¡Que lindo es mi Quito!

Mõned päevad tagasi käisin Omar'iga (mu siinne ainus pereliige) ühel Quito vaateplatvormil, kust avanes võrratu vaade öisele Quitole. Lõputult tulesid ja suurepärane Quito vanalinn! Linn oli inimestest üsna tühi ja õhk soe. Üldse on siin viimastel päevadel 24 kraadi sooja olnud ja sadanud üksnes pärastlõunal. Mõnus!Seekord taipasin kaamera kaasa võtta ja seega jagan seda imelist vaadet teiega:)

Toredat nädalavahetust!

L.

Vaade vanalinnale/ The view on the old town

El Panecillo

Tänav vanalinnas/ A street in the old town

La Basilica

My hostbrother, Omar, took me to one of the viewpoints in Quito a few days ago. The view was amazing! Lots of streetlights and historical buildings. The city was pretty empty and the evening was warm. The weather has been quite good for the past few days, 24 degrees and it's only rained in the afternoons. Great! I luckily remembered to take my camera with me this time and thus I'll share the nice view with you :)

Have a great weekend!

L.

Riobamba

Sõna Riobamba pärineb kahest sõnast – rio, mis hispaania keeles tähendab jõge, ning bamba, mis ketšua keeles tähendab orgu. (Mõnikord kutsutakse Friobamba’ks kuna kõrguse tõttu on seal üsna jahe ehkki soojem kui Quitos, frio tähendab külm hispaania keeles). Nõnda paikneb Riobamba 3.5 tunni kaugusel Quitost, jõe lähedal ning mägede vahel. Linn on koloniaalstiilis nagu Cuenca’gi, ent turistide poolt praktiliselt avastamata. Laupäeviti käib linna keskuses paikneval turul tihe sagimine, pärismaalased müüvad kõike mis lähiümbruses või veidi kaugemal kasvab. Linn lõhnab koriandri (maitsetaim, mida siin peaaegu kõikides toitudes kasutatakse) järgi, ning pisikesed murjamid mängivad müügilettide vahel peitust.  Lihaletis raiutakse värskemaid tükke ja kaubeldakse siseorganitega. Kui ma Ecuarorist taimetoitlasena tagasi ei tule, siis on see ime. Päriselt!

Inimesed on Riobambas lahked, ent me ei võtnud peaaegu 5 tunnist teekonda ette pelgalt Riobamba külastamiseks. Nimelt väljus sealt varem rong Nariz del Diablo (Saatana nina) nimelisele teele. Maailma üks ohtlikumaid raudteid, kus kallak on tavalise 1% asemel 6% ning kõige järsem osa teest läbitakse siksak tehnikas. Rong on veel kuulus selle poolest, et sõitu oli varem võimalik katusel nautida. Kahjuks said kaks inimest mõned aastad tagasi toimunud õnnetuses surma ja katusel sõitmine on nüüdseks keelatud. Ka aknast ei tohi välja upitada, kuna tee on kohati üsna kitsas.

Niisiis veetsime laupäeva õhtu Riobambas karaoket lauldes, kuna kõik muud kohad olid kinni, ja pühapäeva hommikul sõitsime Alausi’sse. Sõit pidi kestma kaks tundi, ent kuna juht ei olnud ilmselt pidurist midagi kuulnud ja kogu tee oli allamäge, jõudsime kohale tunniga. Alausi oli veelgi autentsem, kohalikud tegid rahvariietes sisseoste ja sõid traditsioonilist toitu. Turud on siin ikka toredad! Ainus vaatamisväärsus linnas oli mäe otsas paiknev kuju ning enamik turiste satub sinna vaid rongisõidu tõttu.

Kuna teadsin, et Nariz del Diablo on turistide seas väga populaarne broneerisin piletid juba mõned päevad varem. Kohale jõudes selgus, et meile oli üks koht vähem kinni pandud ja et ühtegi vaba istekohta pole... Imekombel õnnestus neil meile aga üks koht kuidagi juurde saada ning pärast hommikusööki alustasime teekonda. Rong oli 50ndatest aastatest, ent renoveeritud ja väga turistlik. Ilm oli ilus ja vaade super! Mäest alla jõudes nägime kuulsat Nariz del Diablo mäge, mis on väidetavalt oma nime saanud sellest, et tuhanded inimesed, kes püssirohuga raudteed ehitasid,  seal töötamise käigus surma said. Seejärel sõime lõunaoodet ning vaatasime kuidas kohalikud rahvariietes tantsisid.  Üks meeldejäävamaid elamusi, kahju ainult et katusele ei saanud minna J

L.

