Missing in cyberspace since 08/06/2006 It's been a long time coming but I`m almost there
On my way to the Ecuador border and Otavalo which was my first port of call in Ecuador, I stopped off at Zipaquira Salt Cathedral - it’s amazing. The cathedral is deep inside a mountain and was cut out by hand. There are several different levels to it with an enormous Chapel at the deepest point. I really don't think I could possibly describe this place to you - it’s absolutely unbelievable and to try to put it into words would do it an injustice.
On then to Ecuador after a surprisingly painless border crossing, my base for the next few days was the beautiful town of Otavala. Otavala lies at an altitude of 2,530 m above sea level and has a population of just 22,000 including the hillside tribes. The most notable and famous thing about Otavala is its enormous Saturday market and in the Plaza Bolivar, a statue of Ruminahui, Athualpa`s general who fought the Spanish when they tried to occupy the town in the 16th century and the Incas before that.
The market is fantastic, it is said to be the biggest of its kind in South America, I think that every occupant of this town has a stall selling home made handicrafts such as beautifully woven cloths, hats made from reeds, a 101 different things you can do with Alpaca, clothes and so much more, honestly it's phenomenal. Add to this spectacle the fact that Otavalo men wear their jet black hair long and platted with broad brimmed hats, white calf length trousers and blue Ponchos whilst the women wear beautifully embroidered colourful blouses, shoulder straps and are festooned in gold and colourful beads, and you just feel so happy to be part of it all. All the local families speak Quichua as their first language and Spanish as their second making the whole experience feel even more authentic. Apart from the wildlife and the local culture the most enjoyable experiences on my travels are always the markets and this one at Otovala is one of the most impressive I have seen anywhere in the world, but as usual I had to leave and it was time to move on to ventures new and in this case, the Galapagos Islands awaited me.
The starting point for my Galapagos adventure was Quito and I had 5 days after my arrival to wait for my boat, so I had a great opportunity to explore the second highest Capital city in the world, and I'm so pleased I did. Above the city at an altitude of 4,100 mtrs above sea level, is the jump off point of the, now commonplace cable car, and a great view of the city in all its splendour. An adventure had seemed long overdue so it was quite refreshing when, after seeing the vista from the top through the thickening black cloud, the trip back down the mountain did not quite go as smoothly as it perhaps should have! Every afternoon in Quito at this time of year, the cloud thickens, blacking out the sun, and within minutes you are caught in the middle of a horrendous thunder and lightning storm. Cable car day for me was to be no different with the storm arriving bang on cue, which in normal circumstances, did not effect the operation of the cable car. Today however was a special day - I was on board??? The predictable storm arrived at the top of the mountain just shortly after I did and, whilst it was unfortunate that it gave me very little time to enjoy the view, it was an absolute beauty of a spectacle. I think it is probably the first time in my life that I have actually been right up there smack bang in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm, and boy what a show it was that I witnessed. Unfortunately I was overdue for a pre arranged rendezvous with some friends so I couldn't stay up there longer to ride the storm out and had to start making my way back down, and anyway, the thought of riding a cable car through a storm like this one was a pretty exciting prospect too. Jumping into the cable car, the thought that lightning could possibly hit it, never even entered my head - after all this was a normal everyday event. The cable car leaves the summit station extremely quickly then slows down dramatically as you get over the edge of the mountain top and start you’re decent. The car I was in had only just completed this manoeuvre when there was a huge clap of thunder followed by a blinding flash of lightening and the pagoda I was riding in suddenly came to a halt leaving me and three other passengers dangling high on a zip wire and exposed to whatever the storm decided to throw at us. We hung there for what seemed to be quite a long time, with the only movement being the constant swaying of the pagoda in the relentless wind, before eventually continuing out decent safely to the bottom of the mountain. At the base that control staff told us that the stopping of the cable car was a standard procedure in these conditions and that we were not in any danger whatsoever, unfortunately we were in the only cable car that was without a working intercom so we couldn't be contacted or reassured as we dangled there with neither toilet paper nor incontinence pants as a comforter.
One of the other many attractions to visit whilst in Quito is the equator monument which stands 30 metres high and was erected to acknowledge the accomplishments of the Geolitic mission between 1736 -42. The Equator has some real peculiarities such as when you actually try to walk along the imaginary line that is the equator you keep falling off either north or south as if being pulled. Another interesting feature is how the water flows in different directions down the plughole on either side of the line - there are many other experiments that they show you here but you will just have to come here yourself to see them as I have a date with Galapagos pending.
