Pichincha!!!

I thought I might get a last blog in before I run off to summit a few mountains, as you do here in Ecuador! And for the next 10 days, I won´t be anywhere near a computer!

Tips for the Intrepid Ecuadorian Traveller

1. Learn some basic Spanish - Many people speak little or no English. If you can´t learn before you leave, enroll yourself in a course over here. Numbers are alwys good for bargaining.

2. Ladies, if you´re not of the squat & shake variety, and you don´t have toilet paper, usually you´re ok. Most public bathrooms charge you between 10c-25c to use the facilities, toilet paper included. Otherwise hold on tight - Hiking and bus trips are the worst for this.

3. Speaking of toilets...Before throwing your used TP in the bowl, check for signs requesting you to do otherwise...Ie Pop it in the rubbish bin.

4. If there is an electrical lever next to the shower, keep the lever in the upright position and turn on water and keep it on low pressure to ensure warm and pleasant temperature.
Note: Do not worry about live electrical wires or blue sparks coming from lever...As long as you keep in mind you most probably will receive mild electric shocks while showering, all is well.

5. Ladies, especially if you are blonde, and walking on your own, expect the local male population to stare incessantly. You will hear wolf whistles and/or the words Bella/Guapa/Linda, (all meaning beautiful,) every 100m or so. If you´re really lucky though, you´ll hear "Psssssst" - This is the local way of getting someone´s attention, you´ll know you´ve really made it then.

6. Sorry Guys, another one for the ladies - Expect to have a conversation with any Ecuadorian male you ask a simple question of...For example "Where is the bank?" inevitably leads to "How long are you in Ecuador? Are you travelling on your own?Are you married? Do you have a boyfriend? What have you seen in Ecuador? What haven´t you seen? Your Spanish is very good. Would you like to have a drink? I could take you to ...(Any place you have not yet seen)...if you would like?"

7. Hovels do serve up a decent meal. Do not judge the hovel by the amount of filth covering the table or the floor. And it´s cheap!

8. Unless you´re in a swanky joint, (and by swanky I mean the backpacker version - Anything with vinyl seats or better is classified as swanky) if beer and water cost the same you´re bound to be getting 650ml of beer and 500ml of water. Ie for those of you who are not mathematicians, you´re getting more beer for the same price. Mmmmmm beeeeeer!

9. Local trams/buses cost 25c no matter where in town you are going. Buses taking you on longer distances cost $1 for every hour travelled. Ie If your destination in 4hs away, the journey will cost you $4.

10. Just because someone wears a T-shirt claiming their status as "Bar Master," does not mean they can cork a bottle of wine!

Just to make this entry a little more interesting I should probably tell you that I made it to the top of Pichincha today - 4800m!!
There it is in the background!!!

There will be a few of us as of tomorrow, the start of 10 days worth of trekking - I know the name of the next few mountains will not mean anything to most but hey, I´m name dropping...Firstly we go to the top of Pasachoa, then a few days around Cotopaxi, then to the top of Illiniza, then on the 4rth & 5th May we summit Cotopaxi....Start the ascent at midnight on the 5th....Wish me luck!!!

Me at the top of the mountain with Quito in the background - 4800m and feeling great!

¿Dónde están los baños?

A very important question in any language - Where are the bathrooms? And let me tell you I know it well, with mine being the smallest bladder known to man, (and unfortunately for some of you, you know that well too!!)

Sitting next to a woman who smelt like something the Monster from the Black lagoon had dredged up, with a driver who, inbetween hoicking and spitting every quarter of an hour, was overtaking around corners at speeds so phenomenal the bus was within a hair´s breath of tipping over, and my bladder screaming to be relieved, I found myself on a bus on my way to Riobamba - A town 4hrs south of Quito.

Other than the one park which offered great views of Chimborazo, (Ecuador´s highest peak) and seemed to be make out point for every couple in the city and then some, and a very loud karaoke bar, (no I didn´t try my luck with the Spanish songs they were playing) there really isn´t anything in Riobamba...Me and every other tourist in town was there to do the famous Nariz Del Diablo (The nose of the devil) train ride. It is ¨supposed¨ to be fantastic and a feat in railway construction, offering unsurpassed views of mountains ....AND you get to ride on the roof.
I say ¨supposed¨ because as I went to book my ticket with two other English boys, we were told the part wich is breathtaking was closed due to a land slide and wouldn´t be fixed for another month - Viva Sud America!!!
Decided that I wouldn´t be riding on the roof of a train in the near future so what the heck! Took the train to the halfway point. Even that was a feat in itself...Mini landslide along the way meant the train stopping for a good hour for the guys to flex their muscles with their shovels and picks so that we could get by.....
So my day on Friday started at 5am...Needed to be at the train station by 6am if we wanted a good part of the roof - Don´t ask me what a good part to a train roof is, I still don´t know.
What I did manage to do was pick the only hotel in town who opens for breakfast at 5.30am on the days the train leaves...So unlike my English and Swiss travelling buddies, I started the day with a hearty breakfast.

