So the market has come and gone...
It was 12 hours of craziness. It by far exceeded anything we possibly could have imaged in terms of magnitude. It was almost a living entity, spreading out from Plaza de Ponchos in every direction, colours spilling onto the streets, and soon onto the people as more and more people showed up and soon adorned themselves in the wares.
We started the morning at 430am.... heading out around 5ish towards the animal market. We arrived, following a few unhappy sheep to find the crowd growing. We were pretty much the only tourists who had managed to get up that early, and it was quite a sight. Pigs, sheep, cattle, goats, piglets, young cows, one donkey and three horses. The sound of the pigs squeeling, was a little bit unnerving, but you soon realise they pretty much dont want to do anything except eat.
Locals mill about and barter, trade and haggle over prices of the animals. Food stalls are set up for people to eat, and we even saw bannick cooking. Trucks are unloaded and reloaded with squealing animals. We even saw a truck bed full of hog tied sheep.
From there it was on to the crafts market which was spreading and growing rapidly by 8am. By 10am it was in full swing. This market isn´t only for toursits and there are plenty of spots to buy seeds, beans, rope, bags etc.
The colours and the sights were reminiscent of the smaller market the day before, only multiplied by ten. A lot of the stalls repeat themselves in what they offer, but there were also a lot of unique stalls offering pottery and different textiles.
The market started to wind down around 4pm and by 6pm almost all of the hundreds of stalls had disapeared. All that was left was trash from those who had waundered the streets, and even that was quickly disapearing as street sweepers magically appeared....
We had wanted to catch a Cock fight which was supposed to start at six pm. We then asked aroudn when no one was there and were told it was to start at seven pm. ... At seven pm we were told eight or nine..... so itwas no cock fight for us. ...
We have managed to upload a few photos of the premarket day happenings, and will post more of market day on Ofoto in a couple of weeks.
Tomorrow it is on to Quito...
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Otavalo: In the Shadow of Fire and Risk
We now reside in Otavalo. Otavalo, the small market town (well not soo small, ie. 25,000 people) residing north of Quito, north of the Equator and what seems to be north, south and west of volcanoes.
We bipassed Quito, to come to Otavalo specifically for the Saturday market, one of the oldest in SA, and in Ecuador. This market has been active since before Incan times. The main market takes place on Saturday where we are told there is a crafts market (ie. ponchos, hats, scarves, mitts, bags, weavings, masks, table clothes, jewlery, musical instruments etc), a food market, and an animal market. This all starts happening at the crack of dawn.
The crafts market, in a somewhat smaller state occupies the Plaza de Ponchos every day, and that is mostly there for the tourists who come here to buy the local crafts. The market, already, in its smaller state is quite enjoyable. Many of the people here are dressed traditionally, which means the men wear white pants with a white shirt, and sometimes a poncho, they have long braided hair and usually a hat. The women wear beautifully embriodered white blouses with black skirts. They wear necklaces and braided hair, and are really quite striking. That combined with the myriad of colours of blankets and ponchos blowing in the wind with the back drop of volcanic Mnt Cotacachi looming in the background.
To get here we took yet another hellish night bus, followed within seconds of a cab and local bus. The bus weaves again through the Andes with views of the volcanoes including Mnt. Cotapaxi in the distance, cloaked in snow. Life near the equator is marked by extremely hot afternoons and bright, sunny mornings, with clouds rolling in during the afternoon and nights that get quite cold.
Otavalo itself is much more touristy, the main strip caters to the tourist crowd with main stream restaurants and shops. It seems like the market is boardering on kitsche now in some regards, as it is profitable for people to be here all week. We are looking forward to tomorrow where indigenous sellers are to fill the streets with stalls, and especially to the animal market which is for local use only.
People here eat at the stalls in the food market, where you eat next to pigs heads and cows feet. Anything you want to buy can be found from spices to exotic fruit and beyond. Life here in Equador is also markedly different from life in Northern Peru, where it seemed slightly more poor. From what we have found by talking to people as we travel, Northern Peru is often less travelled and-or altogether skipped by traveller tourists. Now that we are in more touristy towns, people driving nicer cars, indegnous people walk with cellphones. It is hard to tell at this point so early in our travels if this is more of an Ecuadorian thing, or because this is a more tourist visited town.
