Ibarra

Sorry it's been a while, we've been busy, actually and mentally. This weekend we went to Ibarra. The mental and physical list of everything we want to see and do in Ecuador is certainly getting shorter and day trips like the one we took on Saturday are really helping.

Here's what we did: We took the Elloy Alfaro bus to Carcelen (the bus terminal in the north) and from there caught a bus headed towards Ibarra. Cost - $5 for the pair of us. We asked the bus driver to let us off at Cotacachi, which he did. This is always a little nerve racking, because the 'caller' just kind of yells to the back of the bus and you can never quite hear him. We've found that if you make a point of going us to the caller after the bus has left the station and say, 'can you please tell us when we're at blah blah blah town?' that usually does the trick. Anyways, so we get off at Cotacachi which is a teeny tiny town in between Otavalo and Ibarra that's known for its leather goods. UNESCO has called this town 'the city of peace' because literally nothing happens there. My student had told me that you have to get off at the PanAmerican and then get another bus into the town because it's not right there. So we waited with some guys and a priest for the bus into town, got off at the park and mosied our way to the street that has all of the leather shops. I'm glad that we got off at the park because we got to see some of the town that was indeed peaceful. But when we got to the leather street (10 de Agosto) you would have thought we were in the Wisconsin Dells. There were so many gringos, with big hats, talking loudly, being your typical American. Ryan and I, of course were there just to look so it made our trip quite short. In fact the longest part of the trip was trying to find choclo con queso. Choclo is a type of corn, served on the cob in this instance, with cheese. I really like it! Usually it's served with mayo and then rolled in crumbled cheese, but the place we ate it left off the mayo and served it with slices of cheese instead. I thought this was a much better option! Anyways, after our $1.50 snack we were back on the little bus that took us to our next stop: Autuntaqui.

10 de Agosto (the leather street)

The plaza in Cotacachi

One of the many leather stores

Choclo con queso

Cute and colorful houses in Cotacachi

What I'm assuming to be the crest of Cotacachi

Autuntaqui is another little town, not like Cotacachi peaceful, but more like a super small city. They are known for two things: clothes and fritada. We were suposed to stop at Fritada Amazonas, but we got off the bus too early and ended up going to Fritada Mama Miche. This place was actually in the town so we got to see all the clothing stores, instead of Fritada Amazonas which is on the highway and you don't enter the town at all. I don't like fritada, it's official. I've tried a couple of times and its just not for me. Ryan on the other hand, loves the stuff! What is fritada? Let me just show you:

Here we have tortillas (also known as llapingachos or fried potatoes), salad, avacado, tostado (crunchy corn kernels), and mote (a type of corn and the main reason I don't like fritada), plus a side of cheese. 

The place that we ate: Fritada Mama Miche

After fritada we were back on the bus to San Antonio de Ibarra, another teeny tiny town. This one was just outside of Ibarra (about 2 kilometers). This town is known for wood carvings. The master woodcarver, Luis Potosi, is from San Antonio de Ibarra. You probably think you don't know this guy but you know some of this wood carvings as everyone copies him. We got off the bus on the highway and walked into town, peeking our heads into lots of tiny stores jam packed with different carvings. Then we found the mega studio, showroom, store and we met the master himself. His stuff is amazing. Seriously, amazing. And, all things considered, really cheap! If I were in Ecuador as a tourist, you better believe I would have bought at least one piece of his original work and brought it home with me.

All of the wood stores had a different speciality. This one's was religious ornaments.

This one's was candle stick holders

The Master, Luis Potosi's workshop.

Notice the carving in the middle of the photo, he's the originator of carvings like this.

A furniture shop. We peeked our heads in and got to see the carver in action.

Then we were back on the bus for our final destination: Ibarra. We got into town around 5 and wanted to  leave around 7 (Chuki was at home), so we were on a mission: see the sights, get a feel for the town, eat ice cream and various other treats Ibarra is known for and then get out of there. And that's exactly what we did. We walked past the market, saw a handful of fine churches, explored gorgeous parks and plazas and ended the visit with paila ice cream in the park while we watched the sky change colors. Then as it was getting dark we headed back to the bus terminal and caught the 7:15 bus.

Cathedral of La Dolorosa

Beautiful Plaza

Beautiful sun on the mountains

Another church

Ryan and I having a great day exploring!

Supposedly the originator of Paila, a famous ice cream here. 

Me with both of our cones. On the left (mine), Mango and Mora and on the right (Ryan's) Maracuya and Tamarind.

Sitting in another plaza at sunset, eating our ice cream.

This photo doesn't do the colors justice!

At the end of our trip!

We made it back to our apartment around 10:15 with $5 still left in our pocket. It was a great trip! Its days like those that make me so thankful I live abroad. But they also remind me that there are adventures to be had anywhere and everywhere. Even if it's just an hour or two away from home!

MULUB,
Taylor