Blogs from Latacunga, Centre, Ecuador, South America

Latacunga surprised me. It really did. I stay there a couple of days longer than I did most other average towns and found myself liking the vibe of this city. There weren't much to do here. Simply just relax. I met a middle aged Dutch man at the guesthouse I was staying at. We discussed politic and world economy. He gave me a book on my nations fail. I read it from cover to cover. I took the local bus for a day trip to Laguna Quilotoa. It was quite scenic. A crater that has become a lake over time. The Dutch guy and myself joined a group to see Vulcan Cotopaxi. The itinerary in included a hike to the top or near top of this volcano, of which I did not make. The guides drop ... read more

I arrived back from the US at noon on April 1st, still fighting the last of my nasty California cold. Three volunteers from Engineers Without Borders were due to arrive in Quito that same day at midnight. At 8:00 pm I learned that their flight had been cancelled, so while they lived it up at the Marriott in Dallas I pushed fluids and laid low. I was grateful for an extra day in bed at the hostel near the Quito airport...the health gods were watching over me! I was feeling 85% better by the time I met up with the engineers and we headed off for the mountains. Since they arrived on a Sunday (rather than the scheduled Saturday) all the hardware stores in Latacunga were closed, so we only stopped at the grocery store to ... read more

¨To tigua? At thát desk,¨ they had told us, and we had taken a deep breath before we had went to stand in line at the back of the row: half of the people in the overcrowded bus station of Latacunga seemed to queue upbefore the same desk. And although I knew my backpack was safe and well in the hands of my travel mates, this wasn´t the most relaxing situation that I could imagine. While I tried to find a good balance between my ¨I´m not bothered¨-look, my ¨I´m watching you¨-look and my ¨stay away from me¨-look, I stood there with my hands in my pockets (where my money was), trying to both keep my place in the queue and checking on where the man that was stuck on my back was putting his hands. ... read more

(Find out what happened before, in:¨The Single Knob for automatic hot water. Uh-huh. Really.¨) ¨Excuse me, mister, are you sure that I won´t crash into the crater together with your horse any moment now? He seems to be really tired…¨ I´m sitting on the swaying back of a snorting and sweating horse that stands still every five minutes to catch a breath. We´ve almost arrived the top of the crater, and I imagine that I would ask that question and that the man would say: ¨yeah sure, no worries, you´ll both be fine.¨ As in: ¨sure, I know the way,¨ or ¨sure, that´s the normal price,¨ or ¨sure, tomorrow morning we´ll have water again. Hot water.¨ I hold on to that last thought when my staggering quadruped and I are both getting ready for the next ... read more

Autobuse susipažystu su vietine mergina kuri važiuoja iki tolimesnio miestelio nei man reikia. Į latacunga atvažiuojam kaip ir žadėjo apie 3 nakties, be to ir sustoja autobusas kažkokioj neaiškioj vietoj, net ne terminale, tad nelabai būtų kur prisiglausti iki ryto. Mergina pasiūlo važiuoti su ja iki Ambato, tereikia damokėti 1 dolerį. Ten galėčiau bent jau iki ryto pabūti ir po to pargrįžčiau į Latacunga. Taip ir padarau. Rytą praleidžiu Ambato ir apie pietus važiuoju atgal į Latacunga. Čia susiskambinu su CSere Cami pas kurią turiu apsistoti. Ji man žinute atsiunčia nuorodas kaip atvažiuoti iki jos namų, bet autobusų stotyje pravaikštinėju apie valand laiko, išklausinėju visų vairuotojų kur po galais tas miestelis kurio man reikia. Visi siuntinėja skirtingomis kryptimis ir niekas nieko tiksliai pasakyt negali. Galų gale nusprendžiu sėsti į taksi ir važiuoti iki Cami namų. Čia ... read more