Ok, can't wait anymore. I've been trying to upload pics and videos, but the signal is just bad. Doesn't look like I can find a better one either.
March 20, cloudy, cool and it finds me more in a mood to add to my blog than traipsing around town. I owe myself a respite after really outdoing myself yesterday. The feast of St. Joseph's found me taking a great adventure riding a train through the Andes to a little town called Selinas.
It started inocently enough with a $0.35 bus ride to Ibarra, about a half hour from "home". Then a $1 cab ride to the train station. I was told I had to make a reservation and didn't expect to travel yesterday. When I asked for a reservation at the ticket desk the little lady asked, "Hoy?". Well sure, why not? $20 round trip ticket but because I'm old I received a discount of $10. Huh!
The regular train was down for maintenance so a "trolley" was my iron horse for the day.
There were 20 of us or so which gave me the chance to move around to any of the glassless windows for viewing and pictures. We traveled at about 20 mph so it was easy to move around. Holy smoke! Riding on the edge of the Andes, overlooking bottomless ravines and into immense valleys, slipping through long black tunnels and over really rickety tressles I don't know how high up, it was a real kick. The following video shows a great shot of the bridge we were about to cross.
After 2.5 hours we arrived at the very tiny town of Salinas. It has a Negro history and the people there are much darker than others in Ecuador. We were greeted by a number of pretty ladies all decked out in traditional garb and they danced their traditional "Bomba". After a couple of dances they grabbed the hands of a number of tourists and dragged them up to join the dance. Oh yeah, I was one of them. For twenty minutes yours truly did the white man's version of the "Bomba". Hey, this old man can dance. No videos of me dancing, sadly... However here are the young ladies strutting and some of the real Ecuadoreans.
After a soup and porkchop lunch it was off on the return trip. Such a great experience. Hopped a cab and a bus and arrived back home after an eight hour day. Well spent.
Stopped at my gellato spot and the owner gave me a beautiful book of a guide to the traditional parishes of Quito. I told you how friendly these Ecuadorean people are.
What I have learned:
- Met several people living here and scooped their email adresses for future resourcing.
- Streets are all named and houses have numbers. Don't think they deliver mail though.
- Hooked up with an immigration guy who also manages shipping containers.
- Solid Rock Restaurant is the Gringo hangout similar to Grecia's and the best thing is they use real blueberries in their pancakes.
- Blueberries grow in abundance in the mountains and they are all organic and found in the markets.
- I did find a gringo that knows it all, will tell you it all, made and lost fortunes, fought in VN and has PTSD and blames everybody for it. He tried to advise me on investing money, finding women, buying silver and building condos. Cheesh, sometimes I wonder if I have a target on my back. He's the only one though and everyone else I've met could be good friends.
-Only really good art supplies store is in Quito, many hours away.
-Chuck and Gayle, a couple I met a few times and who were staying in my b and b left for home yesterday and gave me a lasoo for my camera so I can hang it around my neck and a bunch of handy things like clothes pins and clothes line. See, most of the ones I've met are amazingly nice.
-I'm really missing my friends in Grecia
Cotacachi as of today: 8 out of 10
Enjoyed the post Joe- hugs from Cali!
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