Home - Tabebela - Otavalo

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I have arrived in Ecuador no problem transferring in Houston although I did get a bit worried when it was taking what seemed like ages to get through customs!
Whilst queuing for security in Houston I got talking to a guy called Renan(sp?) unfortunately he was flying to DC not Quito but he did give me a note from Honduras which is worth about 25cents apparently!



So I finally landed in Quito at 11pm (5am British time). I got a bit concerned that I should only be bringing 1 phone into the country & I had 2 but apparently it's fine especially as the one doesn't actually work in Ecuador. Then I had a slight panic that my luggage hadn't arrived because it wasn't going around the carousel but it turned out airport staff had taken them off & were about to tag them as lost I think but I grabbed mine with relief! So panic over I found my lift to my hotel.



I stayed in Hotel Las Mercedes Nr Quito-Airport (Tabebela) cost $39.20 very expensive for Ecuador but I got a free airport shuttle, breakfast, a hot shower and a comfy bed in a quiet environment. Christian the owner has excellent English and his wife Alex and staff use google translate to try and communicate as best they can. Fernando taught me plenty of words from a Ecuador photo book but most of them were for animals so not that useful! They did give me the handy tip to download the google translator app which me & Fernando used for most the morning to communicate.

So after a hearty breakfast of Ham & cheese toastie, scrambled eggs with ham, juice, coffee and watermelon I thought that I better make my way to Otavalo about 10am.



Travelling to Otavalo:

So this journey was not as easy as thought. I should have been able to get direct to Otavalo from Pifo bus terminal but the terminal was closed for Fiesta of some sorts.
So instead I had to travel into Quito to Quitumbe terminal which is at the south of the city. Alex very helpfully helped me catch the correct bus as she had originally taken my into Pifo (for free).

Tabebela - Quitumbe $2 and it took about 1.5 hrs. I then made the mistake of taking a taxi to Carcelen terminal in the north of the city because I thought it would be easier ... I should have taken the bus as the taxi cost $45!!!

From here I caught the Co-op Otavalo/Las lagos bus to Otavalo $2.50 and it took about 2.5 hrs where I got off at the central bus terminal (where the bus terminates) at appx. 4pm.

I stayed: Flying Donkey Hostal corner of Simon Bolivar y Abdon calderon I have booked 3 nights here and it cost $33.60 Shared bathroom Dorm of 6 - they take MasterCard or Visa.

The hostel seems nice on 1st inspection and apparently also has hot water (will test in the morning) - I also got a towel and toiletries.

I walked around Otavalo after checking in I found the food market and ate: A tortilla (potato) with chorizo and egg for $3 I also found a bakery and brought what appears to be a croissant or type of sweet bread & a bottle of water for 75c.



I have a roomie called Lydia from Germany and tomorrow we plan on going to Cotacachi in the morning 😊

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Photos

2015-09-15 22.14.05
Hostal

2015-09-15 22.52.40
Glass work on the streetlights