rpics: Quilotoa loop contd, Quito

We are now in Quito, ready to head for Amazonia tomorrow. Did a walking tour of the city today, pics below, after some extras from the Quilotoa loop. First, shots from a woodcarving school in Tsinlivi (sp?) named Don Bosco, where they train kids from poor families in wood working of all kinds, including artistry. The figures in the amazing relief on the right all look pretty Spanish.


Dana discovered a little girls dance troop in Chugchilan and got them to our hotel. They were quite good and very high energy. They used an excellent gimmick of dancing with the gringos before taking up the collection.

Yesterday we did a very strenuous but gorgeous hike around the Quilotoa crater lake. I think it rivals our southern Oregon national treasure.

National flag day in Quito today. Lotta folks out for the day, with cooperative weather.

They had an excellent Andean band accompanying these dancers.

And of course what Flag Day would be complete without a facist fun band. These guys were serious - the National Police Band I believe.


The flags were in evidence on La Ronda, the restored colonial street that has become the favorite night drag - nearly deserted on Sunday morning, however.

We also visited an amazingly gothic basilica, where you can climb into the steeples. Nice variation is that the gargoyles are Ecuadorian wildlife e.g. turtles, condors, boobies, pelicans, iguanas, and even a mating male frigate bird with its balloon extended.

Wow!

I just love this high Andes hiking and am so thrilled that I am able to hike at such high altitudes. Chimborazo Volcano is about 18,000 ft. We hiked through snow to 15,000 ft. where the mountain climbers spend the night at the refuge before attempting the climb.

We have just our small backpacks with us now and are hiking and taking buses around this loop. While Roger was at the internet today I did another scenic hike and then found a dance troop of 10 year old girls all duded up and followed them to the rather ritzy hostel on the outskirts of town where we are not staying and watched their performance. As we hike, we go through farms on the steep sides of the mountains and the people are very gracious but working hard hoeing and digging potatoes and other crops. It seems quite remote, but they all have electricity and the kids all go to school even if they have to walk an hour or more to get there.

rpics: Chimborazo, Quilotoa loop

We´ve been moving so fast I can´t remember the name of the town where we had a nice little hostal with a rather strange dog that seemed to be part cat.

I do know that we climed to the second shelter of the Chimborazo volcano, where we saw some vicuna herds.I

We then started the Quilotoa loop, known for its Andean village life, starting with this view of Cotopaxi.

We caught a local animal market...

.... where some of the animals did what animals do, despite the distractions...

There were actually seven markets going on in this town, with a lot of country folks doing some serious shopping.

After the market we hopped a local bus into the mountains, carrying 2 large hogs, a calf and a lamb in the luggage compartments and a llama on the roof. I have an excellent instructional video on how to get a llama on and off the roof of a bus, if that need should ever arise.

We did a gruelling but beautiful hike today and wound up in Chugchilan (sp?)...

Where they don´t have much - other than an excellent internet place. We´re shooting for the Quilotoa crater lake tomorrow, then back to Quito on Sunday to catch our plane for the Amazon on Monday.

rpics: Alausi, Devil´s Nose, Riobamba

D is back at full throttle and we´re again picking up the pace. Cuenca to Alausi yesterday, the Devil´s Nose train this am and Riobamba this afternoon. First shot is one of Alausi (upper right) from the train, in one of its switchbacks, toward the town.






Some folks plowing along the way.
This is the RR car we rode in. Looks like a bus on the outside but inside is more like a RR car
A shot of the lower station from the car. We descended to it and then rode back up to Alausi.
A shot of one of the switchbacks - which really are switches in the sense that the car comes this way until it passes the junction, a conductor flips the switch and the car backs up and continues on the other track, backwards until the next switch.
The Devil´s Nose. Note the two slashes in it that are track terraces. They are supposed to be the Devil´s smile, and there are also two ¨eyes¨higher up, but it takes a vivid imagination. The title ¨The Most Dangerous RR in the World¨is based upon the danger involved in constructing it.
We were greeted by these dancers at the bottom station. They let D join them in exchange for not having to do the hokey pokey.
This is our bed in our funky little hotel in Riobamba - $20 per night. Our lodging experiences have been a highlight of the trip.
The Catedral in the main square in Riobamba. Tomorrow we take on Chimbarazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador. Dana wanted to hike 5 miles up to the entrance of a reserve high on its flanks. Another ¨foot down¨situation.