As a note about our last day in Puerto Lopez, we decided to rent bikes for the day. We biked the 15km to the nearby National Park where there was a stunning beach called Playa de las Frailles. It was beautiful, white sand stretch of land, hemmed in on both ends by red-sand cliffs jutting out from the water, licked and sprayed white with foam and surf. On one end was a mirador (lookout) which you can climb to over look the beaches and the tourquoise water. Of course you also get a good view of the guard they have stationed on the beach.
Yes, guards are a part of our lives now. It is odd sometimes, especially seeing one on the beach, but then you look around, and although there are only a hand full of people, they are all white. There is some comfort, I suppose, in the fact that we can swim and not have to watch our bags like hawks, although I think the guard just fell asleep in the bushes. But the guards are not always for white people, as it may seem. We see guards in every bank, in some grocery stores (full on machine gun), drug stores, street corners, political buildings etc. Part of it is that there is some element of instablity here, and I am sure a lot of it has to do with political situations, that we as yet, have no real understanding of. But guards are a part of life, life moves on around them. And although, from a North American perspective it is hard to fathom them being there as they are a blunt reminder that life isn´t perfect and safe.... but then again some of the people here would think driving a highway in Canada and seeing a bear by the side of the road would make them feel unsafe. Life is different here.
This blog is definetly here for those of you that read it, but it is also here for us to look back on and remember the places and things we have done. We are here to experience life in an other country, to see what is the same and different from life in Canada. And hopefully get a better appreciation for what we have back home. And although some of our adventures may read as crazy or dangerous, remember that we are in a different country but we are still the same people. Both relatively intelligent people who make good/smart/ and safe decissions. Multiply that by two...and maybe you think that all of our blogs are made up....*smile*
That being said, and given that we seem to know quite a few people these days dabbling in the Yukon´s polical scene back home, we have been quite interested in the political happenings here in SA. We were told in Peru that they had just had a National election and had municipal elections coming. Here in Ecuador, not sure what the situation is. There are rallies gallor. People spend the day cruzing the roads in whatever beatup truck they have, with stickers and banners plastered all over them, often with loud speakers and flags promoting their candidate, and there are a lot of candidates. In Peru they vote by a party symbol and vote number. In Ecuador they vote by a number. You see cars dressed up, people, and buildings. A LOT of buildings are painted, not just unoccupied buildings, but houses. People are very passionate here.
Although life must be and is hard for many people they live passionate and happy lives and area always willing to talk and smile with you as you go by.
We bipassed Quito, to come to Otavalo specifically for the Saturday market, one of the oldest in SA, and in Ecuador. This market has been active since before Incan times. The main market takes place on Saturday where we are told there is a crafts market (ie. ponchos, hats, scarves, mitts, bags, weavings, masks, table clothes, jewlery, musical instruments etc), a food market, and an animal market. This all starts happening at the crack of dawn.
The crafts market, in a somewhat smaller state occupies the Plaza de Ponchos every day, and that is mostly there for the tourists who come here to buy the local crafts. The market, already, in its smaller state is quite enjoyable. Many of the people here are dressed traditionally, which means the men wear white pants with a white shirt, and sometimes a poncho, they have long braided hair and usually a hat. The women wear beautifully embriodered white blouses with black skirts. They wear necklaces and braided hair, and are really quite striking. That combined with the myriad of colours of blankets and ponchos blowing in the wind with the back drop of volcanic Mnt Cotacachi looming in the background.
To get here we took yet another hellish night bus, followed within seconds of a cab and local bus. The bus weaves again through the Andes with views of the volcanoes including Mnt. Cotapaxi in the distance, cloaked in snow. Life near the equator is marked by extremely hot afternoons and bright, sunny mornings, with clouds rolling in during the afternoon and nights that get quite cold.
