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Published: March 23rd 2011
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Arrived in Quito!
Our excellent, warm and welcoming hosts - Roberto, Alexandra and Gloria, with Katy We sent Old Blue Volvo on her ocean cruise from Costa Rica to Montreal, and flew to Quito, Ecuador. It was wonderful to be met by familiar faces: Gloria and Roberto Najera were at the airport.
We know them from Truro (their daughter Karen lives in Truro and had a baby in 2010). They have been warm and welcoming, inviting us into their house to stay, showing us the best of Ecuador -- food, culture, and even introducing us to their large extended family. Ecuador has so much good stuff to eat -- especially a huge variety of fruit and vegetables, all local, fresh, and ripe. Tarjei likes the "morocho" which is a hot drink with corn kernels and milk. I like "jugo de granadilla" which is related to passion fruit juice.
The first day in Quito we spent at the Brazilian Embassy, applying for a tourist visa. We could not get it prior to leaving Canada because the visa is valid for only three months and we wouldn't be there yet. Applying for visas, like crossing borders with your car, can seem like death by bureaucracy. We had to give them our passports, and show our airline tickets
Katy in Quito
This is the Plaza de Independencia where Ecuador's legislative buildings are. out of Brazil, employment information, and photocopies of last year's income tax forms or three months of credit card statements. We each had a multi-page form to fill out on line and then print with a photo attatched. The process took a full day, and we left the office with some trepidation -- would the visa be ready within a week? Would we actually get our passports back? They said: "Talvez" -- perhaps. To cheer me up, I had a corner shoe-shine (50 cents), a haircut ($2.00), and an ice cream (50 cents) -- felt much better. Oh -- they use American dollars as their official currency here.
After a couple of days in Quito, Tarjei and I took a bus and spent three great days in Baños, a little touristy town in the Andes. The first morning was cool and rainy, so we started off for a casual stroll around town. The weather improved, so we started up a road/hiking trail. We gradually shed our jackets and sweaters as it got warm and sunny. As we climbed higher, the sun beat down and we realized we had brought no hats, no sun glasses, no sunscreen, no water. But
On the way to Baños
Taken from the bus window as we passed fantastic scenery on the three hour bus ride it was so breathtakingly beautiful with volcanos surrounding us and a sweeping view of the valley, we didn't want to turn back. Tarjei took off his t-shirt and put it on his head like a turban, and I draped my scarf to protect my face and arms. There were farms extending high up the mountains and we stopped at one little place where a very old Quichua (descendant of Inca) man was drying corn kernels on the patio in the sun. He offered us water from a jug, but we declined (I think his digestive system was better defended than ours). He told that there was a "tienda" (store) just 10 minutes up the road. We continued to climb as the sun beat down. The view was stunning. We were breathless from the beauty and the fact that we had climbed almost 1000 meters above the town. Finally, one hour and several km later we reached the tienda -- the most beautiful site I have ever seen. A stone hut with a poster on the wall of Santa drinking coca-cola. Nothing ever tasted better than that first gulp of coke! Once again, those wise Norwegian sayings came to mind including
The first hike in Baños
Neither Katy nor I remembered to bring sunscreen, so we made do. "No such thing as poor weather, just poor clothing" and "There is no shame in turning back" (which is #10 of the "10 fjellreglene" -- Ten mountain rules). KF
After Baños, we headed north of Quito. First stop the Equator (Mitad del Mundo) with Gloria and her sister Rosie. Yellow line marks the spot. Please see kissing photo. Then by bus to Otovalo, a very cool market and craft town that seemed to be run entirely by Ecuadoran natives. It was a fun place with (big surprise) a volcano hovering nearby. A great local group, Inkakay, performed Andean music at the restaurant where we had supper. We now have the CD.
Then back to Quito, and last night we went with Roberto, Gloria and Alexandra to the Ballet Nacional Ecuador. It was a glimpse of Quito in the 19th century through dance and music. It was a top notch professional performance, and a packed house. Today we picked up our passports with the VISA to Brazil - hurray! Tomorrow: Peru. TT
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