Windy Houston

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I finally arrived in Quito late last night, about 1 hour late after a minor adventure in Houston...

Houston was so windy that they decided to close the airport just before we were about to land. So, we were diverted to Elliston Air field, an apparently "ex-military" air base (according to the flight attendant), just south of Houston. While we were trapped on the plane re-fuelling, we were treated to fields of blackhawks, fighter jets, transports, and one of the oddest-looking planes I´ve ever seen (I´ll post a photo when I can get it off my computer). Basically it looked like a giant tropical fish with propellers on the fins - probably a guppy-like transport of some sort.

Eventually, the weather moved away from the airport and Houston re-opened, although by that time, "The Weather" was on top of us. When it finally left our area, we took off and flew back to the Houston Intercontinental airport, where my connecting flight was hopefully waiting to take me to Quito.

I distinctly remember someone saying that airline representatives would be waiting for me with electric carts to take people to their connecting flights, but when I finally got off the plane, it was pretty chaotic, so I checked the schedule on the screens, found my flight to Quito was still listed as "on time", looked at my watch and discovered I had about 10 minutes to make it there. One of benefits of having your watch set 5 minutes fast it that it makes you more paranoid about being on time ;-) So, I ran to the other gate, trying to avoid the strips of wood on the concrete marked "Caution", and made it in time, before they delayed the flight a few minutes, waiting for other connecting passengers from other flights that had been delayed because of "The Weather". At one point, the plane started to pull out of the gate, then went back for a few more people coming from an Air Canada flight. So, I didn´t have to spend much time in Houston after all, but I´m supposed to have a 9-hour visit on the way back. yay.

Fortunately, the flight to Quito was rather uneventful, and I cleared customs without a hitch. Then, I had to run the gamut of throngs of Ecuadorian friends and family waiting for people to get off the plane (probably about 20 people for every passenger). I found my friend Mike, and managed to find our way past the wall of people, and into a Taxi to our hotel.

Driving in Ecuador reminds me somewhat of Montreal, but a lot less structured. Traffic lights, signs, and lines are more suggestions than anything, and most drivers seem to rely on reflexes and driving skills rather than rules of the road. As Mike has warned me before, being a pedestrian is an extreme sport, and you basically have to assume that no one on the road can see you - because even if they do, they don´t care.

I had breakfast with Mike and friends at the Magic Bean, in the gringo district of Marescal Sucre in Quito. Big meals for a good price. Quito itself looked rather large from the plane: lots of lights, but not very dense. It reminds me of Timmins, in North Ontario: all the structure of a city that we´re used to, but not as much infrastructure and more visible divide in affluence. It´s like Timmins, but very different ;-)

We´re trying to get tickets to Peru in the next day or 2, and we´ll head directly to Cusco, via Lima, and spend a few days there. I´m still adjusting to the altitude and pollution (leaded gas is SO retro). It´s not something I notice outright, but if I tried to run stairs, I´d probably pass out. I think the exercise program might take a bit of a break for a couple days, but I´ll try to get some in tonight...

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Photos

wierdest-looking plane I ever did see
Tropical fish, or NASA cargo plane?

Elliston air field
some cargo planes at Elliston, viewed from our commercial flight!

Words to live by
I found this in the washroom of my Hostal room. It´s supposed to read "Please do not throw the paper towls into the toilet". Apparently, the pipes are too small for toilet paper in Ecuador, and they would block the pipes. Thankfully, they invented scented toilet paper to compensate.

Comments

[dannyboy]

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you make flight connections sound so interesting, haha... if you planning on visiting Peru, I definitely recommend venturing out to Bolivia as well, since you'll be so close.