Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A Shaky Start In Quito

Buenas Tardes a Todos,
So here we are in Quito, about 2 hours south of Otavalo and the farthest south Brad has ever been! Since we are going south, I guess almost every travel day brings us farther south than Brad has ever been, but it´s still fun to say! Anyway, we left La Luna, saying goodbye to a lot of people with whom we have worked and spent some great times. It felt a little strange to put on the backpacks and walk down the 4km to the Panamerica for the last time. It was also strange to watch our stuff that we had strewn about our little room at La Luna, get packed neatly into our 2 small bags. I almost forgot that it all fit the first time but nothing has changed besides the addition of a new headband and a coin purse from Otavalo. We easily flagged a Quito bound bus and paid our $2 upon boarding. We arrived at the northern bus station and immediately transferred buses to go to the southern bus station, the one that the Lonely Planet shows us is directly in the middle of the Old Town, a mere 5 or 6 blocks from the Casa Bambu, our hostel. When we arrived at the southern terminal, we climbed into a taxi and upon naming our destination, discovered that we were instead at a brand new southern bus terminal that is way the hell south of town, not at all near the Old Town and certainly a long distance from the Casa Bambu. It was just 3 months ago that the bus terminal had moved locations from the Old Town to the south of town. The cab ride took us to the front door of the Casa Bambu and we checked into 2 dorm beds. Since the main center of Quito is divided into the New Town and the Old Town, we chose the Casa Bambu because it is situated directly between the two, easy walking distance from each and in a very quiet neighborhood up a hill that looks out over the city. There is a roof terrace in the hostel that has spectacular views, a pool table, ping pong, hammocks, and a pretty little garden with a lawn that appears to be made for tents. When we inquired about camping, however, the hostel owner informed us that they are beginning to remodel so they will not allow camping at this time. Bummer since it would be bad ass to camp in the middle of Quito.

This morning, Brad and I awoke after a really great night of sleep (we even got to sleep in past 7:45 which is when we have been waking up in order to open the door of La Luna at 8 and start serving coffee) and we were ready to tackle the various errands we had lined up to accomplish today. First off, after the failed trip to the US Embassy in Bogota, Brad and I figured that the best place to get additional pages for his passport would be in Quito since the US Embassy is located just a few blocks from Casa Bambu. When we arrived at the supposed embassy site, the building could have been an embassy, it had large fences and flags, but none of the flags featured the stars and stripes. A nearby traffic cop explained to us that 3 months ago, the US Embassy moved to a new location waaaaay up in the northern section of Quito (sound familiar?) and we would have to catch a bus to get there. Setting aside our expectations of getting the errands out of the way early, we boarded the bus and half an hour later arrived at the embassy only to discover that services for citizens of the USA didn´t begin until 1:30pm. So we got right back on the bus and hopped off close to the hostel for our next activity, a visit to the Instituto Geografico Militar, which is actually located exactly where the Lonely Planet specifies. And it was extremely easy to obtain and buy copies of the topographical maps that we will need when we go hiking in Cotopaxi National Park and in the highland villages near Laguna Quilotoa in the coming weeks.

I was so excited to start seeing the sights of Quito that the morning of a few setbacks seemed to take forever, and so it was finally time to head out to see the Old Town. I have a few memories of the wide plazas in Old Town from when I was briefly in Quito with my family back in 2005 and I was really anxious to see if I remembered everything correctly. Walking from the hostel, we went south along a very busy, exhaust filled street, Avenida Gran Colombia, until we got to the Mercado Central, a two storey building with food stalls serving up Almuerzos as well as stalls loaded with fruits, vegetables, and meats to buy. Being lunch time, we surveyed the options and sat down to eat a chicken soup followed by a plate of rice, potatos, and more chicken. Sounded just about what we expected until the soup came and the chicken part of the soup was chicken feet and what looked like a chicken head without the beak (Brad actually told me the chicken head part later because I was too busy trying not to look at what was sitting at the bottom of the broth and potatos besides the all too obvious chicken foot). The rest of the meal wasn´t much better not to mention that a woman who was selling juice came up and totally tricked us into buying an additional disgustingly sweet juice from her when we figured it was just the juice that always comes with the Almuerzo. Oh well, lessons learned!

Following lunch, we walked back into the street to head toward the Plaza Grande in Old Town. The drizzle that had started just before lunch turned suddenly into a deluge and we ran up a hill and across several streets to a massive gothic church called the Basilica del Voto Nacional to escape the water. Inside, there were very few lights and the side aisles were so dim and eerie that to see the end of them you actually had to walk the full length of the church. Many other people had chosen to take refuge from the storm in the church too and we stood together in the doorway to watch the weather. Figuring that tomorrow morning would be a better opportunity to do more exploring, Brad and I hurried back through the rain to the hostel, me to do some interneting, and Brad to head out to attempt to get his passport business sorted out. And that brings us to the moment. I´m feeling a bit silly about the restart of our travels after so long in Otavalo but I´m sure we will quickly feel more at ease again.

Hasta Luego,
Anika

2 comments:

  1. Hey guys!

    I forgot you had this blog, so I had to do some quick reading to catch up. It's so great that you can record your journeys this way, and I'm really enjoying when you post on the same adventure- it's fun to read your different perspectives. Now you're added on my bookmarks bar so I can check back regularly.

    Sounds like your trip is going amazingly so far! I'm also enjoying the photos....Anika's hair is so much shorter and Brad's so much longer (and ringlet-y) than last I saw you! Also, that bucket of bunnies= exceedingly cute.

    I'm sure by now you've got your footing in Quito, and probably you're somewhere else already. I'm waiting with baited breath to hear more!

    In New England news, it snowed Sunday! There was about an inch of accumulation as the Patriots were playing.

    Love you two,
    Emma

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  2. I love that it is such a problem that you are so well traveled and have too full a passport!

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