Riobamba

Turul/ At the market

Toiduturg/ Food market

Varemed/ Ruins

Riobamba

Vasakult: Simon(Saksamaa), Hannes(Rootsi), Mina(Eesti), Silja(Island), Sonja(Saksamaa), Tim(Saksamaa)/ From the left: Simon(Germany), Hannes(Sweden), Me(Estonia), Silja(Iceland), Sonja(Germany), Tim(Germany)

Alausi

Kotitäis kartuleid?/ A bag of potatoes?

Maitsetaimed/ Herbs

Rong/ The train

Siksak/ Zigzag

Lõputud mäed/ Endless mountains

Nariz del Diablo on parempoolne mägi/ Nariz del Diablo is the mountain on the right

Rongijaamas/ At the train station

Kuus õnnelikku reisijat :)/ Six happy passengers :)

Rööpad/ Rails

Juhuslik poos/ Accidental pose

Kuju keset linna/ A statue in the middle of the town

Takso?/ Taxi?

The word Riobamba is made of two words – rio, which means river in Spanish, and bamba, which means valley in Quechua. (Riobamba is sometimes called Friobamba because it’s usually quite cold over there due to the hight, although it’s warmer than in Quito, frio means cold in Spoanish)Thus, Riobamba is located 3.5 hours away from Quito, its close to a river and surrounded by mountains. The city itself is in colonial style just like Cuenca, yet it’s almost undiscovered by tourists. There are usually lots of people at the Saturday market, the Indigenous sell everything that grows closer or further from Riobamba. The city smells of coriander (a herb that is used in almost all the dishes) and the children play hide-and-seek. The vendors chop the freshest pieces ofmeat at the meat stands and people bargain with inner organs. It’s a miracle if I will not leave Ecuador as a vegetarian. Seriously!

People are extremely kind in Riobamba, however, we didn’t spend almost 5 hours on different buses just to see Riobamba. Namely a train to Nariz del Diablo (the devil’s nose) used to leave from Riobamba. It’s one of the most dangerous railways in the world, the descent is 6% instead of the usual 1% and the steepest part of the trail is surpassed in a zigzag technique. The train is also famous for its rooftop. It is unfortunately not allowed to sit on the rooftop anymorethough due to an accident that happened a few years ago when two passengers died. It’s not even allowed to reach out of the window, because the trail is quite narrow.

We spent Saturday evening in Riobamba singing karaoke, since all the other places were closed, and left for Alausi on Sunday morning. The bus ride was supposed to take 2 hours, but it only took us an hour since the bus driver had probably never  heard of breaks and the road was downhill. Alausi was even more authentic than Riobamba, the locals were dressed in traditional clothes and enjoyed typical Ecuadorian food. The markets here are so great! The only sight in town was a statue on top of a hill and most of the tourists only visit Alausi to take the famous train.

I booked the tickets a few days in advance since I knew it is pretty popular. It came as no surprise to me that the train was fully booked. Unfortunately they had booked us one less seat though... Somehow they arranged us an extra seat, we had some breakfast and were ready to go. The train was built in the 50s, but it has been renovated and looks as new. The weather was great and the views amazing! We saw the famous mountain called Nariz del Diablo when we got down to the other train station. Apparently it’s named so because thousands of people died building the railroad. We had some  brunch, saw a dance performance by the locals and took the train back up the mountains. We had such a great day!  It’s a pity we couldn’t go to the roof though J

L.

Töö, salsa ja keelevahetus/ Work, salsa and language exchange

Viimased kaks nädalat olen hommikupoolikuti üksi tööl olnud, kuna Gina, mu ülemus, ning Xime, sissetulevate vabatahtlike koordineerija, olid Saksamaal konverentsil ja Carolina, väljaminevate vabatahtlike koordineerija, töötab üksnes pärastlõunal, kuna hommikuti käib ülikoolis. Niisiis minu teha oli kõige muu hulgas ka telefoni vastu võtta ja siis aru saada keda täpselt taheti või mis informatsiooni vaja on. Enamasti saadi mu hispaania keelest õnneks aru J

Mis ma siis veel teinud olen... Kuna 5 lühiajalist vabatahtlikku on oma töö siin lõpetanud, viisin nendega läbi lahkumiseelse seminari ja organiseerisin neile transpordi. Tegelesin finantsasjadega, vabatahtlike, perekondade ja projektide andmebaasidega ja muude pisiasjadega, mis kontoris tegemist vajasid. Lisaks korraldasin vabatahtlikele fotokonkursi ning kultuuriürituse, mille raames me vanalinnas jazz kontserdil käisime. Sel nädalal külastan veel mõnda vabatahtlikku, et neid intervjueerida ning järgmisel nädalal peaks meie kauaoodatud video kodulehe tarbeks lõpuks valmis saama J

