At the border, a weekend - go by bike!
During the weekend, Ecuadorian and Colombian cross the border, to visit the treasures of the other country... As a matter of fact, the queue on both sides is quite long! But with a bike, is there anything to worry about...!?
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| The Ecuadorian customs office. We had to wait sooooo long!! At least 2 minutes each!!!! |
So, within 2 seconds, we were smiling at a customs officer, who nicely smiled back and sent us to the Colombian office - ah, it's not here... 3 minutes after, Arthur was climbing the stairs to the Colombian customs office. I bravely kept the bicycles secured - woooowww!!! Then we switched and, both all happy with our stamped passport, we headed back to the Ecuadorian customs office.
As the 2 or 3 other lost tourists, we were both done within 5 minutes.
And here we are, in ECUADOR!!!
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| TADAAAAA!!! |
"Ow, it's Ecuador over here?!!? It's another country guys, we have to change our style!!"
Both Arthur and I concluded that the nature found out about the human concept of border and the changes that human beings imply with it. We both agreed that, aware of this, the nature radically changed its features. No jungle feeling anymore, no bananas or mangoes waiting for you on the ground (sweeeeet!!!!), no trees hanging from a steep cliff, with it's long white falling leaves, the nature stopped being overwhelming.
Here, at the border, high valleys welcome you, coated with yellow-green grass and curved with steep canyons.
For a moment, you think you've jumped back in some European mountains - until you pass by a cactus or a blue bird ... :-)
The second impression that strikes you when you discover the Ecuadorian environment is the way the fields are perfectly organized. A huge difference with Colombian style!!
You also pass many advertisement bringing forward what they call the Urban Revolution. And you can see it. They make a lot of effort on infrastructure, their buildings are well-maintained and their cars are much more in sync with the ecology!
Another very surprising aspect: the culture mix. Even if European and American shops, clothes and food run all over the place, people still stay very close to their traditions. Which gives a beautiful mix...
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| Modern and indigenous styles - Tulcan's covered market |
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| FILA. Always chose the best for your goose... |
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| Students in school uniforms in Ibarra |
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| Students in Cotacachi |
Ladies in their traditional clothes - Ibarra.
Traditional clothes are mainly wore by women. A hat and long hair are the only signs of tradition men wear.
Which doesn't mean, as you can see below, that they dislike foreign products, like coca-cola ;-)
Below an idea of traditional clothes and haircut. Women and men often wear braided hair. Some with tissue around it. Women can also have a large piece of clothes on their head. Mostly men wear a hat.
Look also the shoes: some of them are specific from the area. See on the right down side of the patchwork below, the white shoes of the man standing in front of the clothes shop.
Below, a place in Ibarra. The green areas are well maintained - but if some are forbidden to walk on, forbidden, most of them are accessible for people to to relax, walk, play...
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| La plaza de la Merced, perfectly well maintained - Ibarra |
We still can find street vendors, selling fruits, ice-creams, fruit juices, limonade...
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| Ah, safe!!! |
Since we arrived in Ecuador, we encountered a lot of music events and saw many students walking around with their instruments in the different cities we already visited.
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| Pupils ready to perform a concert on the main place of Ibarra. |
As explained earlier, Ecuador works a lot on its infrastructure. On the main road though, including the Panamerican.
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| Example of works on the Pan-american |
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| Workers in Carpuela, drying seeds directly on this same Pan-american, which is the equivalent of any European highway |
You also still find a lot of bumpy roads, made of stones quite uncomfortable to ride and bike on!
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| On the country side of San Gabriel |
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| Resting on the country side of San Gabriel :-) |
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| A repair shop for leather - Tulcan |
Until now, we visited three urban areas in Ecuador. Tulcan, San Gabriel and Ibarra.
From the border to Tulcan, and then in between each city, there are not a lot of areas empty of human presence. Big contrast with Colombia!! The country - at least as far as we biked! - is more urbanized.
