High Altitude Bronchitis and Sunburns will not stop me

The great thing about hostels is the people you meet. In order to make some quick friendship, you have to be open to accepting the help of some strangers. As I said last, I was looking for a lunch spot, and I had seen this man talking to the front desk, a lot. I saw at breakfast, and here he was again. So, naturally, I approached him with a pretty far-fetched question such as “Are you the owner of this place?”. With a chuckle, he replied no, and asked me why and if I needed help and he quickly gave me the name of a local place to eat. It was a restaurant right down the street from our temporary residence. I went ahead and ordered the fish soup, and the fried fish. While I was on my phone, trying to figure out where I was staying in Banos, my next city, my new friend popped in and sat next to me.

Michel is from Quebec. He is a carpenter, and most importantly a huge world traveler. He lived in India for five years in total, and has been in Ecuador for two months. I tried to get as much information out of him as possible. He told me about three great museum to get check out, the first was the Gayasamin  museum, one was the museum of contemporary art and instrument and the last one was  the museum of astronomy which was pretty close. The only museum open on a Sunday afternoon was the Gayasamin.

And boy was I not disappointed. Gayasamin is an Ecuatorian artist who mostly painted the agony and languish of the South American people. He started with the colonization, the mezclados, and continued with the enslavement of the African people and in later years even the Vietnam war. His painting are so simply painted, blocks of colors, sometimes just primary colors, yet there is such details in the hair, the long fingers and the eyes, that it is hard to be pulled away from one of his giant work of art. At first, I thought that it would be a small museum, mostly something to do on random. I’ve been to most of the major museum in Europe millions of time, and not once, I had heard of Gayasamin, so how important could he be?

After his museum, we were given a tour of his house. There were hundreds of donations from some of the most famous painters. His picture was posted on the wall with some of the most important leaders around the world. Didn’t I feel like a silly little white girl, waking around thinking she knows best about art. I did end up buying some postcards which I will send on Monday when the post office is open. 

I took a taxi back to my hotel, as Quito is a very long city. Stuck in between two mountains, it takes up most of the valley. We passed the American Embassy, which is tucked away in the forest behind barbed wires.

Once back at the hostel, I went for a little coffee and tried to relax. The view of the city is so spectacular that all I wanted to do was get back out there. I took one look in the mirror though to realize how badly sunburnt I was. I did put on sunscreen, I promise. On my face, and my arm. I forgot my chest and the back of my knees (I am white. Every part counts). Even my face had streaks of red across it, marking me as a bigger foreigner than I already am. The sun in Quito is not forgiving, especially high up in the mountain and at noon. I decided to rest up and rehydrate before I got sun poisoning and ruin my little adventure.

So I stayed on the terrace, and enjoy the company of two other Canadians. As the temperature dropped, I realized I had brought only a light jacket, and pants were out of the questions as the back of my knees were burning up (Ironic, uh?).  So we sat and played quizzo with my two new roommates, two goofballs from the United States. Needless to say, we didn’t win trivia, but to be fair we were all pretty tired from our respective day, so we were not looking forward to staying past our group activity.

The Canadians and I were hoping to go out into the city at night, but it has been recommended to stay in unless you know exactly where you are going. Many times, and many people have warn us how dangerous Quito can be at night. It was so hard to see the shining light by the church and the twinkles of people walking around while being stuck high up in a hostel. Really, all I wanted to end this day was a delicious ice cream cone and a quick walk through the beautiful European architecture that is Historical Quito.

That night, our fourth roommate arrived at 1 am. His arrival was abrupt, very similar to mine. Lights were turned on, the security guard spoke with his outdoor voice and keys were jiggled. The poor man felt the shame that I felt barely 24 hours ago and tried to undress and get in his bed as quickly as possible. The American guys left this morning for the amazon, so I will be left to make new friends again. Michel, my go-to guy is composing me a list of places I should go from his Lonely Planet guide book as I was typing this (7am- the teacher in me is not quite put to rest yet).

Early in the morning, before my free walking tour, I went to the Basilica del Voto de Ecuador. If you go prior to 9am, you get to go in for free (otherwise it is two dollars). I wanted to wait to climb the tower, but I have developed a cough, and shortness of breath, so I vetoed it. I have been up plenty of church towers, and I went to see Quito from up high on Sunday.

The walking tour was incredible. I have been incredibly lucky in stumbling upon celebrations by accident. We started at the Basilica, and went to Plaza Grande, where they had the most intricate changing of the guards I have seen. Not only was there a lot of guards, but the president is required to be present, and wave at the people and blow kisses (well, I am not sure if he is required to do blow kisses, but he did). We tried a foamy dessert made out of eggs called Ponche, which is very Ecuadorian. It. Was. So. Sweet. Turns out South americans love sweet things, but like rotting-your-teeth-on-the-spot sweet. I couldn’t finish it, and I can’t imagine someone finishing it ever.
We headed over to a couple covenants and another plaza where Quito is starting to build their metro. So in four years, Quito will have much better common transportation.

After the adventure I went to La Rhonda, a little merchant street. They had toys from back in medieval time. I went to the only local looking place and had a local soup you are supposed to have on Easter. It is called Fanesca, and it is made out of 7 Ecuadorian seeds (Yes. Corn is one of them). I had my first empanada as well while being here. Jeeze I couldn’t finish my meal. It was so filling and so delicious.

I went back to the hotel after a bit of souvenir shopping and finding the post office. Everyone will receive postcards, no worries. I had to rest due to my lungs. I went to the pharmacy to try to get help, and receive three medications, ranging from asthma to bronchitis. Later, I will google it and find out I have high altitude bronchitis, so as soon as I arrive in Banos I should start to feel better.

In the evening, my new roommate, Brian, and the two Canadians I met earlier went to a microbrewery called “Los bandidos” to enjoy some real beers. If I had to have one more glass of Pilsner or Brahma I would have lost it. We did take an adventure later to Mariscal Sucre, where everything was absolutely dead. I went back to the hotel to try to rest while the rest of the group went back out.

Today, I am not sure if I will go to any museums, but the teleferico is out of the questions (altitude: 14000ft) and the parks are a big no-no (I got the white people curse, where I get sun burnt at any contact with the sun). But I must re-pack, pay for my meals and room, and depart for Banos by public bus, which I am sure will be another adventure!