Otavalo itself is much more touristy, the main strip caters to the tourist crowd with main stream restaurants and shops. It seems like the market is boardering on kitsche now in some regards, as it is profitable for people to be here all week. We are looking forward to tomorrow where indigenous sellers are to fill the streets with stalls, and especially to the animal market which is for local use only.
People here eat at the stalls in the food market, where you eat next to pigs heads and cows feet. Anything you want to buy can be found from spices to exotic fruit and beyond. Life here in Equador is also markedly different from life in Northern Peru, where it seemed slightly more poor. From what we have found by talking to people as we travel, Northern Peru is often less travelled and-or altogether skipped by traveller tourists. Now that we are in more touristy towns, people driving nicer cars, indegnous people walk with cellphones. It is hard to tell at this point so early in our travels if this is more of an Ecuadorian thing, or because this is a more tourist visited town.
As a note about our last day in Puerto Lopez, we decided to rent bikes for the day. We biked the 15km to the nearby National Park where there was a stunning beach called Playa de las Frailles. It was beautiful, white sand stretch of land, hemmed in on both ends by red-sand cliffs jutting out from the water, licked and sprayed white with foam and surf. On one end was a mirador (lookout) which you can climb to over look the beaches and the tourquoise water. Of course you also get a good view of the guard they have stationed on the beach.
Yes, guards are a part of our lives now. It is odd sometimes, especially seeing one on the beach, but then you look around, and although there are only a hand full of people, they are all white. There is some comfort, I suppose, in the fact that we can swim and not have to watch our bags like hawks, although I think the guard just fell asleep in the bushes. But the guards are not always for white people, as it may seem. We see guards in every bank, in some grocery stores (full on machine gun), drug stores, street corners, political buildings etc. Part of it is that there is some element of instablity here, and I am sure a lot of it has to do with political situations, that we as yet, have no real understanding of. But guards are a part of life, life moves on around them. And although, from a North American perspective it is hard to fathom them being there as they are a blunt reminder that life isn´t perfect and safe.... but then again some of the people here would think driving a highway in Canada and seeing a bear by the side of the road would make them feel unsafe. Life is different here.
This blog is definetly here for those of you that read it, but it is also here for us to look back on and remember the places and things we have done. We are here to experience life in an other country, to see what is the same and different from life in Canada. And hopefully get a better appreciation for what we have back home. And although some of our adventures may read as crazy or dangerous, remember that we are in a different country but we are still the same people. Both relatively intelligent people who make good/smart/ and safe decissions. Multiply that by two...and maybe you think that all of our blogs are made up....*smile*
That being said, and given that we seem to know quite a few people these days dabbling in the Yukon´s polical scene back home, we have been quite interested in the political happenings here in SA. We were told in Peru that they had just had a National election and had municipal elections coming. Here in Ecuador, not sure what the situation is. There are rallies gallor. People spend the day cruzing the roads in whatever beatup truck they have, with stickers and banners plastered all over them, often with loud speakers and flags promoting their candidate, and there are a lot of candidates. In Peru they vote by a party symbol and vote number. In Ecuador they vote by a number. You see cars dressed up, people, and buildings. A LOT of buildings are painted, not just unoccupied buildings, but houses. People are very passionate here.
Although life must be and is hard for many people they live passionate and happy lives and area always willing to talk and smile with you as you go by.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Puerto Lopez: I don´t Even Know how to say that in English
Welcome to Ecuador.
We made it through our night bus from Trujillo to the border between Peru and Ecuador. From there it was a bit of chaos, as we jumped off the bus a half hour before the border in order to catch a bus that goes through the border stopping at the immigration offices.
Even though getting to this bus station meant we had a run in with one of the infamous cabbies out to tell you anything he can to convince you the busses aren`t running and that you should pay him 20$ to drive you to the border. We were firm, loud, and by now used to being pushy with people and soon found the bus station we wanted with the help of some nice locals.