From the border to Tulcan, and then in between each city, there are not a lot of areas empty of human presence. Big contrast with Colombia!! The country - at least as far as we biked! - is more urbanized.
So the first Ecuadorian city we entered was Tulcan. Really close to the border.
One of the places we liked was a large covered market, full of fresh fruits and fruit juice sellers.
A closer look to the kind of fruit juice you could have. For example here, you could ask for carrot juice, mora juice of alfalfa juice. No need to say that Arthur went to another seller :-) Who would sell guanabana juice, orange juice, melon juice, water melon juice, tomate de arbol juice...From Tulcan, we went to San Gabriel. A delightful small town, full of charms.
SAN GABRIEL
Well, it sounds like it's all easy, that we disappeared from Tulcan to pop up in San Gabriel - hop! But NO, it was NOT easy!! At least one picture to prove it. And the nice view that comes with it!
Go on Arthur!!!!
On the road, a mini-village, its beautiful church and irreplaceable electric wires.
Below, a view from San Gabriel - I think... Worse case it's close to it - ah, ok.
When we approached San Gabriel, we were not tired enough to stop. So we thought about visiting it a couple of minutes, take one picture for the record - cheese!! - and go on. This was before black clouds showed up. And pushed us to dig deeper our investigation of the city... Well, thanks clouds! For San Gabriel is so charming!
We first found a very cheap hostel, in an absolute cute building, colonial style.
We first found a very cheap hostel, in an absolute cute building, colonial style.
From there, we had quite a good connection. And the possibility to sit nicely in the open area of the hostel. So we decided to have some chat with family and friends.Well. We had not think about one aspect... The curiosity of the people around! In the end, I've had one almost-chat, with my father, who sent me afterwards some pictures of what he saw within the amount of time we spent to explain the children and adults around who he was, how I could talk with him with my computer, say hi to him, ask him questions in Spanish, why he had a beard, etc. etc.!
That was hilarious. Even Rosita - the absolute sweet woman down left - came to understand
why I was talking to a computer!
We also finally could wash almost ALL our clothes - which carried an wonderful odor reminding us of the past time.
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| Happiness!! |
We also took time to visit the area around, by bike BUT without the bags - yeeeaaaaaah!!!
So we biked in the city and then decided to discover the beautiful hills around.
Good for him...! (ed: you... you... monster!)
Thankfully, once again, the effort was worth...
Thankfully, once again, the effort was worth...
Allez, c'est parti: a bunch of pictures!!!
This pile of pictures result of a thought like "I don't know which picture to chose and anyway, today, I don't wanna chose."
So here you go! You see everything!!"
So here you go! You see everything!!"
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| This pic is here because I like it. No link with the Chinese restaurant. |
Ow, and an event important enough to be mentioned: we found our first Chinese restaurant!!!!!! After 3 months eating white rice, potatoes, platanos, and once in a while a pizza BUT with sugary stuffs in the crust (so that doesn't count): we were so over-happy to eat Chinese!!!
No need to say that the wise and reasonable adults that we are went absolutely crazy with the size of dishes we ordered - and left with a big doggy bag.
After this nice pause in San Gabriel, we headed on the next step: Ibarra!
"Pssst! Hey! hiiii!!......... HIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!"
Whistle whistle
Arthur, there is someone, behind us... with a bike!!!!"
Whistle whistle
Arthur, there is someone, behind us... with a bike!!!!"
Please meet Garret! An impressive young American who's aim is to bike to Buenos Aires while being departed from (be ready...) NEVADA!! So he already went down the US, then through Central America and finally engaged his bike in South America!
Regular check - you like shoarma? you're not French? You like dark beers? you have your own toilet paper roll?... Right. You can come.
So we biked with Garret from Somewhere-in-the-moutains to Ibarra. In between, we camped in a small village, very poor, called Carpuela. Where, if you remember well the beginning of this post, some workers dry their seeds directly on the Panamerican.
