The weather is dreary today, and after a week of travel, we are just staying inside. Figured it might be time for the third installment of random thoughts about Cuenca, and about Ecuador in general.

Bus System: The bus system throughout Ecuador is cheap, efficient, and heavily utilized. You can travel within any city for 25 cents, and can cross the entire country for about $7.  Within town, the buses run every 5-6 minutes. When we took a long chain of buses to cross the country, we never had to wait more than 10 minutes to catch the next bus once we were dropped off from the prior one. The buses are almost always more than 50% full, and frequently 90%, yet it is rare for anyone to have to stand. Coming from California, I continue to be amazed by how well it works.

Poverty and Kids: Cuenca is the most prosperous city per capita in Ecuador, but there are many people here living on $5 per day. As you go out into smaller communities, it is clear that many (perhaps most) people live with less than almost anyone in America. Children are everywhere, and watching the interaction between the kids and parents, it is obvious they are loved.  Despite the poverty, children here are universally well clothed, well fed, and clean (well, as clean as any kid playing outside can ever be…). I have never seen a parent here be impatient with a child, as is often witnessed back in America. Perhaps even more surprising, kids here are curious and active, but I have never seen one really misbehave in public.  (Yes, babies cry, but not for long, as their mothers respond by comforting them.)

Car Horns Only in Cuenca:  I have mentioned before that drivers honk their horns milliseconds after a light changes, or anytime the traffic is not moving as fast as they would like.  This is despite the obvious fact that the horn will have no effect on the traffic. Surprisingly, this seems only true in Cuenca though.  I almost never heard a horn in Salinas, Puerto Lopez, Quito, Cotacachi, or Bano.

Free College: The current president has made a lot of changes that have helped improve the lives of Ecuadorians. One such change was the elimination of tuition for college in 2010.  Students must pass a competitive exam to attend university.  A score of 650 earns free tuition for any field.  800 is needed for free tuition to medical school.  We have been told that students who obtain a score of 1000 are given free tuition to a university in America, in exchange for an equal number of years working in under-served areas in Ecuador upon graduation.

Sweet Tooth: I have stated before that I was surprised to see how overweight many Ecuadorians are.  Though the extreme obesity of America is rare here, a large part of the population is jiggling down the street.  One reason seems to be their universal sweet tooth. The number of ice cream shops and pastry shops is astonishing. Downtown there is one or more on almost every block. The local Coral grocery store has 5 full isles devoted solely to packaged candy, plus another 150 sq ft area for bulk candy. People here also drink a lot of sugared drinks. Diet drinks (or “Light” as they are called here) are hard to find, and cost 50 cents extra if you want one with lunch.

Sidewalks: The sidewalks here are very uneven, and have numerous tripping hazards.  It is common to have small pipes cut off a few inches above the ground — apparently left over from a prior use and not cleanly removed. There are heavy support cables embedded in the concrete in some areas, left over from when a telephone pole must have been there before.  When walking, always look down, or risk a face-plant.  Definitely not a good place for a blind person — I’ve only seen two people with white canes, and both were holding the arm of a sighted person to guide them through the obstacle course.

Language: There are enough expats living in Cuenca that you can have comfortable conversations in English.  However, enter any store, or leave Cuenca, and Spanish is pretty much the only language spoken.  There are expats that have been here for years and speak no Spanish, but they are missing out in many ways.  Our Spanish is very rudimentary — probably about equal to a 3 year old child.  If we decide to move here long term, we will definitely need to improve our Spanish skills.  I have always considered those that came to live in America and speak no English after years to be second-class people.  I don’t want to be that person in reverse when living here…

Learning Spanish: We have a series of 80 Pimsleur lessons, but neither of us has been very good at using them.  I find myself looking at the clock after 10 minutes and wondering how I will last the full 30 minute lesson.  Not good…  We both had tutors for awhile from Simon Bolivar school here. Neither of our instructors were very good — the best instructors were already committed.  Yet I found my language skill definitely did improve in the short time I was there.  If we decide to come back and live here, it looks like having a tutor will be the fastest way to achieve modest fluency.

Plaza Otorongo: This is a plaza a couple blocks from our apartment.  They have various shows and displays there most weekends, and often during the week.  These all use the same type of tents you would see at a street art fair in America.  The odd thing is we see the tents going up in the morning, a show often lasts just a single day, then the tents are all taken down… to be put back up the next day for a different show.  It sure seems to me that it would be more efficient for the shows to coordinate and use the same tents rather than spend all that time and cost of setting up and tearing down each time…

Home?: We have been here for six weeks, with another four until we return to California.  When I talk about “going home” now, I mean “back to our apartment in Cuenca” more often that I mean “back to Berkeley.”  Amazing how fast we can adapt to new situations and environments… 🙂

All the guide books state that Bano de la Aqua is 4 hours driving from Quito and 4 hours from Cuenca.  We figured that made it a nice stop-over on the way back from Cotacachi (two hours North of Quito).  We found yesterday that it took over 8 hours from Cotacachi to Bano, which means Bano is really more like 6 hours South of Quito.  Last night we were talking with Marsha (the owner of our hotel — La Posada del Arte), when she said it would take 8 hours to reach Cuenca, and that the guide books all lie…  and she was right…

We woke this morning to the sound of birds calling and the waterfall across the street.  We also heard some drums further in the distance.  When I asked Marsha about it, she told us that this was the week they were celebrating the Canonization of Banos.  It started yesterday with a “fun parade” (we came into town too late to catch it) and will end in one week with a “civic parade” on December 16 (our anniversary!).

