Hello together.
Since I am not sure if I will have a proper access to the internet within the next few days I am going to give you a brief summary of the happenings up to now.
After my arrival in Ecuador I spent quite a lot of times in the Andes, doing some hiking. Therefore it was about time to leave the mountains and head straight to the pacific coast. My destination there was a place called Montanita. This is a tiny, little village located directly at the Pacific Ocean. The waves here are perfect to do some surfing and other water sport activities. Accordingly you will easily find young people here. As a result Montanita is a little bit more expensive than other destinations in Ecuador; more touristic, more shops, bars, restaurants and hotels/hostals. The place I stayed in offered a direct view to the Pacific Ocean. I slept in a hostal in a dormitory just under the roof. Normally there is space for like 30 people, everybody gets a mattress to sleep on. A fantastic place. Of course I was not the only person in this hostal. There were like six people from Argentina as well, another one from Swiss, one guy from Ireland (Sligo) and a whole bunch of other nationalities. The first person I met was the irish guy. After one year in Ireland I was really happy to meet those sort of people again. Irish people are always up to party, drinking, talking, having fun. When we introduced to one another I ask him "Hey, you say you are from Ireland, right? So your name must be either John, Seamus or Padraig, right?" Well, and of course his name is Seamus, typical irish.
My life there in Montanita was quite lazy; walk along the beach, sit in the bar, enjoy on the terrace of the hostal, lie in the hammock, watch the sun go down,l go to the beach parties at night, ... The wheather was around 28 degree. I got a sunburn straight away.
But because I don´t like water so much (I did not even swim in the ocean) I could not do so many things and so I left the place after 2 and a half days. Although I would have liked to stay as the people I met were very nice. But I needed to travel on, I needed to escape this really lazy and comfortable life. I needed the mountains.
I think, Montanita is the perfect place for the Vorturner (www.vorturner.de) and all the Moechtegernvorturner. I am sure you love the bitches, sorry I mean the beaches, and the parties on the beaches and the people there and the cocktail bars and all that stuff. Again to you Vorturners, you really should think about spending New Years Eve 2005/2006 at the Pacific Coast in Montanita.
Well, I left the coast and visited Cuenca for two days. Cuenca is a very colonial city, supported by the Unesco (==> more money than other places). Consequently the streets are cleaner, the houses look nicer, the service for the tourists is wider.
The next place on my journey was Vilcabamba. This is some kind of a health resort with mineral springs. The people here get a hundred years and more (sometimes), because of the comfortable climate, the healthy food and the mineral springs (good water). But probably also because of the easier life they have when we tourists come and spend our money.
We think we dont spend so much money here but compared with what the ecuadorians earn usually it is quite a lot. In Ecuador you pay for everything. And you always pay UN DOLLAR. For me it is the UN DOLLAR country. To visit the mineral spring and put a jar of that healthy water over your body the old lady next door will ask you to pay UN DOLLAR. To visit a certain mountain, the Mandango for example, you gonna pay UN DOLLAR to the family which owns the land the mountain is on. Or if you go to the shop to buy whatsoever it`ll cost you UN DOLLAR. Or the people in the streets when they don`t have anything to eat, they ask you for UN DOLLAR.
In Vilcabamba I met a guy from Italy. We decided to travel on together for a while. We left Vilcabamba and took the night bus to Peru. We got our exit stamps on the boarder and arrived safely on the next morning in Piura which is situated in the north of Peru.
Wie angekündigt wollte ich ja noch mal etwas genauer auf das Abenteuer Bus in Südamerika eingehen.
Also noch mal schnell zurückgeschwenkt nach Quito, von wo aus ich vor anderthalber Woche auf der Panamericana Richtung Süden nach Latacunga gefahren bin.
In Südamerika zahlt man für eine Stunde Busfahren Pi mal Daumen US$ 1. Jeder Busfahrer hat einen Assistenten an seiner Seite. Dieser kümmert sich um so Sachen wie das Entgelt von den Fahrgästen einkassieren oder deren Gepäck auf dem Dach verstauen.
