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Hasn't Deb Grown ?
The new tall Deb standing on sacks of rice on the Chugchilan busSaturday 14th May 2005 : To Chugchilan
Early breakfast. Taxi at 0800 but we need to stop for cash as the Black Sheep does not take CC. As we are closing the taxi doors all the staff from the B&B are on the doorstep waving us off.
Taxi driver very obliging. Drops Deb and I in town centre and will pick us up further round the one-way system. We try three ATMs before we can get our money. Pile back in the car. Off to the bus Terminal Terrestre. The approach roads are being rebuilt, it is a nightmare. Queuing near a pile of sand and some railings he asks if we would like to get out here - no ta, I’ve no idea where we are. 5mins later we drive into the car park as there is no drop-off lane. Into one of the gloomiest unwelcoming bus stations I have ever visited.
Find a window for Latacunga. Buy the tickets, no change. Hurried round to the platform gate and have to then buy platform tickets ! Channelled on to the bus where a young man appears with the change from the tickets.
Bus is fairly empty. As
we are leaving the bus station it stops at the pile of sand where several people get on. It makes many similar stops including letting on hawkers for food, drink, newspapers and one for a ‘cure-all’ balm who must have spoken for 15 mins. Fortunately it was in Spanish so was easier to ignore.
I had expected to end up at Latacunga bus terminal. No, it crossed the river and wound through the Saturday market crowds into the heart of the town. We get off and set off back towards where I think the bus station is, weaving between market stalls, taxis and chatting locals. After repeated directions from different people we reach the bus station.
As we walk towards the ticket windows a youngish boy says ‘Chugchilan ?’ and I think I’ve gone to heaven. He leads us past the ticket windows direct to the buses. Meanwhile I’m saying we want the Sigchos bus, not the Zumbahua. Yes yes he replies. We buy 4 tickets while they manhandle our rucksacks onto the roof, along with all sorts of stuff, sacks of veg, pans etc. We get in and walk along sacks of rice down the aisle to
our seats. The bus fills up and we are off.
The road is not good. At first it is fun, swaying, jerking and rocking. After a while it is tedious and we are knackered. What made it worse for Deb were the sheer drops alongside the road. And guess what ? We stopped in Zumbahua where several more people crowd on complete with what they have bought or did not sell at the market. Not far out of Zum we got stuck in a ditch. Many people got off to watch the crew extricate us.
We carried on. Fortunately (?) we were surrounded by low cloud for the rest of the journey. We could still feel the bumps as if we were driving along a dried-up river bed, but could not see the drops, nor how close the edge was.
The bus terminates at Chugchilan. By now our rucksacks are fairly wet. We load up and walk the half kilometre down then uphill to the Black Sheep.
Friendly welcome from Andres/Michelle the owners, and Amanda/Chris the trainee mangagers. Chris almost immediately takes us on an exhausting hike up the hill to our room and shows us
the dry toilet. Throw everything in, including paper, and follow with a scoop of wood shavings.
Back to the lodge for a cup of tea where 20 or so Ohio students have just completed the Quilotoa walk (more later on Quilotoa). We meet Mike from Albany and Avi and Caitlin from Saratoga (none of them Ohio students).
Couple of beers and it is tea time - veggy chilli and home-made bread.
Owen stays up late playing cards with the Ohio bunch. The rest of us climb the hill for an early night.
Sunday 15th May 2005 : Horse trek to Cloud Forest
As it is Sunday we have pancakes for breakfast. They are American style which to me is like scotch pancakes but bigger.
The Ohio State students are all leaving this morning.
Owen, Rory and I are off for another horse trek. Mike, Avi and Caitlin are going too. Rory gets a large horse. I get a genuine donkey. For the first section of the trek Rory’s horse (which is not under his control) regularly tries to bite mine, at one point almost biting my knee. Fortunately the guide is aware and
swaps horses with Rory at the break.
The terrain here is very different to that in Argentina, and is also varied in itself.
We made our way to a cheese factory but our Spanish was feeble and it was not really an organised visit. We left feeling somewhat embarrassed for having disturbed them.
As we get higher the cloud comes down. If anything it seems to enhance the trip as we get closer to the cloud forest. The horses have another break and we have a stroll through the forest. It is like a damp wood in the UK but with something growing on every surface, and lots of plants, including orchids, in bloom. We scramble across a waterfall, then up to heath-like grassland before returning to the horses.
Every now and then one of the horses wil break into a trot (or is it a canter ?) and the others follow, including my donkey. This just means we all get sore bums. I will have to find out how to ride properly. These treks seem to rely on customers sitting on horses which know the way home, rather than being ridden ‘properly’.
