Outing to Otavalo

We're leaving for the Amazon in the morning and I don't have time to write about yesterday and today yet but I at least wanted to say something.

My tour leader, Miriam, came back to the hostel around 10pm on Thursday night.  She's Peruvian and has been leading tours in South America for over three years.  We'll be sharing a room the entire trip.

Yesterday morning I met the group before we got in the taxis to the bus station.  Lyle (65) and Mary Ann (56) are from Brisbane and David (39, who I actually met in Ushaia on the last night of my other Tucan trip) is from Manchester.  It is a small group but everyone is friendly.  Definitely isn't the same dynamic as my other Tucan tour though.

We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning in the town of Otavalo, two and a bit hours north of Quito,  famous for its Saturday market.  After a huge lunch at Mi Otavalito, we took a taxi van to Laguna Cuicocha, an extinct, eroded volcano with a spectacular crater lake.  It was raining a bit so we passed on the boat tour, but enjoyed the views of the crater from the edge.  On our way back to Otavalo, we stopped in the village of Cotacachi, famous for its leatherwork.  I ended up spending the entire hour with Miriam as she shopped for shoes since I wasn't too interested in buying anything (although I did see a shop selling gorgeous leather boots).  It is strange seeing prices in dollars, especially since they are so low in comparison to the States.  Ecuador uses the US Dollar as the currency and in addition to our bills uses our one dollar coin, other US coins and Ecuadorian coins (so they have a 50 cent coin and their own versions of 25, 10, 5 and 1 cent coins).

Lunch at Mi Otavalito

Miriam gave us a city tour back in Otavalo.  The two of us went for dinner at Fontana di Trevi, an Italian restaurant run by a woman from Kentucky.  My pizza was fair, but the woman was lovely and brought us salad and garlic bread on the house.

Today I got an early start at 7:15 to explore the markets.  My first stop was the local food market and then crafts market.  The most evident feature of the otavalenos culture is their tradition dress.  The men wear long single braids, calf-length white pants, rope sandals and ponchos with dark felt hats.  Some of the women had intricate embroidered blouses with long black skirts and colorful belts. I wasn't intending to buy much but purchased a scarf (to replace the one I left in Uruguay) and beautiful alpaca blanket.  While I was walking down one street, I noticed a group of people crowded around a man.  Turned out the man was an ophthalmologist selling his cataract surgery services on the street.  Quite funny for me to see considering its what my dad does and I couldn't help but laugh.  I would never want to have my cataract surgery from some guy on the street.

The doctor on the street

Having spent enough time at the market, I stopped for a coffee and soup at 11am where I met four Brits from the Lake District.  We all met back at the hotel at noon to get the bus back to Quito.  This afternoon I called home then went to The Magic Bean (recommended by my cousin Becky) for a juice and coffee.  After stopping at the supermarket I convinced the rest of the group that we should eat dinner at The Magic Bean.  So that's where we went.  And now I'm here, officially catching up on my blog.  I know this entry isn't much, and I wish I could write more, but I'm glad to be up-to-date at last.  Pictures will be added once I have a better internet connection.

Off to the Amazon jungle.  More on Wednesday when I get back to civilization...

Long day to Ecuador

Thursday, February 24, 2011

I’m not in a very good mood right now.  I’ve arrived at the hotel in Quito but it has been a long 12 hour day of traveling.  I woke up at 7:30 this morning to get ready and walk to the square for a bus to Armenia.  Glee never finished downloading, so I set it up when I woke up and it completed at 8:10 just as I was heading out the door.  I jumped on the minibus to Armenia as it was pulling out.  During the hour ride I listened to a few Marketplace podcasts.

On arriving in Armenia, I asked for the counters selling tickets to Cali and was directed to a desk which told me the next bus left in 30 minutes.  It was only 9:10, so I bought the ticket, found the baños and joined the locals eating empanadas.  At 9:45 I stood waiting for the bus while the bus driver insisted it was coming soon.  Five minutes later, he pulled the bus around and I got situated.  Another 20 minutes passed and there was no sign of the bus going anywhere, so I got out and started talking to the driver in Spanish, explaining that I had a flight and wanted to know when the bus would be leaving.

In the end, I got a refund for the bus and had to find another bus to Cali.  After asking three other companies, I found one departing at 10:30, paid my 20,000 pesos and boarded the bus.  Luckily, this one left on time.  Three hours, one toilet stop, many podcasts and an episode of Glee later I made it to the bus station in Cali.  Used the loo, once again struggling to manage my backpack and daypack in the small stall, before purchasing my ticket for the airport bus leaving in eight minutes.