I say Swiss, as the English guys and I were sharing a beer in their hostel, when Benoit came out and started chatting to us. We all ended up going for dinner and catching the train the following morning together! I had friends for a day!!!
The train ride was fun, althoug bum numbing! The scenery was fantastic and the kids from the various villages would come and wave us on through our journey....

Benoit and I continued onto Cuenca, a gorgeous colonial city....Kinda reminded me of Seville in Spain, for those of you who have been. For those of you who haven´t, it was cobbled streets and typical buildings with balconies over the streets. A really laid back feel to it. Our hotel overlooked the Plaza San Fransisco and the city...A great place to be with a beer in hand at sunset!

I had decided to go to Ecuador´s most famous Incan ruins the following day...They might have been better if the weather was not super cold, windy and very, very wet....The guide had to have umbrellas brought to us. Told Benoit to save his pennies and go to the Peruvian ruins instead - Macchu Picchu. Much, much better!

The following day both of us hopped on a bus to Gualaceo, which is not so touristy and has a local market which was fun to walk through...then onto SigSig another small village, 25km south...We were told to stand on the street and catch a local bus...Bus after bus went by, none with SigSig as their destination. So when a small pick up stopped, wound down the window and the driver mentioned SigSig, I jumped on the opportunity! The cab was full so with a sparkle in my eye I quipped to Benoit "Allez c´est l´aventure!!!" and jumped on the back without him having time to blink an eye!
Riding through the Andean mountains with the rain and wind whipping you in the face was just glorious!!! (And gloriously freezing!!!)

SigSig also is rather a small village...I think we were the only tourists there. However there was some sort of fair with jumping castles and the rest...Even spit roast cuy (guinea pig), the delicacy here....Opted not to eat it, simply because it was $10 versus the $1 lunch we ended up having. The picture, (to the right) really does not do justice to the place we ended up having lunch: "The Rat´s Hovel" as I nicknamed it. There was left over rice from previous clients on the tables, under the tables was a melting pot of dust, dirt, rice, corn and chicken bones stripped of their meat. The walls were stained brown over the blue and white paint and there were live electric wires hanging from the wall, and from the kitchen came a small child with half her nappy hanging off her - HACCP has a long way to go here....Neither of us was sick - Miracles do happen.

So now here I am back in Quito preparing for tomorrow when I start the trekking side of things...Am glad I´m going to the Galapagos last....Will be able to chill out on a boat for a week. Think I´ll need it after walking for approx 10 days.

My Mum is The Best!!!!

No doubt about it!!!! I´m not going to go into detail of the last three days but I am going to say - Couldn´t be doing this without you Mum.
Have had countless problems trying to get money out....To the point where my debit card was just not accepted at any ATM, my bank here was not able to help at all, therefore leaving me almost penniless.
One call to Mum, and everything was solved. Mum, I love you, You are the best. Muchas Gracias. Te Quiero Muchissimo!!!!

As mentioned previously, I decided to leave Quito on Friday as it was Easter weekend and most things were closed...However I did not leave without going into the centre of town Friday morning to watch the procession of countless Christs, bearing their cross. It is a tradition every Easter Friday and different churches, (and there are plenty of those!) hold their processions at different times of the day.
Imagine a wall of people lining the street on either side, and literally dozen upon dozen men dressed up as Jesus Christ, (crown of thorns, blood and all) carrying big wooden crosses....They are followed by Cucurachos - Men dressed with a purple hood and robe....KKK style only in purple. Some are whipping themselves... It´s quite the scene. And the whole town is out to see it! It´s a mixture of fun, and prayer.

Before leaving Quito for Otavalo, that afternoon, I thought I´d get some money out as Id be roaming around a market...And here´s where the fun starts...ATM won´t accept my card - It´s actual message was: You have asked for an amount above your accepted withdrawing limit.
´No I´m not!´
No problem, I´ve got a travellers cheque I can get it changed once there.

How can I describe Otavalo on a Saturday other than a myriad of colours and sounds under an Andean sun! It was just awesome...To give you a better idea of the size of the market, imagine your entire suburb, as in every street, aligned with stalls, and jam packed with locals and tourists all haggling. It´s not just for the tourists either, (although it is directed at us,) the locals buy their fruit and veg there too. I think I spent over 5 hours just walking and observing.

Now to the travellers cheque...I won´t bore you too much with that one other than to say that it was super difficult to find a place and it involved asking and answering questions from men wearing flak jackets and holding big f%&k off guns....And having to, as sweetly as possible of course, decline their offer of taking you to see the beautiful nearby lakes in their new jeep.

On Sunday, with my newfound money, I zipped to the middle of the world - yep! I can honestly say that I´ve had both feet on different sides of the equator at the same time! Woohoo!!
I went to the museum situated on the equator and it was incredible to see how even a few metres from the equator line how centrifugaral forces are affected....In the north water drains anti-clockwise, and in the south clockwise...There you go for you trivia buffs! AND did you know that you weigh less on the equator line because the forces of gravity are less....No wonder I spent the whole day there...I was floating!

