Due South

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¡Hola!

I´ve been here in Quito now for three weeks, take a couple of days, and time has flown.
I´ve made (and said goodbye to) some great friends and today it is time for more despidos (or summit like that) and hopefully a few au revoirs rather than goodbyes. Yes, it´s my last night in this long, thin valley buzz of a town for tomorrow I head to the hills!

So far I´ve only been up north (have had several winters and summers already here, whatwith crossing the equator, and I still haven´t been able to navigate by the sun) but manaña I shall be sleeping in the refúgio of Illiniza Norte. Then it´s Cotopaxi then the venerable summit of Chimborazo, where I shall be nearer the stars than anybody else on this earth. This is what I love.

Today we had a practice on the local mountain, Rucu Pichincha (regular readers will recall my earlier successful summit of his taller baby brother) and we all summited without problems so that bodes well.

Suppongo que I should write something about the weekend passado. A few of us caught the bus north to Otavalo, home of the largest craft market in South America. And it was large. And the people were crafty. The Otavaleños are some of the shrewdest operators in the country and many more abroad are sending large sums home. I think that remittances form the second largest export (after oil) of Ecuador. Friday night we drank and danced to local live music at a great bar "La Jampa" - much recommended and probably the only decent nightspot in town. The band were excellent, with panpipes, guitars and the suchlike. Fantastic to dance to. And dance I did. Salsa, Merengue and a "stomp" dance I don´t know the name of where you just stomp around. Dead easy but cool.

Then Saturday morning was the small animals (guinea pigs, cats, dogs, chicks, etc) market followed by the main event. It is difficult to conceive of the range and quality of the goods on offer, not to mention the price. I am at this moment wearing a quality alpaca jumper (sweater to those from the Estados Unidos) which I picked up for a princely USD12.

Then we headed out to what my guide book says is the largest lake in Ecuador, which was tiny and the locals seemed to think us mad for suggesting that it was the biggest. Nothing doing there so we walked back cross country, stopping off for a quick shot of something pink and alcholic at an Inti Reyna party. Saturday night was more salsa and stomping. Sunday was a boat trip on a crater lake with wild guinea pigs (cuys) and sulphurus bubbles (not from the cuys).

Check back later for photos.

That pretty much brings us up to date. I´m off now for a few bevvies and more dancing.


Con arroz,

Tim xxx

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