I arrived at the airport at 3pm, an hour before check-in time, and simply sat waiting for the LAN counter to open.  When I finally checked-in, I was informed that I needed to pay the departure tax, take my receipt to another counter, then come back to get my boarding pass (of course, these instructions were slightly hard to follow in Spanish).  Clearing passport control took time given all the slow people in front of me, but security was a breeze.  Little did I know about the full security check that was coming at the gate.

Since there were two flights leaving around the same time, the LAN passengers had to wait for the security check.  The check literally involved going through my entire carryon bag. I noticed the through checks on some of the passengers and think I lucked out with my woman.  She looked through most of my bag, but not every nook and cranny.  Still had some time before my flight and felt so ready to just get on the plane.  Ended up talking to a guy sitting next to me from Brazil.

When I finally boarded the plane, the two seats next to me were empty since the flight continued to Lima.  The hour journey (arriving at 8:10pm) felt like the quickest one of the day and I was one of the first off the plane so clearing immigration was easy.  There were few bags on the carrousel but they were soaking wet.  I thought mine would be ok in the duffel bag but the entire inside was soaking.  Luckily the waterproof cover protected most of my bag and I strapped it on my back and left the terminal to find Hernan (Ricardo’s friend who offered to pick me up at the airport).  He was standing with a sign, looking very professional in his work clothing.  We walked out into the pouring rain to find his friend with the car.

The ride into Quito city took longer than I thought and the guys had trouble finding the hotel.  When we located it, I was told the Tucan group wasn’t staying there.  We’d been moved to a hotel across the street which didn’t seem nearly as nice.  The guy at reception had no idea when the group would be back and walked me (and Hernan) to my room, which was at the back of the hotel on the second floor.  Turns out my roommate is our tour guide, as evidenced by the numerous Tucan papers on her bed.

I went to the lobby to call home, and the connection was so poor that mom couldn’t hear me at all.  I really wanted to talk to her and was disappointed with the slow internet.  The hotel feels a bit sketchy to me, and with the rain and cold and hotel change, not being able to speak to my mom just pissed me off even more.  Seems silly to be upset, but I think I’m just exhausted and annoyed that the guy in reception has no idea when my tour leader will be back.  I’m going to shower and get ready for bed and see what happens.  Sorry to complain, but that’s what journals are for. J

Cocora and coffee in Salento

Sunday, February 20, 2011 – Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The past three days in Salento have been lovely.  On Sunday, Julia and I left Black Sheep hostel at 7:45am in a taxi to the south terminal bus station.  We secured the first row on the 8:30am bus from Medellin to Pereira.  The distance isn’t as far as the 5.5 hour ride would indicate but the road is extremely windy through magnificent scenery.  Julia and I talked a bit then took personal time where I listened to a number of podcasts.  There was a stop to pick up lunch, so we decided to share the semi-warm lunch box with a thin piece of meat, rice, warm banana with cheese and vegetable mix.  It was better than simply eating the Doritos and Oreos in my backpack.

We arrived in Pereira (an unattractive city of 430,000) at 2pm, and got a minibus at 2:30pm for Salento.  While we waited for the bus, we purchased a few more snacks.  An hour after departure, we rode into the quaint town of Salento (population 7,000).  I had reservation at Hostel Tralala, but unfortunately there were no beds left and Julia went off to find another hostel.  She came back an hour later having secured a bed at a hostel nearby.  We agreed to meet for dinner at 7:30 as Julia wanted to do some research on possible overnight trips in Valle de Cocora and I needed to catch up on some writing.

Alegre, our chosen dinner spot, closes the kitchen at 7:15, so when we showed up at 7:30 there were only certain dishes available.  Turned out for the best, as we both got the eggplant parmesan, different from others I’ve had, with cooked eggplant and cheese on bread.  Delicious, although not quite hot enough for me.  We shared the warm chocolate cake for dessert.  Excellent meal.  Post dinner, Julia took me to Jesus Martin, a coffee shop she’d discovered during the day.  Not interested in having caffeine before bed, I got a hot chocolate and promised to come back in the morning for coffee.  After saying goodnight to Julia, I walked back (in the cold) to the hostel to shower and get ready for bed.

Monday was a long day.  Julia and I agreed to meet just before 9am for the jeep to Valle de Cocora.  I stopped at Jesus Martin for a latte and at the supermarket for some provisions before setting off.  The 40 minute jeep ride to the valley was bumpy but through the beautiful valley.  Tamar, an Israeli girl from Julia’s hostel joined us for the day.  The jeep dropped us 10 minutes from the start of the path due to the roadwork.

