Travel to and visit in Quito.
viernes 7 de setiembre – sábado 8 de setiembre
In the morning in Tierra Dentro, a French couple I have become friendly
with, get up at 3:30 AM to get the early 4:00 bus for Popayan so that they
connect with another bus going north. I, on the other hand, decide to take a
later bus. I am up at 5 to catch a 6:00 bus which actually goes by at 6:15,
goes further up the road into the village of St Andreas, but then comes back by
my hostal at 6:30. I am heading toward the Ecuador border and the main advice I
have heard is not to be traveling at night in this area so I am planning my
travel to be off the road before dark. The road from Popayan to Tierra Dentro
on which I am now returning, is a rough dirt track through the mountains. This
is why there are so few tourists here. On the way, we see one section close to
Popayan that they are turning into a 2-lane cement highway: eventually there
will be more access. As we travel, some mountainsides are heavily cultivated up
fairly high up, others have a few settlers, still others where there is no one
but there are patches of forest being burned to make way for farming, and other
mountains which have not been touched.
I arrive in Popayan at 11:30 AM. In the bus terminal, I approach the
kiosk of one of the bigger bus companies to ask when the next bus is, and the
clerk says 2:30. That seems a bit late to me as I want to be there before dark.
So I ask how often the buses go and he says ‘every hour’. So what about 12:30?
1:30? ‘Is none’, he replies. Since I am clearly not happy with his answers, he
sends me to a different bus company and I catch the 11:30 bus for Pasto (which
leaves at 12:00). On the bus, a lady behind me asks me something but I cannot
figure out what she wants. Six hours later I arrive in Pasto. I take a taxi to
a hostel. I have a nice chat with the cab driver. Some people I understand
these days and some not so well, although it also depends on fatigue and mood
and how badly we want to communicate.
The hostel in Pasto is very basic
and with shared bath for about $12. The downtown is very busy and there are a
lot of desperately poor and homeless people. I see one man light some cardboard
on fire and then walk over top of the fire apparently to dry his pants (did he
piss in them?). I buy supper from a couple of street stands and give some money
to a guy who looks like he really needs it and to a family sitting on the
street that look like they have just arrived in town.
In the morning, I take a bus to Ipiales, the border town. It takes about
2 hours. There I take a collectivo (a van that acts as a local taxi/bus hybrid,
these are found throughout Latin America) to the border. I enter customs on the
Colombian side, fill out some papers, walk across the bridge over a 10-m wide
river which is the border, stopping to oblige a Spanish traveler going the
other way who wants his picture taken on the bridge. A sign on the Ecuadoran
side says ‘Welcome to Ecuador’ except that it is from the National Police. A
nearby billboard states that there are rewards for information about gun
smuggling with a number to phone. If only I had made the journey at night, I
might have had some information…
On the other side of the river, I fill out more forms, change some money
on the street (same rate as in the banks, but of course you lose money every
time you change it and I had too many Colombian pesos left over) and then catch
another collectivo for the nearest town (Tulcan) where I catch a bus for Quito.
This bus takes 6 hours, including an hour stopped on the highway because of a
bicycle road race that is in session, although we cannot see it. The bus ride is on flat highway for once, and the mountains are more spaced out
and the landscape is very dry, with lots of cactus. Had a long talk with a
business man from Otavalo with a wholesale business: my Spanish is definitely
improving although it still takes a patient person to converse with me.
Quito. Domingo 8 setiembre – lunes 9 setiembre.
Quito is at S 0o 13.1’ W 78o 30.5’ Elev: 2831 m.
Ever since I left Bogota, I have been moving closer to the equator (although I
had actually crossed it for the first time in my life when I flew down to
Leticia in the southern Colombian Amazon the second day of my trip). Finally,
in Quito, the latitude is S 0o 13’. (They do not call this country
Ecuador for nothing: Spanish for equator).
From now on, until I return to northern Ecuador in late February, I will
remain in the southern hemisphere. Here in Quito, the noon day sun will be in
the south (although not by much) for half the year (from September to March)
and in the north from March to September. As I go further south in the Tropics,
the noonday Sun will spend more time in the north and less time in the south.
South of the Tropic Capricorn, the noonday Sun is always in the north. I am not
expecting to get quite that far south on this trip. Another thing about
directions in the south is that magnetic declination (for those of us who still
use a compass) is more or less irrelevant because we are so far from magnetic
and polar north that the difference is slight.