As it happens
my donkey and I reached base first. A case of tortoise and hare ?
Pasta for tea. Owen and Rory pick at it as it has vegetables in it.
After tea I play ‘hearts’ with Owen, Mike and Avi. Avi shoots the moon twice and wins easily.
Monday 16th May 2005 : Ridge & Canyon Walks
After yesterday’s lazy day, Deb wanted to go for a walk. The ridge behind the Black Sheep looked reasonable so we set off. It was not difficult, just steep in sections. Lovely views in all directions with no significant cloud at first. In all it took just over an hour.
At the end of the ridge the path petered out. We managed to make our way back down through the edge of a very steep field. By then Rory and Deb had had enough. Owen and I chose to do the ‘Canyon, phenomenon and suspension bridge walk’, max 2.5 hours each way, less if we omitted the suspension bridge. It was just after midday so we should have plenty of time before nightfall (around 6pm).
We set off along the main road, downhill, thinking this will be uphill coming
Kneeling llama
He really was at the end of his tether back. We turned off and followed a track between limestone cliffs heading down towards the canyon. The instructions were not very detailed and we were beginning to wonder if we were in the right place when found the next turnoff down to the ‘Rio’ itself. Followed a very rocky and slippery dusty track winding backwards and forwards. Spoke to some locals ascending who advised us it was quite dangerous, though I’m sure they thought we intended climbing the canyon wall opposite. Carried on and came across Mike going the opposite direction ! He’d missed the main road turnoff and found an alternative route. He’d seen nothing of the phenomenon - an erosion feature alongside the river.
Reached Atualha, a ‘village’ by the river, followed by a cheeky-looking little boy returning from school. We turned left and he turned right.
Continuing we passed the blue church where we were challenged by dogs, all bark and no bite. Shortly after we followed the track to the river. It was quite low and unexciting but it did have a couple of wibbly-wobbly bridges made of eucalyptus and bamboo. We stopped there and had a snack including ugly green-skinned oranges which were
lovely and sharp.
On to find the phenomenon. After walking past it twice we agreed it had to be the stream feeding the river which had high sandy walls either side and evidence of recent falls. We went up the stream a short way but even to me it looked dangerous so we soon quit.
Right, we are not bothering with the suspension bridge so where is the track back ? The trail continued along the river and there was no obvious track up the canyon. We zigzagged up and across a couple of fields and stumbled across it. It was made for vehicles and wound backwards and forwards for a long long way before reaching the main road. While following it, it was galling to see local youngsters working in the fields almost running straight up the hillside while carrying massive bundles on their backs.
Just as we hit the main road we saw Andres from the BSI unloading his pickup at the Don Bosco furniture school. Hoping we might get a lift en route we set off on the 3km back. He zoomed past us, fully loaded, about 400yds from the end.
Tuesday
17th May 2005 : Quilotoa
This is the big one. A chance to walk along the rim of a volcanic crater lake plus a hike back. First we have to get there. We get a lift on the back of a pickup truck with Avi and Caitlin. Mike and Billy had a lift in someone’s car intending to arrive early , walk down to the lake and back up as we arrived.
Arrived and walked up to the edge of the rim. It was truly astonishing. I had seen photos which looked colour-enhanced but it really was a strong green-blue colour.
No sign of Mike at the rim, possibly a red dot below. We set off around the rim, the trail meandering inside and outside the ridge. As usual Owen hared off.
We had to walk about a quarter of the way round before picking up the trail back to The Black Sheep. As ever it was further and more extreme than expected and we had fairly frequent pauses for breath.. As time went on the cloud appeared and dropped lower. We were fortunate to reach the trail before the sun disappeared. Then began the long trek
downhill.
I prefer uphill if anything. The downhill was at just the wrong angle, jarring ankles and knees at almost every step. After and hour or so we reached Guahuaman and found Owen waiting 20 mins already. He’d eaten his packed lunch and set off again quite soon. We took our time, watched by a crowd of young schoolkids. Every time I raised my camera they would start to giggle and run around the corner.
After the village we followed the track until it reached the edge of the plateau opposite Chugchilan village. It then descended into the canyon and climbed back up again. The descent was not too bad as it was mainly rock with verticals both sides but there were some exposed sections that Deb was not too fond of.
At the bottom was a small river and the path tailed off. On the opposite bank was a sign indicating ‘Black Sheep’ and a vertical arrow. There was a faint track zigzagging up the loose surface and somehow we made it to the top. But it was not the real top. Following were a succession of steep walks up loose tracks.
We had a
good chat with an old boy who told us he had passed Owen earlier.
