Day 27... Shit happens
I thought I would write some thoughts down this morning as I wait to be picked up for my journey to Cotopaxi. I am being picked up at 11am, I woke up at 6am... this means I have had a lot of hours to kill... and a lot of time to think, both about the upcoming challenge that I am about to face and my time in Ecuador in general.
Lets face it... It didn't go to plan! But out of the ashes rose a different journey. One that challenged me in different ways and opened my eyes to this country.
I spent last night trying to prepare by reading some blogs about others attempts to climb Cotopaxi... I wish I hadn't. Apart from leaving me a little scared about the prospect of avalanches, it made me realise the scale of this volcano... the scale of the challenge. Sometimes it is better not to know and just face things as they come.
.......
I received a message from Fernando Iza, my guide, asking me to be ready earlier as he was worried about the driver getting to me because of protests in the city.... surely they would not affect me going to Cotopaxi...
Another message followed an hour later ... the driver cannot get into Quito as the roads are blocked... can you get a taxi and meet the driver outside Quito. I thought that wouldn't be a problem and raced down to reception with my kit, asking them to arrange a taxi. Where are you going? I don't know I replied...
After several conversations... between the hotel and the taxi driver, the hotel and my Cotopaxi driver and the taxi driver and the Cotopaxi driver (it seemed very complicated) .. I found myself in a car with the same man who had picked me up from the airport all those weeks ago. He speaks no English and although my Spanish has improved, it generally revolves around food, the weather and how hard it is to cycle in this country. We drive towards the outskirts of Quito
.....
Everywhere we looked, there were police, cars, vans, motorbikes... the roads were nearly empty of cars and the driver pointed out all the people walking.... no buses he said. He was right... there were no buses on the roads today... equally there were no yellow taxis, which is really odd as usually there are thousands of them. He pointed to a side road, where they were all parked up... no taxis either today.
We made it so far... then we started passing cars stopped on the side of the 3 lane highway we were on.... up ahead, we could see cars turning round ( on a one way side of the road) and head back towards us, hazard lights flashing. We pulled over... no passo. Nothing was being allowed past...
We tried a side road... police cars blocked the way, signalling for us to turn round and go back.
The city was closed.
No one in..... No one out.
There was nothing for it but to head back to the hotel. We passed more lines of yellow taxi cabs, more people walking... streaming towards the centre of the city... I could see crowds gathering as we drove past.
I was deposited back at my hotel... gutted...
Nothing I could do except formulate a Plan B...
I contacted Fernando again...
Is there another moubtain we could climb in 1 day, I asked.
The reply... Iliniza norte, near my home.
I looked it up... it was one of a pair of peaks, Iliniza norte being the least technical of the two and standing slightly lower at 5126m or 16817ft, which is still a significant altitude and will be the highest I have ever climbed. I don't doubt that this will still be a challenge and at least I can stop worrying about dying in an avalanche, at least for tomorrow!!
A word of warning came from Fernando... he would contact me early in the morning if the protests were still going on. But I have also figured out a Plan C.. in.case the protests stop me leaving the city again tomorrow. One way or another, these flags WILL fly from the top of some kind of hill or mountain!!
So what to do with my day today??
I started off by going to a nice little cafe that I had frequented before, for lunch. There I found a couple of gentlemen, whose Otavalo trip had been thwarted. I wasn't the only one twiddling my thumbs today.
After lunch, I decided to go for a wander. I needed some cash for the last few days and in truth, I wanted to see what was happening. Despite the warning on the governments travel advice about attending protests in any country, I was curious....
I walked down the hill, crossed the road and headed towards one of the plazas.. I basically followed the crowd. People were selling Ecuadorian flags (I was tempted but didn't think it would fit in my bag for the flight home), horns, and ponchos as it was pouring with rain. I passed where they had piles of burning wood in the middle of the road and followed further down the road where other piles were burning. They gave off an acrid smoke, so I pulled up my snood over my mouth and nose, realising as I did so that I now probably looked like someone who was going to cause trouble.
Lots of people had done likewise and I even saw a few with gas masks. The crowd thickened as I neared the plaza... I could hear shouting and the horns going off. I could see smoke in the distance. I hung back there, unwilling to go further...
I watched people carrying more wood, heading to the fires in the middle of the roads and top them up to keep them burning. People were recording the events on their mobiles so I figured it was safe to take a few pics. Where I was standing, there didn't seem to be any bad feeling, no one hell bent on causing trouble. I looked further down the road...
The noise increased and then all of a sudden people started screaming and shouting and a mass of them from further down the street turned and ran towards me. They stopped and it became calm again....
Then again, more shouting and screaming and running... this time, I saw what looked like smoke grenades or tear gas being thrown up into the air... as people ran towards me, I decided that I had probably seen enough, this was not my protest and it wasn't worth getting fully caught up in. I had satisfied my curiosity and I retreated.
The rest of the day was spent reading and generally chilling. I would also like to thank everyone for their messages of support following this latest hitch in my plans. I am determined to fly the flags from somewhere tomorrow.
