31.7.08

Intag region - Apuela

The overview of Apuela.


Apuela in spanish is similar to grandmother (Abuela). This 'little' village actually is already the 'largest' village in the Intag region. When we needed to buy food or had a lunch, we had to take a half an hour of bus to Apuela. Or by walking.

We did the walking from Santa Rosa to Apuela for the first time, so as to have some trekking and have a overview of the whole region. Though we breathed in lots of polluted air (as we walked along the main road), and we walked for 3 hours, the view was really fantastic and I would do that again if I had one more chance.

Besides the forest, the unknown name of trees and butterflies, we found the 'face' which protecting Apuela. I know if we go to Apuela by bus, we will never have such a clear encounter with the face!

The 'face' which protecting Apuela.


After we moved away from Santa Rose to Apuela, we even had a chance to hike up the mountain by crossing the nose of the 'face'. The hike was really demanding and dangerous, as it was so steep and it would have landslides very often in the rainy season. We all said we didn't want to hike up again! So we couldn't imagine how the local people could go up and down every day in their lives (as when we hiked up to the top after 1 hour, we found there was a small village up there, it was called Apuela Vieja, means the old Apuela)!

Later we found we were lucky enough to be in the fiesta, as it was the over 100 years of anniversary of Apuela. The people here decorated their homes beautifully and were waiting to drink and dance crazily.

Enjoying my cup of famous Intag coffee in Apuela(And I tried to read the Harry Potter again, but in Espanol, but it was too difficult for my level).


But we were only able to attend the opening of the fiesta, which was introduced by the dancing of the local people and the election of the 'Miss Apuela'. And I was lucky enough to get a rose threw out by the Miss Apuela of last year.

The 'Miss Apuela' of last year.



Actully, the climax of the fiesta should be on Saturday, there was also the bullfight. But as my friends were not big fans of fiesta and we were afraid it would be more dangerous as the people got drunken, so on the contrary of the crowd flooding into Apuela, we just left this small village. And I just went back to Otavalo to prepare for the start of my Spanish class again.

Intag region - Santa Rosa

The quiet morning of Santa Rosa.


As we wanted to escape from the big city, so we just followed the map of Mel and jumped on a bus going to Santa Rosa, although we didn't know how Santa Rosa looked like and was there any hostels.

After about 2 hours of bumping road, we finally arrived Santa Rosa, a village which really gave us a big surprise. Because we found this village was so scattered and there are only 50 people living here.

Santa Rosa is situated in the cloud forest of Intag, so despite the sunshine and blue sky in the morning, the afternoon is always overcast. And the region is rich of minerals, so there was the conflict between the Japanese/ Canada companies with the local people a few years ago. Luckily, the local people was able to protect this region, so now we can enjoy the beautiful forest here.

Luckily, we met the friendly local guy, Milton, who offered us to live in the house of his friend. So we were settled down in Santa Rosa finally. Milton has 2 sons, the little one, Robertito, is just 5 years old. He has a pair of big eyes, just likes his mother. And he is so cute, always comes to our house and chases the hens.

My lovely Robertito.


The nice family - mother, Robertito and the cute little dog, bobby.

Otavalo

Street scene of market in Otavalo

After leaving Quito, I went to Otavalo, which was 95km north of Quito. It was famous for its Saturday market because all tourists would be dizzled by it's indigenous and colourful crafts and textiles.

The animal market in the early morning.

The fruit market.



The dream catchers in the handicraft market.

The colourful indigenous hats.


As I still has a long journey to go, so I put lots of effort stoping myself to buy any beautiful crafts here, so as not to increase the burden of my backpack.(So my friends, don't expect any sourvenirs from me, hehe)

Sometimes I found it really confusing for the price the vendors asked for. Normally, I think the price should be cheaper later at the day as most tourists have gone (the logic of the 'flower market' in HK), but I found it didn't apply here. It's seems they don't have a logic to price. Sometimes the price go up crazily when compared with the morning.

But the better way to bargin I think it's starting from half of the price they asked for, just like the vendors in some tourist place in China. I found this market was really huge, it spreaded from the plaza to all the streets surrounding, from animal market, to fruit/wet markets to all the handicrafts, it was so amazing! After the Saturday market has gone, I was really not used to the empty streets!

But as I live here for a longer time for the spanish classes, I know myself like the week days of Otavalo rather than the weekend as it's much more quiet and peaceful. And I like here more than Quito as the people are so friendly, the streets are less dangerous (I don't need to worry about walking alone here) and the air is less polluted.

17.7.08

A Move

A moment between new and old,Iglesia de Santo Domingo in the old city.

After learning Spanish for nearly 3 weeks, I will have a little change here.

As I have some troubles with the home stay family, just not so compatible with the older generation (it is always the case for me), though I love the food so much that is cooked by the home stay mum (or 'grandmum' more properly), I need some 'fresh air', both in the sense of countryside fresh air and fresh air of my freedom.

I have thought about it over and over, I paid my cost of giving up all the things in Hong Kong and I also paid for the home stay or studying. If I feel uncomfortable, I can just leave, anytime, to anywhere.

Another reason for my move is that I study too much Spanish and I have no time to digest. So I would like to take this chance to practise my Spanish and absorb what I have learnt.

