November 28th to December 18th 2014
*This entry will encapsulate three weeks in Quito, focusing on highlights. I’ve not done as much tourist type things, rather just living.
I climb out of my taxi after a very long ride from the new Mariscal Sucre Quito airport. The driver gets out with me and walks me half way up the block straight to the barred garage style door of Minka Hostel. His cab’s running but he waits for me as I ring the bell and they buzz me in before bidding a friendly goodbye and returning to his cab. So far mainlaind Ecuadorians are seeming just as friendly as I imagined.
I’m welcomed into the hostel by a British volunteer. From outside the place looks like nothing and I’m left second guessing my choice of a 10 bed dorm for 10.50 as I check in at the small reception. The second guesses melt like chocolate in the sun as I’m led up the stairs to what might be the most absurdly spacious hostel I’ve ever stayed in. The entire first floor is social space, as is more or less the entire thrird floor, with a few comfortable and clean dorms in the second floor. And suprisingly quick wifi too boot. It’s been almost three weeks now and I’m still here, not a shred of that melted chocalate left solid.
I spend what´s left of the night uploading photos and blogging, more or less a constant over the first week in Quito, as anyone who’s been following this blog knows. That said there are still some things to cover including a suprisingly excellent walking tour of Quito, and my own personal wanderings through this colourful, friendly, and hill filled capital.
I was dragged along to the walking tour by a friendly german girl at Hostel Minka and that’s how at 10 am on a tuesday Sandra and I find outselves walking back and forth through plaza San Blas searching for any kind of group gathering, taking in the sights.
Eventually, the tour finds us in the form of Peter the Irish turned Ecuadorian guide. As it works out, we’re the only two people who turn up and at about 10:05 am we set off from plaza San Blas to learn all about Quito’s historic center.
Our first stop is a massive Bassilica only a few blocks from Minka hostel, the biggest church in Ecuador and certainly up there with any of the massive Cathedrals I’ve explored across Asia. Entry is 2 dollars but I’ve already been the prvious day where I spent a few hours just sittiing and thinking in the cavernous church. (Still on the to do list is the climb up into the towers of the basillica for what is said to be a stunning view of the city. It costs another 2 USD to do this, and i will get around to it one of these days.) After some detailed stories and explanations as we walk around the outside of the church we move on, heading deeper into the historic center of Quito.
Even though Peter’s only been living in Quito a year and a half he seems to have discovered many of its countless secrets. Not only does the tour include some of Quitos truly incredible array of churches, it also includes hidden gems, like the office of an indigenous man who offers spiritual and religious services for small fees and also fights to protect the indigenous heritage of Ecuadorian people.
He welcomes us both into his office and I get to try out my spanish with him while glancing around at his walls, a mish mash of artifacts, animal skins and bones, and other things I can’t even guess at. He speaks to us at some length about his beliefs and the cleansing ceremonys he offers. He also goes on to rail against the western world and it’s ever growing influence on his country and it’s young people. The visit takes an odd turn as we then get to play a little dress up as king and Queen in traditional garb complete with gold leaf crowns and an ancient throne. It’s an odd end to a fascinating half hour discussion, Peter translating for us when we have trouble understanding. We also get to examine some old Ecuadorian Currency, the sucre which our friend wishes was still used rather than the u.s. dollar. (He claims everything grew more expensive the second the dollar came in, and the poor only got poorer. From what little I understand of economics, he sounds about right)
We come to a huge plaza with another massive church. We listen attentively as Peter regales us with a tale of how the builder was a very lazy man, and when he was nowhere near finished on his deadline his life was threatened. Basically if he didn’t have the church finished by the next day, he’d be executed. As you or I would do he took a deep breath and quickly sold his soul to the devil to get it done, telling the devil ” as long as every brick is placed perfectly by morning, you shall have my soul” (probably in spanish) The devil quickly agreed and set to work, not knowing that the builder had stolen brick and hidden it. When it came time to pay up he smiled and refused and the devil had to go back to hell having saved the man’s life. To this day people still search for that missing brick.
We walk through the plaza and i snap some pictures of the incredibly photogenic people of Quito. (Ive settled into Quito as a sort of home and therefore rarely have my camera but as I continue through Ecuador Im certainly hoping to get some more amazing people photos up on this blog. Some of the faces I’ve seen are indescribably wise, beautiful and above all full of life)
We pass one of many shops which bafflingly sells massive bags of Animal crackers. I don’t mean like fist sized, I mean like the size of my chest. 10 Kg sometimes even 20 kg. I love animal crackers but for the life of me I can’t figure out who would need so many of them.
The tour continues to the outside of a church filled with Gold, I’ve actually accidentally stumbled in there the day before and can attest it truly is a sight to behold. Since the church costs a few dollars to enter though Peter directs our attencion to an old colonial house along the way. He tells us a story of how the spanish man who owned the house hird indiginous builders and then once the house was finished, he refused to pay the. This being south America in Colonial times there were of course no consequences. In fact the whole country seems rife with stories of corruption, segregation and pain. In other words the spanish back then were real dicks.
But Peter has found one glimmer of hopeful revenge for the indiginous people of Quito, He directs our attention to four cherubs decorating each balcony of the huge colonial house. He asks us to look for differences but we can’t see it. He then points out that the cherub furthest away if the proud owner of a rather large (proportionally) penis. He goes on to explain that the indigenous builders added this little detail just to showcase to the world how big a dick this spanish dude really was. Good for them!