I really don’t know where to start my report on the Galapagos Islands - you might as well get an encyclopaedia on wildlife and read the index. I’m once again going to leave you hanging while I find some new superlatives to describe this part of my trip.
Report to you all soon
On then to Ecuador after a surprisingly painless border crossing, my base for the next few days was the beautiful town of Otavala. Otavala lies at an altitude of 2,530 m above sea level and has a population of just 22,000 including the hillside tribes. The most notable and famous thing about Otavala is its enormous Saturday market and in the Plaza Bolivar, a statue of Ruminahui, Athualpa`s general who fought the Spanish when they tried to occupy the town in the 16th century and the Incas before that.
The market is fantastic, it is said to be the biggest of its kind in South America, I think that every occupant of this town has a stall selling home made handicrafts such as beautifully woven cloths, hats made from reeds, a 101 different things you can do with Alpaca, clothes and so much more, honestly it's phenomenal. Add to this spectacle the fact that Otavalo men wear their jet black hair long and platted with broad brimmed hats, white calf length trousers and blue Ponchos whilst the women wear beautifully embroidered colourful blouses, shoulder straps and are festooned in gold and colourful beads, and you just feel so happy to be part of it all. All the local families speak Quichua as their first language and Spanish as their second making the whole experience feel even more authentic. Apart from the wildlife and the local culture the most enjoyable experiences on my travels are always the markets and this one at Otovala is one of the most impressive I have seen anywhere in the world, but as usual I had to leave and it was time to move on to ventures new and in this case, the Galapagos Islands awaited me.
The starting point for my Galapagos adventure was Quito and I had 5 days after my arrival to wait for my boat, so I had a great opportunity to explore the second highest Capital city in the world, and I'm so pleased I did. Above the city at an altitude of 4,100 mtrs above sea level, is the jump off point of the, now commonplace cable car, and a great view of the city in all its splendour. An adventure had seemed long overdue so it was quite refreshing when, after seeing the vista from the top through the thickening black cloud, the trip back down the mountain did not quite go as smoothly as it perhaps should have! Every afternoon in Quito at this time of year, the cloud thickens, blacking out the sun, and within minutes you are caught in the middle of a horrendous thunder and lightning storm. Cable car day for me was to be no different with the storm arriving bang on cue, which in normal circumstances, did not effect the operation of the cable car. Today however was a special day - I was on board??? The predictable storm arrived at the top of the mountain just shortly after I did and, whilst it was unfortunate that it gave me very little time to enjoy the view, it was an absolute beauty of a spectacle. I think it is probably the first time in my life that I have actually been right up there smack bang in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm, and boy what a show it was that I witnessed. Unfortunately I was overdue for a pre arranged rendezvous with some friends so I couldn't stay up there longer to ride the storm out and had to start making my way back down, and anyway, the thought of riding a cable car through a storm like this one was a pretty exciting prospect too. Jumping into the cable car, the thought that lightning could possibly hit it, never even entered my head - after all this was a normal everyday event. The cable car leaves the summit station extremely quickly then slows down dramatically as you get over the edge of the mountain top and start you’re decent. The car I was in had only just completed this manoeuvre when there was a huge clap of thunder followed by a blinding flash of lightening and the pagoda I was riding in suddenly came to a halt leaving me and three other passengers dangling high on a zip wire and exposed to whatever the storm decided to throw at us. We hung there for what seemed to be quite a long time, with the only movement being the constant swaying of the pagoda in the relentless wind, before eventually continuing out decent safely to the bottom of the mountain. At the base that control staff told us that the stopping of the cable car was a standard procedure in these conditions and that we were not in any danger whatsoever, unfortunately we were in the only cable car that was without a working intercom so we couldn't be contacted or reassured as we dangled there with neither toilet paper nor incontinence pants as a comforter.
One of the other many attractions to visit whilst in Quito is the equator monument which stands 30 metres high and was erected to acknowledge the accomplishments of the Geolitic mission between 1736 -42. The Equator has some real peculiarities such as when you actually try to walk along the imaginary line that is the equator you keep falling off either north or south as if being pulled. Another interesting feature is how the water flows in different directions down the plughole on either side of the line - there are many other experiments that they show you here but you will just have to come here yourself to see them as I have a date with Galapagos pending.
I really don’t know where to start my report on the Galapagos Islands - you might as well get an encyclopaedia on wildlife and read the index. I’m once again going to leave you hanging while I find some new superlatives to describe this part of my trip.
Report to you all soon
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