Otavalo

Day 24 - 24 November 2012 

Otavalo is a town located in the Imbabura Province, north of Quito. The Otavalenos, the indigenous people from Otavalo, is considered the most successful indigenous group of Latin America. They are famous for their weaving and craftsmanship and today, many Otavalenos own some of the grandest houses, hotels and vehicles in Ecuador. Despite their success, many Otavalos continue to dress in their traditional costumes. The men wear white cotton pants, dark blue ponchos and dark felt hats. As for the women, they wear white frilly blouses with colourful embroidery, long black skirts and colourful or gold necklaces.

Every Saturday, the Otavalo town would be transformed into a mega market place. This is the day when the Otavalos from the nearby villages would come to the town to sell their textiles and crafts. The Oatavlos are certainly not dull people. Walk into a textile stall and you will be greeted by a huge array of bright colourful textiles!

On this day, the roads around the town centre are closed to traffic and dozens of stalls are set up on the roads selling a huge array of products which include accessories, bags, shawls, clothings, shoes, food and even animals! The Saturday market in Otavalo has gained so much attraction over the years that it is now considered a must-do sight on any tourist itinerary in Ecuador. It is also common to see many tourists making their way up from Quito just to shop at the market on every Saturday.

A Strange Twist of Luck

Day 23 - 23 Nov 2012

The sun is slowly setting over the horizon, turning the earlier clear blue sky into a purplish-pink shade. Next to me, the shoe polisher started packing his mobile store and was gone within five minutes. I started to get nervous and began to tap my feet impatiently. Every few minutes, when a bus pulls into the bus stop, my hope will be up thinking that this could be it - the bus that will bring me to my intended destination. Yet, my hope is dashed once again when I see that it is not the bus that I've been waiting for.

I just did an overland border crossing from Colombia into Ecuador an hour ago. Earlier in the day, I was traveling with a couple from Argentina - William and Lily - whom I met on my way to Pasto the day before. We realised that we were heading towards the same direction and they invited me to travel with them to Otavalo the following day. Thinking that this should not be too difficult, I agreed to their offer.

We were supposed to leave our hotel at 8 a.m., and I was all packed and ready to go. However, there was nobody else at the lobby when I arrived and I decided to make myself comfy at the sofa and wait for them. It took another 10 minutes before they appear. Due to some miscommunication the day before, they were under the impression that we were supposed to meet at 8 a.m for breakfast and depart thereafter. Since it was still early, I told them to go ahead and have their breakfast while I will wait for them at the lobby. We finally set off from our hotel at 8.50 a.m. and caught a 9.15a.m. bus to Ipiales, the town nearest to the border. At Ipiales, we shared a taxi to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Las Lajas. The Sanctuary is a gothic style basilica church famous for its magnificent architectural conception. It was built over a canyon with a bridge connecting to the other side of the canyon.

Las Lajar

Las Lajar

I finished touring the Sanctuary earlier than William and Lily and spent another 30 minutes waiting for them to finish taking their photos. It was close to 2 p.m. before we finally had our lunch at the border after getting the Colombia exit stamp. When I thought we could set off to the Ecuador immigration control at 2.40 p.m., William suddenly mentioned something along the line that he needs to go back to Ipiales again and will meet us at the border in 10 minutes' time. Since it's just 10 minutes, I said fine. Well, that was simply just too optimistic. It was 3.20 p.m. before he finally came back. When we reached the Ecuador immigration control building, there were already about 25 peopple in the queue and yet only three counters were open. I spent close to an hour just to get clearance. By then, it was already 4.35p.m. and I started to feel uneasy.

Whenever I do any free and easy travel to a new country, I always believe in arriving at each new destination during the day due to safety reasons. I recall from my earlier research that it takes approx 30 minutes by a shared taxi from the Ecuador border to the nearest bus terminal - Tulcan, and it will take at least another 3 hours by bus to reach Otavalo. In South America, the sun usually sets between 5.30 - 6 p.m. and this means we will definitely arrive in Otavalo at night. Since the Argentina couple is traveling with me, I thought my worries are unfounded.


Strangely, after a 15 minutes' ride, the Argentina couple got off from the shared taxi. When I asked them if this is Tulcan terminal, they gestured with their hands and were pointing in one direction and then the other. That's when my patience finally worn out. I quizzed them if they are indeed heading to Otavalo for the night. After a couple of minutes, I gathered that they have a change of plans and would like to spend the night in Tulcan instead to take some photos. I was groaning insde when I heard that. I can't believe this is happening to me now. I said a quick goodbye to them and immediately set off in the direction where I thought the buses were. I did not realise that I had walked past the bus stop. When I asked a señora on where to take the bus to Otatvalo, she pointed back to the bus stop which I walked past earlier. Unfortunately, the bus to  Otavalo was already there. I tried to make a dash for it but I was too late. The bus had already pulled out of the bus stop. For the next 25 minutes, I stood waiting at the bus stop hoping that the bus to Otavalo will arrive soon. I looked on with dismay each time the bus that pulls in is not the one that I've been hoping for.