It was easy to find the trail through the valley.  The scenery was stunning.  Incredibly green hills with random wax palm trees reaching up into the sky.  The main problem with the walk was the mud.  We lucked out with the weather, as it didn’t rain, but the ten previous days of rain meant a very muddy walk.  I tried to use the fence to stay on the higher ground, but the three levels of barbed wire weren’t the best for support.  We walked for an hour, the mud significantly slowing our progress, before entering more jungle like terrain. 

The river running through the jungle meant there were a number of “bridges” to cross.  You could hardly call them bridges though, most were three trees loosely tied together with no type of railing.  The balance beam in gymnastics felt sturdier than the make-shift bridges; I was so afraid of falling.  We did reach one real bridge, which provided a nice contrast to the others.  The presence of the river meant that there were some miniature waterfalls near the trail.  It was amazing how much the landscape changed from the open valley to the tree covered jungle.

We reached the Acaime Natural Reserve (at 2,770 meters, approximately 400 meters higher than our starting point) at 12:15.  For $1.50 we got a drink of choice (we all ordered the hot chocolate with cheese, a traditional Colombian combination) and enjoyed the hummingbirds zipping between the feeders (all waiting with cameras ready for the perfect photo).  After sitting for 20 minutes, we noticed the clouds rolling in and the weather cooling off, so we quickly got a move on.

Another hour later through more jungle we reached the highest viewpoint.  It was extremely cloudy at the top and I can’t understand what was so special about the views as all we could see were the tops of the trees of the jungle.  We started down the road towards the beginning of the walk (another 5km) when the clouds start clearing.  The sun peaked through the clouds as we got to a mirador of the valley.  Absolutely stunning!  The clouds also lifted from the mountains and we could see what the view was supposed to look like from the top.

We finished the walk at 3:30pm and had to wait 30 minutes for the jeeps to leave.  The total 13 km walk had us all exhausted.  After getting back to the main plaza, we treated ourselves to strawberries and cream.  Tamar left us to go back to her hostel and Julia and I continued to Jesus Martin for coffee.  We sat chatting until just after 6pm, and among other topics learned that we share the same birthday.  Having enjoyed dinner at Alegre the night before, we decided to meet there at 6:30, well before the kitchen closes.

While I sat waiting for Julia, a single girl came in looking for a table and I ordered for her to join us.  Sharon is 25 from Australia and has come up to Colombia overland from Chile through Peru and Ecuador.  For dinner, Julia and I shared a trout dish and the spaghetti with tomato sauce.  Another fabulous meal.  Once I got back to the hostel, it was early to bed at 10pm since Julia and I agreed to meet at 8am.

Yesterday (Tuesday) morning I was up at 7:20.  Meet Julia at Jesus Martin for coffee before setting off for an organic finca (coffee farm).  We walked an hour out of town to the small finca and waited for a tour.  Turned out that Tamar and a guy from Julia’s hostel were taking the tour.  When it was our turn, we got a quick walk around the coffee plants and fruit trees.  I guess it was somewhat informative, but I expected more.  Plus, the guy was totally unenthusiastic.  He showed us how the coffee beans are removed from the skins and later roasted.  At the end of the tour we got to try a cup of black organic coffee. 

We took a different path back which dropped us in the small village called Boquia.  The woman working at my hostel suggested we eat lunch there, but I couldn’t find any decent looking restaurants and we waited for a minivan to take us back to Salento.  For lunch, we chose the popular location of Rincon de Lucy and run into Tamar and the guy again, so the four of us have lunch together.  The set lunch menu consisted of soup and a big plate with a choice of trout, chicken or meat with banana, rice and salad.  After lunch, Julia left Salento for Cali and we said our goodbyes with the hope of meeting up again in Cusco. 

Exhausted from the past two days, I went back to hostel for a nap and ended up sleeping two hours.  I ventured out of the hostel for another dose of strawberries and cream before coming back to choose a Spanish school in Cusco.  I’d done some research but desperately needed to pick a place.  After a couple hours I settled on Amigos and sent in my online registration.  While I was online, it started pouring outside.  No one at the hostel wanted to go out for dinner and we ended up having pizza delivered.  It took over an hour and a half for the food, but there was no way I was going out.  I talked with some people at hostel before heading to bed.

