Jan 12, 2007 - The Last Day (Sniff, sniff)!

Today-our last day-was a busy one. We got up at 6 am (!!) so we could get a 7 am bus to Otavalo. Otavalo is a town a couple hours away from Quito with a huge indigenous market . The Otavaleños are known for their weaving - they make carpets and bags and scarves and blankets out of sheep, llama, and alpaca wool. This market is much more of a tourist-oriented market than any other in the country. Even though it's only 2 1/4 hours from Quito, we got caught in traffic and arrived at 10 am, which meant that we had exactly two hours of shopping before we had to get back on the bus, head back to Quito, grab our bags, and head to the airport to go to Guayaquil.
I needed to visit the Immigration office in Guayaquil before it closed that evening. Our flight left the next morning at 8 am, and apparently I wouldn't be allowed out of the country unless I had some kind of form from Immigration showing when I entered the country.

Two hours was not nearly enough time at the market (well, it was enough for Dave, but I had left all my gift buying to the last minute, so it wasn't enough time for me!). When 12:00 struck, we had to leave. The following pictures are of the trip to the market and the market itself. It was a far cry from the indigenous market in Saquisili, that's for certain!










































































































































After visiting the market, we arrived back in Quito, rushed to the hotel where our backpacks were stored, grabbed our bags while a taxi waited, and rushed to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 3:30 pm and somehow managed to get on a 4 pm flight to Guayaquil. The national flights within Ecuador are so easy and hassle-free. Can you imagine showing up at the airport in Canada or the US with no plane ticket, half an hour before a flight is about to leave, and easily getting on the plane easily? We even had time to buy a cup of coffee!

We arrived in Guayaquil, got our bags, got in a taxi, and arrived at the immigration office at 5:45 pm - 15 minutes before it closed. I'll spare you the details, but my experience there was crazy. No one wanted to help me because my police report was from Quito and their office was in Guayaquil. The way they were acting, it was as though the police report was from another country or something! The "boss" was a real jerk who told me I needed to go back to Quito and get some other form from the comisaria there...even though our flight was leaving early the next a.m. and the comisaria was closed. Thank god there was one really nice cop (the National Police run the immigration office) who wanted to help me, and who was also the only cop there who spoke English. He put me in touch with this crazy lawyer, who also wanted to help me and who also spoke a little English. After paying $40 to the lawyer (supposedly the fee for getting documents notarized, but most definitely with a "tip" thrown in for the lawyer's trouble...and I'm ok with that!) and going through a bunch of hassles, we finally walked out of there at almost 8 pm (1.5 hours after the office closed to the public). Apparently, I was very lucky that the lawyer wanted to help me or I wouldn't have been leaving the country! I don't know what the lawyer did, but I know it took a long time and involved a lot of whispering, hiding from the lawyer's boss, and the lawyer leaving the premises for about 30 minutes with my passport and other documents. It also involved me sitting alone upstairs in a weird office with a bunch of cops watching Ecuador play Venezuela in soccer (football) while they talked about me in really fast Spanish, asked me if I understood what they just said, and then laughed about how I couldn't understand them. I was so relieved to walk out of that office when all was said and done!
We quickly found a place to stay, dropped our stuff, and headed out to explore Guayaquil. Guayaquil is the commercial centre of Ecuador and the country's biggest city (2.5 million people). In the late 90s, Guayaquil invested millions to redevelop the city; in particular, the city's waterfront. Now, El Malecón 2000, the boardwalk/park/playground/shopping/
reacreation/museum/garden area along the Rio Guayas, is one of the most important and modern tourist and commercial areas in South America. It is also an incredibly safe area that is gated (it closes at midnight) and crawling with tourist police. All of the night photos up until here were taken on the Malecón 2000.
At the North end of the Malecón is an area called Las Peñas, which sits on a steep hill and is accessed by a seemingly neverending staircase. Las Peñas is the oldest neighbourhood in Guayaquil and has been gentrified in an effort to showcase its beauty. It is a historically important neighbourhood that has been home to many of Ecuador's presidents and other important people. Now, it is a really touristy area that has a lot of trendy restaurants and bars and gift shops.

We were starving and finally found a place to eat in Las Peñas that didn't look touristy and had some local patrons. Wow, was it ever not touristy! Turned out it was someone's living room that had a few plastic tables set up in it. We sat down and the owner -a cranky woman- came over and barked at us, "Pollo, carne, o pescado?" No menu, no mention of side dishes, just chicken, meat, or fish. I got chicken, Dave got "meat," which turned out to be pork. A few minutes later, we were treated to the worst meal in the entire country. I got a thin, greasy, bony piece of fried chicken, two stale plantain chips with mayonaise on them (?), and rice with soupy beans on the side. Ok, I am a sucker for rice and beans, so I did like that part, but Dave didn't. Dave got a greasy-on-the-outside, dry-on-the-inside, fatty, cardboard-thin piece of pork with the same side dishes. Ew. The good news was that we only paid $2 each for the meal. We weren't disappointed that our last meal was gross; in fact, we found it kind of funny.

After supper, we headed back to our hotel and slept. We had to get up at 5:00 am to be at the airport by 6:00 am. The airport was a bit frustrating - apparently the easy, hassle-free flying is only limited to flights within Ecuador. Anyway, we did make it on the plane and I was allowed back into the US with only minor hassle (relating to the fact that I didn't have a work visa - it was lost with my passport).

Ecuador was so amazing. We were both amazed by the richness of experiences the country has to offer and by the kindness and warmth of the people. We both loved this trip and look forward to going back to visit the Galapagos one day. In the meantime, we are already getting excited about our next adventure: This summer we are heading to Eastern Europe! Thanks to all who kept in touch and sent best wishes and comments about our blog and pictures!