit in some unusual places, being a rugged traveler I keep an eye on things, and tried to watch out for my bro. That being said, when we flew to Cuenca, after checking in for the flight I noticed that I couldn´t find my passport, needless to say this got my attention in a hurry. While anxiously patting down my pockets, I noticed a security guard coming towards me with something - my passport because I had forgotten to retrieve it after the security check. The next morning, my brother and I switched hotels, when packing I noticed my bag seemed to be lighter. Later that afternoon, when we retrieved our bags from behind the desk, the staff kindly pointed out that I had forgotten half my clothes - in the closet of our hotel room. As I sheepishly shoved the plastic bag with the majority of my belongins into my bag, my brother had a good laugh.

As I said before, I´m the rugged traveler who knows what he´s doing, right?!?!?!

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