Ecuador (2): QUITO

05.02.

Day 33

Arrival in Quito. Everything goes extremely smoothly with the luggage. Outside, a woman is waiting for me with the typical sign Maria Serfling.

She belongs to the hostel where I will spend the first night here. We go out and a man drives up and lets us get in. The drive takes 40 minutes, almost twice as long as the flight itself.

I arrive around 10 p.m. Today there is not much more than a pack of instant noodles from the luggage and then it's straight to bed.

06.02.

Day 34

Seriously! This is definitely the quietest hostel I have been on this trip. Although there are 16 people in the room, you can hardly hear anything. In the morning there is breakfast, eggs and fruit salad and coffee and everything for only $1.50. Pretty good. Unfortunately, my laptop has given up by now. It does not turn on anymore. That's probably why there will be even more mistakes in this blog, as I can only type on my phone now. Honestly, that annoys me!

The day is spent walking around, doing laundry at a nearby laundromat, and in the late afternoon, there is a Free Food and Art tour in our neighboring neighborhood. Six Germans and one from Wisconsin participate. Dave, the guide, takes us through the narrow Guápulo neighborhood, everything here is very local.

Quito tends to sink into fog in the afternoon. It was interesting to hear the story that until 2008 airplanes used to crash into the high-rise buildings here due to the fog. Then the prices for the apartment here sometimes drop briefly.

We walk down the narrow streets, Dave tells us a lot about the graffiti art here and we arrive at the church.

But it is closed. We continue by the typical overcrowded bus to the food market.

Here, Ecuadorian specialties are offered at street stalls. So we have seasoned, stuffed intestine, which is probably not bad in terms of taste, but the consistency is just disgusting. First slimy and then like hard chewing gum. Bah. No.

Then there is cow's stomach to calm down. That works as well. It has some strange knobs; it doesn't really appeal to me.

Finally, there is an empanada with sugar, along with a kind of rice pudding.

That's it for today.

07.02.

Day 35

Next to the laundromat, there is a small local place where I have breakfast first, actually, it's the same as everywhere again. Rolls with jam. In the hostel, I chat with Dave, the guide from yesterday, who gives me some tips for Quito.

Then I set off to the city to La Mariscal, to go to the Ecuatraveling information point, with this agency I want to do my tour to the Cuyabeno Reserve in the Amazon. The information point turns out to be a small wooden table in a cafeteria, where a German woman is with - sorry - incredibly poorly made extensions, and has absolutely no idea about anything. I give her some information about the tour I would like to book. Then I ask her how the risk of dengue fever is, because I have to be a bit cautious and I read that there is a certain occurrence of dengue fever there. She does not know what dengue fever is. I ask her what else she does. She says she is studying tourism.

Congratulations!

If I didn't have enough information about this, I definitely would not book it now. However, the program of the tour is otherwise quite good and has also been rated as "very good" on the internet. The booking process takes about 100 minutes. It would have taken me 5 minutes on the internet, but hey, I wouldn't have gotten all this great information from her... Because it's taking too long, I don't wait for the confirmation and don't pay yet, she says I can come the next day to pay and pick it up.

Then I continue walking through the La Mariscal neighborhood, because tomorrow I'm moving to a hostel that is more in the center. Then I sit down at the café around the corner from my current accommodation and type this whole text by hand on my phone. It's so much fun. Not. I want my laptop back.

For that, I order a Michelada. I like to try things that I have no idea what they are. I was expecting some kind of milkshake. But what I got was a beer with a lot of salt and pepper in it. Apparently, it's a specialty here. Let me say: it doesn't taste good.

Later, I play some billiards, chat with Drew and Nithin outside on the terrace, and then go to bed.

08.06.

Day 36

I'm going crazy. There's a tiny cute puppy in the hostel. Before I leave, it needs some cuddling.

I walk to the new hostel, a 20-minute walk. I can't check in yet, it's too early, so I just leave my things behind the bar. On foot, we go to Plaza Foch, two blocks away, the place where everything comes together here. Nightlife, restaurants, etc. There, I find the agency "Gulliver," which I reach through a small inconspicuous entrance. Here I get information about the tour to the Quilotoa Lagoon, but it only takes place on Thursdays and Sundays. That's not really convenient. Because today is Thursday and on Sunday I'm already leaving for the Amazon. That could be tight. But I am absolutely assured that I will be home before 6 p.m., so I can easily catch the bus to the Amazon in the evening. Alright then. Sunday. On the corner of Plaza Foch is the bus stop for the hop-on-hop-off bus. Since the weather is nice, I hop on and ride through the city for an hour and a half.

On the way, I see a funeral procession walking loudly through the streets, carrying the coffin, scattering flowers, and seeming quite cheerful. We continue to the viewpoint with the aluminum angel statue with a wonderful view of Quito.

