Ecuador Revisited: Bill´s Big Adventure and More

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PROLOGUE
This entry ended up being much longer than I hoped it would be due to my just trying to tell the story with detail, perhaps too much detail. Of course, there are many stories not told here--spending a Sunday afternoon exploring Guayaquil on foot, visiting the town of Sigsig and lounging along the river of the same name, my daughter´s first haircut, and many more--because of an editorial decision so that this doesn´t become a book, but there are still some pictures to convey those events. It´s hard to strike the proper balance, especially when considering the different people who might read this and their varying degrees of interest. If you´re just interested in finding out what I´m about to attempt, please go straight to the bottom of this entry to see. Here are links to 2 videos I took in Cotacachi and posted on Youtube:

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ECUADOR REVISITED
It´s been over 2 1/2 weeks since I arrived with my wife Pachi, daughter Agustina, and father Bill for what will be my longest stay in Ecuador since I first visted the country in 1999. For Pachi, it is an opportunity to spend time with loved-ones she misses so while living in Texas. For Agustina, it is her 2nd visit here, a chance to connect with her extended Ecuadorian family and to experience all of the elements of this place and culture. And for my father, it was the chance to have the adventure of a lifetime and to know the family and country that have become mine, too.

CUENCA AND SURROUNDING AREAS
Cuenca is Pachi´s hometown and a place very close to my heart. Sure, I´m baised, but I have always maintained that it is Ecuador´s most attractive city, one of my favorites of all of the places I´ve visited in Latin America. We spent my dad´s first week here in this beautiful colonial city. Of prime importance, Bill was able to get to know my in-laws and some of Pachi´s extended family. The days consisted of visiting the must-see sights in the city like churches, markets, plazas and the like, having lunches usually at my in-laws´ house, and sometimes enjoying a little night life. We also hit some important sites nearby, most notably the Incan-Cañari ruins of Ingapirca 2 hours north of Cuenca, Ecuador´s best-preserved and most significant pre-colombian archeological site. In addition, we spent a day visiting the nearby towns of Gualeceo and Chordeleg, catching a big parade and fiesta in one and doing some heavy-duty shopping in the other. On Bill´s last night in Cuenca, we went out with a bunch of Pachi´s family for a big meal of cuy, the traditional dish of roasted guinea pig. Delicious!
The funniest moment of his visit here, hands-down: Bill getting a ´limpieza´, or cleansing(the spiritual kind) at a local market, a very traditional shamanic ritual performed by a female practicioner. The (much-needed?) procedure included him getting whacked hard and repeatedly on his bald head with a big bunch of herbs, being passed over with an egg (don´t ask), and then, for the grand finale, showered with sugar cane liquor spraying from this woman´s mouth, first in the face (rather unexpectedly), next on the navel area (with her pulling up his shirt), and then on the back for good measure. Next stop: Quito.

QUITO
Our flight to the world´s 2nd-highest capital was nothing short of spectacular, 45 minutes of incredible views of many of Ecuador´s towering snowcapped volcanos, one after another. First up was the massive Volcán Chimborazo, Ecuador´s tallest, whose summit (6310meters/20,561feet) is interestingly the furthest point from the Earth´s core due to the planet´s bulge and its proximity to the equator. Next was the erupting Tungurahua with a long cloud of smoke, ash, and gases trailing for miles from its fiery mouth. Before landing in Quito, we were treated to spectacular views of Cotopaxi, one of the world´s tallest active volcanos, a snowy postcard come-to-life. We had a few hours of daylight once we arrived, so we hopped on the trolley and headed to the UNESCO UN world heritage site of the colonial core of the capital, a treasure trove of arquitecture, cobblestoned streets, and activity. Our visit to Quito was short, but before leaving the next day we took the cable car up the side of the Pinchincha volcano overlooking the city to a dizzying 4100meters/13450feet above sea level for a grand view of the capital below and the surrounding Andes. Next stop: Cotacachi.

