Cotatachi

Cotacahi is a wonderfull small town near Ibarra so we decided to tke a trip down there today. It's the leather centre of Ecuador and stores line the main street with all kinds of beautiful leather products. Our friends bought a beautiful leather carry on luggage bag. I used my strong will power to resist buying a leather jacket for anywhere from $65 to $165. I decided in the end that our bag is getting to full and our wallet getting too empty and my old jacket at home still has quite a bit of wear.

There are quite a few Americans living here and today we met one of them who has set up a business here selling land and houses and doing tours of other areas. He has a website called Pro Ecuador. Nice couple and quite a few English speeking staff - one from Victoria.

It's about 35 K to Cotatachi and a $4.00 cab ride but we decided to take the local bus. The Government must really subsidize bus transport as the fare is only 25c. The bus depot is the size of a football field with busses to surrounding areas coming and going constaantly.

There are no such thing as bus stops so the bus stops anywhere someone flags it down. This can be a mile or often 100 yards so it can be a long trip. We got on the bus this AM and we were the last one on. I hoisted myself up the steep stairs and the bus started to back out and get out of the terminal. I grabbed a post and hung on for dear life, swinging around like a pole dancer while the bus jerked around. Fortunately a lady in the front row quickly saw my problem and opened up a nearby seat for me which I quickly plunked myself into. The moral of the story, don't be the last person on as the drivers don't have munch concern about handicapped or elderly people!


We found some really nice restaurants here and had lunch in one of them. The retaurants around the hotel in Ibarra aren't much so it was a pleasant change. The whole town is quite a contrast to Ibarra which is a hustling busy place. Cotacahi has nice quiet streets without the constant frantic traffic - it's easy to see why quite few North Americans have retired here. We came baack to Ibarra and the Saturday night traffic was unbelieveable. Saturday night is big night here! We decided to go to the Chinese cafe down the street for dinner and had n enormous plate each of pretty good food for $5,20. Shades of Vancouver Chinatown in the 60s!


Off to Otavalo on the bus the next day to get some gifts at the big market. The bus ride down was quite uneventful and smooth – we managed to get seated early so there were no more pole dancing routines on my part!! This time we were going 50% further so the fare was 40c instead of 25c on the way to Cotatachi. On the way back the fare was 50c ea – you figure it out. The bus was completely jammed with two people aside packed down the aisle. All kinds of young kids in seats – all kinds of elderly people standing up. It seems to be the way down here.

They have a fare collector on every bus and instead of fighting his way down the aisle two or three times to collect all the fares, we couldn’t understand why he didn’t just stay at the door and collect them as people got off . However, we shouldn’t have North American thoughts like this!


Two little indian girls who posed for a picture, there are a lot of them around the market dressed in traditional clothes. They are originally from an area east of here. Many older adults are only 4 ft tall!

The market in Otavalo was terrific again today. Several blocks wide and long and it’s a totally open temporary market. You have to appreciate the effort these people go to every day to pack their products in every morning (probably on their backs), set up their displays and then take it all home at the end of the day. They have whole families manning their booths right down to 11 – 12 year old kids.




There are a lot of alpaca products, scarves, ponchos, shawls, sweaters, hats and beautiful rugsl This is mixed in with a few leather products, hangings, jewelry and wood carvings. We shopped mainly for some gifts to bring home and a few more small treats for us! If we were much younger we would like to ship a container load of these things back to Canada and open a shop.
We were pooped after a few hours as the pressure to buy things is very constant. You get a little tired after a while but you really can’t blame the people as it’s their whole living. You almost feel badly bargaining them down but it seems to be the way of life. They see gringo coming so they start the price high and away you go. There is no such thing as a price tag, it’s all by negotiation.
We settled down for a rest at the hotel and by chance discovered the finals of the Australian Open Tennis on ESPN of course with Spanish commentary so we muted the sound and enjoyed the great final.


All alpaca wool!


Today is a quiet day back in Ibarra with a trip to the big market to restock the fruit basket. It's about 4 blocks away so we walk it as my walking has become much stronger with all we have been doing. It is quite a busy street with a lot of foot traffic so I was quite suprised to look down and see a $10 bill lying on the sidewalk. I picked it up and not only was there a $10 but another $10 and a $20 as well. We felt like we had won the lottery!

