Trip to Otovalo

We left Loja at 6:00 this morning in order to catch our flight at the airport over the mountain in the next valley. It turned out to be about a 40-minute drive in the taxi, but we got there in time, and because the 7:20 plane was not full, they switched us from the 8:20 flight, and we took off an hour earlier than planned. We could have left the hotel later, except that there were two other women also traveling from Loja to the airport via the same taxi, and they WERE on the 7:20 flight. Anyhow, it all worked out well.

Last night we went out for dinner with Sandra, who we met earlier that day, and she brought along Elsa, her colleague, and a native of Loja. They are working together on a translation project, the nature of which I never asked about. However, we learned a lot about Loja and they helped order vegetables and such for Susan in a way that we could never have managed on our own. They also showed up at the hotel as I was in the process of settling up our bill, and wound up saving me $25 or so on the bill, so I gladly paid for their dinner.

Loja is a town with very few foreigners, so meeting Sandra was somewhat of a fluke. However, it is a very pleasant place, perhaps a little more expensive to live in than Ambato, but comparable to Cuenca, and certainly cheaper than Otovalo, where we are now. It is also lower in elevation, about 6800 feet, and a few degrees warmer, with highs most days close to 80 degrees. If we go back, however, it will be by plane, as the plane trip is about 45 minutes, versus 15 hours or more by bus. Of course, the bus covers at least twice the distance because of the winding terrain. We have done that once, and that is probably enough.

Once we reached Quito, it took two taxi rides to catch a bus to Otovalo, as the first one dropped us off at a bus station where the next bus was not due to leave for hours, and the second one dropped us off on a sidewalk in front of a supermarket, where he assured us, a bus to Otovalo would soon come by, and he even asked a policeman standing there to help us make sure we caught the next one by. We had seen the buses stopping for passengers before, so this was not entirely weird, but still, sitting on the curb in front of a grocery store, waiting for a bus to stop felt a little strange. In any case, it was not more than 15 minutes before a bus showed up, loaded in our suitcases, and we were on our way.

Here in Otovalo, a taxi brought us straight to the Hostel Dona Esther, where we were about ready to collapse. Early morning flights with no breakfast left us worn out, plus Susan is suffering from a little stomach bug, probably from something yesterday. I think she is getting better, but she won´t be sure until she actually is better. The owners of the hostel are American or Canadian, and thus speak fluent English, and I have arranged for her to get vegetables the way she likes them this evening. We hope that will help, along with time.

I would try to post a picture, but once again, I am reduced to using an internet cafe, and transferring pictures will have to wait for another day.