And that brings me to today, a day of rest, which is perfect timing since it has been raining on and off all day.  I am literally spending the day relaxing and catching up on my writing.  At 11am I went to Jesus Martin for a coffee with a couple people from the hostel then walked around town to find a restaurant for lunch.  I was the only patron at the restaurant and ordered cream of tomato soup and a traditional dish which was a cooked plantain pancake with beef and cheese.  Very unique and excellent.   Now I’m back at the hostel using the internet (mostly to download Glee which is taking forever).  Tomorrow I have a long day getting from Salento to Cali.  That’s all for now.

Mighty Medellin

Friday, February 18, 2011

• Flight at 9am, woke up at 6:30am in order to leave the hostel at 7am
• Easy flight; sat next to an older American woman living an hour outside New York; she, her boyfriend and I shared a taxi into town; fabulous views coming into the valley of the city, so many houses built up on the hillsides
• Arrived at hostel just before noon; able to check in
• Took metro into the city center to get lunch; 1:30pm, found a restaurant serving regional food
• Got a bit lost and end up on the Plazoleta de las Esculturas with all the Botero sculptures
• People at restaurant were so friendly, ordered a mixed plate of local food, got a free shot glass
• Started pouring rain so I wait until it lets up a bit to leave
• Museo de Antioquia; ended up trying to translate and English note for one of the guys working there
• Wandered around the plaza; back to the hostel at 4pm
• Sit around talking to people and waiting for Julia who turns up around 8pm
• We walked to Zona Rosa for dinner to a place serving pasta, I only brought some money since I was concerned about my safety, didn't want to risk my camera (turns out to be fine); pasta with Bolognese sauce and parmesan
• Taxi back after dinner
• Hang out and go to bed around midnight

Saturday, February 19, 2011

• Woke up at 9:30am, can’t find Julia, so spent a bit of time at the hostel and headed out at 11am to go to the metro cable
• Took the subway across town and transfered to a cable car, at the top there is another cable car
• I thought that I’ll get even better views of the city but it turns out it goes 20 minutes into a National Park, soaring over the trees, amazing
• A man offers to take a photo of me; he and his wife (Gilberto and Toto) are from Medellin and are taking their 4 year old daughter and her 13 year old cousin to the park
• We end up going to the hotel for lunch together, they pay for me
• Walk down to the lake, kids go on the paddle boat; 4pm we get a bus back to the metro cable
• They offer to drive me back to my hostel since they are parked one metro stop further; such a nice couple
• Julia is at the hostel, turns out her wallet was stolen (or she misplaced it but she isn’t sure)
• After the man comes to open her locker we head to Zona Rosa for dinner, I notice a sign for the opening of Snog, a fro-yo place I loved in London, random that it is opening in Medellin
• Picked a Thai restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet; some guy comes up to us to offer help, Colombian living in New York, but we turned him down and got a table the two of us, drinks were 3 for 1 so we ordered a passion fruit margarita; a little too salty; food is ok but definitely not Thai
• Walk around for bit, taxi back to hostel
• Early to bed for me since I’m not feeling good

Charming Colonial Cartagena on the Caribbean

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 – Thursday, February 17, 2011

The last couple days have been a combination of sightseeing and relaxing.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

• Breakfast at 9:30
• Spent the morning on the streets of Cartagena on my own since Brie wasn’t feeling good.  Beautiful city.  Houses with balconies.  Old stone doorways.  Couple churches and plazas.  Botero statue.  Walk outside city walls.  Colorfully dressed women selling fruit (want you to pay for pictures).  Amazing artwork outside the modern art museum.
• Found a spa to get my legs waxed (wasn’t the best, but it will do)
• Lunch at a sushi place, excellent, they gave me a sample roll and I ordered the eel roll with plantain chips and avocado (very unique)
• Back at hostel at 2pm.  Brie and I wanted to go to the mud volcano but it turns out we needed to book in advance and there weren’t any spots left
• Spent the afternoon reading the second book of the Hunger Games, Catching Fire
• Hang out at the hostel and meet a group of girls
• Seven of us end up going for dinner at 8pm, Brie, Erika (Frankfurt), Gladys (NY), sisters from Canada (Sylvie and Kate), and Anna (Germany) – sit outside and order the meal of the day
• Back to hostel

