Day 34: New Years Eve (12/31/09)
Today we wake up and have breakfast at the hotel again. Scrambled eggs, roll, jam, juice and coffee. After breakfast we all get ready and hop in the truck and head to Chordeleg (a town about an hour away known for it's jewelry). I ride in the truck bed again (it's actually a great way to enjoy the ride, aside from being afraid of being badly sunburned).
The drive starts out a little rocky. Brent doesn't know how to get there and doesn't have any way to look it up now that we're already driving. He checks the gas station for a map, but there are none. Margaret's book only has bus directions to Chordeleg.
We manage to find a couple older men, waiting for a bus, that know the way. They hop in the truck bed and we're off.
The one giving Brent directions from the bed loses his hat on the ride. His companion asks if I speak Spanish and when I tell him I don't he asks if I know French. We manage to have about a 2 minute conversation. (My French has all but disappeared).
They hop out and give Brent directions for the rest of the drive. We make it to Chordeleg ok and I realize that it's one of the places that was in the movie I'd watched ("Qué Tan Lejos").
From the minute we drove into town it became obvious that it was a jewelry town. More than half, maybe even more than two thirds, of the businesses were jewelers.
After spending about 20 minutes in one shop, Jack and I went in search of a bathroom. We finally found one for 0.$25 on the outside of the covered/enclosed town market. It was pretty gross, but it did the trick.
When we got back to the jewelry store they were still looking. About another 20-30 minutes later they were finally done there.
Next we headed up the road to look at other jewelers. Elsa and Brent were the only ones planning on buying more jewelry, with something specific in mind. Margaret and Jack suggested drinking a beer somewhere while they look. So, that's what we did.
When we were about half done with our beers the other 3 found us. We finished and went around the corner for some lunch (almuerzo, multi-course lunch special).
The food was pretty good, definitely filling and worth the $1.50 for popcorn, soup, entree with rice and beans, and juice.
After lunch Elsa and Brent went in search of pottery and things for their house. We hit the bathrooms (different ones) again and then sat in the shade in the park.
We saw Brent and Elsa come back for the truck so we walked down to the pottery place and helped load the truck. Off we went, back to Cuenca.
Once we were back Camila and I went to the mall to see "Avatar" and managed to get in this time.
The movie was pretty good, but entirely in Spanish (I got the gist). The theater was less than half full. When we got out, it was after 7 and we had a rough time catching a cab back to the hotel. We got back around 8 and the adults were finally out of bed.
Brent wanted to walk around and take pictures of the different scenes people had created for their paper maché people. There were lots of men dress as women stopping traffic by dancing seductively in front of cars (including cop cars) and then asking for money. There were also a lot of little kids in Halloween costumes.
It seemed that all of the paper maché scenes were politically oriented. At midnight they light them all on fire and shoot fireworks.
The adults all had kabobs from a cart for dinner, but Camila and I weren't hungry yet. We got hot dogs later that were GROSS (but sadly not the grossest I've ever had).
A short while later I was about to have a feminine emergency (T.M.I., sorry) so I headed back to the hotel. I got irritated waiting for Camila to decide if she wanted to come with me of not, so I just left. I got a little lost for a second, but figured it out.
The rest of the group came back a bit later and Jack, Brent, and I went around the corner for some drinks. Elsa doesn't drink and Margaret wasn't feeling well, so they didn't come.
Brent had Amaretto and orange juice, I had a piña colada and Jack had a Cuba Libre. These were the first decent cocktails we'd had (since I got here). Next Jack ordered a margarita and I had a South American drink. My drink was HOT and had sugar cane liquor and maybe peach juice? I don't know, couldn't figure it out and it didn't list ingredients on the menu. Brent called it quits after one and we got a surprise visit from Elsa, who ordered some tea. When we finished we went back to the hotel.
Jack had bought a bottle of champagne and since it was only a few minutes before midnight, insisted that we toast at midnight. I was surprised that he managed to get Brent to agree because of Brent's dislike for champagne. So, at midnight we toasted and then went to bed. The loud fireworks made it a bit more difficult to sleep. Camila had been up waiting for me to get back.
The drive starts out a little rocky. Brent doesn't know how to get there and doesn't have any way to look it up now that we're already driving. He checks the gas station for a map, but there are none. Margaret's book only has bus directions to Chordeleg.
We manage to find a couple older men, waiting for a bus, that know the way. They hop in the truck bed and we're off.
The one giving Brent directions from the bed loses his hat on the ride. His companion asks if I speak Spanish and when I tell him I don't he asks if I know French. We manage to have about a 2 minute conversation. (My French has all but disappeared).
They hop out and give Brent directions for the rest of the drive. We make it to Chordeleg ok and I realize that it's one of the places that was in the movie I'd watched ("Qué Tan Lejos").
From the minute we drove into town it became obvious that it was a jewelry town. More than half, maybe even more than two thirds, of the businesses were jewelers.
After spending about 20 minutes in one shop, Jack and I went in search of a bathroom. We finally found one for 0.$25 on the outside of the covered/enclosed town market. It was pretty gross, but it did the trick.
When we got back to the jewelry store they were still looking. About another 20-30 minutes later they were finally done there.
Next we headed up the road to look at other jewelers. Elsa and Brent were the only ones planning on buying more jewelry, with something specific in mind. Margaret and Jack suggested drinking a beer somewhere while they look. So, that's what we did.
