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Well, it's 3 weeks since I updated my blog! Very lazy of me, but mostly to do with having spent 2 weeks at the beach- more on that later!
From 5th-6th Dec 2011
So since I last updated, my next stop was a little place called Salinas (de Guaranda), not the one on the beach but the one in the mountains. A couple of people had recommended me to visit this small village and it sounded interesting- it is famous as a model of rural development as a co-operative community. They used to be very poor and according to the LP half of Salinas children used to die by the age of 5. It all changed in 1971 when an Italian missionary arrived and helped them set up a future in making and selling dairy-based products- a Swiss person showed them how to build a cheese factory (queseria) and the cheese produced in Salinas is now sold throughout Ecuador. They have branched out into other products and cooperatives there now produce amongst other things; dried mushrooms, woolen clothing, salamis, herbal remedies, footballs, and my favourite- chocolate! It was delicious and if I hadn't been heading to the coast I would have bought lots more!
Anyway , to get to Salinas I took a couple of buses and then a colectivo. I think the road to Guaranda would have been pretty scenic as it apparently passes within 5km of Chimboazo volcano but I missed it all as I was asleep! Lucky that I woke up just as we arrived in Guaranda but after it had stopped in the centre of the town so I ended up having to walk back, only about 10 or 15 minutes but it is a lot when you are carrying all your luggage, and my backpack is heavy! I wanted to get some money, just in case as I knew Salinas wouldn't have a cashpoint, then I asked about 5 different people where I could get the pick up truck transport (colectivo) and eventually found it. It's about a 45 minute drive to Salinas which is at 3550m. First stop was find a hotel, there are only two, so I thought I'd try the community-run one but was told there were no rooms. I therefore went to the hostal across the road and when I found the owner in in house next door got a room for the bargain price $6.
On arrival at about 1.30pm the cloud was really thick and you couldn't see any of the surrounding countryside, unfortunately it didn't improve and it was a damp drizzly afternoon. I should have waited until the next day to have a look around the co-operatives but ended up doing a tour that afternoon. I got a 'guide' from the tourist office as they said to be able to go round and look at some the places you needed a guide. We visited the different places but I didn't really enjoy the tour, a little because of the weather but mostly because of the 'guide' who whilst telling me about some of the info on the cooperatives spent most of the time pestering me- married? boyfriend? blah blah blah and was quite persistent in his questioning. This was following the pick up truck driver asking me similar questions once everyone else had left the truck on the way there. I have to say it was the first time I have felt uncomfortable on my trip. In Colombia it was never any problem to say you were single and travelling alone, here it seems necessary to pretend otherwise!
I had an early dinner as I hadn't really had any proper lunch or breakfast for that matter! I went to this lovely little café which has only space for 2 tables but has a nice, homely atmosphere- I had a pizza then decided to go and ask at the hotel if I could use the Wi-fi as the thought of going to my room at 6pm for the night was not that appealing! I could use the Wi-fi but also met 2 american guys who had arrived after me but had been able to get rooms! A bit odd I thought, anyway….I recommended the café to them and as it turned out there were no other options so I went with them and we enjoyed a lovely evening there. The owner, Pablo, is a young Ecuadorian from Salinas who travelled for a few years and then 2 months ago opened the café. We chatted with him and got him to sing and play his guitar too :-)
In the morning the weather was really nice (as it often the case at higher altitude) with sunshine and blue sky. It was also market day so the village was busy and had a nice feel to it- I have to say it gave me a much better impression of it then I had from the day before but the village can't help the weather or the creepy guide! After having a wander around I got a colectivo back to Guaranda without really knowing what to do next- I knew I was headed for the coast but that was at least a 8 hour journey and I wouldn't make it one day. I decided to stay the night in Guaranda as it would give me the chance to do some research for my mum's trip, ie flights, etc. That said finding a hotel with wi-fi proved to be hard, and eventually I returned to once I had discounted for it's expensive price, but it was still only $18 (£11 ish) and had hot water, TV and Wi-fi. The TV turned out to be good for watching some Christmassy TV- Michael Buble at Christmas (xmas songs) and then a Christmas film. Helped me feel a little more Christmassy because I haven't seen much to do with Christmas, though the hotel had an annoying repetitive Christmas tunes decoration (which I wanted to smash up after about 15 minutes!) Also when I went out for food I saw the nearby square decorated with Christmas lights which was nice :-)
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