It was a three day weekend to celebrate 200 years of Ecuadorian independence. Accordingly, I celebrated by spending most of Friday catching up with friends and being really lazy. By Saturday morning, it was game time.
We headed out to a town called Otavalo, which is famous for its immense market. We took a bus. It is important to note that travel in Ecuador is very different from travel in the States. First of all, buses take FOREVER. Because Ecuador is so mountainous, the roads are the opposite of straight. This means, that the 55 mile journey to Otavalo takes 2 hours. 2 HOURS. There are people who ride their bikes more quickly than that. (Not me.) Also, stoplights and lanes are more of gentle guidelines than anything else. Window seats on buses are nothing short of terrifying and exhilarating if you are on the side of oncoming traffic.
So, two hours later we make it to Otavalo. The market is huge, and has amazing things in it. Alpaca sweaters, shawls, and scarves. Hammocks, carvings, and jewelry. My two favorites, pajama pants and paintings. Being one of the most non-Ecuadorian looking people in the southern hemisphere definitely has its downfalls. One clear manifestation of this is anytime you ask for or pay for anything. There is an Ecuadorian price and a Gringo price. I am ALWAYS offered the latter. I still can't quite figure out why.
The beauty of this is that it leads to bartering. Here is a typical exchange:
Me: Cuanto cuesta (how much)?
Vender: (*insert price that would be extremely reasonable in the good ol' USA, but is completely unacceptable here)
Me: Ooh, esto es muy caro. (Insert price that is less than half of what they originally offered)
Vender: Por favor! No. (Insert a new price that is lower, but still not low enough.)
Me: Demasiado (too much). Okay, gracias.
Now, here is where you whip out the big guns. Yeah, that's right. I am talking about the WALK AWAY.
Seriously, it works every time. (Okay, not every time. But it is very effective.)
The vender then offers you a more reasonable price which you can counter to get a good deal. I am not going to lie, I loved doing this. I had a great time. I even told some of the venders that I wanted the Ecuadorian price and not the Gringo price. It was great.
After a few hours of the market, four of us decided to stay overnight to see some of the countryside around Otavalo. That night, we went to get pizza. We order the largest pizza because we are hungry Americans accustomed to ridiculous portion sizes. What we got was shocking, embarrassing, and AMAZING. The pizza was called 'Familiar' and cost 8.50. Based on the cost, we were worried we would maybe need to order some additional slices. For some reason, it didn't really register when our waitress informed us that this pizza came with eight cokes. Yes, 8 cokes. We didn't order a pizza, we ordered a birthday party. The arrival of the pizza was a moment I will never forget. It came on a tray that required 2 handles because it was too big to hold. It didn't fit on our table. We literally used two tables. One for our plates and one for our pizza. People looked and laughed as they brought it to us. We blushed, then got down to work. I am not sure what was more embarrassing/disturbing, the fact that we ordered this pizza or the fact that we housed it completely in a matter of fifteen minutes between the four of us. And then went looking for dessert. Hmm...
Us perpetuating stereotypes of American overconsumption and obesity. But seriously it was delicious.
After a low key evening we went to bed to get ready for our journey the next day. We knew we needed to catch a bus and then something else, but that was about it. We caught the bus no problem, and then we got dropped off in a small town. Immediately, there was a man directing us to his vehicle. He has kind eyes. We trust him. We get in the back of his truck with a French family, and he proceeds to drive Ecuadorian style up the mountain. To save my mom the fear and anxiety of reading this, let's just say that there were a couple of 'close calls' on the drive up. So is Ecuador. We get to the lake, and it is stunningly beautiful. Amazing. Here is a photo of the surrounding mountains.
We ask around about the lake hike, which we have heard good things about. A man tells us that most people are dropped off at the other side because the climb from where we were is very difficult. I am not sure why, but for some reason, whenever someone tells me something is going to be physically difficult I seem to completely ignore what they are saying based on the fact that I am 24, exercise on a very irregular basis, and can be extremely stubborn. Accordingly, we go up the difficult way. It was gorgeous, but the man was under-exaggerating when he told us it was tough. It took us four hours. I was very winded. We scaled 6 peaks or so. One of the most difficult and gorgeous hikes I have ever done. Another photo.
The one moment in the final 180 minutes of this hike where our hands were not on our thighs and where we were all standing upright. Still, completely worth it.
The spectacular views culminated with....a chain fence and a four kilometer hike along a dirt road. Maybe the most underwhelming conclusion of a hike ever. But we did get to walk through a pack of bulls that had escaped from a local field. This coincided perfectly with Phil's utterance, "Yeah, so I heard the most dangerous part of this hike was the bulls." Great. We may or may not have all had rocks in our hands. Because small rocks seem to be extremely effective at stopping enormous and powerful animals. Putting those ND degrees to work.
We caught a cab back into town, and then we eventually got the bus back to Quito. All in all, an awesome weekend. There is so much to see in this small country. Each trip reminds me of just how immense this world is, and how little I have seen. Can't wait to do some more exploring in this continent.
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