Heading Home Via Mexico

Our alarms went off around 4 a.m.  Yes, this was going to be a very long day for us which usually happens on our travel days.  There are times we've traveled for 24 hours with very minimal sleep but this time we would be traveling for about 12 with very minimal sleep.  We all started to get ready, the normal stuff, wash your face, brush your hair, get comfortable traveling clothes on, etc.  I packed up the rest of my stuff into the suitcases and sat down and ate breakfast in Joyce's kitchen one last time.  She made us some more potatoes, got some more bread, had some scrambled eggs and some juice.  It was simple and simple was delicious.

We wheeled our suitcases out to the taxi Joyce called up for us.  She had a lot of connections in Cotacachi so she always called up her friends who could use the work and the extra money.  He was prompt and helped us throw all of our suitcases in the back and we all found a seat comfortably inside the truck. Josh sat in the front because he is tall and needed the extra leg room.

About halfway back to Quito many of us took a short nap since it was about a two hour drive.  I knew we had to get in as much sleep as we could because it was hard sleeping on an airplane.  A little while later I started to become uncomfortable and really hoped that we were getting close to the airport because I needed to use the restroom.  It wasn't quite an emergency yet.

We pulled up at the Quito Airport, thanked and paid our driver and headed in with our eight suitcases.  We found the AeroMexico ticket counter and stood in line.  We had to wait a bit so it was my cue to find the restroom before something bad happened.  I was out and back in line within fifteen minutes or so and we barely moved in line.  It was daunting because we just wanted to get through, check our bags and get our tickets so we can go through security and then relax before our flight.  When it was finally our turn we got our bags onto the scale and the woman told us that she would not honor our letters like Seattle did and wave four of our eight bags.  We explained that we were here doing a dental humanitarian trip and our bags had supplies in them.  She still would not do it.  We had to pay $30 each for the four bags.  Ugh.  Another expense we didn't need!

We got our tickets and headed towards security.  Security was short and sweet which was nice.  We did have to take our shoes, belts, jackets, etc. off and I had to take my computer our of its bag.  Other than that, it went pretty smooth.  We found our gate after putting our stuff back on and decided since we had the time to go wander the Quito Airport.  We bought a few more souvenirs before we headed back to our gate.

We relaxed for a while before we were able to start boarding the plane.  I got to sit next to mom and I was next to the window.  We left Quito at 9:30 that morning.  A little less than halfway our flight attendants started to serve breakfast.  We received an omelet, fruit, ham and a cinnamon roll.  I got orange juice with it.  Mom and I watched Bohemian Rhapsody in tandem as we got closer to Mexico City for our layover.  At one point I had to get up and use the restroom which I really hate doing on an airplane.

We started our descent into Mexico City.  You could see the smog hovering above the city.  Luckily this time we don't have to leave the airport.

We deplaned and headed through immigration again.  We got another stamp in our passport and made our way to our next gate.  We had to wait a bit until our next flight.  I tried to spend the rest of my Pesos but I wanted to keep some as souvenirs for a craft project I will someday get to.  I bought a pop and some Mexican chocolate for the ride back home.  Mom found some vanilla and also bought some Mexican chocolate.  We spent the rest of our time hanging out at the gate charging our phones at the small charging dock.  We each went to the bathroom one more time.

It was finally time to board so we got in line.  Our passports were checked one more time while we were in line by homeland security people.  They put a purple sticker on the back of my passport.  We boarded the plane and again, I got to sit by mom again.

We left Mexico City and headed to Seattle at 4:40 p.m.  During the flight, I watched Life of the Party and I Feel Pretty just because I felt like watching some comedies.  I did take a snooze here and there during the five hour flight.  They did come by a couple hours in and gave us some dinner.  We ate pasta, salad, a roll and some chocolate pudding and I just drank my Nalgene of water.

Around 9:00 p.m. local time, we began our descent into Seattle and I was so excited to finally be home.  I was so ready to be home.  I was ready for a hot shower, clean clothes and my bed.  As I sat there, I remembered the last time I went to Ecuador back in September 2017 and when we got home I turned my phone on, the only text message was from Grammie saying that she was happy I was home and safe and was looking forward to my stories.  This time, I will never get a message like that again from her and it made me really sad.  I called Ben to let him know that we were in Seattle waiting to get off the plane.

We got to our gate and got off the plane.  We were funneled through immigration again and used one of those machines you had to scan your passports and fingerprints into and then it took your picture.  You got a print out that you took to the clerk that declared you were good to enter the US.  We were all good to enter back into the US (like there would ever be a problem) and we headed to the baggage claim.