Here, we take a short break before continuing to the Centro Histórico to see Plaza Grande and go to the main office of Ecuatraveling to pay, as I don't want to go to that stupid German girl again who has no idea. The guy here, apparently the founder of the agency, Pablo, knows a lot more. He gives me all the information, the confirmation, and I pay. Very nice.

Dave recommended a chocolate shop on the corner here. Here, they have the typical Ecuadorian specialty, cocoa with cheese. Of course, I have to try it. It's really delicious.

Now I try to find a Bluetooth keyboard to use with my phone so that I don't have to type everything on the small screen. There are so many smartphone and technology stores here. All somehow the same. All somehow without a Bluetooth keyboard. A young man, Hector, offers to take care of it and inform me as soon as he finds a suitable keyboard, so he contacts me shortly after via WhatsApp, of course, a voice message, of course, only in Spanish, of course, extremely difficult to understand for a non-Ecuadorian. So I understand little, but quickly realize that it's not about a keyboard anymore. I understand words like beer, chocolate, coffee, and going out. And friendship. Or something like that. I'll continue looking for a keyboard for now. After many attempts, I just go into a store to buy SD cards. Just out of sheer luck, I also ask here for a keyboard. And I go crazy. They have one. A small mini keyboard for the phone. Yay!

Happy and satisfied, I go to the hostel and get my bed. In this house, you have to leave your shoes downstairs. Exciting. My bed has curtains again, I really like that.

Then I realize that the keyboard does not have Bluetooth. Damn. Super crap.

I search on TripAdvisor for a restaurant with good recommendations and come across Miskay and make my way there. It's really good. Fish with an incredibly delicious sauce on plantain-peanut puree.

Hector contacts me again with a voice message. He wants to meet. But I'm not in the mood right now.

After I return, I go down to the hostel's lounge, have a beer, and talk to people. Everyone wants to go to an electro party in the historic center tonight. Not me. I came to La Mariscal to go out here, not to go to a party somewhere else. Especially not an electro party. So I play billiards with the remaining people. They can all play, and I proudly bring the average down. I play with Alex from Guayaquil and another guy who works here and whose name I forgot. I'll just call him Juan. Many people here are named Juan. Later, we go to Bungalow 6 for some dancing, and then we go to a salsa bar. Juan gets pretty drunk pretty quickly and always wants to dance close to someone. I'm not sure why, but it's kind of weird, but not in a funny way. The shops close here at 2 a.m., so we go home afterwards.

In the hallway of the hostel, I meet Michael from Zurich. We talk for a while, and I tell him that I plan to go to the hot springs in Papallacta tomorrow, but I don't know how yet. He says he will join me when I go. I go up to my bunk bed to sleep. Suddenly, Alex from Guayaquil sits at my bed, crying, saying that Juan wants to hit him and he has to sleep with me now. I send him back to his bed. At 6 a.m., Juan sits next to my bed. What's going on? Screw you! The guy is really weird. Uncool. Now I just want to sleep.

7 a.m.: Someone is sitting on my bed again. Completely annoyed, I take out my earplugs and get ready to fight. Then I recognize the hostel dog, which has just crawled into my bed through the curtains and is sitting there now. You're allowed to do that.

09.06.

Day 37

I get up at 10 a.m. Then I find out that if you want to get to Papallacta by public transport, it takes about two and a half to three hours and it's very complicated. Today it won't work. So Michael and I have breakfast, sit on the floor at Plaza Foch, and have coffee. Micha is a very lively person and knows how to make people laugh. I quickly call my mom because it's her birthday. That takes precedence over everything else. While we walk through the streets, we are repeatedly sprayed mostly by children with water guns. It's carnival. Everywhere, people are spraying water or foam, not only the children do it, but also the older ones. I'm soaking wet. But that's part of carnival here.

We take a taxi back to the hostel, pack our things, and walk to Cafecito, where we meet Pablo. We get into his jeep, pick up his roommate Pancho and another German, a friend of Pancho's, Emma, and drive for a good hour to Papallacta, where the hot springs are. Pablo recommended that we only go there in the evening because during the day it's very crowded there, as it's now vacation time due to carnival and all families go there. So it's already dark when we arrive at the hot springs. It's steaming in the cold air. Very cool.

The water is really hot, and it's super relaxing. Every now and then, I go into the very cold pool and back to stimulate my circulation. We spend several hours here, fool around, get burned by the waterfall, and then drive back to Quito at 9:30 p.m. When we arrive, most restaurants are already closed. We only have the Pasta Slow Food snack, but it's also fine. Michi always likes to negotiate when he can, and he managed to get two free drinks for us. Back to the hostel. I have to pack my things for tomorrow because I have to get up early. But tonight, I go to Bungalow 6 once again to dance a bit. But only for an hour and a half. Then back home, I have two hours of sleep ahead.