Hilarious menu translations

We often find bizarre and laughter producing translations, but tonight's menu really took the cake! Here are a few examples.....

1. Head ribs to the grill with gears

2. Pig in sauce of wine and plums happens

3. Duet of pig chops and head

4. Padded of cheese

5. Chicken gizzards cooked to the coal

I had the head ribs to the grill with gears and it turned out to be some juicy pork ribs with a tangy sauce and potatoes and fried bananas with salad. Go figure! I tried to get R to go for the duet of pig chops and head but he wasn't having it!

rpics: Cuenca, Cañar, Ingapirca etc.

Busy day today. First some shots from Cuenca, a nice colonial city.
Our hotel is up that hill - good conditioning after dinner at 6000 feet.

The domes are nice on the 17th century cathedral, but the architect screwed up - too much stress load on the steeples to support the tops, so they remain squared off. No word on the amount of A and E Insurance recovery.
Area known as The Cliff. They´ve made a lovely park along the river, great for a stroll.
D had a relapse of something this morning, and insisted I make the day trip today alone. Good chance for me to practice my Spanish, which I did, to some positive effect, but she has rallied and I´m delighted to dependent again.

Mercado grande in Cañar (pronounced ¨Conyar¨ - very proud to have found the ñ key) -center for the Cañyari people, whose women love hats and pleated skirts, the latter with hem trim denoting their village.

I cannot grasp the appeal of the Boston Blackie hats, however.

The white ones are an improvement. Note the insignia on the leggings.

A white hat family.

The guys don´t go for the costuming much but the black hat suits them better, especially at this age...

...and somehow the teenage girls manage to make anything look cool.

I made a quick side trip to Ingapirca, an Inca ruin with a real Temple of the Sun, complete with llamas (which we´ve seen nowhere else in Ecuador except for the lonely one in the Otavalo market - makes for good photos).

The guide in the gringo tour I followed said this tightly fit greenish stone was brought from Cusco in Peru (pre-wheel), but ....

...he may have been a bit creative. Said the stones on the right are a tomb of a Cañari queen (they were matriarchal) who had sixteen husbands.

On the way back to Cuenca I snapped this shot (from the bus) of a Catedral and Santuario in Azogues, which we will not visit.

rpics: Galapagos

On the road again, now in Cuenca. D is a little under the weather, maybe some altitude stuff, The Galapagos trip proved to be just what we needed: sun, dry air, warmth and a nice crew to take care of us for 4+ days. We were quite fortunate to have excellent shipmates - no smokers and no jerks - ages from the 20+ Swedish girls next to Dana below, to Case, a 71 year old Dutchman. Even had a compulsive birder, Tom, on the left, who didn´t let us miss a single sighting. Sorry Galapagos fans, but I´m afraid my low expectations of the islands themselves were met.

Sunrise in Santa Cruz harbor.

D with the obligatory dry land tortuga shot. The presence of the other folks is reflective - hordes of tour groups everywhere you went.

Land Iguanas mating - for the advanced stage voyeur.

¨Pink¨flamingoes - I swear they´re more orange, but couldn´t get our guide to agree with me.

Two delightful Chilean sisters who laughed at virtually anything Dana did. They were in hysterics over the seaweed ponytail she´s wearing. She seldom left their side.

Our ship´s Capitan on the left celebrating the marriage he had just performed of Maryann, the S. African woman whose head is behind his wristwatch, to Nick, the guy whose shaved head takes up a lot of the foreground. D is dancing with our adorable guide, Kati. They´re going to recelebrate their marriage in S Africa next year and we hope to attend (and take in a few game parks as well).

Male frigate birds attracting mates with big red balloons - ¨chicks dig us, man¨.