Chugchilan



The drive to Chugchilan



We left Riobamba at about 7:15am for the drive to Chugchilan.  On the way to collect the bags after breakfast, Nic spotted that there was a Liverpool -v- Man Utd match showing in reception and was most disappointed that he couldn't stop to watch it.  We looked up the result later though and he was just about satisfied with the one all draw.



Cotapaxi volcano



The first part of the drive was a good one as we passed a number of mountains and volcanoes, including Cotapaxi.

We stopped off in a small town and went to the market for our lunch.  Shanyn and Ben had got quite excited as they thought they had seen chicken schnitzels being cooked, and a number of us had agreed this sounded good, but when we got there we discovered that they were just deep fried dough.

As we arrived at the market, we were greeted by the sight of a cow's head, and a dog eating the innards of some small animal.  Once we were in the market, we could see the various meals being prepared, including pigs' heads, and big pots with whole (except for their heads) chickens or other various other pieces of meat inside.  From the looks of the many discarded bits of skull on the ground, some of the pots probably contained whole sheep's heads!

I decided to stick to one of the fried dough things with sugar on, which was actually quite tasty, and a bread thing that was pretending to be a pain au chocolat.  Nic was bolder and sat down at one of the tables for his lunch.  He was expecting just a plate of rice and chicken, but got a plate of rice, salad and egg, plus a bowl of soup with a big chunk of chicken in it.  He enjoyed it.



Quilotoa crater



There was still some way to go to Chugchilan so Nic and I attempted to play bananagrams again, but soon had to give up as the journey became so bumpy that the tiles would slide everywhere and jump off the table.



 

Quilotoa

We stopped off at the Quilotoa crater that was the starting point for some people to do a hike the next day if they wanted to.  It was a good view into the crater, but having now seen it, Nic and I weren't especially disposed to walk for three hours the next day.
 

Hairy drive round the Quilotoa Loop



The last part of the journey to the hotel was a bit hairy at times.  We were once again winding our way around the edge of the moutains and hills with very little space to spare and a sheer drop at the side.  Izzy again did a great job of the drive and we coped with passing some rather large vehicles coming the opposite way at most inopportune moments!





dancing traditional style

Chugchilan is a tiny town, with no more than a few little shops, so basically we had some time to relax, try to upload some photos (without success), and play more games.  We did have the dubious pleasure of a few of the local kids coming to do a tradional dance for us.  Those who know me won't be surprised that I declined to join them.

TJ had previously extolled the game of bananagrams and challenged us to a match. The three of us were joined by Leon, and the peeling soon began again.  TJ is most competitive, and after having played seven games, with Nic or I winning all of the them, he decided to quit.  Leon was not so faint-hearted and carried on to achive his first peel.  It is an understatement to say he was pleased!

 



Riobamba and bananagrams

We left Cuenca at the more civilised time of 9:30.  The drive to our stopover at Riobamba was long and not especially interesting.

We passed some of the time with a few games of Bananagrams.  The game has a tiles with letters on and you each take a set of tiles and play a sort of individual scrabble. You have to use all of your tiles up and then call 'peel' and then everyone has to take another tile.  This carries on until there are no more tiles, and the first person to finish using all their tiles and call 'bananas' is the winner.  I was playing this with Nic, who is always good at these games, and Leon, who whilst his English is excellent, is at a definite disadvantage being Dutch.

The game is good fun and once you get going there us always a point where one person is able to keep using their tiles quickly and so the 'peel' call goes out almost continually.  This is find for the person calling, but for those struggling to use their tiles - normally because they've picked up the Js, Qs, Xs and Zs, it us a nightmare because you don't have time to even think while this is going on.  But everyone gets stuck at some point, and often in the final moments Nic and I would be almost neck and neck to finish and call bananas.  Leon didn't really get a look in, but he was learning some new words, and did not get at all dispondent about it.  He said later that his aim isn't to win, but just to actually get to be the one to say 'peel' at least once!

We arrived in Riobamba around 4:30pm and I was sufficiently tired that I decided to have a short nap - and ended up asleep until 8pm.  We wandered around the closest part of town for a while, seeing a funeral going on, doors wide open with a group of mourners outside chatting.  It seemed no less sad an occasion, just a bit like a combination of a funeral and a wake together.  We continued past the hoards of partying fifteen year olds, and then found a deli that was serving food and ate there.

Riobamba is not really a town to visit, but it was a necessary stopover on the journey to Chugchilan.