La Posada del Arte is a great location, with a waterfall across the street, and an excellent restaurant

The marching band was practicing for next week’s parade

Evelyn decided to get her first massage in Ecuador, and what an experience at the Yerba Buena Spa located next to our hote! Evelyn combined a therapeutic massage with their Yerba Buena herb special. After a deep Swedish massage using warm oils and a menthol finishing oil, she was beaten with an Ortiga herbal plant, which felt like millions of tiny burning daggers, then wrapped with an icy cold towel, which made her entire body painfully itchy (like poison ivy). They assured her that afterwards,  this massage would increase circulation, and she would be cured of arthritis, cancer, insomnia, stress, and any other diseases.

We then walked to the bus station.  Though it only took two buses this time, the total duration was over 8 hours again.  Considering it will take us 10 hours to get from Guayaquil to San Francisco next month, that bus ride seemed awfully long…

I woke up this morning with the first real allergy attack I have had on this trip.  Cotacachi is a veritable garden of flowers. We will probably not settle here, both due to the allergy issue and the small size of the town would probably leave us bored after a couple months. We decided to end our trip to Cotacachi by going down “leather street” where Evelyn bought a new belt, since her old ones are now too big.

Many of the leather shops in town were modern, clean, and priced low.

While walking around town for the last time, we did more people watching.  There are many indigenous people here in traditional garb, existing side-by-side with those in dress that would look at home in any American city.

We then walked over to the bus terminal and started our journey from Cotacachi to Banos de los Aqua. This turned out to be bigger effort than we had expected.

The first leg started at 10:15AM when we boarded a bus from Cotacachi to Otavalo for 25 cents. We then caught a bus for $2 that took us from Otavalo to Quito.  We were surprised to find ourselves dumped at a tiny bus station in Quito, and found we next needed to board a $1.20 bus to Quitumbe. That was the major hub we had expected. The Banos Express was leaving in 10 minutes, so Evelyn made a quick rest stop and we raced to catch the final bus to Banos for $3.50.  We arrived in Banos at 6:30, having taken four busses in a little over 8 hours, costing us just under $7 each.

When we got off the bus at Bano, we were swarmed by hawkers trying to get us to come to their hostel,  We had already decided on a hotel, based on Trip Advisor, so grabbed a taxi to La Posado del Arte.  We had no reservations, but the hotel was nearly empty.  This has been our experience on the entire trip. Seems like all the hotels and restaurants are vacant.  This is the “high season,” so it would seem tourism must be down this year.

After settling in, we took a walk around town.  They really go all out with Christmas decorations in this town!  When I commented on that to the hotel owner, she said the current mayor is big on decorations — much more so than prior mayors

We left Quito yesterday morning.  Neither of us was feeling very well — it appears that the 1200 additional feet of altitude from Cuenca to Quito was harder on us than we had expected.  We decided to splurge and hired a taxi for $55 to take us to Cotacachi, rather than face the hassle of a $2/person bus.  As we stepped out of our hotel in Quito, we found there was a concert going on in the square.

There was some confusion finding the hotel in Cotacachi, since the name we were given was not the name on the door (The Land of the Sun). After the driver asked several locals, we found it though.  A quaint 140 year old governor’s mansion converted into a hotel, with all proceeds going to the local indigenous people, on the edge of a park. We were already feeling better, having dropped to 7800 ft in this town. The room was great — it even has a proper writing desk and decent wifi.  Wow! It even comes with a heater!  Too bad the heater didn’t work though… or the replacement… or the replacement after that.  Oh well, the covers are extra thick and warm, so once we are in bed, all will be OK again. 🙂

We settled in, and headed out for a walk around town. “It won’t rain today.” So said Cindy, as we passed her and Dennis about half a block from the hotel, almost as soon as we had started walking. “Do you promise?” I replied.  So began our adoption by this pair of retirees from Missouri.  We talked for a few minutes… until it started raining… 🙂  We then walked over to their rented apartment and spent the next several hours enjoying their company and stories.  We left well after dark, and they invited us to join them for breakfast.

We had breakfast at our hotel this morning.  During the meal, we talked about going to Otavalo today, and we decided to go together. After a short walk to the bus station, we found that busses leave every 10 minutes, and only cost 25 cents.  We hopped on the first one and it left almost immediately.

Dennis and Cindy refer to themselves as “farmers from Missouri,” but that was actually their 2nd career, which was itself followed by a career owning a 50-room lake resort, before retiring in 2006.