Mu päevad Ecuadoris ei lõppe aga tööpäeva lõppedes. Iga kuu esimesel teisipäeval saan teiste vabatahtlikega kokku. Tavaliselt õhtustame pizza restoranis, eelmisel korral otsustasime aga Mehhiko toidu kasuks ning jazz kontsert vanalinnas toimus samuti teisipäeval. Kolmapäeviti võtan mõnede teiste vabatahtlikega kesklinnas salsa tunde, pärast mida me mõnikord salsa klubis kohalikega harjutamas käime. Ehkki oleme vaid neli tundi võtnud on põhisammud ja pöörded juba selged ning sammude vähesus tantsimist ei takista.

Mõned nädalad tagasi avastasin sellise asja nagu keelevahetus (või kuidas seda eesti keeles nimetatakse?). Ehk et neljapäeviti saan ühes siinses Itaaliapärases kohvikus kokku inimestega, kes kas siis hispaania, inglise või mõnda muud keelt praktiseerida soovivad. Nõnda räägime tunni ühes, tunni teises keeles, sageli kauemgi J Lisaks on üritusel aeg-ajalt ka teema, ühel korral räägiti bonsai taimedest ja Jaapani keelest ning mõned nädalad enne seda tantsiti salsat.

Ilm on siin mõnevõrra päikselisem, kui möödunud kuul. Täna paistis näiteks päike ja oli 24 kraadi. Mõnus! Eriti tore on see, et töötan pargi kõrval ja seega saan lõunapausi ajal parki minna. Mõnikord saame teiste vabatahtlikega pärast tööd pargis kokku ja naudime head ilma ning sööme jäätist. Õhtuti  üritan mõnikord hispaania keelseid filme vaadata. Hollywoodi filmid, millele on hispaania keelne tekst peale loetud on eriti veidrad, aga see-eest laiendavad sõnavara. Vahel mõtlen, et peaks ehk hispaania keele tunde võtma hakkama, et grammatikat harjutada ja sõnavara laiendada, kuna igapäevased asjad saan hispaania keeles ilusti aetud, ent võiks ju rohkem osata J

Täna hommikul, kui üsna mitu bussi minust peatumata mööda kihutasid ja ma peaaegu tööle hiljaks jäin, kuna teed oli täiesti võimatu ületada, leidsin, et need üksikud bussipeatused ja ülekäigurajad mis siin on, on täiesti otstarbetud. Sageli ei hoolita isegi valgusfooridest, keegi peab vilega keset teed seisma ja märku andma, kui tohib sõita. Kaos tipptunnil J

Nädalavahetusest juba varsti!

L.

Quito äärelinn, inimesed teed ületamas/ Suburb of Quito, people crossing the street

Kõrvaltänav/ A street near my house

 I’ve spent the last two weeks almost alone at the office, because Gina, my boss, and Xime, the coordinator of incoming volunteers, were at a conference in Germany and Carolina, the coordinator of outgoing volunteers, only works in the afternoons, because she has to attend lectures in the mornings. Thus amongst all the other things I also had to answer the phone and understand what the people wanted. Luckily most of them understood my Spanish :)

What else have I done... I had to organize a pre-departure training and the pick-ups for 5 volunteers who had finished their voluntary work here and were leaving. I also had to deal with some financial issues, the databases of volunteers, families and projects and some other smaller things that needed to be done at the office. Furthermore, I organized a photo competition and a cultural event for the volunteers. They were both a great success and everybody enjoyed jazz in the old town. I will visit a few more volunteers this week to interview them and hopefully the promotion video for the web page will be finished next week J

My days here in Ecuador don’t usually end with the end of the workday though. We have a volunteers meeting every first Tuesday of the month, when we usually have dinner at a pizza restaurant, although we decided to go to a Mexican reataurant last time. The jazz concert we went to was also on a Tuesday. Me and a few other volunteers take salsa classes on Wednesdays, after which we sometimes go to a salsa club to practice with the locals. We have only taken 4 classes and thus only know the basic steps and spins, but that doesn’t stop us from dancing.

I also discovered language exchange a few weeks ago. Thus on Thursdays I usually go to this Italian cafe where some people gather to practice Spanish, English or some other language. We speak one hour in one, the next hour(usually longer) in another language. They sometimes also have themes such as Japanese culture or Salsa.

