Ecuadorian delights
hey! how is it going? Just a quick little hello from ecuador... Flight was fine, altho not to impressed with the $30US airport tax - my travel agent had said wouldnt have to pay anything as all included in the ticket... going to be v. annoying when have to stopover in lima for the night on way to caracas! I orgaised a taxi from the airport to take me to the hotel that the galapagos tour is starting from so could leave my main pack there while i went to otavalo... Met up with Carmel there for a bit and she took me round the block to the atm etc... then brgained with txi driver to take me to the main bus terminal... he ended up stopping on the edge of a main hwy (he didnt speak english) - but wht i cold make out was that the traffic was bad and so this was the best place to get the bus to otavalo - there was no way i was getting out of the taxi mid-hwy and he said ´no problemo´for me to wait in the taxi til the bus came (and it did! :) ) the 2.5hr bus ride was a bargain ($2). Not exactly compfy seats tho - glad it was a nice thin girl sitting next to me. Started raining along the way so at otavalo it was drizzly and no taxis in sight... One pulled up and this old man got in - i must have looked miserable cos then he and the taxi driver spoke and the taxi driver asked me where i wanted to go - so ended up sharing a taxi which was nice... (only about 8 blocks but worth the $1 fare in the rain and the dark when you dont know where you are going).
The place i am staying at is nice - yummy meals. And you got to like a place that serves popcorn to nibble on while you wait for your meal. I didnt end up getting up at 5.30 to see the animal market - glad i didnt - was disturbed enough seeing cuys/guinea pigs running around in bags and dead shickens being dragged around by their feet everywhere.
The markets were absolutely huge - sprawled everywhere all over the city - hard to know where to start - and no real organisation of course... after few hours went back to the hotel to have break... ad then back out again :) Also caught a bus to Cotacachi - nearby village famous for lether - Gabby and Rob told me about it... mistake - ended up buying 3 bags (what am I going to do with all of this stuff!! - the post office is going to love me - particularly as it isnt meant to be too reliable... thinking i will send some stuff from here, then the really important stuff - like photo disks - from Costa Rica (ages away - can i last?) as it is meant to be cheap and reliable... (bit of info for you :) ).
Have had lots of avacados - didnt know i liked them so much - but v. tasty here and served with nearly everything... What else - huge corns - massiver kernals but not very sweet tasting but still tasty...
(trying to think of things i will remember about the trip) - oh had enough of men peeing on the side of the streets - doesnt matter what direction they are facing - they just go anywhere (same in Peru and Bolivia as well)... blugh! But ecuador is cheaper than Peru - gotta like that... unforunately havent seen any bargain jewelery tho (mybe a good thing tho !=
Anyway think that is about it for now... the´a´on the keyboard not working v. well so hopefully i got them all...
Off back to Quito in about an hour - booked in at a hostel for one night nearby to the fancy hotel...
Later!
The place i am staying at is nice - yummy meals. And you got to like a place that serves popcorn to nibble on while you wait for your meal. I didnt end up getting up at 5.30 to see the animal market - glad i didnt - was disturbed enough seeing cuys/guinea pigs running around in bags and dead shickens being dragged around by their feet everywhere.
The markets were absolutely huge - sprawled everywhere all over the city - hard to know where to start - and no real organisation of course... after few hours went back to the hotel to have break... ad then back out again :) Also caught a bus to Cotacachi - nearby village famous for lether - Gabby and Rob told me about it... mistake - ended up buying 3 bags (what am I going to do with all of this stuff!! - the post office is going to love me - particularly as it isnt meant to be too reliable... thinking i will send some stuff from here, then the really important stuff - like photo disks - from Costa Rica (ages away - can i last?) as it is meant to be cheap and reliable... (bit of info for you :) ).
Have had lots of avacados - didnt know i liked them so much - but v. tasty here and served with nearly everything... What else - huge corns - massiver kernals but not very sweet tasting but still tasty...
(trying to think of things i will remember about the trip) - oh had enough of men peeing on the side of the streets - doesnt matter what direction they are facing - they just go anywhere (same in Peru and Bolivia as well)... blugh! But ecuador is cheaper than Peru - gotta like that... unforunately havent seen any bargain jewelery tho (mybe a good thing tho !=
Anyway think that is about it for now... the´a´on the keyboard not working v. well so hopefully i got them all...
Off back to Quito in about an hour - booked in at a hostel for one night nearby to the fancy hotel...
Later!