After stocking up we saw a barber shop across the street so I got a haircut - not up to Pauline's standard but guaranteed to last close to two months with the short back and sides!

We headed to the Super Maxi Mercado which is in a big NA style mall and the grocery store is Save On Foods size (not owned by Pattison as far as I know). They carry everything including booze so we decided to cellebrate our find and picked up a bottle of Queen Anne scothch (12.50) and a bottle of Chian wine (6.60).

We have another date with the dentist on Tuesday and if we can escape his clutches we are taking the bus to Mindo which is birders paradise – 19 varieties of Hummingbirds!

Ibarra
We have been hanging around Ibarra getting our dental work done so on Friday we decided to get out of town for a few days and relax. We had heard about a lake just outside Ibarra that is called Yahuarcocha (means blood lake because of a massace of the Spanish) which they say is very beautiful so we decided to go there to find a place. After much chatting with a tour Lady who spoke English very well she came up with a hotel for $40 a night overlooking the Lake.
We had left our luggage at the Ibarra hotel desk so after we finished with the dentist we could grab a cab, pick up our small bag and go to the Lake. Well, all this sounds very easy and it should have been but our lack of Spanish got us into some difficulty. We hailed a taxi and showed him the name of the lake and he finally nodded to indicate he knew where it was. Then we introduced the name of our hotel to get our bag – well, no comprehendo this concept. We started tearing around the streets of Ibarra getting further and further from our hotel as he was obviously heading for the lake. I kept saying the name of our hotel and holding up one finger and then holding up two fingers and saying the name of the lake. We even wrote down the name of the hotel and went through our sign language several more times with no success. We finally ended up on the outside of town on the start of the highway to the lake. Mary was thumbing through our Spanish - English phrase book and was throwing out meaningful words like first and second. I was getting madder and madder as I could see us at the lake with no bag.
The solution came when I told him to stop and motioned to go back to town. He was thoroughly confused and frustrated and also a little mad at these crazy North Americans. His solution was to pull up beside another cab and tell us to get out. This was fine with us as we could see we were getting nowhere with him. We transferred our bags to the new cab and we still had to give him the standard $1 cab fare anywhere in Ibarra. The new taxi was a nice happy go lucky guy but had no idea where the Royal Ruiz hotel was but at least had the sense to ask several other cabs for directions and we finally got there and got our bags. We then headed for the lake which is only about 12k out of Ibarra. The cab fare to the lake is only $3.

Our Hotel is called the Imprerio Del Sol and is absolutely grand in every way. Anywhere in North America we would be paying $300 a night – here $40. The hotel is a bit run down for lack of care but they seem to be working on it. They were very glad to see us as there were only about 6 other guests. The grounds are magnificent with brilliant flowers blooming everywhere. We had breakfast in the beautiful restaurant which has large windows to view the lake and the volcano behind. Also complete with a grand piano. Everything is done in tile or marble including the large banquet room and unfortunately the bathroom and shower which is a bit terrifying for me with my unsteady legs. We very intelligently brought a piece of our plastic shower mat which has been invaluable here as all showers are slippery tile.

We got a taxi and decided to go on a tour of the lake. Half way around we came across a speedway with concrete stands that would hold 200 people. We don’t know if it was for car or motorcycle racing. On the other side of the lake we found a small fruit market and food so we decided to eat. The fruit was very limited and so was the food. Rows and rows of stalls selling fresh caught (we hope) fish out of the lake. We declined the fish and settled for two dishes of potatoes, roasted corn (like eating nuts) and a deep fried scone with cheese in it – two plates for a dollar. It was very good.

It makes my marketing brain shudder when I look at what this hotel is not doing. They have no domain name or website and only have a half ass site on Blogsspot which doesn’t come up at all on searches. They have a rack card which is not great and a few signs around the highway. They don’t have internet wireless connection in the rooms and down the hall from our room is a broken guest computer. Then they wonder why they don’t have many guests. They have a device they lend me which they call a modem. I plug it into the USB on my computer and this gives me wireless. It must be more like a router . I don’t know if they are broke or simply don’t know what to do. It is sad to see as somebody has put a pile of cash into building the place and without customers, they are losing their shirt.

