The breakfast was scheduled for 7:30am for us: the two Belgian women, Nadine and myself. Because we were not part of those two big tour groups, we kind of bonded in some ways, we sat together for dinner last night and again breakfast this morning. They were all nice people, I have enjoyed talking to them, we talked about anything from travel, foods to politics. I had huevo frito, some toasts with dulce de leche Nadine shared, fruits and most important of all - coffee. The Belgians have planned to return to Belgium today after the market. We hugged and bid each other goodbye and good luck for the rest of the journey. Nadine and I have planned the school visit this morning after breakfast, and then we have also walked to the animal market together.
The school visit was interesting. I did not really know what to expect. It was more like a pre-school in the US, kids were between 3 and 5, their parents have no money to pay for school, they come here to spend time during the day, and learn some basic stuff: Spanish, Math, some English. One of the kids couldn't be cuter and kept looking at us. I wished I had something for them. They have so little, but they are satisfied with what they got, Eva told me that. That may be one of the reasons why I was drawn to South America to begin with, their simplicity, their generosity, there may be many hardship definitely, but they managed to maintain being happy and satisfied. Below the classroom, there were a computer room for the local adults, and a sowing room where girls learned to sow. Some of the computer monitors were so small or the bulky ones that we no longer use in the West. They were donated from Europe mostly. I am grateful that I have added a visit to the school, just renewed my perspective on things we have.
Next we went to animal market, where they sold horses, donkeys, chicken, guinea pig, ducks, cows, sheep, pigs, and I bet anything moves. It was an true experience, not only the amount of indigenous people gathered in those markets, but the amount of animals also squeezed into those tiny spaces. Some of those cows with horns were not cooperating and were running right behind you. There were a few scary moments actually. I told Nadine, maybe we should not be getting this close. But I couldn't help it, on the other hand, the whole scene was so unique and foreign to me, I don't think I could find this easily in any other places, I did not see it in Peru, and definitely not in the West, because of sanitation, I don't think we do this kind of stuff anymore. People were mostly friendly towards us, a lot of folks called me Chino, one of them even do a Bruce Lee thing. I just found it amusing what people would associate a country or a place with, when I said I am from Hong Kong, it is always the marital art thing, the truth is that we have never done that growing up, not even cared about it.
We stayed for an hour or so, and then we walked back to the guesthouse, the animal market was about a mile away at the outskirt of town, not bad a walk at all. I couldn't wait to get some shoes washed, since I stepped on countless of the animals' dunk-a-dunk, and I was dying to wash my hands, I did not want to accidentally rub my eyes with those hands, and got myself some guinea pig's flu or something never existed in human. I also took an allergy pill just in case. Continued with the other market, which was ok, it was not unlike other tourist or local markets existed anywhere in the world, they were selling fruits, foods, household stuffs, guy on microphone describing a miracle drug to the mountain folks, and even selfie sticks (you can buy that too). It is still a little strange to piece things together, a girl who is carrying a sheep might be buying a selfie stick. Most of them know what a smartphone is and a lot of them even used them. All these modern technology stuff collided with the traditional culture, the farming, the animals big time. It was just interesting to see. Everywhere were colors, animals, people sitting around talking to each other, and kids running around the train tracks. We had light rain all morning, it did not stop the market. I had a quick bite, some potato and chicken, and I went back to the guesthouse to check out, and was off to the next town. I did donate some money to Inti Sisa, I think that was the right thing to do, and I wished I could do more.
I walked back to the highway, this time I did need to flag down a bus to Quito and need to tell the driver to let me get off at Latacunga. I stood inhaling the dusts on the highway for may be 15 mins, I got on a bus towards Quito, and off I went. They dropped me off not in bus terminal in town though, instead I was dropped off on the highway again, which was a couple miles away from town. I had to take a taxi to my hotel. The bus ride itself cost only 5 dollars (91 miles), and that taxi ride for 2-3 miles top was also 5 dollars. He did not use meters, I did not want to argue with my backpack and all, I just wanted to get away from the highway. So, I just paid the 5 dollars. Couple mins later, viola, I got my first hotel in Ecuador, it was very nice room on the second floor. Unfortunately, my credit card failed to work for me at the hotel, and at the ATM machine, so I paid the hotel in cash. I had to call the credit card overseas and figured out what the hell is going on. They reset my password, and I have finally got some cash back from ATM.
In Latacunga, I planned to join two particular tours: Cotopaxi volcano and the crater lake Quilotoa. I have checked a few tour agencies, it did not seem to have any group tour available at the moment, probably because of the weather. The first tour agency I went, Neiges, the guy couldn't be nicer, although they could not give me a group tour, I asked him whether I could do these trips on my own. He said yes, and he pretty much drew the whole map and directions for me to go by myself by bus. I think Quilotoa I can definitely do it on my own. For the Cotopaxi volcano one though, it is slightly more complicated, and the weather there is a big factor, it is going to very very cold. The tour will head up to the base camp at 4800m. Anyway, I have kind of given up on the idea of going to Cotopaxi this time, but then another tour agency just contacted before 8pm, and said they have found another person to go with, if the weather permits, I supposed, we will likely be going to Cotopaxi Saturday. So I rushed back and paid my deposit. Will see if we end up going. I hope we do. Tomorrow, I will just go to Quilotoa myself.
See all photos from Inti Sisa school visit here.
See all photos from Guamote Market here.
