I am getting close to the Equator, the belt of the world, the mid-way point between the poles, and coincidentally I am also near to the half way point of my solo wanderings. Which gives me some reason to pause and think about what I have done so far, what I aim to do in the rest of my wanderings, and what comes afterwards. These last few weeks have been far more relaxed, but I am realizing that I have been more withdrawn as well, spending more time in my room(s), more time on the Internet, more time reading, too much time letting my thoughts wander. New cities, new sights, new food, they are losing their automatic appeal to me, as earlier everything new was awesome. Boredom is a word I find myself often wandering to, pausing at, trying to find some reason I should be on a an adventure such as this and still stand for being bored.
On my last day in Peru I lay on the roof of the Hotel California (yes, I know, like in the song), in a chair made of thin green rubber tubing knit around a rebar frame, took off my shirt, and sat in the sun for the afternoon. I let everything slowly drain from my mind and fell into a blissful and warm nap. Clouds drifted overhead, the sun dropped into the waiting arms of the horizon. This was my last day in Peru. My first day in Ecuador: sunburn.
After ambling around Loja for a day, I decided to follow my quasi-fantasy of getting passage on a freighter from Guayaquil on the southern coast of Ecuador to Panama, after which I would make my way to Costa Rica to meet up with my hermano. I took the bus from Loja to Guayaquil, eight hours which passed by smoothly as can be. Of course, arriving at 7pm in Guayaquil I discovered that my backpack had not made the trip with me. Apparently I was too trusting of the baggage buy in Loja. This event was discouraging to say the least. Not to mention I had no address for any hotel.
I won't go all into the details of my backpack situation, suffice to say I got it sent to Guayaquil overnight and picked it up the next morning. It was a pretty awful 12 hours though. Located a hotel near the bus terminal, which was heavily overpriced. To boot: Guayaquil is incredibly hot and humid, even in the winter. Especially humid after sundown. I could not sleep more than an hour that night without waking up, and I had terrible dreams in between. Awful, vivid, engrossing nightmares. Woke up early by choice and went to the bus station -- which is surprisingly modern, complete with a food court and three-level mall.
I tried to follow my freighter fantasy, but found this option both less possible and less desirable the more people I asked about it. Apparently Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa -- of whom I am a fan -- has increased the amount of inspection at the port and cut down on corruption, meaning that ship captains are not so likely to pick up stragglers. The shipping companies will certainly not facilitate passengers. And the maritime port, where I would have needed to go to try and bribe a captain, is very far from the main part of the city and in a dangerous area. In thinking about the freighter option, I also realized that, considering I am growing bored wandering around beautiful foreign cities, spending a week or so on board a ship might not be the best thing for my mental well-being. So I gave up on the freighter fantasy, and found some cheaper flights that will take me from Cali in Colombia to Panama City, a short but unexpectedly expensive hop.
The high point of Guayaquil was the Museum of Anthropology and Contemporary Art. Weird combination, but exactly what I needed -- two hours wandering around a nearly-empty air-conditioned museum. Three exhibits: a 20th century art grab bag of mostly Latin American artists, a collection of lurid paintings by a contemporary Colombian artisit, and a anthropological retrospective of the last 10,000 years of Ecuadorean history. Side note: I am still unsure of the adjective which implies something being from or of Ecuador. Ecuadoran? Ecuadorian? Ecuadorean? Ecuadorish? Just thinking out loud.
Bus ride today from Guayaquil to Ambato also uneventful, although we did spend an hour, literally, waiting for construction on the highway:
Constant road construction + Only two-lane highways = Lots of delays
There was a four year-old boy who sat next to me most of the ride. He fell asleep on my shoulder for a while, which was adorable. For most of the ride he would not respond to any of my questions, at the most shaking his head slightly to indicate "no". About an hour outside of Ambato he started talking with words and would not stop. He was singing and talking and asking me questions. His parents were sitting across the aisle with his infant brother and smiling at me when I talked to the little boy. A nice family scene.
As for Ambato, it lies on the Panamerican Highway somewhere south of Quito. Not sure what I am doing here -- upon arrival I checked into the dirty but lively hotel, had some dissapointing lunch, and came here to the internet cafe. I have thought a lot about the next few months and years, but not at all about the next few days. Is this a good thing? My instinct says no, but it's been wrong before.
1 comment:
if only the incas had known how to fashion boredom into a weapon, the spaniards might have departed, yawning, 400 years ago. silver is sometimes described as a "dull metal". perhaps we can interest the young gringo in a volcano? some fruit juice?
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