The weather has been a lot better recently. It rained almost the whole February, who would have thought they have winter here J However, it was sunny the whole day today and it was around 24 degrees. Great! It’s so nice that  I work next to a park and thus I can have lunch at the park if it’s sunny. Sometimes I meet the other volunteers after work and we go there to enjoy the good weather and have ice-cream. I try to watch films in Spanish in the evenings. Hollywood films that are dubbed into Spanish are so strange to watch, but they are good for learning. Sometimes I think I should start taking Spanish lessons though, just to practice the grammar and widen my vocabulary. I can manage everyday conversations in Spanish, but it would be great if I was able to speak more J

I was almost late for work this morning because quite a few busses passed me without stopping and it was impossible to cross the road... The few bus stops and crossings that there are are pretty useless as sometimes also are the traffic lights. Someone has to stand in the middle of the road with the whistle and coordinate the traffic, otherwise there is a chaos during rush hour J

I will write about my weekend soon!

L.

Mitad del Mundo

Mitad del Mundo ehk Maailma keskpunkt peaks oma nime järgi asuma ekvaatoril, ehkki tegelik ekvaator asub väidetavalt 240 meetrit Põhjas. Lisaks Mitad del  Mundo’le on seega veel mitmeid nö täpselt ekvaatoril asuvaid vaatamisväärsusi. Meie otsustasime aga selle kõige kuulsama kasuks, mille ümber on ehitatud küla ja kus on mitmeid muuseume. Teadsime, et  nädalavahetustel toimuvad seal mitmed kontserdid ja muud üritused,  seega mõtlesime terve pärastlõuna Mitad del Mundo’s veeta. Ilmnes aga, et sel nädalavahetusel algas päikesekalendri järgi ka uus aasta, seega olid pärismaalased oma rituaale läbi viimas, tantsimas ja muud moodi pidutsemas.

Küla ise oli võrdlemisi igav  – aiaga ümbritsetud ala, kus leidus hulganisti suveniiripoode, restorane ja ka mõned muuseumid.  Vaatasime kuidas kohalikud toitu ohverdasid, käisime mõnes muuseumis, kuulasime kontsertti ning otsustasime lahkuda. Kuna kellegi kohalik ema oli kuulnud, et lähedal asuvas päikese muuseumis toimub tähtsa päeva puhul samuti midagi, siis otsustasime ka sinna minna. Öeldi, et tuleb esmalt bussiga lähemale sõita ning siis 30 meetrit kõndida... aga nagu me siin olles juba mitmeid kordi kogenud oleme, pidime hoopis 500 meetrit mäkke ronima J Vihma hakkas sadama ja kogu maad kattis paks udu. Või õigemini olid need pilved, millest läbi kõndisime.

Lõpuks muuseumini jõudes olid kohalikud juba lõpetamas, ent muuseum endiselt avatud. Üks huvitavamaid vaatamisväärsusi siin. Muuseum, või õigemini päikese tempel, oli lihtsalt nii teistsugune. Mõnusa aura ja viiruki lõhnaga täidetud kolmekordse hoone keskel oli ümmargune avatud osa, kust üles vaadates nägi välja. Esimesel korrusel olid antiiksed esemed, järgmisel korrusel hulganisti pärismaalaste kujusid ning viimasel korrusel maalid ja muu kunst. Viimaselt korruselt sai ka katusele minna, kust avanes võrratu vaade...pilvedel. Midagi muud ei näinudki J Hoolimata vihmast oli meil väga vahva. Ei ühtki teist turisti, üksnes pidutsevad kohalikud!

PS: väidetavalt on gravitatsioonijõu tõttu kõik ekvaatoril kergem ja muna on lihtsam naelale asetada.

L.

Monument ekvaatoril/ A monument on the equator

Ekvaator/ The equator

Ekvaatoril/ On the equator

Pidustused/ The celebrations

Mitad del Mundo

Teel päikese templisse/ On our way to the temple of the sun

Päikese tempel/ The temple of the sun

Kunstinäitus/ Art exhibition

Inkade kujud/ Inca statues

Katus ja vaade pilvedele :)/ The roof and the view on the clouds :)

Päikese tempel/ The temple of the sun

Mitad del Mundo (which means the middle of the World) should according to its name be located on the equator, but the real equator is in reality 240 meters more to the North. Thus there are many more such places that claim to be on the real equator, but we decided to go to the most famous one. Besides the statue for the middle of the World there was also a small town around it. We knew that there are usually various events at the weekends, thus we planned to spend the whole afternoon there. It turned out that it was also a special day for the indigenous people – they were celebrating the solar New year. Thus they were dressed in their traditional costumes, they danced, carried out some rituals and celebrated in various other ways.

