I'm Back!

Forgive me blog readers, for I have sinned! It’s been waaaay too long since I last posted something on here, but I think I’ve finally regained my inspiration and I’m going to give it my best effort to start up again!

Part 1

A while back I made 2 trips up to the central Andes of Ecuador to check out some other Peace Corps sites and local villages. This high and cold area of the “Sierra” is home to a whole bunch indigenous groups that speak both Spanish and the native Kichwa language. I met up with my friend Ari in the city of Ambato, where we hopped on a bus towards the city of Guaranda. The road between Ambato and Guaranda is the highest paved road in Ecuador, climbing to around 14,000 ft and passing right by the Chimborazo volcano as it curves its way through the “paramo” or highland grasslands. Because of the Earth’s equatorial “bulge” the top of Chimborazo at 20,702 ft is the closest point on the planet to the sun. It was pretty brisk up here and the rest of the people on the bus were probably loving me when I kept opening the window to take some pictures while filling the bus with icy bursts of mountain air. From Guaranda, we crammed into the back of a camioneta with 15 other people and headed up to a small village called Salinas. Salinas is probably one of the most prosperous little villages in the area. With some past international assistance, the small town now boasts a number of successful small businesses, including a yarn factory, a cheese factory that makes some of the only aged cheese in Ecuador, a chocolate factory, a dried mushroom operation, and even a soccer ball making facility. We met up with another volunteer that lived in the town to check out most of the places, got upset stomachs from eating way too much cheese, and then hunkered down under 6 blankets to brave the chilly night in the unheated hotel.

After Salinas it was off to the city of Riobamba where we were planning on taking the famous Nariz del Diablo (Nose of the Devil) train to the town of Alausi, a few hours south. In Riobamba we were able to recover from our cheese-eating binge by having a great cheese-free meal at a really nice restaurant owned by the girlfriend of another volunteer. The contrast between the little mountain villages and the New York City-like restaurant was striking! In Riobamba we found out that the tracks between Riobamba and Alausi were shut down and that you could only take to the train from Alausi down the Devil’s Nose (a series of switchbacks down into a deep valley) and back to Alausi. That was kind of a bummer, but we had already come this far so we headed to Alausi via bus and then made our way to the train station from there. That’s where we learned the next disappointing fact – you can no longer ride on the roof of the train! One of the big attractions about this train is that you can sit on the roof while it’s moving to check out the scenery in all 360 degrees. But supposedly some Japanese tourists were unfortunate a few months prior – their heads encountering a low-hanging wire while on the roof (ouch!) – and now everyone has to stay inside the “train”. Why did I put train in quotes? Because that was disappointment #3! After paying the $11 for the ticket (which for Ecuador is super expensive) we waited for a while on the platform for the train to arrive. Finally, we could see the red dot approaching in the distance… it’s a bird, it’s a plane… no, it’s a school bus on train wheels! Not only could we no longer ride on the roof, but the old-fashioned steam engine train in the brochure had been replaced with a rosy red school bus! It was too late to turn back at that point so we hopped on with a senior citizen tour group for the thrilling (not so much) 1.5 hour ride. I can safely say that the scenery on the $3 bus ride from Riobamba to Alausi was far better than on the “train” so if you’re ever planning on coming to Ecuador, save your money and skip this tourist trap!

From Alausi, the next stop was the city of Cuenca as we inched our way back to my apartment in Loja. We had been to the city before, but this time around we were able to spend some time in the Cajas National Park just to the north of the city. The park consists of lots of paramo areas and glacial lakes. Here we met up with 4 other volunteers (Mike and Mary who work outside of Cuenca, and Katie and Andy from Loja) for some hiking through the park, which was really nice. When it started to rain we headed back into Cuenca for some good and cheap Colombian food before calling it a day. Half the night was spent hurling Mike and Mary’s kitten from my head as it took a continual liking to making itself comfy on my neck and pawing my face with its little claws.

(No animals were harmed during the making of this story)
(Well maybe just a little... )

Part 2

My second venture up into the central Sierra was about a month ago, where I got to visit two other Peace Corps sites and a great indigenous market. After a Peace Corps conference in Quito (where a few of us went up Quito’s newest tourist trap attraction - a cable car that takes you up to see views of the city), two other volunteers (Matt and Katie) and I made our first stop at Craig and Lucy’s site a few hours west of Riobamba. Craig and Lucy are one of the older married couples in our group, and their site was really beautiful with very friendly people. The bus ride there alone set the tone for this indigenous Kichwa site, as we were the only non-indigenous people on the whole bus. Most of the people in the village are farmers, and Craig and Lucy are helping out with environmental and agricultural education here. The people at their site were some of the friendliest I’ve met, and every single person you pass leads to an elaborate handshake greeting and another conversation. We spent some time playing games with the kids at the site, checking out Craig’s smell-free composting toilet that he built and enjoying Lucy’s great cooking as we kept warm under thick ponchos. The houses here were mostly made out of cinder blocks which made them especially cold at night. I don’t think I would ever shower if I lived here since the air is always so cold! You can freeze your ass off (literally!) just sitting on the toilet here at night!

From Craig and Lucy’s site we headed to the town of Guamote to check out the huge indigenous market that takes place every Thursday. Typically Guamote is a sleepy little town with not much going on, but on market days the streets are mobbed with people selling everything from fat, red bananas, to fresh cow heads, to screeching piglets and chickens poking their spastic heads out of burlap sacks. The market was completely non-touristy and a really neat place to go.

Our last stop after Guamote was Lauren’s site, which is even higher than Craig and Lucy’s and therefore even colder! Luckily we were just there for the day though so we didn’t have to brave the frigid night. Lauren’s site was basically on the top of at mountain with incredible 360 degree views miles into the distance. The people here were much more reserved and shy, but still very friendly. After they treated us to a typical Ecuadorian lunch of soup, rice and meat, we spent some time playing with the kids and walking around the small town. My attempts at rounding up the cattle with my spot-on “Mooo!” cow call failed miserably and I knew then that it was time to head back down to Riobamba and wait for the bus back to my site.

After an eleven hour bus ride from Riobamba, including a 4am “layover” in Cuenca’s freezing cold bus terminal and two 1987 kung fu movies complemented by a half-stale roll with mystery spread, I awoke to Loja’s lush, green valley and as the sun rose over the mountains it was nice to know my warm apartment was waiting for me. My body was almost thawed and it was comforting to know that that night I’d be able to feel my toes in bed once again!

Enjoy the pictures below... click a few times to enlarge and then click “Slideshow” to view the photos full-screen.