We grabbed all eight bags and wheeled them out to the loop outside so Tucker could come pick us up.  Amy let him know we were ready to be picked up.

We saw his truck.  He pulled over and helped  us throw our bags into the back.  We drove back to the dental office in Yelm.  Mom and I piled our stuff into my Escape.  It was nice to see that the Escape wasn't vandalized since it sat there for almost two weeks.  We thanked Amy, Josh and Tucker and we drove off into Rainier.

I dropped mom off and helped her take her stuff into the house.  I knew I was going to get home late as it was (this is why I took the following day off from work) because it was already almost midnight.  I told mom I was going to home because I needed a shower and to sleep.  We were both exhausted.  I got back in the Escape and headed home.  I got home and brought all my stuff in, took a shower and went to bed.  Ben was already in bed sleeping because I told him I would be home super late.  I was so excited to sleep in.

Next Adventure:  Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros:  Hoodie Night

Las Lajas, Colombia and Tulcan, Ecuador

We got up really early, got ready and out the door before 6 a.m. to meet up with our driver in the square.  He's been doing these tours for years now and is one of Joyce's friends.  He had a really nice tour van too.  Another Ex-Pat (another one of Joyce's friends) also joined us, he too, met us in the square.

My mom, Caitlin, Khealynn, Amy, Josh, Joyce hopped in the van. We made sure we had our passports, water, some snacks, charge up phones and cameras and a sense of adventure.  We were on our way to Colombia!  The trip was going to take up most of the day and we would be making some stops along the way.  The distance from Cotacachi to the border of Colombia was about  100 miles which would take us about 2 hours to get there. We took the E-35 freeway.

We picked up two ladies who were staying in Ibarra for their vacation.  They were going to spend the day with us.  We talked to them about various things on our way to Colombia.  The trip was very mountainous and the roads were very windy in places.  We watched the countryside turn into mountains and the mountains turn into very rural farmland as far as the eyes could see.

At about the halfway mark we pulled into this out in the middle of nowhere restaurant that was right off the highway.  It was called Paradero Las Sauces and it was located in between the towns of Bolivar and Carchi.  We walked in and it wasn't too busy.  There was a set of guys nibbling on the biggest breakfast they offered on the menu, cheese sandwich, eggs, rice and a guinea pig!

We got in line and we each ordered what we wanted.  I got the simplest meal, cheese sandwich, eggs and warm Chocolisto...which is the Mexican version of Ovaltine.  Most of us ordered the same thing except for Josh, he got the bigger version of our meal minus the guinea pig.  I wasn't sure how the food would react on a long van ride in a foreign country so I didn't go too crazy.  I waited and waited for my eggs because they were cooked to order.  The rest of your stuff they handed you on a tray.  I was being passed by with my eggs.  About fifteen minutes later I finally got my scrambled eggs.  I wonder why it took so long?  I made my cheese sandwich into a cheese and egg sandwich and drank my Chocolisto.  We all used the restroom before we got back in the van.

As soon as we got in the van and headed down the road a bit we stopped again near Bolivar and La Paz.  We pulled over at the Bolivar History Museum but sadly it was closed.

It would have been fun to go inside and explore.  We spent a half hour looking around the property and I got a picture with the huge mastodon.

I looked to see if there was a geocache here and I was disappointed.  Come on all you cachers who received one of the coveted virtual cache rewards!  This mastodon was perfect!  Plus, there was a lot of history here so people would learn something on their visit.

We did use the outdoor restroom if anyone needed to go before we hopped back in the van and drove off.

Our next stop was going to be the Colombia border!  I honestly never thought I would be riding in a van on its way to Colombia.  The things I have gotten to experience on this trip I never dreamed of doing except maybe ziplining but not in Ecuador.  As I watched the countryside pass by, I sat there thinking about all the things I had to go through just to be sitting here.  All the misfortunes I had after I graduated from college, the countless co-workers I had to work with, some good but most bad, all of the stress I had to go through wondering if I could pay next month's bills or my car payment, juggling holidays, get togethers and parties with my friends and family when I worked my precious weekends away, getting mono and having to deal with that while I had to work or I didn't get paid, finally getting a job at the state so I could start saving money so I could have an opportunity like this one without the worries.  It was a rough ten years but I learned a lot and figured out what was worth spending a lot of my time and energy on.

We approached the border and traffic and congestion got a little heavier.  We saw a lot of cars lined up on the side of the road selling gas to each other.  Apparently, gas was cheaper in Ecuador than it was in Colombia.