COTACACHI
The limit of my father´s legendary sense of humor was finally reached on a packed-to-the-gills bus beween Otavalo and Cotacachi. Up until that point, he´d been such a good sport with the various inconveniences one must endure to get to the good stuff here in Ecuador. Inevitably, there is always a rich irony--which Bill evidently didn´t appreciate, and perhaps I was the only one who did--in the music selections blaring inside such sweatboxes on wheels. Weary, sandwiched beween a human mass of campesinos (country folks), and having to stand was Bill as The Black Eyed Peas´I Gotta Feeling blared: "I gotta feeling that tonight´s gonna be a good night/That tonight´s gonna be a good night/That tonight´s gonna be a good, good, night/Tonight´s the night!/Let´s live it up/I got my money/Let´s spend it up..." Trying to cheer the old man up, I said with a wink, "Stop your whining, gringo! Hey, these people have to ride this bus like this every day." "They don´t have a choice," responded the Miserable One. "Hey," I reminded him, "you said you wanted to visit Cotacachi," trailing off with a slightly sadistic laugh.
The plan was to visit Cotacachi during the end of several weeks of fiestas beginning at the summer soltice--some with pre-hispanic roots--know as Inti Raymi, or the Festival of the Sun. The ones we were there for were the Festival of San Pedro and of San Pablo, major shindigs. After checking into our hotel and a solid, comforting meal, we hit the main plaza of Cotacachi, a town with a very large indigenous population of the same ethnicity as nearby Otavalo. They are generally known as Otavaleños, as famous for being globe-trotting merchants as they are for their very distinctive dress. It was a beautiful night, full of traditional Andean musicians leading groups of dancing men, women, and children circling round and round the plaza, and of good cheer and strong drinks poured into white plastic cups, often refilled by complete strangers who shared the moment with these itinerant gringos.
After putting my dad to bed ´round midnight, I returned to the action and lasted until two, around about the time the festivites were slowing down. I met some locals and ended up going with them to a community house near the plaza, passing the chicha--a traditional drink of fermented corn--and big cervezas, and sharing hand-eaten food: a big plastic container filled with mote (a local type of corn), potatoes, and chicken. I always learn so much when I find myself in such moments, talking with friends just met. Afterwards, I slipped into bed and was soon awakened by some very drunk, very loud, and not-so-musical revelers right outside our window. Again, my dad´s sense of humor snapped. I just wanted to tell him, "Dad, you´re in ECUADOR!" He was beginning to learn what exactly that meant...
The next day was an eventful and quite lively one. We started out by visiting Laguna Cuicocha, a lovely lake formed in the crater of a collapsed-but not entirely inactive-volcano near Cotacachi. It was a real postcard of a place, with two islands that supposedly look like a cuy (guinea pig), hence the name ´cuy lake´ in the local Quichua language. Afterwards, more action in town: it was the day for the men to dance, and I had been warned by friends both from there and who knew the place well. On July 29th, surrounding indigenous communities descend upon Cotacachi to dance and shout and act generally intimidating, especially with those fancy lamb´s-wool chaps, crazy homemade witch-looking hats, and scary improvised weapons (or are they just props for the dance?), everything from numchuck-looking things to spiked clubs. Remember, it´s tradition! So after coming down from their communities, getting really worked up and often fall-down drunk, some feel that it´s time to settle grievances with rival communities. That´s where the scores of riot gear-clad Policia Nacional come it. The party gets really hot when the groups try to confront each other and the tear gas begins to fly, fill the plaza, and seer every nostril and eyeball within a 6 block radius. Some people leave that region with a nice sweater for a souvenir; I left with a used tear gas cannister and one hell of a good story. Next stop: Baños.

BAÑOS
I know what those of you who stopped taking Spanish classes in high school are thinking: why on earth would the city be named ´bathroom´? Actually, it´s ´baths´, as in hot, straight-from-the-volcano mineral baths to luxuriously soak in while taking in the unforgettable views of towering green mountains on every side. I spent a month there in 1999 and have always returned to this very special place every since. I have a good friend there, too: Ray Hood, fellow gringo, 17-year-resident of Ecuador and owner of the excellent Casa Hood café. Ray and his wife Alegría treated us with excellent hospitality, really making our stay in Baños an unforgettable one. Bill was able to fulfull two of his last wishes in Ecuador: see some Andean waterfalls and to go horseback riding in the mountains. Ray, his 5-year-old son Arthur, and the two of us enjoyed a few hours of pure bliss-in-a-saddle, and it did my as much good seeing him so happy as it did him having his hopes fulfilled.

AND ON TO GUAYAQUIL
This is where Bill´s Ecuadorian adventure began and ended. We left Baños for the nearly 7-hour trip to the coastal metropolis of Guayaquil later than planned, going from 8000 foot+ highlands down to sea level along your standard zig-zaggy, mostly-paved road with some poor souls standing for portions of the journey, and even poorer ones sprawled-out on the floor. It´s kind of hard to complain about the journey when there are others who don´t even have a seat. Having to get up at 4:30 to head to the airport, Bill torturously did the final packing and preparations for the long day of flights that awaited him, not falling asleep until around 2am. A dream made a reality, a crazy idea of his son transformed into a living experience and ever-lasting memory, all aboard, rolling onto the tarmac, up in the air, Panama, Houston, and finally Dallas. The moment ends, but the experience lives on forever.

AND NOW, THE MOUNTAINTOP AWAITS ME
I am feverishly trying to finish and publish this entry before boarding a bus back towards the center of the country, a stretch of the Panamerican Highway known as the Avenue of the Volcanos. When I turned 40-years-old last September, I set a goal: this year, I will summit one of Ecuador´s ten 5000-meter+-tall mountains. After much research, spending more days than not of 2010 going to the gym, and a little bit of walking here in the Andes these last few weeks, I am going with a group to summit Ecuador´s 8th tallest mountain, Illinizas Norte, on Tuesday, July 13th (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illiniza). I´m leaving to acclimatize for a couple of days at an even higher elevation in a matter of minutes.
I´m excited and intimidated. Although there are taller and technically much harder mountains in Ecuador to attempt, this is the right one for me to crack into the 5000m+ club. At 5126 meters/16,818 feet-above sea level, there are no mountains taller than it in the lower 48 states of the U.S., and just 3 mightier in Alaska. I know this will test both my physical ability and mental toughness unlike any challenge I´ve had before, but it´s something I must do.
So you´ll have to check back into with my travelblog next week to see if I made it. I believe I will. My promise to myself will be fulfilled; the summit awaits.....

--Shaun Hopkins
July 10th, 2010

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