We summond up our courage yesterday and decided to try the fish. We picked one out and the lady motioned us into the back where there was shaddy seating which was packed with Ibarra families up for a Sunday at the lake. The CD was blaring loud music and then small band took over for while. Our fish arrived, $2.00 for a large platter with lots of boiled potatoes and some deepfried scones with cheese in them. The fish was very good and we don't have any digestive problems today.

Back to Ibarra and more dental appointments on Tuesday.

Ibarra

Ibarra is a hustling bustling town with a huge public market which sells absolutely everything. There are hundreds of rows of small stalls with meat, chicken, fruit, clothes, shoes and food. The clothing is not anything like the Otavalo market - mostly low end stuff. In the meat section there was all kinds of varieties of meat hanging and also steer heads that had been chopped off and were sitting in a nice row. There was also a freshly roasted whole pig that you could have pieces cut off.




Mary and I needed a cup of coffee (which is usually instant) so we sat down in a small booth and ordered one. She had to borrow two cups from a neighbours stall and poured us 2 cups of the most sickly sweat coffee which we forced down. It was a Tim's quadruple!



We have been feasting on fruit of all kinds and we stocked up here. Bunches of smll bananas, 20c, avocados and mangoes 20c, Papayos 25c, unbelievable! We have both lost about 5 lbs!

One of about 200 fruit stands

Everyone seems to be selling something even on the street - ice cream. clothes pegs, batteries and these two ladies selling strawberries, cherries and loganberries.

Mary saw the Dentist here today. His name is Bolanos and had been recommended on a site called Pro Ecuador, (an American living in Cotatachi nearby). He certainly lived up to his recommendation as he has a terrific pratice and spends three times as much time with you as the dentistsin Canada. Very highly trained, speaks English fairly well and is very thorough. Furthermore, he seems to give all the ladies a little kiss on the cheek when they leave. Caught Mary and Lorraine a little surprised the first time! Very South American. Mary had the first and serious stage of her work done, 5 implants and a few extractions. She chose to be knocked right out so our Dentist called in a very professional anethetist. She was out for about 4 hours and was feeling pretty sore but the proceedure was painless for her. Today is a little different as she has quite a bit of swelling and a bit of a black eye from an implant that went into her sinus - honest, I didn't hit her.

I had my first appointment today for my crown and a filling. Cute little ladies doing the cleaning and X rays. All smiles and giggles! My crown is going to be $400, implants $1000 ea, quite a difference to Canada. Fortunately the Dentist takes travellers cheques as very few people seem to. The Bank machines are a little unpredictable s some won't take our Bank card. Today we found a super machine that took our card and even had an English button!

Crime is obviously a problem down here and to prevent people loitering, sitting and hanging around window fronts, here is the Ecuadorian solution - very effective!

I wish I had the factory that makes steel roller doors to cover windows and doors. Every shop and business down every street in Ecuador seems to have a steel door tht they roll down at night and two extra heavy padlocks locking it at the bottom. Bars on windows don't seem to be adequate.

We made it!

After a painless but long flight to Toronto and getting lost several times in that huge Airport we connected to our flight to Bogata with 6 hours wait. We had connected with our niece Julie and our cousin Karl who live in Toronto and they came out to the airport and we had a pleasant visit with them.

Our arrival in Bogata was something else. Masses of people with baggage in lines everywhere and it was a bit frightening as there were armed guards at every corner. I had made the reservation long before the bomber scare and higher security checks so we only had two hours to change planes. A very helpful airport staff quickly saw our problem and got me into a wheelchair and off we went at full speed to our connection. She got us through security very quickly but of no avail as boarding had closed. There was still 3/4 of an hour to takeoff but there was no arguing, it was closed. Part of the problem was that our baggage had not been sent on to Quito and we had to claim it and clear customs and then board.

