Teleférico

This proved to be a very long day, but a really wonderful one.

Two years ago I'd been up the Teleférico with my friend Verónica. This was equally good -- maybe a little better because I could do more walking and hiking this time -- but sad too because so much had closed! Apparently weekends are busy, but during the week it's like ghost town, and the businesses and restaurants just can't survive. Most were closed, and the less-than-a-handful that remained were closing after that weekend.

However, the ride up is amazing. It takes some time and you ascend about 4,000 feet, which is pretty incredible. The pictures here do tell the story.


There is also a kids' amusement park at the base of the mountain. You can see the cars going up the mountain in the background.


Watching a car head off. A good look at the gearing at the turn-around.



Stickman's in peril here too!


Ah, this was cool. Some of the cars had these racks on the backs. Why? For the mountain bikes, of course! Yes, four mountain bikers and their bikes can hitch a ride to the top, then power themselves back down Pichincha.


Going up! The views were incredible!!




Finally, at the top. Incredible scenic views all around. Even a little church for the area communities.



Not many plants up this high -- we're well beyond tree line and over 12,000 feet -- but some beautiful mountain wildflowers. Below, a great solution for recycling.



The bark of this bush is actually just like paper. And can be used as such! I had a piece in my pocket, but lost it somewhere. Drat. And more beautiful views.



See, I really was there! And without altitude headaches this time. So we did walk to the top, but I decided against the horse rides over the next peak. Testing the camera's timer. Look, we're on top of the world! Not really, but 12,300 feet is pretty high.



Ah, so beautiful. Honestly, I never got tired of these views.




The line for the descent was long, and we were entertained by the Simpsons in Spanish. The voices weren't quite right, but they were close. We got back down into the city right in time, we thought, for the indigenous film festival at the Casa de la Cultura. However, it appeared that we were mistaken! After a quick bite to eat, we did manage to find it, and caught a few fabulous films. I recognized one director from Bolivia, who has been at our film and video festival in New York. Apparently, a colleague of mine from that department was in town for the festival too, but we missed each other.

Then Juan Carlos got a call from Jenny (at COICA) who wanted to go out. So we left the festival and met her, and ended up in a salsa club. She met other friends there, and it was fun. I felt badly because with the volume of the music and my own inabilities, I wasn't a good conversationalist. And I can't dance either. It was also really smoky, which does me in. But we danced, and it was great fun, and I'm really glad we all went out. Jenny wanted me to meet the ladies in Puyo next Saturday -- stay in Tena overnight and catch a bus in the morning. I said I'd check with my professor and we'd see what we could arrange once we got to Tena and saw schedules. So I had a few hours to sleep, then had to get up and pack for the trip and be at the school to meet Hannele and her professor Fernanda; we'd meet my professor, Olga, in Tena.