We reached the border and to our surprise the border wasn't all that controlled.  We think of Colombia to be some sort of gun controlled, drug filled, dangerous country because that's what we see on the media.  I thought there would be several military personnel with large guns checking everyone...like each vehicle and person were subject to be searched.  It was just like any other border but because our driver is well-known the guy at the booth just waved him through.  We didn't even have to show our passports or his list of passport numbers.  It was not what I thought would happen.

Once past the border, we found ourselves in the city of Ipiales.  This city is very well known for their guinea pigs (cuy) and we saw a lot of statues of cartoon guinea pigs all over the city when we drove through it.  We headed to the Las Lajas Sanctuary, a basilica church built inside of a river canyon.  We were going to take the teleferico (cable cars) down but they weren't working yet so we found a place to pull over and took a picture of us from the viewpoint of the church down below.  It was quite the view from up here.

We drove down to the parking lot of where the shops started.  I got out of the van I saw the llamas.  I needed to sit on one of those!  They were all dressed up wearing hats.  It only cost a dollar if you took your own picture so I had mom take my picture.  Best dollar I've ever spent!  Mom and Amy decided to join in on the fun and got their picture taken as well.

We walked down to the church shortly after, stopping at some of the shops along the way.  We saw some really cute things and some stuff we've already seen before since shopping in Otavalo.  I pretty much had everything I needed so we continued down to the church.

There was a lot of people walking up and down the stairs.  I was glad we were walking down them and we didn't have to walk back up them because we would be taking the teleferico back up in a couple hours.  Apparently, as tourists, we all stuck out like a sore thumb because we were wearing flip flops.  I guess a lot of people who live in northern Ecuador and southern Colombia do not really wear flip flops.

I noticed the cotton that was stuffed into the walls near the memorial plaques and names in the walls.  I asked what the cotton meant and they said they were the people who were injured or sick and they either died from those injuries or sickness or are being prayed for to recover from them.  You learn something new everyday.

We spent the next 45 minutes or so exploring the church.  Mom and I walked around the rest of the canyon walk to the waterfall at the end of the trail.

We meandered back hearing that it was almost time to reconvene and head to the teleferico and meet up at the van.

We got in line at the teleferico and it took forever to get up the hill.  They were doing maintenance on some of it and it was slow going up the hill.  I can't even recall how long it actually took but we were in that car for a while.  I was so excited when we finally got up to the van.  I was ready to move on to the next stop.

We drove back through the town that was known for its Guinea Pigs and this time we briefly stopped.  There were several open restaurants actively cooking the Cuys on spits rotating above a fire pit.  I stood there thinking to myself, if this isn't the most South American thing I've seen so far, nothing was.

I kinda thought about trying it but I wasn't that hungry.  Several people have told me that it was the most delicious thing they tried down there.  I was going to miss this opportunity again.  Maybe next time?  Mom and I ran I into the small convenience store on the corner for an ice cream bar, we ate that along the way to Tulcan.

We crossed the border back into Ecuador and headed into downtown Tulcan.  He pulled the van around the corner and found a spot to park.  He said to grab our bags and make sure you keep the with you at all times.  Just in case.  We were told that a lot.  I just got used to taking my backpack with me everywhere.  We walked into a building and up the stairs to this café.  It was super busy but we got a table for our entire group.  Mom and I shared chicken, rice, soup and Jello.  I got a Coke and she drank her bottled water.  We chatted for a bit, let our food settle and paid for our meals.  We used the restrooms and walked back to the van.

In a short drive, our tour guide pulled over again and parked the van.  This time we were at the biggest Catholic cemeteries I have ever seen.  It was insane.  We spent the next hour walking around the cemetery and getting lost in the shrubbery.  The place was so clean and immaculate.  I felt like I was at a pristine museum.  I really liked how they buried their dead.  It kept people from stealing the items people came to remember them by.

I was having a hard time keeping stuff at Grammie's headstone and if we did do it like they did down here, nothing would get stolen.  We found all of our people and met outside of the cemetery for a group shot at the Tulcan sign.  We went into the shop across the street for a bit just to see what they were selling.

We hopped in the van and headed back towards Cotacachi.  We got off the main highway and took a detour to Gruta de la Paz, which was about 16 miles south of Tulcan.  We parked the van in the lot, used the restrooms and walked down to the cave.  I had no idea there was a church inside the cave.  We spent some time as a group exploring the cave.  We saw bats flying around.  I took a bunch of pictures of the cave, the bats and the Apaqui River flowing through the cave.

About a half hour later, we walked back up slowly (we were still in high elevation) to the van.  We had to get back to Cotacachi so Caitlin and Khealynn could get packed and taken back to Quito for their flight back home.

We stopped along the highway near the sugarcane fields so we could gas up.