We carried on, stopping more and more often, saying hello to boys, donkeys and piglets as they passed in the other direction. After what seemed an eternity we reached the main road at the top. Soon after we walked into the Black Sheep lounge to find it had only taken us about five and a half hours while Owen had done it in four.
What surprised us too was that Mike and Billy were back already and they had not passed us, and there was no sign of Avi or Caitlin who should have been in front of Owen. M&B had walked down to the lake but had not been able to catch a donkey back up. It had taken a while to walk, by which time the clouds had descended. They caught the bus back. Avi and Caitlin appeared forty-five mins later having taken a short-cut or two which led them astray, but no harm done.
Pizza for tea, plus whole artichokes.
On the way back up to our room I find the path blocked by a sitting llama. I walk
round and he does not spit at me.
Next to the room itself is a horse apparently tied up for the night. Make a note to wear my glasses if I have to go to the wc in the night.
Wednesday 18th May 2005 : Bye Bye Black Sheep
Breakfast then down to the roadside to wait for the legendary milk truck.
It arrived around 09:40. It was a pick-up with two plastic milk tanks (one for delivering pasteurised milk, the other for today’s collections), eight people and assorted bags and other containers. To my eyes it was just about full and I wondered how we would fit with our bags as well. No problem. We passed most of the bags up front and found spaces at the rear.
We set off, trying to find foot- and handholds, and anticipating bumps and halts wherever possible. Given there is no local bus after 0400 on weekdays the milk truck had a vital function not just collecting/delivering milk but also moving people and goods between hamlets and markets.
I lost count of how many times we stopped, it was over 15. The truck became so
crowded (20 adults plus two toddlers ?) that we all ended up wedged in one position or another with little choice of where we put hands or feet. My main concern was my day-bag. I normally kept it with me on planes or buses but not on this truck. It was passed around from place to place as the truck became more crowded. At one point it was on top of a pile of crates/containers. I saw a stout lady pat it and then sit on it - how would my laptop emerge ? There was nothing I could do.
Hats off to Averatec. I am typing this on the very same laptop. No ill effects that I can tell.
We eventually arrived in Sigchos. As soon as we were off the truck we were being waved towards the Latacunga connecting bus, even though it was 11:45 and the bus would not leave until 13:30.
I bought tickets and we sat down outside the bus to wait. Deb bought some sweet rolls and we waited some more. Rory and I wandered along to the ‘park’ and counted dead stag-beetles, squashed on the road.
The journey was
uneventful though a little tedious. The bus became more and more crowded the closer we got to Latacunga. At one point on the Pan-American there was some kind of checkpoint and the conductor asked all the standing passengers to crouch out of sight. I never found out why.
We arrived in Latacunga at the bus terminal as I had hoped. Nearby there was a recommended hostal, convenient for an overnight stay and continuing to Banos tomorrow. Could I find it ? No. Looking for the Hostal Los Nevados all I could find was the Ferreteria Los Nevados. I asked there and the young assistant led us back up the street to the Residencial Rieles.
They showed me two poky rooms and wanted 20USD total. I took it. The rooms were a little strange. They both had a double bed with a large mirror on the wall alongside. Deb noticed later that ours had a mirror in the headboard too.
When we pulled back the sheet to get in bed later we found the bottom sheet was a single and did not cover the bottom half of the vinyl mattress. Unusual but I slept the night OK.
Canyon - lupins
There are lupins everywhere. I'm told they're a valuable source of seed protein. Meanwhile we walked across the fancy bridge into Latacunga ‘downtown’. I had hoped to finf somewhere to have a decent coffee and even a decent meal. It was sadly lacking in attractive bars or cafes. We went round at least one circle befor we found a half-decent café. Rory and Owen both had something to eat so they were relatively happy. We then sat in the pretty main square and listened to the 6pm bells as the temperature dropped.
We retraced our steps past the collection of open-sided shops on the way to the fancy bridge.
Before going to bed Deb and I needed food as we had had nothing significant since breakfast. We were staying one block from the bus station near a crossroads and we hoped to find a cheap and cheerful place to eat. There were indeed many places lining the road, mostly formica-topped, fried-chicken joints. After traipsing past them all we elected for bananas and chocolate. I bought some yummy wholemeal rolls, several bananas (2.5p each), chocolate and beer from a range of shops and street-sellers.
Back to the Residencial and an unusual martial-arts film that I did not see the end of.
All in all I cannot recommend a stop in Latacunga. Maybe If you have things to stock up on it is ideal. We however were just passing though and never became comfortable in the place, perhaps as our first visit was none too successful either.
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