The village itself was rather dull – there were lots of souvenir shops, restaurants and a few museums and it was all surrounded by a fence. We saw how the locals sacrificed some food, had a look into some museums, listened to the concert and then decided to leave. We decided to go to the sun temple close to  Mitad del Mundo as someones hostmother had heard that there is also a festival for the new solar year. We were told that we have to take a bus and then walk 30 meters from the last stop to get there... but as always, it turned out that we had to walk 500 meters up the hill J It started raining and it was very foggy. Well the ground was probably covered by clouds and not the fog though. J

Sadly, the festival had already finished by the time we got there, but the museum was still opened. It is one of the most interesting things to see here, because it is just so different. It had a nice atmosphere and the rooms were filled with the smell of incense. The temple had 3 floors and the middle part was opened. First floor was full of antique, there were inca sculptures on the next floor and an art exhibition on the last floor. We could also goon the roof from where there was a nice view on the...clouds, we couldn’t see anything else J Overall, we had a great time despite the rain. There were no other tourists, just the locals who were celebrating the special day!

PS: Everything is apparently a bit lighter on the equator due to gravity and it’s also easier to place an egg on a nail.

L.

Quilotoa

Hoolimata sellest, et ma terve laupäeva haigusega võideldes voodis teki all olin ning ei teinud muud kui vaatasin filme ja jõin teed, otsustasin pühapäeva hommikul kell 5.30 kodust väljuda ja Quilotoa’sse sõita. Nimelt kutsus Xime, mu töökaaslane, mind oma ülikooli matkaklubiga kaasa ja ma ei saanud ju ometi minemata jätta J Pakkisin piisava taskurätikute ja lõunasöögi tagavara kaasa ja olingi valmis minema. Nagu kohalikele omane jäid enamik inimesi muidugi hiljaks, ent 3.5 tunni pärast olime kohal.

Teel Quilotoasse tutvustasid teadjamad mulle eemal asuvaid mägesid, millest enamik olid lumega kaetud. Veidi enne laguuni juurde jõudmist sõitsime läbi Zumbahua küla, mis oli pungil pärismaalastest, kes kõik pühapäevaseks turupäevaks valmistusid ja linnatänavatel tantsisid. Ümbruskaudseid mägesid katsid põllud ja maapind oli kohati, ilmselt vihma tõttu, ära vajunud.

Kohale jõudes jagati inimesed(nii umbes 60) kaheks rühmaks, osad valisid lihtsama tee ja laskusid laguuni äärde peesitama, mina, koos 37 ülejäänuga, otsustasin ümber laguuni matkata. Meid hoiatati muidugi ette, et matk kestab umbes 5 tundi, kuna tegemist ei ole mitte lausmaaga... vaid matkaga, mis tähendab 9 kilomeetrit mööda mäeharju üles-alla turnimist. Nagu oleks seitsme mäe otsa roninud J Tee oli kohati üsna olematu, liiv ja sellel lahtised kivid. Mõlemal pool mäeharja järsk langus. Ühel pool avanes vaade laguunile, teisel pool lõpututele mägedele. Ja nii me siis kõndisime, tunde ja tunde. Üksnes üks inimene andis alla, teiste iseloomud ei lubanud J

Kui olime umbes kolmveerand maast läbinud otsustasime mööda mäenõlva diagonaalis alla laskuda ja ka laguuni juures ära käia. Kuna tee alla pidime ise leiutama, siis tuli kohati üsna ekstreemsetest kohtadest üle ronida. Lisaks oleks mõned meist peaaegu jalgpalli suuruse kiviga, mis mäe otsast alla veeres, pihta saanud. Üllataval kombel elas keset järsakut ka üks süsimust härg, kellest riburadapidi mööda hiilisime.

Lõpuks jõudsime laguunini! Vesi oli nii-nii sinine ja õhk uskumatult soe. Üldse päistis terve päeva päike ja oli mõnusalt soe. Puhkasime järve ääres veidi jalgu ning tegime venitusharjutusi ja pidime taas mäkke hakkama ronima. Viimased tund aega tõusu oli matka kõige raskem osa. Ma ei ole vist mitte kunagi niiiii aeglaselt kõndinud, aga üles ma lõpuks jõudsin! J Laguuni ääres olid päris väsinute jaoks ka mõned hobused, kes ainsa transpordivahendina toimisid. Quitosse jõudsime õhtul kell 9, edasi koju jõudmine võttis veel tunni.

Mõnusat uut nädalat soovides,

L.