The elevation of Quito at 2831 m (9300 ft), is a little higher than
Bogota’s 2600 m, but higher is yet to come. The physical layout is quite
similar with the city being on a plateau with poorer housing climbing up the
surrounding peaks. However, the old city is slightly hilly but nothing like
Bogota.
Arriving in Quito, I take a taxi to a cheap hotel (listed in my travel
guide) in the old section (which is the more interesting area). The driver
drops me off a block away and… there is no such hotel and nobody including
several police I ask, have heard of it. After walking up and down the street to
be sure, I find the nearest hotel, walk in and ask the price. Too expensive, so
I look in my guide for something else near there, find one, and ask the desk
clerk if he could phone for me and see if they exist and if they have room. He
does and they do, but the woman on the other end sounds near hysterical so I
have my doubts. It is only a 6 block walk. This is actually a hotel although
the price is the price of a hostel ($15). And yes, one of the people at the
desk, an older woman, is a bit hysterical. The hotel is next to 3 theaters and
I check to see what is playing. There is nothing I am particularly interested
in, in the 2 days I am here, unfortunately. I note this for my return in the
spring (northern spring).
Differences noted right away between Bogota and Quito. People are more
polite here, less fashion-conscious. Less patient too, with my broken Spanish.
More poor people and the majority of the people here are indigenous; not the
case in Bogota. There is a lot more money in public works here. Parks,
important buildings, statues are all maintained which they are not in Bogota.
There are public washrooms here and they are free. In Bogota, the only place
that you find public washrooms are in the airport and the bus depot. In the
latter, they are not free. Toilets tend to have toilet seats in Colombia. Much
less often the case in Ecuador (and Peru).
I see the point of no toilet seat: nobody can steal it and it is better
hygiene. But if there is no toilet seat, what is the point of a toilet? The
hole in the floor style would make more sense, wouldn’t it? Speaking of
toilets, in South America, bring your own toilet paper, and for that matter, in
public places, there is often no water to wash up with, so it would not hurt to
have some hand disinfectant. You can see why food handling and disease often go
together in this part of the world. Another weird difference is that in Ecuador
the currency is the US dollar (since an economic crisis a few years back). I am
not sure it is much of an improvement having a currency which has a 13 trillion
dollar hole in the middle. Their coins though are their own and the bills start
at $5. The American bills look fake and I am sure that they must be different
somehow from bills printed in the US.
I visit the Parque Carolina which is quite the scene on Sunday when I
go. It is a long bus ride to get there but the bus system is good, like in
Bogota. Many people are out running, many more playing soccer, many food
stands, a botanical garden and an exhibit of live reptiles and amphibians
called the Vivarium. Also, a small artificial lake with 2-person paddlewheel
boats for rent. It is a beautiful day. It is times like this, especially with
my Spanish still limited, that I wish I was not traveling alone. However, there
are many advantages: just cannot think of any at the moment. My favourite part
of the Park is the Vivarium. I have a look at the many species of pit viper
including a number of rattlesnake species and the green viper, many species of
boa (including a bright green one called the emerald boa, the beautifully
patterned Boa constrictor, and a small anaconda). Many frog species quite a few
of which I probably heard in Puerto Nariño. I forget my little pocket dictionary
there while watching a film about reptiles and amphibians. When I come back, I
ask the people in the room if they have seen it. A man points to his 2-year old
who is playing with it.
I also visit two churches. The first is the massive, 400 year old Iglesia
de San Francisco. Every square inch is decorated and there is a lot of gold
guilding. There are also altars along each side where you have a choice of who
you are praying to. In fact, there are many statues of Jesus and Mary, most
covered with jewels, with different
names for praying for different purposes or named after different locations. There is an enormous number of
very old oil paintings adorning the walls as well as many sculptures. There is also an attached museum of religious
art (paintings, sculptures, and furniture) which is very impressive. While I
tour the museum, a choir begins singing in the choir area at the back of the
second floor of the church itself, which I also visit. Very beautiful
background music when viewing religious art. In the choir area are also two
very large (huge) pipe organs. The other church is the Basilica del Voto Nacional, a massive and beautiful church
but not as ornate, and a lot of concrete is used in some parts of the construction.
It was constructed from the late 1800’s until the 1980’s when it was
consecrated by Pope John Paul II. This one requires an entry fee and you can
climb up very high in the church to see the workings of the four clocks
operated by weights and pendulums. You can also see the church bells but access
is restricted. You do get an amazing view of the city (all directions) from up
high. It also contains a gift shop and a small restaurant, which I find a
little odd.
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