We were certainly glad we didn´t have to walk the border on foot, as it is a distance between the two offices and a ZOO. This isn´t your run of the mill Alaska-BC border crossing, there are tons of people, wares for sale, con men, people willing to stamp your passport for money out back, money changes, dogs, pigs, bananas, fake guards and on and on. The Peru side was no problem, and with her new found pushy and hardened skills, Justine soon pushed through the throng of people to get stamped on the Ecuadorian side. We even beat out all of the locals on the bus.
The chaos behind us we relaxed on the second floor of the bus, protected by our armed guard all the way to Guayquil. Guayquil, while not the capìtal of Ecuador, is the largest city in the country and is a couple hours from the border on the west coast. The bus station there is HUGE. Bus stations in Peru are all spread out by companies, and not always even in the same area. Here in Ecuador, all of the companies are in one terminal, and it feels like half of the country is there too. The heat is SWELTERING.
We navigated that, found our cabby, who said he knew where the hostel was we were looking for (of course he didn´t) and after some driving around we soon found the hostel we were looking for. We decided after the night of travelling to stay in Guayquil for the night and head to Puerto Lopez in the morning. The burbs of Guayquil are pretty modern, all complete with your McDonalds, KFC´s and so on. Prices are more expensive here, as the dollar is the American, but still pretty cheap.
The following morning we got up early and headed to the station. From buying our tickets to jumping on the bus, we were on our way to Puerto Lopez via Santa Elena within 10 minutes. The land here is dry, although irrigated and you pass many banana plantations on the way to the coast. We changed buses and boarded a local bus to P.Lopez, we knew it was going to be an interesting ride by the amount of bangles and fringes this bus contained on the interior. Six speakers pumping music and some locals running out to buy a 26 of liquer made it interesting indeed.
The ride passes many small beach towns known mostly for the strip of land on the ocean, fish or the surf.
We arrived in P. Lopez sane and thankfully sober, and checked into our chilled hotel, made of reed cabanas, palm frond roof and complete with a roof top pool table, outdoor kitchen and more hamocks than meet the eye.
Slow season is nice, as we are inbetween backpacking and beach season, so it was really easy to arrange a tour of the nearby National Park. The National Park here protects a few offshore islands, water and some forests here on land. Yesterday we boarded a boat and headed out to do some whale watching, boobie sighting and snorkeling.
It didn´t take us more than 45 minutes to sight the humpback whales and we spent a good hour watching them move through the water. Justine also spent most of that time on top of the boats roof, being thrown around amidst the huge waves, trying to get some photos at no small risk to life and camera. The seas were rough indeed and while we moved on to the Island a few people lost a bit of their breakfast as a bonus.
Isla de la Plata, is sometimes known as the ¨Poor Man´s Galapagos¨and it is home to the Blue footed Booby, Red Footed Booby, Masked Booby, Frigate Bird, Sea Lions among others. We took a guided tour, in Spanish, and although we understood minimal information, we were able to get within a few feet of the birds and get some really interested photos.
After the tour of the Island, we headed back to the boat for some lunch and some snorkeling in the reefs off the island. If we could tell you the names of the fish we saw, we would, all we can say is that there were lots and they were all sorts of colours. Sea urchins and coral below us and fish all around. It was really beautiful, and really makes us want to eventually try to arrange to get our PADI certificate which would allow us to scuba dive.
The day was long as we returned home around 6pm and of course the seas were even rougher. Town life here is pretty relaxed, lots of small fishing boats, and otherwise the economy is tourism. It would be pumping here come January.
Today was a calm day spent walking the beach and collecting shells. Tomorrow we are going to rent bikes and bike into the park here to see a beach and a view point there. We will also leave to catch the night bus to Quito.
From Quito we hope to get a bus immediately to Otavalo, where we will spend a couple of days waiting for the famous Saturday market. From there back to Quito and some of the Equator festivities.
We made it through our night bus from Trujillo to the border between Peru and Ecuador. From there it was a bit of chaos, as we jumped off the bus a half hour before the border in order to catch a bus that goes through the border stopping at the immigration offices.
