Had a nice sleep in (another night in the dorm room on my own) and awoke to a rainy day. I headed down to the Old Town and went straight to the Presidential Palace to see the Changing of the Guard which takes place every Monday at 11am. Despite the rain, the plaza was full of over excited Ecuadorians. In amongst dodging umbrellas it was quite an amazing sight. Not quite on the grand scale of England’s Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, but fairly impressive none the less. The President, Rafael Correa came out on the balcony and stayed there the entire time. Everyone was cheering and there were people with banners and lots of young women swooning and lots of old women crying! It’s apparently quite a big thing for Ecuadorians to see. Gabi was telling me how popular he is amongst most people (with the exception of the very wealthy) and how he is the first President in about 15-20 years that the people like and haven’t kicked out of office. He has tried to get rid of corruption, improved education, health, reduced poverty and unemployment and generally trying to bring the country up to first world standards. It was fairly obvious just how popular he is given how wet I got as did all the people who were there to see him.
From there I headed over to the La Marsical area and had lunch in a cheap, local hamburger place. I decided to walk there because after yesterdays efforts, I am clearly not as fit as I’d like to be and don’t want to be struggling when I do the Inca Trail and Patagonia. Walking around relatively flat areas is easy though so maybe I need to walk around the Old Town some more. For lunch I ordered the Pollo burger which was ok. From there I tried to find the national Park office but as luck would have it, it doesn’t exist anymore. Instead there was a travel agency there and I spoke to them about visiting a Park south of Quito but its so complicated on how to get there (combination of bus, hiring a passing by vehicle and negotiating a price (basically like hitchhiking only paying for it) and walking) and I have to book in 24hrs in advance, that I have decided not to go. It sounded great, but if the rest of this week stays wet, then I can’t see myself enjoying it all that much.
From there I headed to the supermarket and had a look around and then went to some craft market stalls and did some shopping. It was starting to get cold and dark so I headed back to the hostel. I had dinner at the hostel for the first time (chicken pie) and it was really nice. I could have eaten twice as much, but it’s the first dinner I’ve eaten in a week, so I must be getting my appetite back! I finally heard back from the Zoo with confirmation of me going there to volunteer but am only going for two days now as there aren’t enough days left in the week to go for longer. So I will be there Wed/Thurs this week.
Another cold shower and a room to myself!
No comments:
Post a Comment