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...
No comments:
Post a Comment