So I have decided to take a break after this Friday, I will travel for a week with Mel. We will go to Otavalo, which is in the North of Quito and travel around the places and forest nearby. Then I will look for the Spanish school or again, home stay family in Otavalo. As Otavalo is a little town in the countryside and there are lots of highland indians people living there, I hope I can have a brand new vision of Ecuador, not only the big city and the pollution in Quito. And I hope I can live with the indian family there. Otherwise, I can just come back to Quito, and restart my studying in the same school again.

I hope I will have good luck!

La Mitad de Mundo

After a tough walk to the El Panecillo, I did a standard tourist tour on last Sunday. The Austria couple, Manuela, Andreas, Mel and me went to the La Mitad de Mundo, which situates the park and the monument of the equator, which was determined in 1736. Though later people found that it is still not the exact location of the equator, but they agreed that the monument could be within 150m with GPS measurements.

The Equator

We paid $2 for entering the park, just took some standard pictures and we found the park was really boring. But it was funny that when you crossed the equator, then you would be in the northern hemisphere. And you could also just step one leg to the northern hemisphere and remained half of your body to the southern hemisphere.

After the park, we tried to go to watch the Volcan Pululahua and the ruin of the Inca, but we failed. For the ruin, we didn't get a good map, and it was not mentioned in detail in our books. For the Volcan, we found ourselves just in the middle of heavy mist and clouds and can only see our figures in front of us. Actually, we should went there in the morning so as to avoid the heavy mist. But it was funny though, as we were just making fun of ourselves in the mist.

So sweet in the mist

Actually, able to see the Volcan or not is not important to me, the most important thing is I can enjoy my time with my friends.

El Panecillo

Last Saturday, I and Melanie, who is also living in the same family with me, went to the top of the small hill in the south. The name of the hill is called El Panecillo, which means little bread loaf in English, and there is the Virgen of Quito standing on the top of the hill, overlooking the whole old city of Quito and looking eyes to eyes with the La Basilica at the opposite.

Virgen of Quito We used an hour to walk from our home to the old city, and then we used another 45 mins to walk up to the hill. It was such a tough work, as the altitude here is near 3000m over the sea level, so I though we were just like climbing a 1000m mountain and had climbed for 2 hours!

Can you see the La Basilica in the middle(though it becomes small now)?


But just like I went up to the top of the La Basilica last time, you will be rewarded for such a tough walk. The view over the top of El Panecillo is so splendid, besides I can have a look of the old city, I can also go to the back of the hill where situates even much more houses outside the New and the Old city. I can see the colourful houses all situated in the middle of the volcano, Volcan Pichincha and the small river running.

I and Mel were sitting on the grass for half an hour, just listened to the bird singing and enjoying the nice view of the city. Though it was not as sunny and beautiful as the weekend before, I still treasure the little peacefulness in my heart.

Pleasant flowers resting on my bag

7.7.08

The old city of Quito

Quito is divided mainly into two parts, the old city and the new city, the later consisted most of the hostels, hotel and travel agencies for tourists. And the old city consists of many colonial houses, muesums and catherdals. And the whole old city is built on the slopes, so you always need to go up and down when you walking around the city.

The biggest catherdal in the old city is La Basilica. It also offers a spendid and 360 degree view from the top of the catherdal over the old city. But for people who afraid of height, who better see the pictures instead, because you have to climb on 3 very steep staircases. This is the price you need to pay for the wonderful view.

Inside La Basilica

One of my friends who really can´t handle such staircase and give up to see the overview of the old city, what a pity.

Overview of the old city, Quito.

The weather in Quito is much more pleasant than in HK. Always blue blue sky when there is no cloud. And the climate is quite dry, you don´t even sweat for a day. However, when it´s cloudy, the temperature can be much lower, so I always wear in layers and bring my jacket along with me. It is because sometimes it is very warm when I go to school in the morning, but it can become quite windy and cold when I go home after school.

6.7.08

My student lives in Quito

Quito is famous for studying spanish especially for the gringlos (just like we call them gwailo), there are over 80 spanish schools in Quito and the prices varies from 4 to 15 usd per hour. It´s very cheap, right? And it´s even a one to one class, so the teacher can take care of the progress of every student.

My school, Beraca:


Every day, I study from 9am to 1pm and we will have a 20mins break at 11am. So we can noramlly chat with other students during the break (of cos, we use English instead of Spanish, haha).

Students are from everywhere and each have different purposes of learning Spanish. Some just learn Spanish for 1 week so as to travel around South America. Some just learn so as to kill time as friends are working here. Some just like me, interested in the language and also think it is useful to speak Spanish when travelling around South America.

Here is my first composition in Espanol: "Mi vida en Quito" (I think only Juan can read it?:) )

Yo vine a Quito el treinta de Junio, comienzo a estudiar Espanol en la escuela de Beraca. Me profesora es Patti. Nosotras empezamos a estudiar de nueve de la manana a una en la tarde. Hay otros estudiantes de paises como Gran Bretana, Austria y Suecia. Yoy al cafe de internet despues de estudiar Espanol. escribo las cartas a mis amigos y escribo el diario a verces. Voy a la casa y meriendo a las seis.