I had mixed feelings on what I should do. I can either spend the night in this sleazy town that I believed to be Tulcan or continue on to Otavalo. As I did not like the particular feel of this town, I decided to press ahead with the latter option.. Finally, a man at the bus stop asked me if I'm heading towards the terminal. When I told him I was waiting for a bus to Otavalo, he told me to board the bus that will bring me to another terminal. From there, I will have better chances of catching one of the inter-provincial buses to Otavalo. I was getting desperate and decided to heed his advice and board the bus.


I got off at the bus terminal and immediately went to the nearest ticket counter to enquire on the next available bus to Otavalo. It seems there will be a bus departing at 5.50 p.m. When I pasked if this bus will bring me to the Otavalo Terminal, the lady at the counter said "yes". I vaguely recalled from my guide book that there are some inter-provincial buses that will drop passengers off at the Panamerican highway. While this is ok during the day, the guidebook has stated that it is NOT SAFE at night. Armed robbery, bag snatching/slashing, holdups at expressways and " express kidnapping" are the most significant hazards within Ecuador. I decided to take a leap of faith and believe what the ticket lady told me. Big mistake! When I went down to the departure hall and found the bus, my heart sank. She was lying. The bus was heading to Quito and it will drop me off at the highway.

I was extremely upset with William and Lily. Since I've started my travel, I have never been caught in such predicament. I can wake up early even at 4 a.m. just to make sure that I will get to my destination during the day. Now, because of them, I'm caught in this dire situation. As the sky turned darker, I begin to feel really scared about what's lying ahead of me. In fact, I had never felt more scared or alone than that night. After spending a couple of minutes worrying, I told myself to calm down and start weighing the available options I can take. I can either:

1) Kick up a big fuss if they drop me off at the highway and insist that they bring me to the terminal,

2) Continue on to Quito and find a hotel there for the night; or

3) Fought ahead to Otavalo and pray that all's well when I walk from the Panamerican highway to the town.

After much consideration, I decided to choose Option 3 and began to pray really, really hard for my safety.

3 hours later, I asked this young boy sitting next to me if we are reaching Otavalo. He said no, but just before he alighted for his stop, he told the man sitting in front of him to alert me when the bus is reaching Otavalo. That's when a strange twist of luck happened and I think my prayers have been answered. The man and his companion both spotted long hair (longer than mine by the way) and it turns out that they are Otavalenos and are heading to the Otavalo town as well! Knowing that I can't speak Spanish, they gestured that I should follow them when they get off the bus. Eventually, when we got off the bus, instead of being all alone as what I had feared earlier, I had company of six Otavalenos men accompanying me! One guy mentioned that they will accompany me to the town centre and it is cheaper for me to take a taxi from there to my hostal which costs only US$1. They got a taxi for me, told the driver my hostal address, negotiated the price and made sure that I was well seated in the taxi before they left. I finally arrived at my hotel close to 10 p.m. and I had never felt so relieved than before.

It had been a tumultuous day for me. Looking back, I'm not even sure if I should blame the Argentina couple for what happened or just myself for not being assertive enough and being too accommodating. When you are travelling alone, it is always great to meet new people and make friends along the way. However, I realised that one has to be cognisant of the fact that different people have different traveling style. Another lesson I have also learnt is never lose hope in what you are doing. When everything around you looks bleak, there may actually be a light just around the corner. And for that, I'm very grateful to the group of Otavalenos men that I had met tonight.

San Agustin

Day 21 - 21 Nov 2012

San Agustin is a small town located in the southern part of Colombia. Most people use San Agustin as a base to visit the surrounding area well-known for the pre-Colombian statues. In fact, this region is classified as a UNESCO Heritage site since 1995.

These pre-Colombian stone sculptures include figures of men, animals and mystical creatures. They are commonly found at the burial and ceremonial sites with other grave goods such as pottery, miniature stone artifacts, gold and even children sacrifices. The figure of a shaman would usually be placed in the middle to protect the body from harm. It is also believed that some of these stone sculptures have Asian influences but to date, no documented writing has been found to support this belief.