A very warm family welcomed us on their land to settle our tent and invited us for diner. Patricio, Alicia and their two daughters.
We've spend a very nice evening with the family and chatted about their work as artisans. That's when we learned a lot about the will and expressiveness of Alicia...
Her artist name is Alicia Villalba. And this woman has an impressive collection of creations, especially cultures - and big ones! She has learned her art from a Belgium artist who settled down in the small village when she was a teenager. Since then, her passion for art and need for expression never stopped.
Enjoy or be puzzled by the strength of her work...
For info, except the first one, these pictures are taken from the pages of a book: quality not great and you can't realize how huge these piece of art are. But at least, you can have an idea of the style and the messages...
After a good diner and an excellent conversation, we reach our tents and had a good night of sleep... and jumped on our bikes again, the following morning, all ready to reach Ibarra!
Adiòs family Bernardo!! And thanks again for your amazing hospitality!!
Ibarra was a delight - and still is, since at the time we write this post, we are sitting in the best coffee place we found aound: Olor a café.
We arrived in Ibarra in the same mindset than when we reached - and almost passed - San Gabriel. Let's grab a night and go on to Quito, our next goal! Well, after one month, we are still over here!! We felt under the spell of Ibarra.
We spent a couple of days in the Barcelona Hostel, on one of the main place. We could use the huge central area of the hotel to work on some projects we have :-), on updating the blog, giving fresh news to our families and friends. And for garret, a perfect time to buy a very useful tool for traveling: a guitar!!
Have you ever had the opportunity to work with live music? We've had - and took it!!
When time came to think about leaving, we decided... to settle down here for one month. So Garret left to join other people waiting for him in Quito and we started looking for a place to rent for one month.
A place for rent, yes, but low budget!! Hey, we still keep our travelers-on-the-long-run mindset. I found some house for rent, that cost nothing. But without furniture. After a couple of calls, we took a break and went to Olor a Cafe, our QG / Headquarter, and had a chat about our situation with the owner. And we did good... He simply advised us to ask the different hostels, who wouldn't mind during this dead season to rent for cheap one of their room.
And thanks to him, this is where we ended...
We leaved one month on the roof of an hostel, in an isolated studio with a huge terrace, offering an amazing view on the mountains around and the on whole city. The owner of the hostel didn't rent this room because it was on the third floor and you have to walk on the terrace to reach it - outch! Arthur made a deal and we payed one third of what we would have paid for a regular room - that is to say 112 euros for one month.
Visiting Ibarra was great. Of course you find churches in about every street. Some samples below:
Wow! Yep, that's about what everyone says!
Regular check - you like shoarma? you're not French? You like dark beers? you have your own toilet paper roll?... Right. You can come.
So we biked with Garret from Somewhere-in-the-moutains to Ibarra. In between, we camped in a small village, very poor, called Carpuela. Where, if you remember well the beginning of this post, some workers dry their seeds directly on the Panamerican.
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| A view from Carpuela |
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| Another view from Carpuela |
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| Our camping site! |
A very warm family welcomed us on their land to settle our tent and invited us for diner. Patricio, Alicia and their two daughters.
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| The family artisan shop |
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| The Bernardo family |
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| Just in case you didn't get how gorgious our view was :-) |
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| Waiting for dinner - you can have a nice view, when you are hungry, YOU DONT' CARE!! |
Her artist name is Alicia Villalba. And this woman has an impressive collection of creations, especially cultures - and big ones! She has learned her art from a Belgium artist who settled down in the small village when she was a teenager. Since then, her passion for art and need for expression never stopped.
Enjoy or be puzzled by the strength of her work...
For info, except the first one, these pictures are taken from the pages of a book: quality not great and you can't realize how huge these piece of art are. But at least, you can have an idea of the style and the messages...
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| Alicia standing beside one of her creation |
Remember the size of the sculpture above when you look at the following ones...