Wir fahren nun also die Panamericana entlang, immer Richtung Süden haltend. Muss man sich so vorstellen wie im Film. Am rechten Fahrbahnrand kann man den Gipfel eines Berges erkennen und auf der linken Seite gehts gleich neben der Fahrbahn den Hang steil nach unten. Doch damit nicht genug, Strassenbegrenzungen sind nicht wirklich der Renner, dafür gibt es aber umso mehr Schlaglöcher. Busse gehören zu den schnelleren Verkehrsteilnehmern. Folglich überholen wir scharenweise dieselverqualmte Laster und etliche Pick-Ups, auf deren hinterer Ladefläche mindestens fünf Personen draufstehen um bis zum nächsten Ort mitzufahren.
Eigentlich besteht die Strasse von Quito nach Latacunga an den meisten Stellen nur aus zwei breiteren Fahrstreifen. Allzuoft ist es aber nötig, einen dritten Fahrstreifen aufzumachen, nämlich um langsamere Fahrzeuge überholen zu können. Und wenn dann ein Bus einen Laster überholt und von vorne kommt dann noch ein anderer Bus oder Laster, dann wirds schon mal ein wenig spannend. Und wenn dann noch so ein Andenbewohner mit seinem Esel, Lama oder was auch immer am linken Strassenrand auftaucht, dann bete zu Gott, dass wir die nächsten Sekunden heil überstehen.
Immer wenn wir dann durch die Ortschaften durchbrausen, betätigt der Busfahrer als Vorankündigung die Hupe und sein Assistent hängt seinen gesamten Oberkörper aus der Tür und verkündet lauthals unsere Ziele "Ambato! Latacunga! Ambato! Ambato!". Ab und zu steigen dann welche ein.
Im Bus wird es immer voller. Die Leute steigen ein, mit Bananen, Kartoffeln, anderem Gemüse oder Kleinkindern bewaffnet, alles auf dem Rücken und alles in einem Tuch eingewickelt. Oder auch mit Körben oder Säcken beladen. Der Bus stinkt nach Diesel und ist unheimlich laut. Mit aller Gewalt versuche ich das Fenster zu öffnen. Ich schaffe es nicht. Mir ist schon ganz schlecht. Und dann das auf und ab in den Bergen. Und links und rechts die Hänge. Im Hintergrund schallen aus herunterbaumelnden Lautsprechern südamerikanische Klänge. Das ein oder andere Wort kann ich gerade so entziffern.
Der Busfahrer hat seinen Bus richtig schön geschmückt muss ich sagen, mit so blauen und roten Vorhängen vor den Fenstern, die Innenspiegel sind von einer Art Stoff in ähnlichen Farben eingepasst. An einer Wand hängt ein Poster von Che Guevara. Alles in allem ein riesengrosser Haufen Schikimikikram. Eben wie die Bärenschänke, nur halt auf Rädern - und der Bärenvater ist der Busfahrer.
Heya!
I am still cruising in Ecuador. I left Quito after two days to visit the equator, Mitad del Mundo as it is called here. Actually, I did not want to visit the equator as it is just a very special point on a geografic map, and not many other things to see. So I spent about an hour there, was walking on the 0'0'0'' line; one leg on the northern hemisphere, the other one on the south side of our planet. Amazing, isn't it!
Soon I left Mitat del Mundo. Next stopover was Latacunga, with the bus about one hour and a half south of Quito, located in the Andes. From here I booked a tour to the worlds tallest active volcano, Cotopaxi (ca. 5.900m). We did not climb up to the summit, as I am not that experienced, infact I am not experienced at all. We, that was Jan (another german guy), Ivan (our ecuadorian guide) and me, hiked up to 4.350m. There we decided not to climb any higher as the Cotopaxi was surrounded by clouds only and we would not see so much. We continued our trip by walking along the hillside of the volcano, down to a valley which was once the lava stream, formed by the volcanos last erruption in 1877.