Teel Quilotoani, Cotopaxi/On our way to Quilotoa, Cotopaxi

Quilotoa

Teel ümber laguuni/On the way around the laguna

Pärismaalased/Indigenous people

Mägi oli kohati üsna järsk/The mountain was quite steep in some parts

9 kilomeetrit ümber laguuni/9 kilometers around the laguna



Sinine vesi :)/ Blue water



5 tundi hiljem/5 hours later

Paadid järve ääres/Boats by the lake

Tõusu lõpp/ The end of the ascent

Despite having spent the whole Saturday in bed being ill and doing nothing other than watching films and drinking tea, I decided to leave the house at 5.30AM on Sunday go to Quilotoa. I just couldn’t not go, because Xime, my coworker, had invited me to go there with her mountaineering club. So, I grabbed lots of tissues and enough food for lunch and I was ready to leave. Lots of people were late as always, it’s Ecuador after all J But we got to Quilotoa in 3.5 hours.

I was lucky to be surrounded by people who love mountains as they could name all the mountains on our way and tell stories about them. We passed some of the highest mountains in Ecuador, most of which were covered by snow. We had to also pass a village called Zumbahua, which was full of indigenous people who were getting ready for the Sunday market and dancing on the streets. The surrounding mountains were covered by fields and there were landslides, possibly due to rain.

We were divided into two groups as soon as we got to Quilotoa. 38 of us, including me, decided to hike around the crater. The rest, about 20, decided to take the easier route and spend the day relaxing  by the lake. We were of course warned that the hike would take about 5 hours as the land was far from being flat. Instead we had to climb up and down the mountains for 9 kilometers. It’s probably equal to climbing  7 mountains J There was almost no road at some parts of our hike and the path was mostly covered by sand and rocks. Since we hiked about 400 meters above the lake, there was the laguna on the one side and a steep declivity with a view on endless mountains on the other. Only one of us gave up, the rest of us couldn’t J

We decided we also wanted to go down to the laguna after we had hiked for about 3.5 hours and so we began descending diagonally until we finally reached the lake. Since there was no path from where we wanted to go, we had to climb over some quite extreme places. Some of us almost got hit by a rock that was falling down the mountain and we all had to pass a bull, who for some reason lived there.

We finally made it though! The water was so-so blue and the air was unbelievably warm. We were lucky with the weather, because it was sunny for the whole day and it was pretty warm. We were given some timeto relax and stretch  by the lake after which we had to climb up the mountain to get back to where we had started. The last ascent was the most difficult part of the day. I don’t think I’ve ever walked soooo slow in my life, but I finally made it! J There were also some horses for the most tired ones, but there was no road for cars. We reached Quito at 9PM from where it took me another hour to get home.

Have a great week!

L.

Kaootiline Karneval/Chaotic Carnival

Meil siin Ecuadoris, nagu ka teistes Lõuna-Ameerika riikides olid möödunud nädalavahetusel pikad pühad. Nimelt tähistati siin karnevali. Kui Inglismaal on pannkoogipäev, Rootsis vahvlipäev ja Eestis vastlapäev(vastlakuklitega), siis siin on karneval rongkäigu, veepüstolite, veepommide, imeliku vahu, munade, jahuga ja kes teab veel millega. Karnevali ajal valitseb Ecuadoris täielik kaos, rannikule minekuks tuleb piletid soetada juba nädalaid enne pühi, teiste sihtpunktidega on veidi lihtsam, piisab vaid nädalast. Kõik inimesed üritavad neljaks päevaks suurlinnadest, eriti Quitost, välja saada ja kas siis rannikule või mõnda muusse linna minna.

Mina otsustasin seekord ranniku asemel koos Stefaniega Austriast Cuencasse sõita. Cuenca on suuruselt kolmas linn Ecuadoris(Quito on teine), elanikke on umbes sama palju nagu Tallinnas. Cuenca on koloniaalstiilis linn täis ajalugu, väljakuid, parke ning tosinaid kirikuid. Linna keskus on meeldivalt pisike, ühest otsast teise on võimalik umbes 30 minutiga kõndida, mida me ka lugematutel kordadel tegime. Cuenca, nagu ka Quito vanalinn, on kantud UNESCO’sse.

Kuna Cuenca asub 9 tunni kaugusel Quitost ning Cuenca lähedal on mitmeid huvitavaid vaatamisväärsusi, siis otsustasimegi need neli päeva Cuenca mägises ümbruses veeta. Jõudsime Cuencas ära näha peaaegu kõik kirikud, ka mõned muuseumid, kohalikud turud, vabaõhu kontserdi, Panama mütside tehase. Tuleb välja, et Panama mütsid on sootuks Ecuadorist pärit. Nimelt transporditi mütsid algselt Panamasse ja sealt edasi kaugematesse sihtriikidesse, nõnda kutsutaksegi mütse eksitavalt Panama mütsideks, ehkki pärinevad Ecuadorist.

