Final day in quito was a mad rush to finish the project get results and finally get some rest from the previous days of endless work. In my opinion given the resources we had and the limited amount of time we were able to accomplish a lot. By the afternoon we had spoken to the main guy whose only concern was actual dollar amounts which I was in no way prepared or qualified to discuss, then we met with the main technical guy who seemed very happy with our results. We all said our goodbyes after that and I was actually a bit sad to be leaving. One of the fellas there at the office (well actually all of them) took english classes in the mornings and he was bummed saying that his English was poor and he wanted to practice. So we would have all of our conversations in English. A really nice dude. He was asking me about the US and the women. I told him there, in California he could find any flavor, any color, any race didnt matter, it was all available. His eyes were wide open. I told him he'd like Las Vegas, we talked about the madness there, the clubs, the parties, the restaurants the gambling. Dude was focused on bitches, he asked me in some broken english, "at these clubs, in las vegas, the women, after, you can go to sleep with them?" I busted up, and told him, it all depended on the girl. To me it was funny as hell.
After the meeting we raced out of there and headed straight for lunch. I was so hungry, we worked through lunch and finally ate about 4pm. After lunch, a nice swim at the hotel, and some rock climbing in the pool. Which after about 10 minutes I was "reprimanded" by hotel staff that it was not allowed. Even after pleaing with the homey and tellin him i was a professional... no love. I sat in a Turkish bath for a bit and my fucking hell, it was great, I sweated and it felt amazingly good. Finally it was time for a well deserved massage. 35 bucks and it was awesome! My body felt like dough and I couldnt be happier. Well deserved in my opinion.
We wanted to check out the Plaza Grande at night, we'd both been there before but we'd been told at night it was nice since they light up the buildings and the monuments. We got there and there were plenty of people. An odd mix of hustling taxis, loads of police, begging indiginous and tourists. We strolled around took pictures but everything was closed. My homey had a shadow in the form of a little Indio boy with the dirtiest fucking face you've ever seen. Persistent mother fucker, would not stop asking for money for at least three straight minutes. "Solo una moneda, ...por favor!" over and over. He came up to me and I told him "hell no!" and we pretty much took off. There wasnt as many people in the plaza which kind of bummed me out (probably cuz it was Wednedsay) so we decided to book it.
We figured we'd need to find a cab, the first guy we went to had no idea where the restaurant we were looking for was, he'd try and fool us by using the info we'd already given him. After a while it turned into a straight hustle. So we bounced and right as we crossed the street the party van showed up. Tourist piled into the top with the "crazy" as well as "shitty" band playing. The atmosphere on the bus seemed cool tho. I dunno, i think they're a perfect target to rob personally.
The taxi we ended up finding to take us to the Panecillo was bad ass. the nicest dude around, the guy was from an area south of Quito close to Banos, and he'd lived all over the country, by the beach, two years in the Galapagos, a great life, altho he lacked money which forced him to shuttle business types around the city as his age advanced, it was great that he wasnt bitter.
The Panecillo is this area at the top of a hill/mountain pretty much in the middle of the valley that makes up Quito. To the north is new section of Quito and the Mitad del Mundo and to the south lay the Centro Historico and all south America, There is also this massive Virgin Mary statue at the top, Quite impressive and built in 1975 (a good year, i should know). At the top is a sort of park and space for the indiginous to sell the artisenias. They're as good hustlers as any in Mexico. I finally found something to take back to my Lady aside from chapstick there so I considered it a successfull trip.
So the cool cabby was telling us on the way up there that the area around the mountain was dangerous and not to try to walk down, since the folks around would most likely try to jack, beat and perhaps maybe sodomize us. No lie, the place reminded me of Tijuana. There was a restaurant just below the statue that was recommended. The shining Jewell in the shit that is El Panecillo. Pim's was the spot and it was a super dope spot. Delicious food, and a cool atmosphere. The only crazy think was the fucking ceviche de camaron that was dripping in mayonaisse. I did however have the second best Locro de Papa in Quito tho.
We paid the bill and took one last look of this crazy ass Valley in the middle of the Andes.
The folks who work there at Pim's called us a taxi and they'd said it would have the number on the window. #114 was our ride. We walked out and the security there at Pim's was all to eager to toss us into some shady ass taxi sitting in front of the entrance.
"Quieres taxi?" says the shady security guy
"No, ya llamaron por uno ahorita llega"
"NO! Aqui ya esta!" he says, as he points to this busted up CHEVY Rodeo (yes, a CHEVY RODEO)
"NOOOOOO, Hombre, este no es, no te preocupes, ahorita llega"
Dude kept insisting that that was our cab and that they work with the folks at Pim's. Thats when I noticed that the driver also had his Wife and kid in the passenger seat. The kid couldnt have been any more than a year old.
So then the driver starts up, hassling us, and the Security starts to get pushy and being a bitch, he pretends to call the people in the restaurant and starts saying that they're also saying thats the taxi. Finally, I go.
"Oyeme hombre! Que no entiendes que no nos vamos a subir!"
I headed back to the restaurant to take a piss and when I came back my Homey was already in cab #114 which had just pulled up. Ridiculous.
So we went from one extreme cool cabby to an absolute shitty one! This guy drived like a blind man with parkinsons, almost nailing cars and slamming on the breaks. On top of that he smelled like a drunk bums crotch. Super unfriendly, a miserable bastard. Halfway down the Panecillo we hear a mobile phone go off, the cabby starts saying its his and he pulls over in whats got to be one of the shittiest areas in Quito. He gets out the car opens up the back door and starts digging around, I'm thinkin, this is fucked, we can look later! Then the guy is really taking his fucking time looking for the phone and thats when the fucking Rodeo passes by us and pulls over about 15 yards in front of us. My brown ass is ready to jump and run. Finally we're like, look man, they'll call back and we'll find it. He gets back in the car whips out a phone he says is a "backup" and resumes the crazed drive. We asked him to swing by the Mariscal which is where the movimiento happens (the nightlife). To our surprise it was packed. The clubs and pars were spilling out. People everywhere! A band had just finished playing, it took 10 minutes to go 2 blocks. But we were tired as hell and needed to wake up early. So we skipped the movement and headed back to the hotel. And the mobile... belonged to my boy. Sheisty cabbie for sure.
Again, people in Quito were pretty cool, like anyone else I figure. Latin American folks are pretty open and inviting. We're not super reserved or anything and we enjoy a good time so its nice to be around that environment. What was surprising is that seems like everyone is taking English classes, they love to practice it whenever they can and its great to see people want to advance and learn. I'd like to return sometime, take some time off and hang out by the beach, surf, kick it in the hot springs and just enjoy the place.
Final Notes:
Hyundai has a pimpin ride over there that is designed by Pinifarina
The Suzuki Sidekick is the Chevy Sidekick and the Isuzu Rodeo is a Chevy Rodeo
When you fly out of the country you get a real great view of the Andes, the mountains aremassive, you fly up thousands of feet and there's still mountains whose peaks are at your level.
No comments:
Post a Comment