We got out to stretch our legs and to grab a few snacks.  I got a Coke and some Doritos to munch on.  It was getting dark by the time we dropped the ladies off in Ibarra.  We thanked them for coming with us and that it was nice to meet them.

We got back to Cotacachi around 6:30.  He dropped us off in the square near Joyce's house and thanked him for the fun adventurous day.  We walked to Joyce's house and we all got cleaned up, did a load of laundry and spent some time packing up our stuff.  We had to get up really early to head back down to Quito for our flight home.

Next Adventure:  Heading Home Via Mexico

Laguna Cuicocha, Otovalo and Hacienda Pinsaqui

I started to hear shuffling around, since mom wasn't that far away from me, so that meant it was almost time to get up.  Most of the volunteers left the night before which left only Amy, Josh, mom, me, Khealynn and Caitlin.  Of course Joyce because she lived here and was going to take us to a bunch of places today.  Joyce told us to pack up the stuff we would need because we were going to have breakfast and head up to Laguna de Cuicocha.

We walked the few blocks from Joyce's house to the Solid Rock Restaurante.  I loved the Boobie bird logo of the restaurant.  I liked it so much I grabbed one of the business cards.  We sat down at one of the tables and our waitress came by to ask us what we wanted to drink.  I ordered an orange juice, which isn't the same as the US's orange juice by the way, their orange juice is way better.  A few minutes later we received our drinks just as we were done perusing our menus.  The French toast was calling me so I ordered it when she came back by.  Mom ordered the exact thing as I did.  We used their free WiFi as we ate our delicious food.  We paid, thanked them for the wonderful food and headed out.

Since we were going back to Otavalo after the lake and boat ride, some of us needed some more cash.  Joyce walked us over to the bank. She said this was the one she used so it was safe for us to use as well.  I pulled out $150 so I could finish shopping for a few people, pay for food and taxis.  I originally thought I had enough but we has some unplanned excursions and taxi rides and I didn't know we were paying the Quito hotel with cache.  In the mean time Joyce arranged a taxi truck to come get us and take us to Laguna Cuicocha, which was about a 20 minute taxi ride northwest of Cotacachi.

The truck showed up and Josh and I climbed into the back while Joyce, mom and Amy sat inside.  It was fun sitting in the back with Josh.  We talked about various things while we drove up the hillside.

We got to the gate and had to sign in just so they knew who was in the park.  Other than that entering the park was free.  Our taxi dropped us off and Joyce told him to come back in about an hour and a half.  If anyone is thinking of visiting this area make sure you have your taxi either wait for you or come back to pick you up.  You will be stuck there for awhile waiting for a taxi.

Cuicocha is the site of a caldera and crater lake in the Reserva Ecologica Cotacachi-Cayapas.  Some 3,100 years ago, Cotacachi volcano erupted and formed the enormous caldera at its foot.  The Caldera de Cuicocha refers to the 2 mile by 10,650 feet wide caldera.  Laguna de Cuicocha is the highly alkaline lake in the basin.  Most people come here for the boat ride and the 7-8 mile hike around the ridge of the caldera.  We didn't have time for the hike.

We walked to the building and wandered around for a while.  The lodge housed a hotel, a restaurant and had several people selling their goods outside the building such as wooden carvings and woven bracelets.  We actually watched a guy make Josh's bracelet he bought from him.  It was quite the set up and quite the craft.  Lots of patience and memorizing of what colors go where.

We walked down to the building where they sold tickets for the boat ride.  We each bought a ticket for the next ride out to the islands.  They were $3.50 for a 30 minute, tour guided boat ride.

We got on our life jackets and waited for our turn.  In the meantime, Josh took a short nap and we all visited and took a couple pictures.  It was a nice day and you could get sunburned in like two minutes.  I still had my sunburn from Mexico that was starting to peel away and itch.  That wasn't as bad as my itchy scabby no-see-um bites.  My legs looked so awful.

It was finally our turn to get on the boat after the other group got off.  We all sat in a group and enjoyed the ride out to the islands.

Our boat guide was Spanish so everything was in Spanish but we got the gist of what was being said.  It was essentially what you could get off of Wikipedia page or a geology website.  The one interesting thing I learned from this boat ride is that there were no aquatic creatures such as fish because of the bubbles of gas seeping up from the lake bed.

The lake was very clear and you could see the bottom in several places.  At times you could see the bubbles coming up from the bottom.

Some say the lake is about 600-1000 feet deep but it depends on who you ask.  We got back to shore and got off, returned the life jackets and headed up to the building to get our free warm drink that came with our ticket.  Josh and I had ours and mom and Amy decided not to have theirs.  It was called Canelazo, which is a warmed spice alcoholic drink made of sugar cane alcohol and cinnamon. It has long been consumed in the Andes Mountains.  It was actually pretty good and I was glad I tried something new while I was here.

