After the beauty of Quilotoa we weren’t sure where to head for our last few days. Much poring over maps round the wood burner finally deciding that it would be good to see Cuenca and surrounding area. It’s a very long (and winding) road round the other side of the mountain (8 hours) so we stopped off half way at the small town of Guamote. We lucked in on all levels, first of all we were spotted by Eva as we drove slowly through town. She runs the local guesthouse. Inti Sisa has a small entrance on a narrow street but inside is large, bright and very welcoming. It’s more expensive than most hostels ($99) for a family room but the profits go back into running a school and supporting other community projects. The evening meal was delicious and the hot toddy served by the fire was even better.
The second piece of luck was that Tom (also from Inti Sisa) gave us a map for a beautiful walk along the river, up to the top (3900m) and back through the indigenous village. The sun was shining and the views were beautiful. I did come much closer than I would have liked to being bitten by an angry dog but once in 3 weeks isn’t too bad (more about scary dogs to come).
And finally it’s one of the largest indigenous markets in the area every Thursday. So before the second leg of our journey to Cuenca we explored the jammed streets packed with stalls selling everything from Alpaca blankets to shoes, traditional clothing and cheap watches. Not to mention men on bikes with large trailers on the front loaded with goods hurtling down the streets at high speed. They appeared to have no brakes just a horn so it was a straightforward case of leap out the way or get flattened. The one photo we managed to get doesn’t do it justice, even more threatening than the dogs. We bought shawls, jumpers and persuaded Cara not to buy a watch!
Final stop was the animal market, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, donkeys all being bought and sold. Colour, noise, smells, definitely an experience that bridges the gap between cute furry animals and food. Whatever your views on meat eating I can say that these animals are treated with more respect and kindness than any mass farmed animal in Europe. Piglets, sheep and calves on leads walking down the street with their new owners where they live as part of the family with their babies alongside them. Hens being cuddled under shawls and jackets. Not so sure about the guinea pigs and rabbits, being bundled into sacks. We even saw a man (bottom picture) with a box of snakes large and small but due to our poor Spanish we couldn’t work out whether he was putting on a show, selling snakes, or selling snake oil.
As I mentioned earlier we stayed in a family room at the hostel, a cosy room but a restless night as Drew’s GCSE results would hopefully be waiting on my email when we woke up. By 6.00am all hope of sleep was gone and a very happy Drew opened a fantastic set of results. Celebrations tonight when we get to Cuenca.
One of the funnier moments of our trip was that Eva had a horse recovering from colic which needed further treatment. So Geoff the “resident horse expert” stepped in and spent the evening practicing his skills. As well as running Inta Sisi, and fund raising for the community school Eva rescues dogs, cats, llamas and pigs, just about anything that needs it. She drove Geoff to her house whilst 2 of her dogs ran alongside the truck. Driving onto her property without running anything over was a serious challenge (apparently one dog has a missing tail after an unfortunate altercation with her truck). Anyway you will be pleased to know that the horse made a full recovery and Geoff dispensed the useful guidance that it probably wasn’t necessary to bring it into the house for the night! You meet some eccentric people when you travel but the world is definitely a better place with people like Eva in it.
Pirate Travels 