Pühapäeval otsustasime kolmes ümbruskonnas paiknevas linnas ära käia, kuna karnevali puhul olid kavas mitmed pidustused. Loomulikult lõpetasime läbimärgadena ning vahuga kaetuna J Esimeses linnas, Gualaceo’s, käisime traditsioonilisel puuviljaturul ning vaatasime rongkäiku,Chorderleg’is sõime traditsioonilist lõunat (mis koosnes sealihast, valgest maisist, tortilladest ja salatist) ning kuna linn on tuntud oma kullast ehete poolest, siis imetlesime ka kohalikku ehetevalikut. Viimasesse linna, Sigsig’i õnnestus meil minna üksnes kohalike abiga, kuna pühade puhul oli bussiliiklus väga hõre. Kohale jõudes hakkas muidugi sadama, nagu peaaegu igal pärastlõunal meie reisi jooksul. Sigsig’i peaväljak oli vihmast hoolimata rahvast täis, inimesi pritsiti vihmaveega ning loobiti jahuga J Taustaks kõlas eemal toimuv kontsert ja linn lõhnas cuy(merisiga, traditsiooniline toit siin) liha järgi. Eriti tiheda liikluse tõttu võttis Sigsig’ist tagasi Cuencasse jõudmine 1.5 tunni asemel 3.5 tundi.

Esmaspäeval otsustasime veepommide ja muu atribuutika eest põgeneda, ehkki õhtul visati meid mööduvatest autodest siiski läbimärjaks, ja läksime Cajas’e nimelist loodusparki avastama. Park oli üüratu..... meie läbisime üksnes 4 tunni pikkuse raja, millest viimased 3 tundi matkasin läbimärgade jalanõudega, kuna maapind oli kohati soo laadne ja mul õnnestus laukasse astuda.. .J (Sellest või siis veepommidest tingitult olen nüüd kolm päeva haige olnud.) Loodusparki sisenedes anti meile üks suurimaid kaarte mida näinud olen, lahti voldituna oli ilmselt minu pikkune... sellest hoolimata eksisime peaaegu mitmel korral ära. Rajal nägime peale meie veel umbes 10t inimest, ehk seetõttu, et alustasime oma matkaga kell 8 hommikul.

Viimase päeva jätsime Ingapirca jaoks. Ingapirca on tuntud oma suurimate Inca varemete poolest Ecuadoris. Stefanie teadis rääkida, et varemed ei ole enam nii suured nagu nad varem olid, kuna ümbruskaudsed inimesed kasutasid kive majade ehitamiseks, ei tea siis kas hea õnne/aura pärast või lihtsalt praktilistel põhjustel. Varemete kõrval nosisid Alapacad muru ja pilved katsid ümbruskonna mägesid. Ei ühtki veepommi varemete ümber! Üksnes lahtise autoga mäest alla bussijaama sõites saime taas pisut märjaks. Bussiga meil vedas! Kohalik taksojuht väitis, et 4 tunni jooksul pole ühtegi bussi möödunud... Meie muidugi ehmusime korraks, kuna pidime tagasi Cuencasse jõudma, et siis õhtul Quitosse sõita(Ingapirca on umbes 2 tunni kaugusel Cuencast), õnneks tuli meil üksnes 10 minutit oodata ja olimegi peagi tagasi Cuencas.

Sõit tagasi Quitosse kujunes ootamatult sündmusterohkeks. Umbes kaks tundi pärast Cuencast väljumist peatas meid politsei. Kõigil paluti bussist väljuda, kotid otsiti läbi, pidime censo’d ja passikoopiad ette näitama(koopiad seetõttu, et originaali on ohtlik kaasas kanda, isegi censo’st on mul koopia - kui neid pole, siis on politseisse minek...), bussist ja inimestest tehti pilti ja võisime edasi sõita. Lisaks oli meie ees istuval lapsel terve tee süda paha ja bussi meeskond pidi pidevalt põrandat puhastama. Kõige tipuks oli umbes poolel teel Quitosse olnud avarii, väidetavalt oli 17-20 sõidukit kokku põrganud ja kogu tee oli suletud... Tagasi Quitosse jõudsime kell 4 hommikul, magasime mõned tunnid ja läksime taas tööle :)

Head ööd!

L.

Cuenca



Cuenca



Panama mütside tehas/Panama hat factory



Müts valmimas/ A Panama hat in process



Pipi maja?:)/Pipi house? :)



Gualaceo



Rongkäik ja vaht/Parade and foam

Mõni oli üleni vahuga kaetud/Some were covered in foam

Kohalikud murjamid/Local children

Lõuna/Lunch

Cuy Sigsis'is/Cuy in Sigsig

El Cajas

El Cajas

El Cajas, kuskil seal astusingi vette.../El Cajas, I stepped into the water somewhere there...

