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In a effort to get current with our blogs Maya enlisted my help. I oly hope i can measure up to the high blogging standard that you have grown to expect. Thanks James
Feeling a little 'village people' i strapped on the alpaca fleece chaps and donned the poncho and swaggered out to where the horses were tied. I think i was missing the cowboy hat and the clink of the spurs but we all looked the part as we prepared for our ride up in the highlands of Ecuador. I felt sorry for the poor little horse that was going to carry me for 2-3 hours up and down hills at an altitude above 4000 meters. I jumped off at one point to walk beside the horse only to find myself out of breath after 200 meters. The other discomforting fact was as we set out we were told that if a bull chases you to run up hill as the horse is faster than the bull but is was a different story going down hill. We were riding within a farm that raised bullfighting bulls. All this set under the snow capped peak of Mt Cotopaxi.
We landed in Quito, the 2nd highest capital city in the world at 2850 meters. I was excited to see my friend and sample some of the food and culture of this small Andean Country. Our two weeks on the mainland straddled 10 days in the Galapagos, (which is a whole other blog).
Our trip of Old Town Quito, A UNESCO Heritage City since 1978, turned out to be a real adventure. We were fortunate to be hooked up with a 'friend' of the church which gave us access to not so accessible places. We climbed the bell towers in 5 of the big churches. Some of these bells were twice the size of the Liberty Bell.
The library in San Francisco Monastery was completely restored only enhancing the nostalgia of the place as i stood holding books 400+ years old. The roofs of the churches were a little steep making me feel a little like Nicholas Cage in "National Treasure" as we skipped across the clay tiles and scaled narrow wooden ladders. Several times we stood, eyes closed, and hugged the domes atop the chapels which was uniquely energizing experience.
Knowing the art and craftsmanship in these buildings was all done by hand made the mind boggle at the man hours involved in carving all the wood. Maya was able to 'pump' and old pipe organ by jumping up and down on the large lever. Some job to be doing that throughout a 2 hour mass.
We finished our tour in the evening by standing in the bell tour of La Merced church and looked at the 360 degree night view of Quito and the Gothic Basilica in the distance that was some 300 years younger than the old churches, being constructed in 1926.
We ventured 2 hours out of Quito to a place called Papallacta where there were some hot springs. Again we found ourselves in the mountains, over 3700 meters, which made a great setting. The cool air created mist as we sat in the series of thermal fed pools sporting sexy bathing caps. Lucky it was mandatory otherwise there was no chance I'd be wearing one.
We also visited the 'Centro del Mundo', center of the world. Here we stood one foot in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. One of those places you 'have' to visit. An interesting thing to see was the water spinning different directions down a drain on either side of the equator due to the 'Coriolis effect.
The Otavalo markets were the place where I was happy to shop (all be it for 2 minutes). I wanted to buy a Panama hat which are originally Ecuadorian, made in Monte Cristo, Ecuador, brought to Panama by workers on the Panama Canal some 100 years ago and then became the 'Panama Hat'.
Maya had a brief hospital visit, more due to the insistence of my friend Jose. I think he wanted to show off the clean, modern and efficient hospital where we were in and out within 20 minutes and it cost less than $30.00.
The other great highlight was the food. We went to several BBQ's and the beef and chicken was lean and very tasty. The seafood was abundant and inexpensive. Our favorite was the Langastinos(xos shrimp) and ceviche which was served with popcorn and tostados (un popped roasted corn kernels). Abas were a great surprise, simply boiled large green kidney bean and we ate 2 meals of just Abas and salt. Another great local treat was 'Bizcochos y Queso' which was a 2 part biscuit and cheese bite size snack. The fruit and produce was varied and tasty.
We really enjoyed out time on the mainland and were could easily see ourselves returning to Ecuador the gateway to South America.
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