10.06.

Day 38

No choice. I have to get up at 6 a.m. and walk directly to Plaza Foch. Some stupid Uschi, whom I already found annoying at the hostel, tells me that my bus is back there. I rush over there and sit in the bus with everyone else. When the guide comes in very late and calls the names, I'm not on the list. He asks me which agency I booked with. I explain it to him and he says my bus is up there. Where the dumb cow stood and where I also stood because I knew exactly that my bus would come here, but I believed the girl. My own fault. I run back and catch the bus just before departure because fortunately, it was also late. Still a damn stupid move. So. Had to be said. The bus drives about 2 hours to Pujili. Here we visit an indigenous market, a really traditional market, just like it takes place in the villages here in Ecuador.

You can see women in traditional costumes, there is everything you can imagine, of course, food, animals, clothes, electronic devices, and so on.

Similar to when I was in Jamaica back then, dogs walk around in between and chickens lie on the ground with presumably broken legs so they can't run away. Pretty perverse somehow. But that's how it is done here. Not since yesterday. I don't presume to judge. Just the stupid girl from this morning. She was really dumb. I buy some kind of edible cloth from an indigenous woman. It's something doughy. I don't know exactly what it is, but it tasted good. When we return to the bus after the agreed time, the guide says he's sorry, we have another half hour because they have to pick up more people and made a mistake about the place where they should pick them up. 30 minutes turns into 3 hours, which we spend on a sandy road in a tiny village where you simply can't do anything. I'm getting worried because I still have to catch the bus to the Amazon today. The one that I was assured I would definitely catch if I booked this tour because the bus would be back in Quito so early. Well, let's see... I can't change anything now. After the bus picked up a few more people, it's full, and I sit next to Victor from France. We talk for a while, he's very nice.

Finally, we reach the Quilotoa Lagoon, which I have been waiting for.

Up here, you really have a very nice view, unfortunately, it's cloudy, so the lagoon doesn't shine in its beautiful blue and green colors. But still beautiful. I'm grateful.

The guide says we can walk down and up again, but we should not underestimate the hike as it is 300m steep downhill and then uphill. He says 20 minutes down, 40 minutes up, but I quickly realize that this cannot be true. I thought that after the Inca Trail, I'm fit now and can do everything with ease, but the way down already takes at least half an hour and I'm really tired.

The horses and donkeys that transport people who can't make it up on their own often block the way and also like to run you over. When I reach the bottom, I only have five minutes left because I know that I won't make it back in time in the given time anyway.

So I only take a sip of water and then start my way back up. Too bad. I would have liked to go kayaking. The way up is really rough. There's no other way to put it. It's really steep, quite soft sand, and a lot of traffic. I do what I learned on the Inca Trail. Walk nicely in a zigzag and very slowly. And that works really well, I tell you. Everyone else trudges up, they're bright red, and take a break and sit down every two minutes. I don't take a single break, but walk pretty comfortably all the way up in moderate pace. I'm Hercules. Proudly, I arrive at the top after an hour and I am received for lunch. I sit at the table with Victor and his father and we chat a little. Then we go back to the bus. Some girls take quite a long time to get to the bus because they still want to go shopping. When they board, one of them just says arrogantly: come on guys, it's holidays!

Man, what's wrong with the women today? Are they all dumb? I would have loved to just rub her nose.

We make another small stop at a canyon. Also very beautiful, quite big.

Then, finally, we reach Quito. At 9:30 p.m. Instead of 5 p.m. My bus leaves in just over an hour. Well, of course. I can handle it. I just have to go to the hostel, repack my things, and after I told Pablo about the delay, he offered to pick me up, take me to the bus, and take my big backpack to his apartment. That's really great service, you have to say. That's exactly what happens. The bus is already there. I get on. I'm not on the list again. Still. But the driver says it's no problem, we'll figure it out. He takes my name and asks around. The clueless girl who booked this trip for me ordered the shuttle for a week later. Thank you. You're really good. Somehow today is not my day with me and other women. Smile and wave. It doesn't bother me honestly. In the end, there's just one more story. The bus is full, and I sit next to David, who probably is called David just for simplicity because he lives in Canada but is actually Chinese and also speaks broken English. His name is different on the list anyway. But he is also very nice. We chat for a while and then try to sleep, which is not that easy because the serpentine roads are quite narrow and the bus driver probably wants to get to the destination quickly. Good night. Huiii huiii huiii...

...continue reading on Ecuador (3): AMAZONAS - CUYABENO