The Dirt Cricket Abides

So after my friend Thierry and I had secured rooms in the town of Otavalo we wanted to explore a “Bright and Vibrant” market town. There were instant adjustments to be made that perpetuated throughout most of Ecuador.

First and foremost there were no more dormitories, which put a small dose of fear in me. Was my budget going to be broken to pieces? Well not exactly, I had already proved that traveling for less than $50 per day was not only doable but actually quite easy to do. I had many a day in Colombia where I was able to find dinner for less than two dollars, breakfast of fresh fruits & juice from street vendors would run maybe $1.50, and a lunch could be had for about $2.00. Remember the lunch is the most important meal of the day hence tending to be more expensive. With dormitories running about $7-8 a day I was running a budget that often did not exceed $20. Yes there are larger expenses such as bus tickets, drinks, and trying to woo girls that could run the budget a touch north, but all in all I have realized that those who travel with an eye towards frugality could “stay out” for a very long time on very little money.

Second adjustment to be made was that Ecuador is smack dab on the backpacker’s trail. What does this mean? Well bluntly it means that there are an abundance of hostels, restaurants, and every attempt to be more western where it simply does not fit well. In a town like Otavalo where indigenous persons wear the heavy wool alpaca petticoats, colorful shirts, carry babies with slung blankets on their backs and are mingling with boys & girls (I think their children) wearing bright Reebok tracksuits, Nikes on their feet and cell phones everywhere. I could not help but feel a touch depressed. The backpackers who are there to see the culture are the entire reason it is rapidly disappearing. “Ahhhh” I say to myself, “this is why people reject the global economy.” If I were an older Otavalon I would feel left behind in a world where it seems even their children reject the traditional way of life. Yet another inner monologue to contend with…(as always more to come)

Further more, the weather in this town consistently sucks (and I mean London rainy cold why do people live here sucks), and the city is downright ugly. This is the third adjustment to be made; ugly cities and towns. This is also the moment I realized how amazingly special Colombia is. They are light years ahead of Ecuador in terms of social awareness (no trash on the ground) and simple aesthetics (the buildings are completed). I felt like Otovalo was a city filled with blight because every damn building was either tilted further than the tower of Pisa or they had raw iron rebar sticking out form the roof, and a concrete floor now serving as their roof of a floor that had never been completed. In essence there seemed to be this odd trend that every person had started a 3-story building to only quit after 2.5 stories of concrete had been poured. Oh, and before you even think of this, it is not forward planning or thinking for future construction.

Finally the last major adjustment was that with sooooooo many hostels in Ecuador the concentration of Backpackers had been dispersed amongst each sleeping option to make it feel downright lonely, and more importantly the coolness factor of the people traveling has taken a sharp nose dive. The only person who travels in Colombia tends to be generally adventurous and interesting. People who do not let fear rule their decision making visit Colombia, people who fall for antiquated public perception and the Hollywood portrayal of an incredible country start their journey in Ecuador. OK, can you tell that Ecuador started off on the wrong foot? Fuck I also miss Greg & Christie.

Having reconciled that Otovalo is a stop over point I decide to make the best of it and Theirry and I wandered up to the Condor Sanctuary. This is as it sounds as well as a sanctuary for all birds of prey. The general thrust is that the folks who work here nurse and revive all sorts of birds of prey until they can be returned to the wild. It was interesting and worth the $2.00 entrance…feel free to check out the photo page to see all sorts of owls, eagles, hawks, falcons, etc. One interesting specimen was a Bald Eagle tethered at the leg allowing me to come within inches of it’s flesh tearing claws.

After checking out birds that kill, we wandered a little further off the beaten track to get smacked in the face with some real poverty. One could tell that the higher slopes of the town were filled with people living in abject poverty who were born there and were going to die there. It was palpable and could be seen in the faces of the people and the buildings.

Settling into the hostel and after chatting with some amiable companions I went to bed shivering uncontrollably…oh shit, is this a fever or the humid cold penetrating every possible pore of my skin? I am definitely worried as I have on every stitch of clothing with me and am under two heavy wool blankets and freezing. Yes folks, this is the first time I was lonely and really longing for home. Tomorrow I am off to Quito, hopefully I will find more friends and get out of this cold….right?

Chirp cough Chirp

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Ecuador, South America, 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.