| I got up at 6.15 and went for a shower. Que sorpresa
- no hot water! No pressure on cold, so I spent 5 minutes filling up the
wash basin for an all over wash in cold water. You try it sometime. It's
a never to be repeated (if you can help it) experience.
We went up to the British Council for a breakfast of bacon and egg, toast and marmalade, and coffee. Paul and Irvana, a couple from London run the restaurant. A short walk took us up to the Plaza Republica Argentina to catch the bus to Papallacta which left at 9.10am. It was already overcrowded, and there were chickens on the bus as well as people. Oli and I stood for the duration of the whole two and a half hour trip. Dad sat on the engine box directly behind the driver. This was very hot. Towards the end of the journey Dad pointed out a leak coming from the engine box to the conductor, alarmed by the thought that it could be fuel. Fortunately, it was only the result of the driver peeing himself as we drove along! The fare was S/-3000 each (one pound). |
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Exploring Papallacta, we found
the Science and Technology College and the school. We saw a Chinese lantern
(?) tree and had the usual chicken and rice (pollo con arroz) for lunch.
After lunch we walked the mile and a half up to the volcanic baths for
which Papallacta is famed. On the way we found a street lamp which consisted
of a 60W bulb atop a wooden pole. The switch was a break in the cable which
had been looped so that the two broken ends could be hooked together.
The baths were very warm except for one which was fed direct from the river. We met a group of very young missionaries from North America. They believed that they had had a miracle. Their coach had crashed on the way back from Coca. One girl had "died" from internal injuries, but was "brought back by Jesus". On the way back to Quito the drivers swapped, on the move, whilst heading directly for a wall. This action didn’t frighten us at all - honestly folks! |
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Back at El Cafecito we got changed to go out to the Colombian Steak House. Oli was badly burned and Dad and I had caught the sun. I had mixed grill which included intestine. afterwards, we went to Dave's place for a [Tequila] Marguerita. Dave and the barman told us of a few places we could visit which included Lago Quilotoa and Zumbulwa. We never actually got to either.
