Baños, Otavalo & making money from thieves

It's New Years day in Cartagena, Colombia and I find myself in the familiar position of trying to write suffering from a heavy bout of imaginative constipation. Less familiar is that it's the Caribbean, it's hot, humid and every pore in my body seems determined to redress the imbalance of liquid consumed last night. Maybe an improbable day to eek out another overdue account of our travels but our shady hostel courtyard is the only refuge from the heat. And it's also an effort to start the new year as I mean to go on - by writing more regularly. It's a weak resolution but then the resolution concept doesn't hold up well to travel. What would we change in year where for 6 months we've done more or less exactly as we pleased each day? (Get a job, spend less, do something with your life, I can hear the bitter, envious and maybe our parents say).

Staring down death

Safe in the knowledge that Ecuador is a world-leader in zip-line standards and conformance

Maybe one thing we could resolve to do is spend less time on the road. From Ayampe on Ecuador's coast it's a day and a half of travel to Banos, tipping our total bus travel over 250 hours. The trip is longer than it needs to be because we accept an offer from an Ecuadorian tour guide returning to Quito. It's not the most direct route for us but it's a free passage and good company. The depressing aspect of an otherwise enjoyable ride through the interior of the country is the pace we make. A sign as we're setting off reads Quito, 343km. I speculate it'll take little under 4 hours. We arrive in Quito at 11pm, 9 hours later. 

The night is spent at our new friend's brother's house in suburban Quito. He evicts his young daughter from her room to free up a bed, puts on a big spread for breakfast and offers to drop us off to the bus terminal the next morning. We accept on all fronts, forgetting that Quito is a long, skinny city stretched out in valley and it takes an hour to arrive at the terminal. Muchas gracias at high frequency is all we can manage to say to let him know how grateful we are. It underlines our thoughts that Ecuadorians seem a welcoming bunch and it's especially noticeable after the mixed attitudes we received in Peru.

We did not take this picture

I'd read about this friendly nature in my last minute research on Ecuador. What I also found was the picture above making headlines on news websites (this one taken from National Geographic, more great shots here). With only a few weeks to spend in the country we'd been weighing up several popular destinations but this made the decision straightforward. We want to see lava. 

Unfortunately the volcano of Tungurahua has settled down by the time we arrive in Banos and my hope of arriving to something resembling Mordor is dashed. We settle for green valleys and waterfalls and a wonderful lodge run by an Australasian couple. It doesn't take long to validate the view held widely amongst traveller's we meet - that you could squeeze all of NZ's population into a biggish room - because as it turns out the owner is the ex-girlfriend of my sister's best friend's husband (get it?). 

Tungurahua at quieter times

When the volcano isn't exploding, Banos is also a popular place for action sports and thermal pools. We're happy to relax for the most part but we spend a day coasting the main road down the valley on mountain bikes. Along the way there are several cable cars spanning the valley and they'll creak and rattle you across to take in the view for only a few dollars. We opt for the gravity assisted option: an 1100m zip-line to the valley floor. The thrill of flying out over the cliff is heightened by not really understanding any of the pre-flight brief in spanish. Or knowing that the frayed harness, rickety pulley system or the plywood launch platform might fail at any moment. Great fun!

Rose Cottage, Otavalo

From Banos we make the journey north towards Otavalo. Nic has carefully scheduled our dates to align with the famous Saturday market. We're in the streets by 7am Saturday morning to witness the madness. It's like the A&P show but stripped of order and pens. Pigs, chickens, cows & goats mingle in a muddy lot amongst the Otavaleños jostling for trade. Toddlers left holding the leads of angry bulls are dragged about. Old women in their indigenous dress traipse through the mud with baby bundles strapped to their backs. On the streets things are slightly less chaotic but it's standing room only in most parts and it covers several blocks in each direction. It's an unimaginable array of handicrafts and apparel, and not hard to see why it earned the reputation as South America's grandest market.

Nic's alpaca jumper

Later in the morning when things have calmed down

But in Otavalo's markets we also get pick-pocketed. It brings our tally of missing items to 3: my pocket knife in Argentina, some cash taken from our hotel in La Paz and now this. It happens in a busy laneway after Nic and I get separated in the throng. It's like tinned sardines anyway, but when she catches up she's in a fluster about a particularly close encounter. The light-bulb turns on when she spots her handbag is open.

Nic ended up buying a yard of rope from this lady to appease her anger at being photographed

As a lesson on vigilance it couldn't have been gentler. The wallet was worth little and there was no more than a few dollars inside. If it was a lucky dip then the thief certainly drew the lemon because alongside the wallet was our phone and camera. And the sweetener on the episode is that my credit card, which was also in the wallet, has a 'stolen card protection' benefit which provides a $200 payout for the inconvenience. Our first income in 6 months and we celebrate with a meal out.

We hope everyone had happy Christmas and NY holidays! We board a yacht to Panama tomorrow so out of contact for a week. Tales from Colombia to follow.

xN&G