Winding down in Otavalo....

and getting ready to return to the real world. We arrived in Otavalo from the Hacienda in Cayambe today and we will leave tomorrow at 1pm to return to Quito. Otavalo is pretty cool, I am sitting in an internet cafe right now. They charge a dollar or so for an hour of usage, which is not to bad.

We are in Otavalo to view the local market and buy some things. I am pretty much done shopping but I will probably pick up one or two more things. I have replenished my supply of meds (depo provera) to be exact. In the States, this cost me 60 bucks, 30 when I order it online from Costa Rica, and 11.44 when I fly to Ecuador and get it myself. Yes, we Americans subsidize the drug costs for the rest of the world. So, I have bought a 2 year supply of the depo and I am good.

Haven´t seen a whole lot that is new in the last few days, but that is the way it is with most long vacations. After a while the sites start to repeat themselves. And, you might not belive this but I am actually tired of taking pictures. I have taken over 1k and I really have no desire to put a camera to my eye anymore. I am very glad that I have one extra day in Quito after the tour ends and I have one day off when I return home before I have to go back to work.

Oh, the Hacienda where we stayed was pretty amazing. They have done little to restore the buildings and it was amazing to walking through them and still see the old paint and furniture that has been there for many, many years. I have no idea how long because the people that work there speak no english so we were on our own. I also walked around the grounds and found several trails that took me to higher and higher elevations.

Today, we were back at about 12k feet when we went to see some volcano. Again, we drove a while, turned a corner and it was freezing. The fog rolled in and out within a matter of 5 minutes. Then we came back down the mountain and the temperature increased by at least 15 degrees and the rain stopped. I cannot express to you how incredibly sudden the temperature changes are around here. Yesterday, I was sitting by the pool at the Hacienda and it was soooo warm. Just like Otown. Some one walked in and said, this humidity in here is unbearable. I said, are you kidding, this is how I live. I stayed by the pool for about 4 hours yesterday. Sun, as we know it, does not happen in Ecuador (maybe the Galapagos). It is only sunny for a few hours a day if that and the temp will reach the mid 70s. As I sit here in this cafe, car are driving by, picture the tiny European streets that you have seen in the movies, the door is wide open (like a garage door) and I am freezing. Amazingly, I feel pretty good about being here. I know I have said this before but the people are so friendly, there are no stares or odd looks (except for the one time the lady recoiled in fear when I asked what she was doing) I just feel like I fit right in. If I could deal with the weather, and I cannot, I could live here.

Another thing about Ecuador, as we have covered about 5 of the major cities, the people look distinctly different in the various cities and the cities also have their own distinct ambience. Right now, I hear loud music coming from a car that is sitting in traffic and I just heard the honk of an emergency vechicle. However, we have also stayed in towns where we have seen very few cars and emergency vehicles were unheard of. We have also stayed in hotels where there was no phone in our room.

At the Hacienda, I was having some trouble catching every 3rd breathe, a common problem at higher altitudes, and I thought hmmmm.....we are out in the middle of no where, and there is no phone in this room. The only staff was the night security guard. I prayed I would make it til morning, then I fell asleep....heeee. The next day, several people said they had the same problem. I am taking Diamox to prevent altitude sickness but the short, shallow breathes and having a hard time catching a breathe cannot be cured with meds. Time is the only solution.

My buddy Bernhard left on Jan 1 to return to Austria. I miss him a lot because he made me laugh and he had some interesting things to say. A few of my buddies in the group bought me a stuffed doll as a replacement. There is a story behind the stuffed doll - they get burned at midnight of the new year. So, it was only named Bernhard until 1155 then they wrote the names of people they dislike on it and set it on fire. At least that´s what I was told because I went to bed. Had some food that did not agree with me. So, I slept through the New Year at the Hacienda.

Well, that´s it for now. I will see you all in a few days. I must go and get under the covers and warm up.

Good nite.