Next day I took the bus to Zumbahua to visit the saturday market. After a short while an ecuadorian teenager came to me and asked me "Quilotoa?" pointing his finger on a small bus. I answered "Claro, que si" and hopped on. To go by bus is always an adventure in south america. Small prices, big value. Sometimes a bit dangerous, but: No risk - No fun! (a special bus story will follow soon) Another hour later we arrived at the Laguna Quilotoa. Today it is some kind of a lake in a crater which was the former collossal volcano Quilotoa. I walked along the crater rim, elevation about 3.800m. Amazing views over the whole crater and the bordering fascinating Andes lamdscape.
After one and a half hour I walked half way of the crater rim. From there a path leads down to another place called Chugchilan. In Chugchilan I want to sleep tonight. But to get there I have firstly to walk all the way down from the top of the volcano to the valley. Afterwards to climb down a deep canyon and to go all the way up again on the other side of the canyon.
From Laguna Quilotoa to Chugchilan it took me about 6 hours of hiking, walking and climbing. Not to forget I had to carry my backpack and another small bag. Also, I was quite stoned from the day before, when we did that Cotopaxi tour. Finally, I arrived at the village of Chugchilan. Jan, the german guy from the day before, told me to look for "Mama Hilda", which is a hostal. I got to "Mama Hilda" at 6pm in the evening. Now, nothing was more important than a hot shower. Oh, yes. But, surprise, when I asked Mama Hilda where is the hot shower, she had to admit that there is only cold water left. Hhmmm, O.K., I thought, we are in south america, somewhere like 3.200m high. I hiked and climbed all day, some situation were a little bit dangerous, why in heavens name a cold shower shouldn't have the same effect than the hot one. After that shower, the temperature outside was about 13 degree, I went to the bar and ordered a bottle of "Cerveza Pilsener". Now, I felt like a king.
Here they are, the first lines from the other side of the world.
Actually, my trip to South America already starts with leaving Germany and arriving in Madrid on January 2. Maria and Mayca, two girls I know from Dublin and who are residents in Madrid, are waiting for me at the airport to show me their city. Later we catch up with Patricia, another spanish girl I know from Dublin. We visit several bars, have a lot of fun and talk ones more about the "old" times in Dublin. Finally this evening is over at about 4 AM.
The morning of January 3 starts with 8 AM quite early. I am realy tired. The girls join me on my way to Madrid airport. After 10.5 hours in the air my airplane gets down to 2.600 meter above the sea level to its final destination Quito, capitol of Ecuador. The local time is 7 PM. The time difference between Berlin and Quito is 6 hours. The temperature is 18 degree celsius. I catch the next taxi and head straight to my hostel "The secret garden", which I booked in advance. The cab driver is ecuadorian. I try to start a basic conversation but my very limited spanish and my tiredness force me to give up soon. I sit down and relax and let the cab driver do his job. He uses his horn twice a minute. His left arm leans out of the window and points our next directions. We change the lane very quickly and drive slalom. The police is called "Chiappa" and every second word I hear is "Puta madre". But our car is not the only one with these characteristics. Lots of other road users do exactly the same. Some time later we arrive at my hostel where I directly go to bed. Today I am stoned. Buenos noches.
The next morning, my first south american morning, I get up very early, like 7 AM. Today I gonna visit Quito, la parte historical (odl Quito). Only a five minutes walk from my hostel Quito la parte historical is full of cars and ecuadorians. I feel a bit uncomfortable. Everybody is watching me, or my camera, I can´t tell. In the streets it smells a bit strange. On the one hand neither cars, trucks nor buses are using any kind of catalysator. The srteets go up and down the hills, similar to San Fransisco, consequently the vehicles have to work hard and huge clouds of smoke are left behind. On some places you can recognize this on the walls of certain houses.
I would like to continue my story of Quito now, but just in this moment a ecuadorian senorita is asking me to finish with my internet session. So what can I say... Hasta luego.