When we were about half done with our beers the other 3 found us. We finished and went around the corner for some lunch (almuerzo, multi-course lunch special).
The food was pretty good, definitely filling and worth the $1.50 for popcorn, soup, entree with rice and beans, and juice.
After lunch Elsa and Brent went in search of pottery and things for their house. We hit the bathrooms (different ones) again and then sat in the shade in the park.
We saw Brent and Elsa come back for the truck so we walked down to the pottery place and helped load the truck. Off we went, back to Cuenca.
Once we were back Camila and I went to the mall to see "Avatar" and managed to get in this time.
The movie was pretty good, but entirely in Spanish (I got the gist). The theater was less than half full. When we got out, it was after 7 and we had a rough time catching a cab back to the hotel. We got back around 8 and the adults were finally out of bed.
Brent wanted to walk around and take pictures of the different scenes people had created for their paper maché people. There were lots of men dress as women stopping traffic by dancing seductively in front of cars (including cop cars) and then asking for money. There were also a lot of little kids in Halloween costumes.
It seemed that all of the paper maché scenes were politically oriented. At midnight they light them all on fire and shoot fireworks.
The adults all had kabobs from a cart for dinner, but Camila and I weren't hungry yet. We got hot dogs later that were GROSS (but sadly not the grossest I've ever had).
A short while later I was about to have a feminine emergency (T.M.I., sorry) so I headed back to the hotel. I got irritated waiting for Camila to decide if she wanted to come with me of not, so I just left. I got a little lost for a second, but figured it out.
The rest of the group came back a bit later and Jack, Brent, and I went around the corner for some drinks. Elsa doesn't drink and Margaret wasn't feeling well, so they didn't come.
Brent had Amaretto and orange juice, I had a piña colada and Jack had a Cuba Libre. These were the first decent cocktails we'd had (since I got here). Next Jack ordered a margarita and I had a South American drink. My drink was HOT and had sugar cane liquor and maybe peach juice? I don't know, couldn't figure it out and it didn't list ingredients on the menu. Brent called it quits after one and we got a surprise visit from Elsa, who ordered some tea. When we finished we went back to the hotel.
Jack had bought a bottle of champagne and since it was only a few minutes before midnight, insisted that we toast at midnight. I was surprised that he managed to get Brent to agree because of Brent's dislike for champagne. So, at midnight we toasted and then went to bed. The loud fireworks made it a bit more difficult to sleep. Camila had been up waiting for me to get back.
Day 35: Feliz Año Nuevo y Prospero Año (01/01/10)
Forced to wake up early again. Today since nothing would be open we had planned a trip to the Cajas National Park. After some difficulty finding our way there, we finally made it. The entrance fee for a non-resident was $10 and you got a nice map/brochure of/about the park.
It became apparent that this was not the same part of the park we'd driven through on the bus. The land was drier with sparser trees, but lots of lakes.
We were supposedly here to hike, but I think anything less than 2o minutes doesn't really count. We walked around, then at lunch, then walked some more.
There were beautiful views all around. The highest point we made it to was about 13,900 feet. Brent had his heart set on 14,00, but all of those points were on real hikes which we didn't have the time for today.
So we headed back to Cuenca. Camila begged me to let her sit in the truck bed and I reluctantly agreed. Camila is great, but I've spent literally all of my time with her (we were even sharing a hotel room).
When we got back to Cuenca Elsa, Brent, Camila and I went for a walk. We were headed back to the hotel to get Margaret and Jack for dinner when we saw them in a bar/restaurant on the way.
We all stopped in and decided to eat there.
Most of us ordered burritos. They were alright, no sour cream though.
After dinner we headed to the hotel for a walk.
We didn't end up walking far before we ran into a double-decker tour bus about to start a free tour of part of the city. So we hopped on the bus. We sat on the open 2nd level. They handed out whistles and pins to everyone and then we began our tour.
The city looks nice at night and the bus ride was pleasant. There was one street we went down that we had to duck to avoid hitting out heads on electrical wires (some of which are bare, with no coating), that was the only sketchy part.
Once off the bus we walked back to the hotel and called it a night.
It became apparent that this was not the same part of the park we'd driven through on the bus. The land was drier with sparser trees, but lots of lakes.
We were supposedly here to hike, but I think anything less than 2o minutes doesn't really count. We walked around, then at lunch, then walked some more.
There were beautiful views all around. The highest point we made it to was about 13,900 feet. Brent had his heart set on 14,00, but all of those points were on real hikes which we didn't have the time for today.
So we headed back to Cuenca. Camila begged me to let her sit in the truck bed and I reluctantly agreed. Camila is great, but I've spent literally all of my time with her (we were even sharing a hotel room).
When we got back to Cuenca Elsa, Brent, Camila and I went for a walk. We were headed back to the hotel to get Margaret and Jack for dinner when we saw them in a bar/restaurant on the way.
We all stopped in and decided to eat there.
Most of us ordered burritos. They were alright, no sour cream though.
After dinner we headed to the hotel for a walk.
We didn't end up walking far before we ran into a double-decker tour bus about to start a free tour of part of the city. So we hopped on the bus. We sat on the open 2nd level. They handed out whistles and pins to everyone and then we began our tour.
The city looks nice at night and the bus ride was pleasant. There was one street we went down that we had to duck to avoid hitting out heads on electrical wires (some of which are bare, with no coating), that was the only sketchy part.
Once off the bus we walked back to the hotel and called it a night.
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