Los Tres Amigos....?

Things come in threes and they certainly did in my last 24hrs in Santiago! My ¨last¨ day in Santiago was spent walking, visiting, looking and bopping to the likes of Bananarama, Bros, DuranDuran blaring from shops - Felt like I had gone back 20 years! Loved it!

I spent some time in El Parque de las Esculturas, (Park of Sculptures) and the walked to El Cerro, a hill from which the view of Santago is just gorgeous, especially at sunset. In the process, my digital camera (Thing No.1) decided it had had enough of this lifetime and promptly broke. Not happy Jan!!

I went up El Cerro by funicluar, an almost vertical tram and sat infront of the huge statue of the Virgin Mary. Although I´m not religious, she is rather beautiful and extremely calming. I had bought a ticket to get the teleferico down the hill...And found the perfect shot to take with my manual camera to show that it definitely was a little scary...The shutter on my manual camera jams and refuses to work (Thing No.2)...After 45 minutes at the top of the hill trying my damn hardest to fix it, tears welled in my eyes. No more photos...My baby was broken...

Do wish I had photos from the teleferico...It was just beautiful to watch the reflection of the red and orange hues over the glass buildings of a very modern Santiago. There was a slight scare on my part when the doors, to the particular bubble I was in, did not close...I sat furthest away from the door. The gap closed just before it left the station...Phew!

Katerina and I had decided to have a quiet night, after the lack of sleep on the weekend. We caught up for a drink and dinner with one of her friends from work, Pamela. The three of us went to La Meridiana, a restaurant where one cooks their food on a hot plate in the middle of the table...Well, after a few bottles of vino blanco, and a few pisco sours....Let´s just say it wasn´t the early night we had intended on. Boy did we laugh, cry, hug and share stories! Brilliant night - Muchas Gracias!

The next day, off I went to the airport and was promptly told by lovely LanChile lady that the flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to take the next day´s flight....So Santiago and Katerina had me for one more night!
To apologise for the inconvenience, (yeah right, I´m on holidays with no fixed schedule...) I now am the proud owner of two free flights with LanChile...I was tempted to ask that if they bumped me off one of those, would I then receive another voucher for free flights...Instead I just smiled, and thought ¨This means I´ll be back!¨

So now, a day later than originally planned, here I am in Quito, Ecuador...Other than more modern than I would have thought, busy, and super colourful, my first impressions can be summed up in four words: Bring on the thermals!
Yep the 2850m of altitude, can definitely be felt - And not only in the temperature, but in the air...Altitude hides oxygen and sometimes the easiest things feel rather difficult. Had better get used to it if I´m going to be climbing mountains!

I´m living with a lovely family in el norte of the city, and today caught el trole (pron. trol-eh - like a tram) to my first Spanish lesson. Yay! Feel like I´m doing better already. The cheekiest 3yr old lives at the place I´m staying...He´s been teaching the animals...

Getting here just as Easter is about to start is interesting with the different things being prepared, (I will be eating franesca this evening - a traditional soup eaten only at Easter made of fish and different types of beans,) however in the next couple of days most things will be closed...So, I´m planning to get out of Quito, hopefully exploring the Otavalo markets on Saturday, and going to the Equator on Sunday...It´s got to be done!!

Hasta Luego Mis Amigos!

Lo Siento, Pero....

Well, I think I´ve fallen right into backpacker mode: I´m sporting a fabulous blue, green and brown braid in my hair, and wearing a gorgeous leather cuff....Both presents from the fantastic Arian I share my birhtday with: Katerina.

Small scare at Santiago airport when I didn´t see her and realised I had absolutely no contact numbers or address for her...And then she appeared.

We drove out of Sanitago that evening to Vina Del Mar, where Cecilia and Emmanuel, (Katerina´s mother and brother) live. After spending Saturday visiting la feria, fresh fruit and vegetable market, found on a dried up river bed, eating manchas con parmesan, (clams), shrimp al pil pil, and scallops in Valparaiso, visiting La Sebastiana, (the residence of one of Chile´s poets and ambassadors,) visiting more markets, (purchasing cuff and braid) and picking up the birthday cake, homemade by Isidora, (Yuuuuuuuuuuum!!!!!) we finally made it back to Cecilia´s to get the party set up!

Sixteen years may have passed since we last saw each other, and both were totally different people, children for that matter, however this has not hindered us getting along like a block of houses on fire...We enjoy the same sense of humour, and laidback attitude...Most of all though, we are on the same wavelength when it comes to partying!!

The Party Crew - What a great bunch of people! Me with my very, very broken Spanish and them practising their English proved for many laughs, especially with a few Pisco Sours, (cocktails) mixed in for good measure. Katerina is the person next to me with the sky blue top. Isidora, is the person to the left with the jeans jacket...She´s well worth commissioning if you need a cake made!

The time on the clock when I finally put head down on th pillow to sleep was 8am...Needless to say Sunday was a lazy day!

That´s it for now guys, so much more to tell, but don´t want to bore you just yet, still have a few more weeks of trapsing for you all to read about!