We still had about a half hour or so before our taxi arrived so we walked to the trail head that takes you around the lake.  Obviously, we didn't have enough time or the gumption to walk around the lake.  Josh did a few days ago by himself.  We just walked about a quarter of a mile in, turned around and then waited for the taxi.

In the meantime, we chatted it up with this group of Americans from Indiana.  They were here on a humanitarian trip just like us but they were given out free healthcare and immunizations.  They were in a community a little north of here.

Our taxi showed up shortly after talking to the people from Indiana.  We headed back to Cotacachi where he dropped us off in the town square and then as a group we walked to the bus station.  We got on and traveled the short distance back to Otavalo, we each paid 35 cents.  We all wandered around the market again so people could get some last minute shopping done.  I finished up gifts for a few people including some people from work.  We were there for a bit.  Just before we got done we all went inside the grocery store. There, I brought some Pepsi, a couple of small Cokes, a bag of Doritos and chocolate wafer cookies.

We walked back to the bus station and waited for a bus that headed back towards Cotacachi.  It took a little bit of time and Joyce had to check some of the busses to see where they were going.  She finally found one that was heading that way so we boarded and took off a few minutes later.  We only had to pay about 20 cents for this trip because we were getting off before Cotacachi.

As we neared our stop, Joyce got up and said this is where we were getting off.  I wasn't sure where this hacienda was but what a weird place to be dropped off.  We were literally being dropped off on the side of the highway by the torn up road by the village of Pinsaqui (the first clinic we were at) and then waited for the traffic until we all ran across the road.

We followed this dirt road to this beautiful building tucked behind some trees and a wall.  I actually said wow out loud.  This place was pretty cool.  Joyce told us this is where we were going to have dinner as well.

Hacienda Pinsaqui is located on the Pan-American Highway about 4 miles north of Otavalo, perfectly situated for visiting the attractions in the area, with a spectacular view of the Imbabura volcano, visit San Pablo and Cuicocha lakes, the capital of Imabura Providence Ibarra, Otavalo and its handicraft marketplace and Cotacachi, the leather capital of Ecuador.

Hacienda Pinsaqui was first constructed in 1790, this uniquely restored colonial hacienda was originally a textile workshop, employing at one time 1000 local weavers and spinners.  Fabrics woven in Pinsaqui were exported to the United States.  During the government of Gabriel Garcia Moreno, an ideological political problem with Colombia was solved with the signing of the Pinsaqui Treaty in 1863, Juan Jose Flores for Ecuador and Antonio Gonzales Corazo for Colombia.  One of the illustrious guests that had this house was The Liberator Simon Bolivar who during his trips back and forth from Bogota to Quito used to spend the night in this hacienda.  It should be noted that Bolivar was present in a single battle for Ecuadorian independence and it was the Battle of Ibarra in 1823.

We wandered around the property, went outside in the garden and looked at the tack room that was on the lower level, the tack room is the only room in the house that has survived multiple earthquakes over the last 100 or so years.

We went back into the dining area and we were seated in and I felt like I stepped back into time.  The décor, furniture and the dishes all looked like it would have been aboard the Titanic at the turn of the century.  I felt truly underdressed to be here.

Our waiter came around and asked us what we wanted to drink and I ordered a Coke.  We looked at our menus while we snacked on these crunchy what was sort of like corn nuts but they weren't.  A little while later our waiter came by and we ordered our dinner.  I ordered the steak, medium rare, it came with salad and streak fries.  It was so good.  We all enjoyed our food which I believe everyone ordered a steak.

We thanked our waiter and paid for our food.  While we paid, we noticed the TV in the lounge area and it has soccer on it so we got distracted by it for a few minutes.  We all used the restroom and headed back out to the road.  We had to wait for another bus to come by.  It did rain on it while we waited for the bus, which took about ten minutes to arrive.

We were dropped off at the square and mom and I walked with Joyce to the store while Josh and Amy headed back to Joyce's house...they did some shopping along the way.  Joyce picked up more eggs and I bought some Ecuadorian candy to send to Kevin, Shannon and Willmarth in their care package.  Mom bought dad some honey and some more wafer cookies.  We walked back to her house, got cleaned up, watched Oregon beat UC-Irvine and did a load of laundry while we hung out.  Joyce told us what we were going to do the next day, what time we had to be up and ready and how much money to have ready for our van driver.

Next Adventure:  Las Lajas, Colombia and Tulcan, Ecuador