Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 648

The interior of the Quito bus terminal is dimly lit, with a high ceiling and dingy concrete floors. Venders line the middle of the terminal, perched on stools beside stands piled high with brightly packaged candy and soda. A single lightbulb hangs from the roof of each stand. Along the right wall are ticket windows for destinations throughout Ecuador (Cuenca, Guayaquil, Baños, etc.). The ticket sellers lean out their windows and holler their bus' destination as you pass by. Outside these windows are attendants who try to hustle would-be travelers. Twenty feet away from the Otavalo ticket counter a hustler spotted us approaching, and, shouting, "Otavalo, Otavalo, Otavalo!" he ushered Brenna, Ami and I over to the ticket window. Once our bus tickets were purchased we found ourselves outside and then hustled onto our bus. The ... read more

01.10.05 Morgens um 06.00 Uhr standen wir schon auf und packten alles zusammen. Wir starteten bereits unseren Rueckweg. Bei einem Militaerstuetzpunkt haetten wir eine Kontrolle machen muessen, stattdessen fuhren wir einfach weiter zum ecuatorianischen Stuetzpunkt. Das fand der Peruaner gar nicht lustig und liess zwei Schuesse ab. Wir kehrten dann doch zurueck und als Entschuldigung uebergab Luis drei Suppen, dann war der Herr wieder beruhigt. Dann kehrten wir zur ecuatorianischen Militaergruppe zurueck. Diese kochten fuer uns heisses Wasser fuer unseren Fruehstueckskaffee. Nun begann ein recht langer Rueckweg. Wir machten bei einer Comunidad einen Stop, um die Moeglichkeit zum uebernachten zu erkunden fuer eine Schulklasse, die im Januar kommt. Dasselbe machten wir auch bei der Comunidad der Cofanes. Die Cabañas dort waren jedoch nicht so schoen wie die anderen. Wir wollten aber doch an... read more

Basically we arrived in loads of time to Madrid airport to check in for flight to Quito, and this time they told us the flight was full and the best they could do was put us on standby and we would have to hope some losers didn´t show. Queue rage and lots of confrontation by Becky, in the end they offered us the option to fly to Bogota in Columbia, then connect there for Quito. In the end it was only two hours extra, and they paid us 300 euros each for the hassle which was cool. Also notched up another country on our itinerary, which was good, even tho it is the most dangerous country in the world and one of George Bushs´axis of evil!!! However, had a bit of a mare in Columbia as ... read more

The perils in developing a routine is that you inevitably begin to believe you know exactly what to expect in your day. Today -- like every other day -- my alarm went off promptly at 7:30. I pulled myself out of bed, dressed, ate a bowl of Krispie Rice, gathered my Spanish notebook and homework, and headed out the door. Unlike the previous few mornings, the sky was cloudy, and the volcano to the east of our apartment (Cayambe) -- which we often cannot see at all -- glowed amid the morning clouds. It appeared as though it were suspended in the air, just pausing near Quito before moving on. But in spite of the clouds and Cayambe, when I left the apartment I expected to see, smell and hear the same things I did every ... read more

Well, it finally happened -- late Thursday night Brenna, Ami and I came down with something. When we went to bed it looked as though Ami was the only sick one among us, (he had a really high fever), but at some point in the night I began to have very odd, vivid dreams and nausea. I went to my Spanish lesson in the morning anyway, which turned out to be a huge mistake as I spent most of the time ill and unable to concentrate. After four painful hours, I dragged myself home and crashed on the couch, where I slept on and off for the next five hours. Brenna and Ami both went to their afternoon classes (even though neither one felt well). For awhile there it seemed as though Brenna was in better ... read more