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.