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Published: February 3rd 2007
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El Mitad Del Mundo
The 'real' equator...only found out a few years back when GPS revealed the true location In order to avoid divorce, we've decided to take turns writing our blog entires (the last entry was a joint effort and almost got ugly!)... so this one will be in the voice of Jen...
Last time we left off, we were on our way to the village of Otavalo in the Northern Highlands of Equador. We made our way to the bus station, and quickly caught a bus to take us out of the city. We've been doing really well with both the inter-city and long distance buses, and they're so cheap! The 2 hour ride to Otavalo cost $2 each, and most of the inter-city buses are in the $0.25 range! On the longer buses in Equador, you also get a movie, which is usually 10-20 years old and stars either Arnold Swartzennegger, Van Damme, Patrick Swayze or Jet Li (we got Arnold in Commando!)! Upon arrival, we met a very nice German girl, Yvonne - we were the only 3 gringo's on the bus! We decided to stick together, and headed for the first accommodation listing in "the book", ie. the Lonely Planet guide which has become our most valuable asset! The hostel turned out to be
Quito Basillica
The Quito Basillica....we climbed both the front and rear towers... the nicest we've stayed in yet, and what was to be a 2 night stay, quickly turned into 3, and then was extended again to 4! With me still being sick, and not having really slowed down since we left, we realized that we both needed some R&R (I'm happy to report that it is now a week later and I'm finally feeling better - 4 weeks of coughing has not been fun, however, on the positive side my 6-pack abs are coming along really nicely!). So there isn't much to tell about our 4 days in Otavalo, except for a few highlights.
As I said, the hostel was really nice, and although at the higher end of our budget ($22 per night) it was well worth it! On a budgeting note, we have decided that if we splurge on accommodation, ie. $20ish, then we have to eat cheaply, which is really easy to do. In Equador, you can get "almuerzos", which are set meals, for lunch or dinner and they cost between $1 and $2 (big bowl of soup and a main plate with chicken, fish or beef, lots of rice, and veggies - very filling)! Gringo restaurants,
Quito Basillica
A nice, stately old stone church in Quito...except for the flashing LED Christmas lights at the alter! on the other hand, can easily result in the bill adding up to $15+, so when we stay in the $10-$12 rooms, we can spend more on food! Compromise is good! OK, I got a little off track there... the hostel had a really nice courtyard, with these great hammock chairs. Andrew, Yvonne and I spent each afternoon before dinner, relaxing from our strenuous day in the hammock chairs (and enjoying some cerveza!), then we'd find somewhere to eat, and then go back to our hammock chairs for some more lounging (we had to be back for a 10 o'clock curfew - not sure why, but there wasn't much to do in Otavalo, so it didn't bother us!).
On Saturday morning, we were up early for the Otavalo market (and the main reason for our visit to this village). We started at the animal market, which wasn't as big or crazy as we had thought it might be. Mostly just a lot of pigs and cows, and not much action. The main market, which really takes over the town with vendor stands on every street, was much better. There was a strange mixture of items, from local handcrafts, to
Quito From Basillica Tower
This photo of the Virgin statue was taken from the very, very top of the Basillica tower...many stairs and ladders to get here fruits, vegetables and fresh hanging meat, to underwear - something for everyone! We bought 3 really nice woven tableclothes, which will someday go on the dining room table that my brother is going to make us (right Chris?!?), in the house that we'll eventually own (ie. you might not see them for a few years!).
The next day, the sun finally came out and we decided we needed some exercise, so the 3 amigos hiked to the Peguche falls, which were only 20 minutes out of town but for us it was a real effort! Aside from a few bug bites (evil Peguche flying ant things!), the hike was great and gave us some nice views of the surrounding Andean mountains.
Sadly, on Monday we had to say goodbye to Yvonne and Otavalo, to head back to Quito and catch our flight to Lima. We had a great time in Equador, however with the first week spent in the Galapagos (which we wouldn't change for the world!) and the second week being very low key, there is so much more we'd like to come back and see some day. On the list is the jungle, the coast, the
Quito Basillica - Path over Nave
To get to the rear tower, you walk right through the roof of the Basillica, note the top of the concrete vaults below colonial city of Cuenca, the outdoor adventure capital of Banos, and lots of spectacular hiking! Next trip...
So that's one country down, and many more to go...
ps We're still catching up on the photo uploading...you'll notice that some of these photos are from the Quito Basillica, which was discussed in our last blog entry. We will be setting up a Picassa page to enable us to upload more pictures than you'll ever want to look at....link coming soon.
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