Yesterday and today have been LOCO down here in South America! But Im having the time of my life. Im sitting on the bus right now on the way back to Quito and as this girl Mel just said… weve all had a permanent grin on my face since we got here…
Yesterday was one of the busiest, but most exciting days ever! We had a wake up call at eight and had breakfast in the hotel, which was fresh bread, fresh squeezed papaya juice and scrambled eggs along with coffee and steamed milk. Afterward we departed for La Mitad del Mundo!!! The Equator!!!
Here I am straddling the equator line! Im in both hemispheres at once!
Afterward we returned to the bus and traveled to Otavalo. Otavalo is a very unique town in Ecuador because the indigenous people have invited the gringos in to their world and marketed many of their traditional hand crafts all around the world. It houses the biggest straw market in Ecuador. We grabbed lunch at a small restaurant that had the best guacamole Ive ever had!
This is a view from a lookout spot when we first got to Otavalo.
After lunch we went to the indigenous part of town, Peguche, where we visited a typical Indian household. The tour guide was an indigenous Indian who had learned English in order to help his family sell their goods and educate people about their fading culture. He showed us traditional weaving, Incan pottery, and played some indigenous music. He was very nice and loved our group. He was happy to hear how interested we were in their culture and when someone started asking where they could find cuy (guinea pig), he invited our entire group back to his house that night for his family to cook us all home made cuy and Andean potatoes!! For a price of course… but it was still very nice and a huge honor! There are a few other vegetarians on the trip so they also provided vegetarian and chicken options for those who weren’t quite ready to eat cuy!! I opted for a vegetarian plate but I took a bite of cuy from someone elses plate just for the experience! They also served a home made corn soup that has been a tradition of their tribe for centuries. Along with delicious potatoes and home made aji sauce (onion and pepper hot sauce!!)! Dinner finished with some aromatic mint water which was very refreshing and warming… especially since we were extremely high in the mountains with no heat!!!
Our Ecuadorian bus driver came to eat with us as well and sat across the table from me which was awesome because I got to ask him questions about everything on my plate and practice my Spanish! Were best friends now! Haha
Before dinner we went to see a shamanism demonstration! It was a very interesting experience to say the least! More stories of the shaman will come when I return home! But it consisted of her cleansing two of our participants! Apparently they were infected with bad luck. Haha. The cleansing process consisted of her smoking lots of cigarettes and spitting a lot of alcohol on to them. It was very strange!!!
That night a big group of us went out to a small bar in Otavalo. The town was dead since its relatively small and it was in the middle of the week. We walked around for almost ten minutes before we finally found a hole in the wall place. A group of 14 of us piled in to the bar. We were the only ones in the bar for most of the night until randomly a large group of oddly dressed strangers danced in screaming and waving at us! I cant explain it so the picture is at the bottom…
We never did figure out why they were dressed like that…
Needless to say it was an exhausting but exhilarating day!
Today has been a little calmer. We woke to the same breakfast as always and then passed some time at the straw market where I was able to pick up a few souveniers. Along with a hat and pair of gloves since were climbing the tallest mountain in Ecuador on Sunday and its supposed to be freezing!!!
After the straw market we grabbed lunch at a small grocery store and had a picnic! Then we traveled to Cuicocha Crater Lake. Crater Lake was created during a volcanic explosion… so it actually sits inside of a volcano… Once again no words to explain so picture is included…
The two islands are actually volcanic rock and were formed during a second explosion. After the boat ride we were a bit chilly due to the wind and cold from the high altitude, but thankfully they had a warm cinnamon and sugar cane drink waiting on us!
Like I said Im sitting on the bus now and Im still smiling. I spend most of the time on the bus just looking out the window. The scenery here is awe inspiring and never gets old. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
The group is awesome and everyone is still friendly. Ive met two guys from Mexico that speak very little English so we have a new agreement that I speak to them in Spanish and they have to answer in English so that we can all practice!
Will try to update again soon!
Mucho amor!
This is an indigenous lady making home made instruments.
This llama was just chilling at the edge of a mountain.
My little piece of cuy that I tried... very weird texture.
My new best friend the bus driver and me and Mel after dinner.
This is taken from a look out spot over crater lake.
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