Ecuador: beautiful land, beautiful people

A week in Ecuador. I wasn't certain what to think about this trip before taking it. I'd never been to South America before. My Spanish is terrible--I've only had four courses in conversation, and the fourth one confused me to no end and drove everything from my brain. I was traveling with a colleague for one project, and working on a project of mine at the same time. But I knew that I had a friend waiting in Quito, and another in Cuenca. I'd heard wonderful things about the beauty of the country. I hoped it would be good practice for me.

Unfortunately, I was coming from a French-speaking trip, so my brain was terribly addled. Worse, my tickets didn't get issued as they should have, and I learned of a problem with my travel papers while in the airport in Québec. Owing to the problem, I would not be able to join my colleague for the last leg of the trip, to Guayaquil, and instead, would spend two extra days in Cuenca, then a day in Quito, trying to get home. And this would mean losing the one day that I had at home before heading to NY. Ah, travel.

Let me just say now that it was all worth it.

Ecuador is lovely. I'm not certain that I've ever seen a country where everything is beautiful. Of course, I was confined to the Andean region, but still. The photos here won't do it justice, but hopefully you'll get an idea of the beauty that confronted me every single day.


One of the few photos I have of Quito, from my hotel window. There are more from my last day, but they're on Veronica's camera.


On the road to Otavalo.

My first day in Ecuador was a Sunday. Quito is the second highest city in South America, after La Paz. I knew how sick my good friend Kelly had been on her trip there, and so decided to take the altitude medication the health center had given me. Unfortunately, because of my other trip, I started it a little late. Still, I didn't suffer the headaches and other troubles of altitude sickness. I did have tingly fingertips for a few days though.

Otavalo is famous for its artisan market. The biggest day is Saturday, but as you can see, there's still quite a market on other days of the week. My friend Veronica was a huge help here, identifying hand-made goods (not machine) and bargaining. Family and friends can look forward to some lovely things for Christmas this year.


The famous artisan market in Otavalo.

At the market, my colleague met with an archaeologist working on ancient Inca sites. We joined several others for lunch, and then headed to the site at Caranqui.


An Incan bath or pool.


The view of the mountains from the site. I have so many photos of the mountains!


Yes, this is actually part of the old Inca Road.

From here, we visited the pyramids at Cochesquí. These are mound pyramids. Somehow, I have few photos from here, but I'd never seen an agave plant quite this size before.



A very long but wonderful first day. We had dinner that evening with other archaeologists and historians working on the Inca Road, and the next morning, would meet with the Minister for Culture and Patrimony. After lunch with the Vice Minister, we headed for the airport. We were headed to Cuenca, a city listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Area, the next evening.