A Shaman

A bird



To pray for sun, water and food



A typical layoutof the tomb

A local guide that I hired for a 4 hour private riding tour told me that during his spare time, he will be exploring the surrounding area to try and find new burial sites using just a metre long thin metal bar. He claimed that a guide does not earn much in this region and he needed to do this to supplement his family income. He further commented that for each new burial site found, he will only keep the small sculptures while leaving the big sculptures intact to the authorities after notifying them about the latest discovery. Nevertheless, I don't feel good about his actions as I always believe that national or archaeological monuments/artifacts found in a country should all be kept within the country museum. Hence, when he offered to sell me some of these miniature sculptures, I politely declined. And a good thing that I did so as it is a crime to bring out any national artifacts out of a country!!

Salento and Valle de Cocora

Day 16 - 16 Nov 2012

The Cordillera Central range is one of the three branches of ridges in the Andes Mountains that extends from southwest to the northeast of Colombia. Located on the western slope of the Cordillera Central is La Zona Cafetera, the heart of Colombia's coffee production. This is where you will also find Salneto, a small colonial town located at the foothills of the Cordillera. In recent years, Salneto has gained increasing popularity among foreign tourists due to it's beautiful rolling countryside of coffee and banana plantations.

Salento Town

Salento on a cloudy day

Salento on a clear blue day

A 35 minutes jeep ride from Salento will bring you to Valle de Cocora (Cocora Valley) - home of towering wax palm trees. After two days of wet weather, I was really happy when I woke up at 6.15am to a bright and sunny morning. I grabbed a quick breakfast at the hostel and was just in time to catch the first batch of jeeps that will depart from the main plaza at 7.30 a.m.

I boarded this shared jeep where there were six people sitting behind (including myself), two people sitting in front with the driver, and two people hanging off by the side of the jeep at the back. I recognised three of the people whom I met yesterday on my way back from the coffee farm. They are Ariel from Canada, Pete from U.S and Josh also from U.S. (I think). The jeep ride to the centre of the valley costs COP3,000 (approx US$1.80) per pax. When we arrived, I realised that I only have a COP50,000 dollar note which the driver does not have sufficient change for me, and coins that adds up to only COP2,000. Josh, who was nearby and heard what happened, offered to help me pay for the balance of COP1,000. Even though COP1,000 adds up to only ~US$0.60, I was pleasantly surprised that he's willing to help me even though we do not even know each others' name at that time! Such a kind gesture!

Ariel, Pete and Josh were joined by two other ladies sitting in the front of the jeep who happened to stay in the same hostel with them -  Hana from U.K. and Aurelie from France. Knowing that I was alone, there was a kind of unspoken consensus within the group that I will be hiking alongside them. For the second time in a day, I was totally blown away by the kindness displayed by these complete strangers.

There are many different hiking routes that one can choose to do in Cocora Valley. Since we are here to see the wax palm trees, we decided to head to Acaime first, followed by our final destination - La  Montana. The loop trail to La Montana was rocky. After two days of rain, it was extremely muddy and slippery as well. We also did a number of river crossings during the hike and at times, the "bridge" is only held together by by three tree logs tied together with a rope.



Pete in one of the river crossings

Early morning mist

Acaime is a popular rest point where you can enjoy a drink for COP3,000. Most of us decided to order Agua de panela (hot water with unrefined sugar) with cheese, a common local beverage in Colombia. Unfortuantely, this drink does not sit very well with most of us as it was too sweet. As Ariel puts it, it tastes like "diabetes in a bowl".

From Acaime, it was another 1-1.5 hrs of steep ascent before the path levels off. To past our time, Hana, Pete and I started playing some games including memory games, number games and Guess  Who. Before we realised it, we have arrived at the Cocora Valley. The sight that greeted us was stunning and I was really glad to share this beautfiul scenery with my group of new found friends. The 5 hour hike is definitely worth it!

La Cueva del Esplendour

Day 13 - 13 Nov 2012

One of the main attractions in Jardin is the La Cueva del Esplendour which is a waterfall within a cave. There are two ways of getting to La Cueva from Jardin. One can choose to do the more challenging option of hiking up there from the town or the easier, but more expensive option of horseback riding. Since I have always dreamed of riding a horse, I opted to pay a little more money for the latter option. :)

Irma has kindly helped me to arrange a local guide who will bring me to La Cueva. Jaime, my guide for the day was already waiting for me 10 minutes before the scheduled departure at the lobby.

My very cool guide - Jamie

Once again, Jaime couldn't really speak English. After a brief introduction where we tried to understand what each other is talking about, we boarded a shared jeep which is also known as taxi in these small towns. We rode uphill for about 20 minutes before Jaime signalled to me to alight from the jeep. There, in front of me, were two horses waiting for us.