From here we pass through another church I’ve previously found, this one free to enter. IT’s another truly beautiful work of art though it is made frustrating by perhaps the creakiest wooden floor I’ve ever set foot on. Keep in mind there is constantly hundreds of people going in and out, and cavernous space for the amplifying echoes to grow in and you’re left puzzled as to why this type of floor could have been chosen. As i’v learned quickly in tavelling, it’s silly to let a little detail ruin your experience of a place, Be it mounds of Garbage in Asia’s holy rivers, Mobs of tourists in Italy’s historic sights, or an old creaky floor. I walk in and smile as I light a candle for my mother, hoping she might be dimly aware of it somewhere in that great beyond. I thank her for being part of a team that instilled a love of travel and adventure in me and then we’re on our way towards one of the main square’s of the old town, and the presidential palace.
Again we don’t go in but Peter is certainly helping me to create a hit list of must visits before I finally leave Quito. In that main square we both buy some Coco candies from one of Quito’s countless walking salesmen. The candies taste awful but are said to help with the high Altitude. At more than 2800 meters above Sea levels Quito is the world’s second highest capital, and just walking up a minor hill is a strenuous workout for a man in my physical condition. (I’m proud to say that now at time of writing my body seems to have largely adjusted to the altitude)
From the main square we head to a narrow street called La Ronda. A center in the old town for nightlife and fine cuisine. It’s almost empty while were there in the late morning but PEter leads us quickly into a Swiss-Ecuadorian Run chocolate shop and encourages us to try out sometruffles. And who can say no to an irish man. They were delicious, if almost North American prices at 80 cents a piece. That said, the five I ate all well worth the price. I even got a 5 for the price of 4 deal!
From the abandoned La Ronda we head back in the direction of our hostel, passing yet another massive church before reaching plaza del Teatro where our official tour ends. The chocolates though were just an apperatif as Peter offers to join us for lunch. He leads us to the Central Mercado, a few blocks down the hill from Plaza del Teatro at Av. Pichincha y Esmeraldas.
We walk into a bustling market place and have to wait a moment for a few seats to open up, a friendly ecuadorian couple offering to share their table with us, as waiting for our own likely would have taken a while. The food options at Central Mercado our endless, and I’ve been back several times since. On this day I order llapingachas, A dish with chorizo, beef, rice, a fried egg, and some veggies for 2.50. It’s utterly delicious and well complemented by a 1.00 large coconut and blackberry juice.
The entire atmosphere of the central mercado is electric, everyone chatting away over a live band playing below us with endless energy. We get to know the ecuadorian middle aged couple across from us and they tell me that next time I’m here I have to try Corvina, Ideally from LAs Corvinas de Glori, a stand that has been there for some 40 years serving up a huge fresh piece of fried fish, roasted potatoes, fried rice, and a full bowl of Shrimp and fish Ceviche with popcorn all for just 5.00$. (For the record they were right, it’s now may go to lunch when I allow myself a lunch)
My entire first week in Quito was Quitofest, a week full of energy and celebracions, in honour of the rediscovery of the city many hundred years ago. In this week I learn one thing, ecuadorians sure know how to party. The entire city is full of Chiva party buses, come from far and wide to help the Ecuadorians have a good party. That first weekend in Quito is crazy even though i don’t partake. The buses seem to start running some time in the late morning and continue until… long past my bedtime anyway. Quito fest brought the city alive, though the longer I spend here the more I suspect it was just a slight amplification of the day to day energy of Ecuador’s capital.
After the tour I decide I quite like Quito and that sentiment, combined with my macbook air breaking down again and needing to be fixed here, I decide I might like to spend a little more time here than I originally planned. My limited conversations with ecuadorians also have me wishing I spoke spanish better so I decide to enrol in spanish classes at the hostel. They’re 6 dollars an hour for one on one lessons with Marta, a truly wonderful teacher who I can’t recommend highly enough. In under 2 weeks I’m starting to be able to talk about important things and truly express myself in spanish which is exciting. Beyond that Marta even has me close to rolling my R’s something I’d given up hope on after having several different professors put their hands in my mouth trying to teach me the tongue movement.
At any rate that’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks. Combined with writing, revisions, and wandering the streets of the city I’ve been feeling quite fulfilled of late. (I even finished my final pass of Disappearing Eyes my 5th novel and the first that I will be submitting to agents and publishers come the new year. Huge thank you to anyone who read it and helped me in the near endless editing process, it’s a much better book for your work)
I finish my Spanish lessons this saturday (For now) and head to Otavalo, a town famous for it’s handicraft markets and volcanoes and waterfalls surrounding it, where I will spend Christmas. It’s not quite the Taj Mahal where I was last year, but it should still be a lot of fun. With that journey more blogs should come as my general speed of travel should kick up a notch out of pure necessity. After all I’ve got to get to Santiago Chile by the beginning of march to meet my Father and Brother, and before that there’s the rest of Ecuador, and as much of Peru as I can manage. So much to look forward too. Bye for now.
P.S. Here´s a few photos of a man in quito who has embraced it’s always sunny in philadelphia business tactics. It´s a form of gasoline in the bottle, his poor mouth.
1 Comment
excelente trabajo espero leerlo en español felicitaciones