Thursday, February 17, 2011

• Day at Playa Blanca
• Breakfast
• Walk to port with Erika, Gladys and Anna to get the 9am boat, lots of people lining the streets trying to sell their boat company
• Run into the Australian girls from my flight
• Find a company but our boat is the last to leave at 9:30am, make a stop at some small village
• Ride is relatively smooth; arrive at Playa Blanca an hour later
• Walk along beach and find some chairs to sit in, bargain for 10,000 pesos for three
• Spent the morning reading the third book of the Hunger Games, Mockingbird; dip my legs the water a couple times
• Coconut seller passes by; buy a couple coconuts for lunch
• Another guy selling shrimp ceviche and lunch meals with fish, plantains, salad and rice
• Lunch at 1:15 at a table that belongs to the guy with the chairs
• Back to the chairs to relax
• Take a quick swimming break
• At 2:30pm we pack up to head back to the boats
• Boat leaves at 3:15pm
• Ride back to Cartagena is much more bumpy and wet, water spraying into the boat
• Back in town at 4:30pm, try get my laundry but it isn’t ready yet
• Go to hostel, then supermarket and juice shop for a strawberry pineapple smoothie
• Laundry place just before 6pm, laundry still isn’t back, end up sitting outside the laundry shop for an hour, reading (since I brought my kindle), waiting for my stuff, watch the sunset from the city walls
• Pizza place on the square at 8pm with Erika
• Finish Mockingbird, little girl staying in my room with her mom, kinda awkward

Villa to Bogota to Cartagena

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Another travel day.  Got up at 7:15 to have breakfast at the hostel, but even though I ordered at 7:45, I didn’t get my food (scrambled eggs, bread, jam, hot chocolate) until 8:10, five minutes before the taxi was coming to pick me up.  Julia and I ate together as I scarfed down my food to get going.  The taxi driver didn’t mind though and I’d given myself plenty of time.  As soon as I got to the bus station, I was offered a minibus to Tunja.  Easy peasy. 

Having downloaded the second and third books in The Hunger Games trilogy, I was set for the day in terms of entertainment, and since I’d already done the same bus journey, I didn’t feel guilty making only quick glances out the window.  Plus, I was sitting on the wrong side of the bus for pictures.  After an hour, we pulled into Tunja and I was quickly shuffled to the next bus departing for Bogota.  Another easy transfer.

Bus ride from Tunja to Bogota

I spent the entire ride reading and made it to Bogota with great time, arriving at the bus station around 1pm.  There were taxis waiting at the station, so it took no time to get one for the airport.  After checking in for my Avianca flight to Cartagena, I stopped at Subway for lunch.  My stomach wasn’t feeling great but I knew I should eat and that Subway would be a safe bet.  I sat in the main terminal while waiting for my flight but eventually went to find the other terminal, which was much smaller.  My gate wasn’t posted but a girl I was sitting next to got all stressed about me getting to the gate.  I tried to explain that the flight wasn’t for another hour and finally got the message across.  Nice of her to care though.

Before boarding the plane, I met three Australian girls traveling in South America for three months.  Reminded me of the women in my book The Lost Girls.  I sat next to a guy on the plane who lives in LA but wasn’t very interested in having a long conversation with him since his English wasn’t great and he didn’t seem to understand my Spanish.  The hour flight passed quickly with Catching Fire.

Disembarking into the heat of Cartagena was incredible.  So nice to feel warm again.  I couldn’t find anyone to share a taxi with, so I got in one alone and headed into the city.  The taxi drove along the Caribbean coast; can’t believe I’m so far north.  When I checked into El Viajero, I realized I was in a mixed dorm, not a female, and went about making plans to change rooms tomorrow.  Bit of a hassle, but the other room is closer to the bathrooms.  Entering the mixed dorm room, I was instantly greeted by an enthusiastic hello.  I looked at the girl curiously when she exclaimed, “Its Brie!”  I had been so wrapped up in my book that I’d forgotten that Brie and Pamela (the girls from Bogota) were in Cartagena (and I’d told them where I was staying so that we could meet up).  Once I’d taken a second to connect the dots I gave Brie, my new bunkmate, a huge hug.

It was only 5pm and Brie wanted to relax a bit before heading for dinner.  Suited me just fine as I wanted to continue reading (bad thing when I get into a book because I can’t put it down).  Eventually we left the hostel to find a restaurant for dinner.  I was craving pizza, but the well-known place on the nearby square sold only pizza and Brie wanted a fruit juice.  We strolled down some quiet streets and came upon an ok looking place with three tables of solo travelers.  It felt so nice to have company.  My pizza margarita was ok, but Brie was highly satisfied with her juice.  By the time we came back to the hostel it was past 10pm and I read a bit more before taking a cold shower (apparently there’s no hot water here since it is so hot during the day, but I didn’t know that) and going to bed.

Brie and me at dinner in Cartagena