The lady put us in touch with a hotel connection and they had a shuttle to town which seemed a bit like Saratoga Raceway. However, we made it with a few near collisions. Everyone drives at high speeds leaning on the horn and crossing lanes every 100 m.

The hotel was great but we couldn't enjoy breakfast as we were told we had to be at the airport
3 hours ahead which meant taking the 5:00AM shuttle. As it turned out we could have easily taken the 6;00 shuttle as we waited for hours for check in. The flight they put us on was via Panama, however it was very nice and they fed us on the way.

We were helped at every turn by wonderful airport staff. Someone would appear with a wheelchair and load Bruce into it and take us to the next line or gate. The same person stayed with us until we boarded. Sometimes our lack of Spanish was a problem but we managed to make ourselves understood enough - usually by handing them our ticket!

Arrived in Quito and checked into our Hostel, The Travellers Inn which was very basic but friendly. Run by a family and the two sons both speak English very well. One of the sons took us on a 4 hour tour of Quito which was very interesting. A lot of walking for me and I was quite exhausted by the end. However, a nap and a grande cerveza cured me!

The highlight of the tour was certainly the native village on the equator and watching the water going down the drain about 6 ft on each side. Mary tried to walk the equator line without success - no one does it.

We learned how to shrink heads too but probably won't.

We headed for Otavalo and met up with our good friends Jim and Lorraine Peloquin, owners of All Seasons Roost B&B in Courtenay. They had been around town for a few days and sugested we go to the 'small market' on Friday as the Saturday main market is really crowded. This market was certainly not small and by any standard it was big - acres and acres. Fantastic stuff and really good prices and of course, there is lots of bargaining. I bought a beautiful alpaca sweater for $10. Mary bought a few goodies as well and we had to resist lots of things as our luggage is already overweight. I think we might be discaring a few extra clothes or buying another bag for purchases as we only have one bag at present. Steaming hot lunch

We had a great afternoon yesterday and took a taxi to Cotacachi - about 20 miles for $4.00. It is a neat little town and is the leather capital of Ecuador. The leather work in the market is outstanding at unbelievable prices. Beauiful jackets for $40.00, wallets, $10.00, suitcases, $90.00. We resisted pretty well! We saw a very small boy dancing to a family band.

We stayed the last two nights at a Hostel with Jim and Lorrine. It is a very nice place run by an American who is married to an Ecuadorian from the Otavalo area. We got up this AM to find out that the night clerk had some friends over last night and after a lot of drinking there was a fight and the clerk was killed! The place was overrun by police this morning but they have no leads yet. A good time to leave!

We are now in Ibarra where Mary has an appointment to see the dentist who was recommended to us. We have upgraded to the Hosteria Chorlavi which is more like a hotel but on 10-20 cres and unbelievale vegetation. 8 ft Yucca plants with the stem 30 ft A beautiful room with all the comforts for $50.00 including breakfast.

The country is full of churches. The big cathedral in Quito took over 100 years to build and is still not finished. It was opened by the Pope a few years ago. It is built on the site of a temple to the moon that the aboriginals worshiped in and from there a straight road leads to the statue of the Virgin of Quito which was erected on the site of a temple to the sun. What a way to erase all traces of paganism. One nice thing is that after a road accident crosses are erected on the site and a blue heart painted on the road, we noticed our taxi driver crossing himself as we drove by - we crossed ourselves too but that was from fear. Taxis drive mostly on their horn, drive within 3 or 4 feet of the car ahead and ignore most signs and regultions - this is in spite of police everywhere.

We have had trouble getting travellors checks cashed so we tried cash machines - mostly in Spanishalthough we have found one English one. Banks are very safe - there's an armed guard at the door as well as inside - they look pretty friendly but serious.

We must work on our Spanish. Jim and I went to the animal market on Otavalo and had to crow like chickens to tell the taxi driver where we wanted to go. He didn't understand crowing but he did get "oink, oink" 'porquo' he shouted 'pig' we yelled and we were friends. As you can imagine the market was awful - thin, mangy cows, terrified chickens, unhealthy puppies, guinea pigs, fighting cocks and screaming pigs. We almost brought home some piglets but Bruce said 'no, we're already overweight!'