After a good diner and an excellent conversation, we reach our tents and had a good night of sleep... and jumped on our bikes again, the following morning, all ready to reach Ibarra!
And so we left, after refueling for the up-coming journey.
I'm so funny.
San Miguel de Ibarra - 2200 meters high
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| This is a cool view of the Imbabura volcano, close to Ibarra. |
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| The view from Ibarra where the big mountain is the vulcano above |
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| The volcano closer and from a different angle... |
We arrived in Ibarra in the same mindset than when we reached - and almost passed - San Gabriel. Let's grab a night and go on to Quito, our next goal! Well, after one month, we are still over here!! We felt under the spell of Ibarra.
We spent a couple of days in the Barcelona Hostel, on one of the main place. We could use the huge central area of the hotel to work on some projects we have :-), on updating the blog, giving fresh news to our families and friends. And for garret, a perfect time to buy a very useful tool for traveling: a guitar!!
Have you ever had the opportunity to work with live music? We've had - and took it!!
Thank you Garret!
When time came to think about leaving, we decided... to settle down here for one month. So Garret left to join other people waiting for him in Quito and we started looking for a place to rent for one month.
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| One view of the big and comfy (definitely gezellig, Dutch friends!!) |
And thanks to him, this is where we ended...
View from our mini flat in Ibarra
Above: view from the terrace. Below: from the window of our studio.
We leaved one month on the roof of an hostel, in an isolated studio with a huge terrace, offering an amazing view on the mountains around and the on whole city. The owner of the hostel didn't rent this room because it was on the third floor and you have to walk on the terrace to reach it - outch! Arthur made a deal and we payed one third of what we would have paid for a regular room - that is to say 112 euros for one month.
Visiting Ibarra was great. Of course you find churches in about every street. Some samples below:
Ibarra offers a lot of areas to relax. Large places, green areas for children to play, for teens to hide their first kiss, skater to train, workers to take a rest during the day.
Ibarra's building are also well maintained: places are surrounded with beautiful vestiges of colonial era. Still, other buildings from the same era are falling apart but they are a minority. And obviously, the Imbabura Govierno does some efforts to keep the region in a good shape.
I apologize for the quality of some pictures. Unfortunately, the brightness is to strong to be able to manage easily the luminosity.
Rha, those too sunny countries!!
The cool thing with sunny countries also is that many people are relaxing outside: perfect for sellers, as we described before. That's how we met Sebastián and Mailén, a couple from Argentina, financing their travel by selling home-made jewelry.
They left two days after we arrived - but just in time to share an evening with us to celebrate my birthday!
Thanks Mailén, Sebastián, Garret and Arthur!! And thanks also to my phone that reminded me the day before that I would become 31 very very very soon!!
Other cool aspect of Ibarra: the FOOD!! So much variety!! So there we could eat pizza - as you know now - but also sea food...
Such an alive area - well market place! Full of people chatting, yelling, transporting goods, full of good smells - and gross ones!
This way of preparing pigs: it's everywhere.
And boy, it's delicious!!!
We also started to have our habits on mornings. We used to go to three different place to have breakfast for about 3$ - about 2,30 euros - for the two of us. The regular breakfast comes as the following: fresh fruit juice, eggs as you like it - we always chose soft boiled eggs, mmmmhh!!! -, one or two breads with cheese in it and sometimes marmalade, a coffee and sometimes a cup of fresh fruits.
These area are pretty alive all day, especially at lunch time, when students and business people grab a sit and eat under the freshness of the trees.
You also find sometimes some deserted areas, hidden somewhere between two districts, waiting for admirers...
Ibarra's building are also well maintained: places are surrounded with beautiful vestiges of colonial era. Still, other buildings from the same era are falling apart but they are a minority. And obviously, the Imbabura Govierno does some efforts to keep the region in a good shape.
I apologize for the quality of some pictures. Unfortunately, the brightness is to strong to be able to manage easily the luminosity.
Rha, those too sunny countries!!
