From Maya to Inca: Riobamba to Achupallas

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Riobamba to Achupallas

My guide, Sergio, dropped me off at Riobamba to get the bus to Alausi. Nothing much to say about Riobamba, just a convenient place to catch the bus. It cost 2 dollars for a two hour bus ride - incredible if you compare it to the equivalent of 3.5 dollars in Geneva to go four stops on the bus. I got off at Alausi, where I thought the hostel was, and asked a taxi driver for directions. He told me the hostel I was looking for was in Achupallas 25 kilometres up a windy mountain road. Distrusting tourist that I am, I confidently assured him that no, this hostel is definitely in Alausi. Soon, other taxi drivers became interested, had a massive conflab about it right there on the pavement and insisted that the first guy was right. So, still on the defensive, I went off to phone the lady from the hostel (Inés). Who of course didn't answer. As seems to happen so often in Ecuador, suddenly Ines' cousin turned up out of the blue, driving a truck taking passengers to Achupallas. The ring leader of the taxi drivers' circle assured me this man would take me directly to the hostel and I gave in. Achupallas was indeed up a 25 km windy mountain road. There were also about 10 landslides along the way, with debris scattered over the road, and the driver of the truck seemed to enjoy speeding up at the bends. Not content with that, he got his mobile out and started checking his text messages. Then he began a conversation about my monthly salary, the price of a ticket from Europe to Ecuador and other financial matters. The scenery was beautiful (I think) but my hands were gripped to the seat and I was worried that getting my camera out would trigger a conversation about the price of the camera, so unfortunately I have no photos to show for this. The driver did, however, drop me right outside the hostel, which was indeed in Achupallas, Inés was there, and I gratefully sat down to a plate of tortilla and rice with a tomate de árbol (tamarillo or tree tomato) juice.

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Interesting facts

Another slightly subjective fact. Peruvian mountain roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
Kuelap is a Chachapoya fortress in Northern Peru built before Machu Picchu.
Peruvian men are the most persistent men on the planet.
Blue zones are called blue zones simply because Dan Buettner and his research team (who first identified the blue zones) used blue ink to circle the areas on a map with the highest life expectancy. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Inca civilisation arose from the highlands of Peru sometime during the early 13th century.
Contrary to popular belief, Panama hats are not made in Panama but in Ecuador.
Ten of the volcanoes along the Avenue of Volcanoes are higher than 5000 metres.
Rafael Correa has introduced the "pico y placa" system in Quito, following the Colombian example, "pico" meaning "peak" and "placa" meaning "plate". Cars are restricted from circulating in Quito on certain days during morning and evening rush hours according to the last number of their registration plate, in order to ease traffic congestion.
Quito is 72 kms long and 10 kms wide.
Quito is the oldest capital in South America and lies 2800 metres above sea level.
The sex of the tortoises bred in the breeding centre in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos islands depends on the temperature of the incubators. The eggs kept in incubators at 29.5 degrees celsius become females and those kept in incubators at 28 degrees celsius become males.
The giant cacti of the Galapagos islands are the only species of opuntia cactus in the world that grows like a tree.
Legend has it that the Incas discovered the Galapagos islands in the fifteenth century but no solid evidence has been found to prove this.
Slightly subjective. Playa del Carmen sells the most expensive ice cream in the world. But it tastes pretty good.
The piece of lime in the top of a bottle of beer was originally not for the taste. It was used to wipe the rust off the rim.
Mayan mothers used to wrap planks of wood around their children's foreheads to flatten them.
The dazzling blue ocean along the Mayan riviera is due to the fact that there are no rivers feeding into it. And because of the lack of nutrients flowing into the sea, there is also less animal life along this part of the ocean.