El Vago en Suramerica

I am still in Quito, believe it or not.

The original plan was to stop one more time in Atacames for a crazy Saturday night, before heading south to Peru. Our idea was that further south, places like the Ecuadorian coast just dont exist anymore. Upon reaching Peru, we would be leaving the tropics for good. We bought bus tickets for 12:30 am on Friday night.

On Friday night at 8:00, we took a taxi to the Plaza de Toros for the salsa concert by Maelo Ruiz. It was an incredible concert. The first group to perform played traditional “son” music, but with a very upbeat and exciting style, and from the first song the entire audience was dancing. The second group was a surprise. They began with a merengue song, but then switched to reggaeton, playing the super-hits “Agarrala” and “Ven Bailalo.” Tanael and I were ecstatic, as we had only minutes before been joking about a reggaeton performance. The next song was “Por Una Gota de Tu Voz,” a new favorite which we had only become acquainted with one week before. From this point on, nothing could undermine our enthusiasm for the concert. Finally, Maelo Ruiz came on, and his hit “Te Va a Doler” was recieved with a great roar from the audience. Everyone sang along (except me- I dont know the words), and the concert hit a grand climax.

A short while before Maelo Ruiz came on to perform, we had burned our bus tickets. The concert lasted until about 1:30, and it was well worth staying until the end.

The whole thing was given a cool, surreal air because of the Plaza de Toros`s location right next to the Quito Airport. Throughout the show, airplanes would cruise directly overhead, always seemingly on a collision course for the other side of the stadium.

After such an exciting show, we couldn`t dream of going to bed. Instead, we danced until 7 am, for a grand total of 11 hours of dancing. We went first to one club, then to an after-hours disco. In the second place, Tanael and i both met girls. Jenny, the girl I met, invited me to go with her to the town of Banos the next day, but I still planned to go to Atacames. Unfortunately, as we left the disco disoriented and exhausted, this trip to Atacames didnt end up happening. I crashed for several hours, and waking up in the early afternoon, decided to go with Jenny to Banos for the night.

It was a four-hour trip to Banos, but well worth it for the spectacular natural setting. We went in Jenny`s cary, which was a nice change from the bus routine. We went out Saturday night, to a disco packed with Guayaquil folks. It kinda sucked, though, because the fucking disco never played our request of “Por una gota de tu voz.”

On Sunday morning we visited a viewpoint high on a surrounding mountain, and stopped by several waterfalls. Banos seems to be the tourist capital of Ecuador, and its appeal is all in its location. The city itself isnt so special, but it would be a great place to spend some time hiking, rock climbing, river rafting, and mountian biking.

We headed back to Quito, however, planning to leave for Peru on Monday. On Monday morning Tanael was feeling a bit sick, so we delayed our journey until today. So that the border crossing goes smoothly, we plan to leave this evening, arriving in Lima on Thursday morning. From there, it will be another bus journey to Cuzco on Sunday.

The rest of our time in Quito has been fairly relaxed. We ended up staying in a house of volunteers, one of whom Tanael had met on an earlier visit to Quito. It is very comfortable there, as there is a kitchen, television, and cd-player. Staying in the house are a French girl, Regina, a German guy, Christopher, and a Swiss guy with whom I was sharing a room.

I went out to explore several days, and had some wonderful walks. I visited the historic center one day, and another day found a huge, beautiful park atop a hill which surely does not appear in any guidebook. I also began a CD collection to catalogue the many sounds of my trip. It is difficult to acquire everything I`ve heard and enjoyed, but i am certainly making progress.

Quito has grown on me. I like the look of the city, and its crazy location in a mountain valley. It also has some good parties, especially on Thursday night in a place called “El Centro.” I still like Guayaquil better, maybe just for being louder and crazier, but I think the two form a nice balance for the country.

Wish me luck on the two-night bus trip….

Love,
Dan

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 25th, 2006 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.