15/08/13 Stage 5 Guamote - Chunchi by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details

15/08/13 Stage 5 Guamote - Chunchi

15/08/13 Stage 5 Guamote - Chunchi by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details

15/08/13 Stage 5 Guamote – Chunchi

We woke up to market day in Guoamote. The place came to life this morning with hundreds of people coming in from near and far to sell and buy on the market. A bus that arrived was jam packed full of people so the sheep that were going to market were all standing on the roof. Pigs and sheep were also tethered and brought in on foot. Particularly the pigs put up a fight and the owners sometimes had a real struggle to get them to go where they wanted. The market itself was much like any such market the world over. Stalls selling hundreds of bits of plumbing pipes or shoe laces, underpants, boxes full of nuts and bolts. But also beautiful woven shawls which are commonly worn both by men and by woman here in Ecuador. And bolts and bolts of colourful fabrics and of course loads of hats.

The ride took us through beautiful scenery and the Panamerican highway by this stage was just one 

single lane with a hard shoulder and with hardly any traffic. All good things came to an end when we arrived in Chunchi. The landlady of the hostal that we stumbled on must have won many prizes in unfriendliness, unhelpfulness and rudeness. On top of that the mattress on the bed was covered in a plastic sheet which creaked every time you moved and with dubiously clean sheets. Never mind a view! Actually it didn't matter, when you looked around and saw what the local population had in the way of luxury we were very well off!