Shit happens and I will go with the flow whilst attempting to retain a little of the CraZy too!
LHS
X
Lets face it... It didn't go to plan! But out of the ashes rose a different journey. One that challenged me in different ways and opened my eyes to this country.
I spent last night trying to prepare by reading some blogs about others attempts to climb Cotopaxi... I wish I hadn't. Apart from leaving me a little scared about the prospect of avalanches, it made me realise the scale of this volcano... the scale of the challenge. Sometimes it is better not to know and just face things as they come.
.......
I received a message from Fernando Iza, my guide, asking me to be ready earlier as he was worried about the driver getting to me because of protests in the city.... surely they would not affect me going to Cotopaxi...
Another message followed an hour later ... the driver cannot get into Quito as the roads are blocked... can you get a taxi and meet the driver outside Quito. I thought that wouldn't be a problem and raced down to reception with my kit, asking them to arrange a taxi. Where are you going? I don't know I replied...
After several conversations... between the hotel and the taxi driver, the hotel and my Cotopaxi driver and the taxi driver and the Cotopaxi driver (it seemed very complicated) .. I found myself in a car with the same man who had picked me up from the airport all those weeks ago. He speaks no English and although my Spanish has improved, it generally revolves around food, the weather and how hard it is to cycle in this country. We drive towards the outskirts of Quito
.....
Everywhere we looked, there were police, cars, vans, motorbikes... the roads were nearly empty of cars and the driver pointed out all the people walking.... no buses he said. He was right... there were no buses on the roads today... equally there were no yellow taxis, which is really odd as usually there are thousands of them. He pointed to a side road, where they were all parked up... no taxis either today.
We made it so far... then we started passing cars stopped on the side of the 3 lane highway we were on.... up ahead, we could see cars turning round ( on a one way side of the road) and head back towards us, hazard lights flashing. We pulled over... no passo. Nothing was being allowed past...
We tried a side road... police cars blocked the way, signalling for us to turn round and go back.
The city was closed.
No one in..... No one out.
There was nothing for it but to head back to the hotel. We passed more lines of yellow taxi cabs, more people walking... streaming towards the centre of the city... I could see crowds gathering as we drove past.
I was deposited back at my hotel... gutted...
Nothing I could do except formulate a Plan B...
I contacted Fernando again...
Is there another moubtain we could climb in 1 day, I asked.
The reply... Iliniza norte, near my home.
I looked it up... it was one of a pair of peaks, Iliniza norte being the least technical of the two and standing slightly lower at 5126m or 16817ft, which is still a significant altitude and will be the highest I have ever climbed. I don't doubt that this will still be a challenge and at least I can stop worrying about dying in an avalanche, at least for tomorrow!!
A word of warning came from Fernando... he would contact me early in the morning if the protests were still going on. But I have also figured out a Plan C.. in.case the protests stop me leaving the city again tomorrow. One way or another, these flags WILL fly from the top of some kind of hill or mountain!!
So what to do with my day today??
I started off by going to a nice little cafe that I had frequented before, for lunch. There I found a couple of gentlemen, whose Otavalo trip had been thwarted. I wasn't the only one twiddling my thumbs today.
After lunch, I decided to go for a wander. I needed some cash for the last few days and in truth, I wanted to see what was happening. Despite the warning on the governments travel advice about attending protests in any country, I was curious....
I walked down the hill, crossed the road and headed towards one of the plazas.. I basically followed the crowd. People were selling Ecuadorian flags (I was tempted but didn't think it would fit in my bag for the flight home), horns, and ponchos as it was pouring with rain. I passed where they had piles of burning wood in the middle of the road and followed further down the road where other piles were burning. They gave off an acrid smoke, so I pulled up my snood over my mouth and nose, realising as I did so that I now probably looked like someone who was going to cause trouble.
Lots of people had done likewise and I even saw a few with gas masks. The crowd thickened as I neared the plaza... I could hear shouting and the horns going off. I could see smoke in the distance. I hung back there, unwilling to go further...
I watched people carrying more wood, heading to the fires in the middle of the roads and top them up to keep them burning. People were recording the events on their mobiles so I figured it was safe to take a few pics. Where I was standing, there didn't seem to be any bad feeling, no one hell bent on causing trouble. I looked further down the road...
The noise increased and then all of a sudden people started screaming and shouting and a mass of them from further down the street turned and ran towards me. They stopped and it became calm again....
Then again, more shouting and screaming and running... this time, I saw what looked like smoke grenades or tear gas being thrown up into the air... as people ran towards me, I decided that I had probably seen enough, this was not my protest and it wasn't worth getting fully caught up in. I had satisfied my curiosity and I retreated.
The rest of the day was spent reading and generally chilling. I would also like to thank everyone for their messages of support following this latest hitch in my plans. I am determined to fly the flags from somewhere tomorrow.
Shit happens and I will go with the flow whilst attempting to retain a little of the CraZy too!
LHS
X
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