El Cajas

Ingapirca varemed/Ingapirca ruins

Naljakas puu/ A funny tree

Hüpe :)/Jump :)

Alpakadega/With alpacas

Last weekend plus Monday and Tuesday were public holidays, because Ecuador, like most of the other South-American countries was full of Carnival celebrations. If England celebrates Shrove Tuesday with pancakes, Sweden with waffles, Estonia with special sweet buns with cream, then carnival is celebrated with parades, water guns, water balloons, strange foam, flour and eggs. There is a complete chaos in Ecuador during carnival, because most of the people try to go to the coast or other places away from the big cities. Thus, tickets have to be booked already weeks in advance.

I decided, instead of going to the coast, to go to Cuenca with Stefanie from Austria. Cuenca is the third biggest city in Ecuador(Quito is second), and there is almost as many inhabitants as in Tallinn. Cuenca is a colonial city full of history, various squares, parks and dozens of churches. The city center is not very big, it only takes about 30 minutes to walk from one end to the other, which we did for a lot of times. Cuenca is a World Heritage as is the old town of Quito.

As Cuenca is located 9 hours away from Quito and there are lots of things to do and see in the surrounding area then we thought these 4 days of holidays couldn’t have been better spent. We used the first day to explore Cuenca, we saw almost all of the churches, some museums, markets, a concert and the Panama hat factory. It turns out that Panama hats originate from Ecuador. They were initially transported to Panama and then shipped to other countries, thus the name has not much to do with the hats.

On Sunday we visited three villages nearby Cuenca, because there were some events due to Carnival. It’s not a surprise that we were both already wet and covered by foam in the first town, as were most of the other people J In Gualaceo, the first town we visited, there was a parade where all of the people(and the animals) who took part in it were covered in foam. We also had a look around the town and went to the local food market. In the second town, Chorderleg, there were lots of gold shops and  the town is famous for them, we also had a traditional lunch which consisted of pork, white corn, tortillas and some salad. The bus connections were not very frequent due to the holidays, thus we wouldn’t have made it to Sigsig, the last town, if there hadn’t been some friendly locals who offered to take us there. Unfortunitely it started raining as soon as we got to Sigsig, in fact it rained almost every afternoon of our trip. The main square was nevertheless full of people who had come to enjoy the concert, eat cuy(guinea pig, traditional dish in Ecuador) and play with water and flour J It took us 3.5 hours to get back to Cuenca, even though it was supposed to only take 1.5...

As the weekend had been full of water and other carnival related activities then we decided to escape from it on Monday, nevertheless we were still hit with water balloons from the cars that passed by in the evening. We went to see a national park called Cajas. It was enormous...we only hiked for 4 hours though, because it is only permited to go to the easier tracks without a guide. A part of our trail was a wetland and so I had to hike the last 3 hours with wet shoes J(It’s either because of the wet shoes or the water balloons that I’ve been ill since we got back L.) We were provided with a massive map(almost as tall as me) when we entered the national park, despite that we almost got lost a few times. We only saw about 10 other hikers besides us, perhaps because we started our hike at 8 AM.

We left the last day for Ingapirca. Ingapirca is famous for its biggest Inca ruins in Ecuador. Stefanie had heard from somewhere that the ruins used to be a lot bigger, but people used the stones to build their houses. There were lots of Alpacas who ate grass near the ruins and the surrounding mountains were covered in clouds. There were no water bombs near Ingapirca! We couldn’t escape from them entirely though as we drove down to the bus station at the back of a car with no roof... A local taxy driver told us that he had not seen any busses pass by within the last 4 hours...we were thus scared we might not make back to Cuenca for our bus to Quito(as Ingapirca is about 2 hours away from Cuenca). Luckily we only had to wait for 10 minutes and we got back to Cuenca by the afternoon.

The journey back to Quito was rather eventful. The bus was stopped by the police about 2 hours after we had left Cuenca. We were all asked to step out of the bus, our bags were checked and we had to show our censoes and passport copies(copy, because it’s dangerous to carry the passport around, I even carry the copy of my censo instead of the original one - if you don’t have them then the police will take you to the police station), they took pictures of the bus and the people after which we could continue our journey. Furthermore one of the children was sick for the whole trip and the workers had to constantly clean the floor. And there had been an accident about 4 hours from Quito, we were told that there were 17-20 vehicles in the accident and therefore the road was closed...We got back to Quito at 4 AM, had a few hours of sleep and then it was time to go to work J

Good night!

L.