A Passage to Ecuador: Chapter 3
Going to the bank required traversing the mountains and staying the night in a different town
I owed my host family some money (for room and board), so one weekend, June 8th and 9th, I had to travel over a pretty sizeable chunk of the Andes by bus to the city of Otavalo, where there’s a bank.
June 8
I got up at 4:30 am and went to the kitchen where I hung out with Ramiro (my host dad) for a bit. I snagged some bitter coffee (it was actually made with the boiled water for agua aromática, so it had some of that plant flavour in it). I grabbed three freshly baked bread rolls and began the trek toward the bus. It was pitch black, so I used my weak iPhone flashlight to illuminate the path. I thought I was running late, so I scurried quickly over the rough road and nearly tripped a few times. I didn’t really know where I was supposed to go to catch the bus, which was stressing me out. But luckily I came upon it parked next to the school. I waited in the black night until 5:30, when the driver woke up, turned on the bus, and opened the door for me to get in. I half-slept on the way to Otavalo and ate my three rolls. (We stopped briefly in Apuela at a street-side pork vendor. There was a couple with a tent, and hanging from the tent was an entire pig, its skin cut into long strips. The vendor cut off a chunk of the skin, put it in a napkin, and gave it to the bus driver.) Once in Otavalo (around 9:30 am) I looked around for an ATM. The language options were Spanish, English, and Kichwa. The first five I tried wouldn’t accept my card, which was worrisome. Eventually I found one that worked. I got the money that I needed and then grabbed a small breakfast at a café and found a hotel, Hostal Chasqui. Twelve dollars for a night, and the place was very nice.
I took a shower and then headed out on an adventure with a very loose idea of where I wanted to go (I wanted to get a good view of Otavalo, Imbabura Volcano, and Lake San Pablo). I first grabbed a plate of hornado at the market for $2.
Then I began trekking up the hill east of Otavalo. I nearly got mauled by multiple dogs and got chased by two. Some of the dogs will run up to you, barking, as you walk down the street. They’ll then stay about a metre away from you and keep barking at you as you walk by, walking along with you for like fifty metres. At one point, there was a bull sitting in the middle of the road (with horns and a huge nutsack and everything). This wasn’t a private farm road—it was marked on Google Maps. Since I had already tried my luck with those vicious, insane dogs, I decided not to practice outrunning bulls because unlike dogs, which I could probably beat in a fight with few injuries, bulls could actually kill me. I turned around and found another way to the top of the hill.
I passed like five more bulls on the way, but they had leashes and were off to the side of the road. Chickens and dogs roamed freely. At the top of the road is this public park/mirador thing, called El Lechero. I strolled around it until I came upon a flock of sheep. I said high to the shepherd and went around the herd. There were great views of Imbabura, Otavalo, and Lake San Pablo from the top of the hill. I decided to walk down the other side toward the lake, whose shore I wanted to go up to, and toward Imbabura, which I wanted to begin to climb.
On the way down I ran into many other vicious dogs that scared the shit out of me and other bulls (no cows at all, only bulls). I also ran into another flock of sheep. I had to walk through it, but the shepherd and sheep dogs were very chill about that, thankfully. At the bottom of the hill, I found a bizarre area populated with sparse dilapidated housing, large empty lots, and little fields of corn and beans. There were also many chickens roaming freely and a few pigs tied to stakes (for which I am eternally grateful because the pigs were even more aggressive than the dogs).
I tried to walk along a major road toward Lake San Pablo (there was a sign indicating a park that way). But I walked by a pig that lost its mind, which woke up two nasty looking dogs who began trotting toward me. I decided to turn around and walk toward Otavalo. Since the neighbourhood I was in looked pretty dodgy and desolate and since no one else was walking around, I decided I was done adventuring and I would just go directly to Otavalo without trying to climb up Imbabura for a nice view. But on my way back to Otavalo, I came upon the Peguche waterfall, which I decided to check out. I paid the $2.50 to enter, walked down the path, and looked at falls. They were pretty cool, but not as cool as Franklin Falls. I paid $0.50 to go up to the second falls, which were much cooler. You had to crawl through a tiny tunnel and walk in the river to see them. You were also basically in a cave
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After the waterfall, I bought some ice cream and pineapple and began making my way back to Otavalo. There were fewer scary dogs on the way back.
June 9
I awoke late and walked around Otavalo looking for coffee. It’s extremely catholic, so everyone was in church and all the cafés were closed. Eventually I found a place where I could get a coffee and a pastry. I spent the morning roaming around, doing little errands. I returned some SIM cards I couldn’t use, bought some pencils, bought deodorant, bought razor blades, etc. One drunk dude tried to become my friend. Going back to my room in the hotel, I ran into a French couple chatting with the owner. I never really got to chat with them. Then I took a shower, downloaded some episodes of Tyler Cowen’s podcast and listened to Blocked and Reported. I ate some leftover chicken from last night, and headed off to the bus station. It was as lively as ever. I got on the bus and waited for it to leave. Vendors came on selling candies and manguito. One dude with an insane injury (or something, I couldn’t really tell what. I was a massive brown and red lump on his stomach) tried to get people to give him money, which was depressing.
On the way back to El Rosario, I listened to Tyler Cowen’s conversations with Paul Krugman, Daniel Kahneman, Michael Pollan, and David Brooks. Back in El Rosario I had soup for dinner and chatted briefly with Alva. Then Ramiro (the son) and I talked for a long time just the two of us (in a mix of English and Spanish). I told him about Montreal and heard about his plans for university and after. Tomorrow he’s taking me hiking.
1. I share your disdain for angry dogs in the campo.
2. That’s a lot of bull business. Are you sure those weren’t steers?
3. Learning how others live is also a phenomal way to better understand yourself.
4. I love this and you. Please keep sharing.
Les péripéties de Theo