DOWN THE BACKBONE OF THE ANDES

When we left Bella Vista our plan was to pick up our errant luggage in Quito and head south to take the Devil's Nose train ride.  This was not meant to be.  On the outskirts of Quito Puff-Puff, Chuck and Nancy's Korean diesel bit the dust (suspected blown turbo charger) so we had a change of plans.  We ended up staying in Quito two more nights, so Nancy and I went shopping at a nearby market which features goods from the area north of Quito known for textiles. I was on the hunt for Alpaca blankets because two years ago when we were in Cuenca for Independence Day Jim found one of these wonderful blankets and I have been coveting one ever since.  They are not easy to find in the Cuenca area.  I had good success and a fun time bargaining with the merchants.  I bought an Alpaca blanket and challa (shawl) from this vendor.

Nancy and I saw this really amusing display of "monkey workers."

Monkey Dentist

Monkey Dictator?

Monkey Doctor

 Being "stuck" in Quito also gave us a chance to eat a 2nd time at the wonderful sushi restaurant called Noe which was in a nearby mall. Here are some of the architectural wonders this restaurant created:

And it all tasted good, too!

Meanwhile, Chuck arranged for a van and driver to drive us back to Cuenca - some 400+ miles and about 10 hours travel time.  We were so very lucky to have a cheerful tour guide-type van driver and an absolutely gorgeous day.  This was my first sight of an Andean volcano.   Our driver knew every name, the height and the last time each volcano was active.

Our driver pulled off south of Quito so we could get a good view of the city spread out through the valley.  This is just the southern part of this huge city.

Some of the many, many greenhouses where roses are grown for export. A dozen roses cost about $3 in Ecuador.

Our driver educated us that Ecuador is made up of Provinces and many of these are named for the volcanoes.

This is the one volcano that I seem to be able to remember the name of - Cotopaxi.  I have to say it was my favorite, maybe because of the amount of snow and maybe because we got closer to it than the others, or maybe just because it looks so majestic.

And more volcanoes.

This volcano is called Tungurahua and it's steaming

 and in fact the very next day it started erupting further causing an orange alert.  Read more here: 

http://www.news.com.au/world/ecuador-declares-volcano-alert/story-fndir2ev-1226538249098

  
A big topic in Ecuador right now is the revitalization of the train system which has been defunct for many years.  The original train from Quito to points south was built in the early 1900s.  The Ecuadorian government has poured immense resources into re-building all the train tracks and acquiring a new modern train.  Service was to begin in November but it hasn't happened yet.  We followed the new tracks for quite aways.

 And later on we passed by the new train, waiting to start service.
 

 The Pan American highway south of Quito is a really nice, fast highway, and the few places where it slows down to go through small towns the government is investing in bypasses.  Here is a unique style of roadwork.  These workers are NOT wearing safety harnesses.

 The next amusing thing we saw on our journey was this pick up truck ahead of us full of live chickens.

 

 We also saw many instances of people herding their livestock along the shoulder of the highway.  I regret that I didn't get a photo of the herd of running goats, followed by a few cows, a few sheep and 2 llamas.  I also regret that I didn't get a photo of pigs in harnesses being herded ahead of the cows and sheep.  Alas, this was the only photo I did get and I believe these are sheep.

Another roadside attraction - vertical roasted pigs.

Meantime, back to the volcanoes. Switzerland or Ecuador?

Chuck had our driver stop in the town of Guano, known for both leather goods and hand woven rugs.

Jim has been wanting to replace his shoulder bag for years and just hasn't been able to find what he wanted.  He found a wonderful leather bag in Guano within a few minutes of starting his shopping.  The rugs made in this town are really beautiful, thick wool and are of unique designs - truly artisan work.

Guano is a lovely little town with a typical Ecuadorian square and cathedral

and cows.

As we drove farther south we began to see the cloud layer below us which indicated the banana belt at the coast.

 This is how we knew we were nearing the end of our long, long journey south through the Andes.

Audrey

 

THE ADVENTURE TO THE CLOUD FOREST

After a small but necessary amount of sleep the four of us set out in Puff-Puff, Chuck and Nancy's Korean baby SUV.  With a helpful and amusing GPS we made it safely out of Quito and made our first stop at MITAD DEL MUNDO - the middle of the world commonly known as the equator.

Even though it's not the EXACT equator, this is the site that has all the monuments to the early French explorers who "discovered" it. (Meanwhile, less that a km away is the true equator which the natives knew about long before the French).  Here are the French explorers lining up toward the equator monument.

Of course you can't come here and not straddle both hemispheres.  Chuck and Nancy did the honors.

And in case there is any doubt, here's the latitude.

After this exciting diversion (and some refrescos) we went to an overlook of an area where people have settled in a volcanic caldera.  Picture Crater Lake being drained and people farming in the lake bed.

This area is called Pululahua and is known as a geo-botanical area.  On the road once more - our destination Bella Vista Cloud Forest Reserve.  I was pleased to see some amusing things already.

For those of you who haven't read my past Ecuador blogs CUY is the word for Guinea Pig.  Cuy Asado is roasted guinea pig, an Ecuadoran delicacy which I intend to try on this trip.  Also seen on the road was this amazing load of pallets.

We had a beautiful drive through the Andes on our way to the cloud forest and out in the middle of nowhere came upon this little encampment which advertised a restaurant. 

We stopped to see if we could get lunch and the patroness said she would cook for us. She held up a lovely trout and a lovely tilapia and asked if those would be ok.  We said an enthusiastic YES.  Here she is grilling the fish in her wonderful outdoor kitchen.

Here is Jim awaiting lunch with his newly found friend, "lobo."

Somehow we had a language problem and Chuck and Nancy got meat while Jim got a whole Tilapia and I got a whole trout. It was all yummy!

 Meat, mote (hominy), plantains, yucca.

 Trout, plantain, yucca, rice

 Tilapia, plantain, yucca, rice

And for dessert she fresh squeezed a bunch of oranges to make this delicious pitcher of juice.

 

 A very satisfying road-side stop.  Within the hour we were at our destination of Bella Vista, but that is a blog for another day.

Audrey