Even though getting to this bus station meant we had a run in with one of the infamous cabbies out to tell you anything he can to convince you the busses aren`t running and that you should pay him 20$ to drive you to the border. We were firm, loud, and by now used to being pushy with people and soon found the bus station we wanted with the help of some nice locals.
We were certainly glad we didn´t have to walk the border on foot, as it is a distance between the two offices and a ZOO. This isn´t your run of the mill Alaska-BC border crossing, there are tons of people, wares for sale, con men, people willing to stamp your passport for money out back, money changes, dogs, pigs, bananas, fake guards and on and on. The Peru side was no problem, and with her new found pushy and hardened skills, Justine soon pushed through the throng of people to get stamped on the Ecuadorian side. We even beat out all of the locals on the bus.
The chaos behind us we relaxed on the second floor of the bus, protected by our armed guard all the way to Guayquil. Guayquil, while not the capìtal of Ecuador, is the largest city in the country and is a couple hours from the border on the west coast. The bus station there is HUGE. Bus stations in Peru are all spread out by companies, and not always even in the same area. Here in Ecuador, all of the companies are in one terminal, and it feels like half of the country is there too. The heat is SWELTERING.
We navigated that, found our cabby, who said he knew where the hostel was we were looking for (of course he didn´t) and after some driving around we soon found the hostel we were looking for. We decided after the night of travelling to stay in Guayquil for the night and head to Puerto Lopez in the morning. The burbs of Guayquil are pretty modern, all complete with your McDonalds, KFC´s and so on. Prices are more expensive here, as the dollar is the American, but still pretty cheap.
The following morning we got up early and headed to the station. From buying our tickets to jumping on the bus, we were on our way to Puerto Lopez via Santa Elena within 10 minutes. The land here is dry, although irrigated and you pass many banana plantations on the way to the coast. We changed buses and boarded a local bus to P.Lopez, we knew it was going to be an interesting ride by the amount of bangles and fringes this bus contained on the interior. Six speakers pumping music and some locals running out to buy a 26 of liquer made it interesting indeed.
The ride passes many small beach towns known mostly for the strip of land on the ocean, fish or the surf.
We arrived in P. Lopez sane and thankfully sober, and checked into our chilled hotel, made of reed cabanas, palm frond roof and complete with a roof top pool table, outdoor kitchen and more hamocks than meet the eye.
Slow season is nice, as we are inbetween backpacking and beach season, so it was really easy to arrange a tour of the nearby National Park. The National Park here protects a few offshore islands, water and some forests here on land. Yesterday we boarded a boat and headed out to do some whale watching, boobie sighting and snorkeling.
It didn´t take us more than 45 minutes to sight the humpback whales and we spent a good hour watching them move through the water. Justine also spent most of that time on top of the boats roof, being thrown around amidst the huge waves, trying to get some photos at no small risk to life and camera. The seas were rough indeed and while we moved on to the Island a few people lost a bit of their breakfast as a bonus.
Isla de la Plata, is sometimes known as the ¨Poor Man´s Galapagos¨and it is home to the Blue footed Booby, Red Footed Booby, Masked Booby, Frigate Bird, Sea Lions among others. We took a guided tour, in Spanish, and although we understood minimal information, we were able to get within a few feet of the birds and get some really interested photos.
After the tour of the Island, we headed back to the boat for some lunch and some snorkeling in the reefs off the island. If we could tell you the names of the fish we saw, we would, all we can say is that there were lots and they were all sorts of colours. Sea urchins and coral below us and fish all around. It was really beautiful, and really makes us want to eventually try to arrange to get our PADI certificate which would allow us to scuba dive.
The day was long as we returned home around 6pm and of course the seas were even rougher. Town life here is pretty relaxed, lots of small fishing boats, and otherwise the economy is tourism. It would be pumping here come January.
Today was a calm day spent walking the beach and collecting shells. Tomorrow we are going to rent bikes and bike into the park here to see a beach and a view point there. We will also leave to catch the night bus to Quito.
From Quito we hope to get a bus immediately to Otavalo, where we will spend a couple of days waiting for the famous Saturday market. From there back to Quito and some of the Equator festivities.
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