Ow! A big mountain playing to hide and seek!!
Some buildings in random streets.
The cool thing with sunny countries also is that many people are relaxing outside: perfect for sellers, as we described before. That's how we met Sebastián and Mailén, a couple from Argentina, financing their travel by selling home-made jewelry.
They left two days after we arrived - but just in time to share an evening with us to celebrate my birthday!
Happy pizza!!
Thanks Mailén, Sebastián, Garret and Arthur!! And thanks also to my phone that reminded me the day before that I would become 31 very very very soon!!
Other cool aspect of Ibarra: the FOOD!! So much variety!! So there we could eat pizza - as you know now - but also sea food...
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| Wondering if you actually could eat dolphins. |
This is also when Arthur considered settling down in Ibarra
For those who don't know this picture yet or who can't read the blurry part on the left, here a bit of help...
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| "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!" (Heaven music) |
LAS AMAZONAS: Ibarra's market area
This way of preparing pigs: it's everywhere.
And boy, it's delicious!!!
We also started to have our habits on mornings. We used to go to three different place to have breakfast for about 3$ - about 2,30 euros - for the two of us. The regular breakfast comes as the following: fresh fruit juice, eggs as you like it - we always chose soft boiled eggs, mmmmhh!!! -, one or two breads with cheese in it and sometimes marmalade, a coffee and sometimes a cup of fresh fruits.
Sugar baby
One thing we have a hard time with is that people eat sooooo sugary! Everything is filled with sugar. The border of your pizza is filled with sugary fruit pastry. Your bread is sugary. Your coffee is sugary. And they add tons of sugar in each glass of (delicious and fresh) fruit juice they prepare.
Hey, they couldn't be that perfect! Thankfully, sellers are quite flexible and negotiating less sugar is an easy work ;-) But you have to think about it QUICKLY!
One product people eat a lot here too is ice-cream. You find heladerias around every corner. For their defense, ice-cream can be delicious since many of them - if not all - are homemade. And in a very traditional way...
Let's start with some quotidian sounds:
The gas tank truck
The car alarm => please enjoy the video below, not from us but from YouTube. One minute of this video is more than enough - but you still can enjoy the banjo version further...
The laguna Yahuarcocha lies at the border of Ibarra, protected by the archangel San Miguel on top of on of the hills around.
The laguna's name caries the bloodiest battle of the area. In 1486, the local tribe of the Caranquis defended its territory against invaders Incas. The Incas won. Their chief, Huayna Capac, ordered to kill each men still able to fight. And to throw the dead bodies in the lake. The story says that the blood of 30 000 men colored the lake. Hence its name: 'yahuar' (blood) and 'cocha' (lake).
A hard-core judgement? Maybe. But there was a huge difference between what we heard about Cotacachi and what we saw.
Yes it is a cute small village in an amazing environment. As for La Esparanza, Otavalo and all the cities, town and villages in the area. Yes it is an artisan town, known for its handicraft and leather goods. As other towns' specialties are embroideries or weaving.
Quite surprised by the contrast with our expectations, we asked an autochton, who laughed and explained us that the over-advertisement of the town came from an american couple who needed customers for their hotel.
In the end, this town is full of foreigners. And the prices are in sync!! But there is not much to see or do.
We then spent a couple of hours there and went back to Ibarra. Still, it's worth the visit, especially of you like leather goods. And the bus to go there costs 45 $ cents per person (+ 5$ cents to access the bus station at Ibarra) for 30 minutes drive.
By the way, this price is about the same if you want to reach by bus the other cities around. Very cheap and quite handy!!
That was cool!! Otavalo's market takes place every single day. Artisans from all Imbabura - the name of the region - come to Otavalo to sell their products and goods. Apart from that, as for Ibarra, Otavalo is a very alive city.
We let you enjoy some pics of our day there.
Time to go back to Ibarra...