My horse

After spending a couple of minutes saddling the horses, Jaime gestured to me to get onto the horse for the ride to La Cueva. That's when I realised that Jaime will not be leading the horse but I'm supposed to ride it by myself! Oh-oh. I started to feel nervous. I have never riden a horse before in my entire life and thoughts of the horse running berserk went through my mind. While trying to keep my nervousness under control, I decided to spend some time to bond with my horse by stroking him and talking to him in a soothing tone. I think Jaime sensed my discomfort. Even though we started the accent at a snail's pace, he was really patient and stayed behind me all the while with no complaints.

Not long after, we came to a steep, narrow muddy path. Jaime gestured that I should head up that way. My jaws almost dropped upon hearing that. The first thought that crossed my mind was how am I, an amateur in horse riding, would be able to guide the horse along that way. Still, Jaime mentioned something in Spanish and gestured with his hands that I should relax and let loose the reins. Though I was sceptical with what I perceived him to "say", I decided to follow suit. Turns out that Jaime was right. It was only much later that I realised that I'm riding a trail horse. This horse must have done the same route multiple times, and without much prompting from me except a steer in the right direction, it made its way up the narrow path. There were also a couple of times that I almost freaked out when my horse got too close to the edge of the moutain where there is a treacherous drop below. After 30 minutes of riding, it dawned on me that horses have their own survival instincts. Like human beings, they tend to look for the easiest path to make their way up and inevitably, there will be times when these paths are close to the edge of the mountains. However, horses based on their instincts, will know when they are putting their lives at risk by getting too near to the mountain edge. Hence, with that deduction, I finally begin to relax and enjoy the rest of my ride.

The scenery at the top of the mountain was spectacular. Lush green mountain ranges extend beyond the horizon and flowers of different colours are blooming on the trees. During the ride, we did not see other people. There was a constant cool breeze and all was quiet around me except for the sound of birds' chripping in the distance and horses' hooves striking the trail. Occasionally, we would come across a farm and dogs would run towards us barking, with cows grazing in the distance. Most incredibly, there was once during the ride that I have to steer my horse to cross a small river and what an expereince that was! I can't help but feel as if I'm back in those medieval days albeit my dressing doesn't seem to quite fit the description. :) Throughout the ride, I could feel a sense of peace and tranquility coming over me like I've never felt before. To me, this experience is simply magical...

After 1.5hrs of riding, we finally got off from the horses and I followed Jaime on foot downhill. That's when we came to the most challenging part of this trip. Hidden among the trees was a steep mud track that was tilt circa 70 degrees. Jaime who brought along a rope specially for this, tied it to a tree before he guided me down slowly while I hang to the rope for dear life. There, hidden below among the trees was La Cueva.

Yes - it was truly a splendid sight. I have seen many waterfalls in different countries but I have never seen a waterfall inside a cave. While I enjoyed La Cueva, I feel that this trip was how one of my friends, Shirley, who recently mentioned it to me just before I left for South America that sometimes, "It is not the destination, but the journey that matters." This description aptly fits the bill of what I've gone through today.

Jardin

Day 11 - 11 Nov 2012

Jardin is reputed to be one of the most beautiful pueblos in the whole of Colombia. It hasn't been easy to find out much about Jardin as information is scarce on the internet and it is hardly mentioned in most of the travel guide books. However, as I am keen to visit the nearby La Cueva del Esplendour which I will blog about later, I decided to go ahead and check out this place with whatever information I have on hand.

Turns out that Jardin can be easily reached with just a 3.5 hrs bus ride from Medellin's Terminal del Sur (South Terminal). As Jardin is not on the foreigners' radar, hostels are uncommon here and I have to settle to stay in a hotel instead which is located just a block away from the main plaza.

Communication with Irma, the lady boss of the hotel, proves to be a challenge as she does not speak English and nor do I speak Spanish. After a few minutes of trying to understand each other but to no avail, an idea strikes me. I whipped out my iPad, went to Google Translate, keyed in whatever I wanted to say to her and viola! It was translated into Spanish within a couple of seconds. Sigh, the beauty of technology...

After settling in at the hotel, I headed out to this nearby Italian cafe to grab a quick lunch. While waiting for my food to be served, I realised that I have attracted a lot of attention in this small little town. Local Colombians who walked past the cafe would always pause to take a second glance at me. In fact, an elderly Colombian man stood at the entrance of the cafe and was blatantly staring at me for a couple of minutes. Though I'm not really comfortable with all these staring, there's nothing much I can do about it since staring is a pretty common practice among the locals. Hence, I tried to act nonchalant and start reading my travel guide book instead.

After lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this small town. In Jardin, whitewashed colonial buildings with green, blue, red, orange, or yellow doors and windows lined the streets against the backdrop of lush green hills. Besides the typical cars and motorcycles that will whipped past you every few minutes, horses and horse carts are a common sight here as well.

Similar to other pueblos, Jardin's plaza is surrounded by bars, cafes and a church in the centre. It is here where you will see Colombians of all ages - housewives, elderly men, young kids, students, and couples - chilling out. You can also hear loud Spanish music being played from the nearby bars/cafes. As coffee is really cheap at only US$0.35 a cup, many Colombians will hang around the plaza sipping coffee throughout the day. It is defintely the place to see and to be seen!

Fernanado Botero

Day 10 - 10 Nov 2012

Colombia - a name that always conjure up images of drug lords and violent crimes. Yet, there is another Colombia that many people are not aware of and that is contemporary arts.

Fernando Botero, born in Medellin in 1932, is undeniably the most famous contemporary artisit in Colombia. Botero's works often contain objects and figures of enormous size and you can find his works in Museo Botero in Bogota, and Museo de Antioquia in Medellin. Closer to home, some of you may recall seeing his sculptures around UOB Plaza in Raffles Place.

 

Louis XVI´s visit to Colombia

Marie Antionette´s visit to Colombia

Pablo Excobar shot dead

Perod

Somebody once asked why Botero likes to paint fat people. In response to that, Botero replied that he himself is not interested in fat people. Rather, he simply likes to create voluminous characters to give them sensuality.

While Museo Botero houses some of Botero's fine and modern impressionist arts including Picasso, Dali and Monet, Museo de Antiquoa contains more of Botero's original works which he had donated to the museum. His works provides a refreshing change (or even comical to me at times) from the classic works found in other museums such as The Lourve. Below is one of his works which most people would immediately recognise, but maybe not quite... :)

 

La Canderlaria

Day 2 - 2 Nov 2012

La Candelaria is a historic neighbourhood in the Bogota city where there is a huge Spanish influence on the architecture of the houses and churches. The district is named after Nuestra Senora de la, and this is also the birthplace of Bogota capital city, founded in 1538 by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada.

Within Candelaria, one will find colourful buildings alongside cobblestone streets. Plaza Bolivar is the heart of the city and preparations are currently underway for Christmas.

Nearby, Bogota's Archaeological Museum (MUSA) exhibits a variety of objects found in pre-Hispanic cultures such as Antioquia, Tumaco, Tayrona, San Agustin and Quimbaya, also known as the indigenous people. A common practice adopted by these indigenous people is the emphasis on the human expressions and body parts when it comes to designing objects that they used in their daily life e.g. teapots, urns. 

During an English guided tour, I was surprised to learn that despite being thousands of miles apart, the indigenous people share more similarities with the traditional Chinese than I would have expected them to be. For example, they consider their Chieftain as a descendant of the sun just as how the Chinese would perceive their Emperor to be in ancient times. Similar to the Chinese beliefs, these people believe in the importance of balancing the yin and the yang, and how certain elements e.g. gold can be used to suppress water. Definitely an "ear-opening" experience!

Bogota - City of surprises

​Day 1: 1 Nov 2012

After a gruelling 30 hours flight, I finally arrived in Bogota - the capital of Colombia.

​Instead of seeing an old, run down, dusty airport as I have imagined, I was pleasantly surprised when the Air France flight pulled up next to a brand new, glass building known as the El Dorado International Airport. The facilities available in this airport are similar to what you will commonly find in the airports of other major cities such as travelators, cafes, duty-free shops and etc. Immigration clearance was a breeze but due to a technical glitch in the belt system, I had to wait for about 20 mins before I can collect my checked-in bag. Since I have lots of time to spare, I have no major complaints over this little hold up.

​On my way to the hostel. The city sights that greeted me caught me by surprise again. Bogota streets are bustling with cars, buses, hawkers and of course, Colombians! There are big shopping centres, hypersupermarts, and even a huge gym just around the corner from where I'm staying. Once in a while, you will see the soldiers and policemen patrolling along the streets with their big guns. Instead of feeling uncomfortable by this sight, I felt reassured by their strong presence within the city centre.

​Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the La Pinta Hostel. La Pinta Hostel is located at the skirts of Zona G (also known as the Restaurant Zone), supposedly the safer neighbourhood in the city. I was given the bed at the top right hand corner where I would spend my next three nights. A huge locker is also provided where I can lock my personal stuffs. Even though this is a mixed dorm, I'm surprised to learn that there is only a man in my room for the first night. :)