We were the only gringos on the fully loaded bus.

After a 25 minute ride, we arrived in Otavalo and walked over the the famous artesian market. The big market days are Wednesday and Saturday. Dennis told us the market is so crowded you can barely move on those days.  Today it was largely deserted, with only a couple dozen people browsing.

Vendors were mostly waiting for someone to walk by and show interest in their products. One held a baby on a leash, since women here pretty much take their babies with them everywhere.

Evelyn enjoyed buying small items, including a unique “white elephant” for a party exchange back home.

After a few hours, we decided to head back to Cotacachi for lunch.  On the way back to the bus station, we saw more of the local lifestyle.  School was just letting out, and we again saw the phenomenon of girls walking 5-abreast, clearing the sidewalk in front of them.  Dennis commented “girls that age want attention, and this is one surefire way to get it.”  I think he nailed it…

A woman dropped a few kernels of corn and was scooping them back up. The local people appear happy, but they are clearly mired deep in poverty.

Back in Cotacachi, we walked a few blocks to La Mirage, and had an unbelievably delicious lunch. This is a hotel that charges $400/night for a room, with a restaurant that is rated 5 stars.  We entered with high hopes… and an open wallet…:)

They first brought each of us a beautiful wooden music box.  When opened, there was a single fried wonton. The taste told us that we were in the right place! Our ordered “white escargot” came next. It was served in the traditional garlic butter, and was one of the best we have experienced.  Evelyn and I split a sea bass meal, while Dennis had shrimp ravioli and Cindy had ceviche.  All the meals were world-class, and (given a sufficient budget), I would recommend this restaurant to anyone.

After lunch, we wandered the yard, which included half a dozen peacocks

We flew into Quito yesterday. Though only 1200 ft higher than Cuenca (9400 vs 8200), I felt the altitude almost immediately.  Combined with a low grade illness I started earlier in the day, I have felt pretty miserable most of today.  Combined with the cold, I will be glad to leave Quito tomorrow, soon after we see Pauline head home.

Our Quito hotel is a 120 year old converted home, tucked back, just half a block from the main square.  It is charming and extremely convenient to everything, but the lack of heating in a climate like this leaves me asking for extra blankets at night.

As soon as we unpacked, we headed out to explore.  One of the very first things we saw was how many homeless there are here, along with beggars of all ages.  In 5 weeks of Cuenca, I never once saw a homeless person and was only approached by beggars a couple of times.  We saw more than that in our first hour here.

The very next thing we noticed was the extreme number of churches in Quito.  There are a lot of them in Cuenca, but here in Quito, I could count six churches within sight of the main square alone!

The main square had a woman feeding pigeons, which meant they were in abundance.  Kids were also everywhere. When you combine pigeons and kids, and you inevitably get the chase.  I decided to sit and photograph them for awhile.

Evelyn and Pauline quickly tired of my sitting in one place, so I told them to go shopping.  I suggested they stay around the square, and I would find them when the pigeons were exhausted.  After about half an hour, I went looking for them, and came up blank?  I called and asked Evelyn where she was.  She said “just look for the yellow building with the white trim.”

Right!  Yellow with white trim seems to be a predominant color scheme in town.  I said I could see four such buildings from where I stood!  They came back to the square and rescued me…

Quito is celebrating its Independence Day this week.  In Ecuador, each city celebrates a separate independence day, since the country of Ecuador did not yet exist when the Spaniards were defeated. As with independence day in Cuenca, police presence is extremely high, in an effort to keep down crime against the celebrating tourists.

We stopped in a small cafe for a hot chocolate, and heard what sounded like a funeral march.  I looked outside and saw a procession with a statue of Jesus.  I have been looking for these for 5 weeks in Cuenca without success, and here was one we stumbled on within a couple hours of arriving in Quito.

More wandering after our hot chocolate, and we found Party Central street.  At least that it what it seemed like. Just a couple blocks off the main square was store after store selling party supplies.

We also found many stores selling just one item, with dozens of variations.

Want a Swatch?  There is a store just for that.  Want some eggs.  A store has only that, with stacks for 8, 9, 10 or 11 cents each.  Vendors also walked the streets with a few of one item in their hand to sell.  And some of the weirdest items at that.  TV rabbit ears? Yep, two people selling that. Lottery tickets? Four of those. Cup holder rack? Hand whisk? Toothbrush? Cocoa tea? Yep, each had a person selling that single item, and several sold single items I couldn’t even recognize.

Today I mostly stayed in bed to recouperate, while Evelyn and Pauline took a city tour.  Their great find was an artists street named La Ronda, filled with boutique shops, art galleries, cafes with live music, and their favorite chocolate cafe, Khipus Coffee-Choco Shop locate on La Ronda y Morales Oe 1-53. There’s a special chocolate drink made from a jungle chocolate topped with meringue.

Around noon, I decided to go out and get lunch.  I heard another funeral dirge, and saw flowers on the street outside our hotel.  I followed the sound, and came across my second Jesus procession in as many days.