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| Regular products that you can find in every shop. |
One product people eat a lot here too is ice-cream. You find heladerias around every corner. For their defense, ice-cream can be delicious since many of them - if not all - are homemade. And in a very traditional way...'My personal sound system' - or how we worship our ear-plugs
One month in the same area reminded us, with small but persistent details, how unexpected can be a culture-shock - and how far we are from homelands...Let's start with some quotidian sounds:
- The trashcan truck
As you may have seen if you dared to watch this video longer than 30 seconds, this siren is a perfect exercise for zen-learner people to train their nerves... Ow, and remember that this is only one siren at a time. Imagine 3 or 6 of them at the same time. Ow, happiness!! We have heared those car alarms so much, that we exactly know their whole repetoire and often start singing the tunes out loud on the street. I sometimes wonder why people are looking at us...
La Laguna Yahuarcocha
The laguna Yahuarcocha lies at the border of Ibarra, protected by the archangel San Miguel on top of on of the hills around.
The laguna's name caries the bloodiest battle of the area. In 1486, the local tribe of the Caranquis defended its territory against invaders Incas. The Incas won. Their chief, Huayna Capac, ordered to kill each men still able to fight. And to throw the dead bodies in the lake. The story says that the blood of 30 000 men colored the lake. Hence its name: 'yahuar' (blood) and 'cocha' (lake).
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| Profound recollection in memory of the deads of the bloody battle |
Nowadays, the laguna is a calm area, know for its fishes that tiendas around prepare grilled or in an oven. Well, let's put the situation in perspective: it is a clam area as long as you visit it out fron busy weekends and out from racing days! Since all around the lake runs the Autódromo Internacional José Tobar, which welcomes the 12 horas Marlboro and pilots from all around the world, who come here to train.
Around Ibarra: Cotacachi, Otavalo, La Esperanza
Cotacachi the impostor
Yes it is a cute small village in an amazing environment. As for La Esparanza, Otavalo and all the cities, town and villages in the area. Yes it is an artisan town, known for its handicraft and leather goods. As other towns' specialties are embroideries or weaving.
Quite surprised by the contrast with our expectations, we asked an autochton, who laughed and explained us that the over-advertisement of the town came from an american couple who needed customers for their hotel.
In the end, this town is full of foreigners. And the prices are in sync!! But there is not much to see or do.
We then spent a couple of hours there and went back to Ibarra. Still, it's worth the visit, especially of you like leather goods. And the bus to go there costs 45 $ cents per person (+ 5$ cents to access the bus station at Ibarra) for 30 minutes drive.
By the way, this price is about the same if you want to reach by bus the other cities around. Very cheap and quite handy!!
La Esperanza
On the contrary, we didn't expect anything from La Esperanza. This small town is like the other small towns around: cute and worth the journey! We went there by bike - it's 3 km from the center of Ibarra.
The church on the main place of La Esperanza.
The view again was stunning.
Otavalo's Saturday's market
We let you enjoy some pics of our day there.
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| Detail of a church door |
Of course, Otavalo is not only a market. And as for every citie we encountered, it has a large numebr of churches. One thing we remarked is the recurrence of sculpted wooden doors.
A view from Otavalo, from a path where a train used to pass.
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| Otavalo's bus station |
... and to make new friends!!
What we didn't do but it looked cool!
There is an old train passing by Ibarra and that brings you to many small towns around. The charm of this train, is that it passes through stunning areas. Ecuadorians from the area love it and it's full every weekend. The only thing is, that it costs 15 to 20$ per person! Including a guide for the visit. Which may be worth but you don't know as long as you didn't do it. We then found out that there is another trip, much earlier in the day, that costs 6$ per person. Well, unfortunately, the tourism office doesn't sell this trip very well. So in the end, no one chose this trip. And since you need a minimum of people to participate to the trip, we didn't went. |
| The train from far |
Time for us to enjoy our last day in Ibarra and prepare our bags for tomorrow!!!
We are gonna miss that view...
Hasta la proxima!!
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