Kidnapped by bandits?

On the last leg of our trip we ended up in Bogota, Colombia. When we started this trip four months ago we had planned on exploring only Uruguay and Argentina. The plan was not to go backpacking through all of South America with 5 huge luggage, 5 carry-ons, a stroller and a baby cot. The plan was to stay put a month at a time and then fly out of Montevideo in November. Well, plans changed and we did end up dragging all of our luggage and stuff through 6 countries and who knows how many cities on who knows how many buses and taxis!!!!!!!!! Because we are very thrifty and have a budget, we discovered a really great deal on airfare out of Columbia. The price for a one way round trip ticket was $150.00. When we got to Peru and realized that we would like to go further north to see Ecuador, we started thinking about how much it would cost us to travel all the way back to Montevideo to catch our flight. We were thinking about all the long bus rides we would have to take as well all the hotels we would  have to pay for. When we weighed it out we thought that it would be cheaper to work our way up to Colombia, and purchased the $150 tickets through Spirit airlines.

Now you know I love a great deal because this blog is all about the great deals! But we all know that when you think of Colombia the first thing that comes to mind is ...... the drug cartel, kidnappings, bombings,cocaine etc... I did not feel very comfortable with having to travel through Colombia.Of course my husband the adventurer said "Oh c'mon, it'll be fun!!" So I got coerced into saving money by going to Colombia. When I started researching things I realized that crossing the border from Ecuador into Colombia has been known to be somewhat dangerous. After reading my Lonely Planet book about how to cross over, I was dreading having to do it. I kept reading travel websites with posts from travelers who had done it before. The one warning was not to take an overnight bus because of bandits robbing buses. To avoid taking an overnight bus we would have to stay in the border town and get to immigration really early in the morning, walk across the border with all of our luggage and stuff , go to the Colombian immigration office and then take a taxi to the bus station. I was really nervous about having to do all this , I thought for sure we would get kidnapped.

Needless to say, we made it safely. God watched over us and sent us a helper. On the bus to the border town on Ecuador's side I sat next to this young woman in her 20's. We didn't say much to each other for most of the ride. As we were getting close, in my broken Spanish I asked her if she was Ecuadorean or Colombian. She said she was from Columbia. We continued to make small talk and I asked if her if it was safe in Pasto the town we were trying to get to before dark. I found out from our conversation that she worked in Ecuador during the week and went home to Pasto for the weekends. This border crossing was something she did every week. I asked how to get over the border and on to Pasto. She told me how she did it and I asked her if we could follow her. So at that moment she became our border crossing buddy and translator.We got off the bus, loaded our luggage into this big pickup truck with a tarp covering the sides. It was the only way we could go without separating into two taxis. We hopped into the back and sat on our luggage and off we went on a 10 minute bumpy ride to immigration. We got our passports stamped and our friend was kind enough to wait  a half hour for us. We then dragged our luggage across a bridge and crossed a busy street into Columbia's Immigration to get our stamp in. We then loaded onto a minivan called a collectivo,which is a cheap way to travel and got dropped off at the bus station. We bought tickets for Pasto which would be a two hour bus ride and made it to our hotel by 10p.m. safely.

Two days prior to us arriving in Columbia, there was a suitcase bombing in a park two hours away from Bogota. This added to my anxiety. We stayed in 3 cities in Colombia and felt relatively safe but were on guard as we normally are. In Bogota we watched a protest with about 300 people and it was very peaceful.
 Overall , Columbia was a great experience and I would probably go back.

The best deal of our whole trip

After staying in Quito for a few days we continued north to Otavalo, Ecuador. I had been patiently awaiting our arrival and this was the one place I wanted to visit in all of South America. Otavalo is a village in the Andes of mostly indigenous people with a population of around 90,000. The Otavalos are known for their handicrafts and travel all over the world to sell their wares. Here in Otavalo is the largest handicraft market in South America. People travel far and near to come this market.The biggest market being on Saturday which spans several blocks with animals(chickens, roosters, cuy, llamas,goats), handicrafts , produce and meat. Because of the  popularity of the market, it is now present every day of the week with the handicrafts. The Otavalos can be recognized by their traditional dress. Woman wear a white,  embroidered blouse with bright colors ,dark skirt and colorful woven belt with black espadrilles and  long braided hair. Men wear white cotton pants, black poncho and long braided ponytail. I am completely fascinated by indigenous clothing. They are so talented in so many crafts and everything they wear is hand made. Whenever I see them with their traditional dress I just stare in awe. Their clothing is so beautiful and detailed with beading or embroidery. Their clothing varies by village and culture and so traveling through South America we've had an opportunity to see the diversity in traditional dress. What amazes me is the fact that their culture remains intact despite living in a progressive world. Here's a link to google images for Otavalo. Unfortunately, I was too busy shopping to remember to take photos. Here are the few I did take.

 

Here's the crocheted bag I bought for $12.00

Tagua necklaces for $3.25

Embroidered bags   $8.00

https://www.google.com/search?q=otavalo+market&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=enWiUIigGOXEyQGXr4DYCw&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1725&bih=850



We booked our hotel on booking.com which is our default source before anything else. Hotels are usually 50% off their usual rate. We have actually tried calling the hotels and asking if they could match the rate they have on booking.com and some of them couldn't do it. A couple times we wanted to stay longer at a particular hotel we had been at for a few days and found a lower rate on booking.com, so we just booked it online to guarantee the lower price. We just learned to work the system. The best deal we got was for Hotel Acoma in Otavalo, Ecuador. It had a high rating of  9 out of 10. I usually look at the reviews and price and try to find the best value for our money. If a hotel has a rating between 8-9 and is in our price range , then it's in the running. It's hard to find a budget hotel with a rating higher than 7, so when you do find a higher rating you jump on it. The ratings are based on cleanliness, comfort, location and staff. Hotel Acoma was priced at $17 for a double room , with free breakfast. The usual rate was $40 a night for a double.When we arrived the owner and her daughters came out to greet us at the curb and helped us with our luggage. The hotel was beautifully decorated, spotless and bright and airy. The room was not too small, clean and the bed was comfortable. The best part was the huge bathroom with an extra long bathtub. We were very pleased with a our bargain. After wandering around the hotel, we discovered that some pretty prominent people had stayed at this boutique hotel. There were photos of some famous people who had stayed at Hotel Acoma on the walls including Hugo Chavez! Here are some photos of Hotel Acoma .Unfortunately, I don't have the original booking page to show our $17 deal but at least you can see where we stayed.
http://www.booking.com/hotel/ec/acoma.en-gb.html?sid=cf64b6f7a795db29cb94c24a32e5c6c1;dcid=1;checkin=2012-11-13;checkout=2012-11-14;srfid=6b7ad0d092348563269d586190b523140953dfd5X1

Cuenca,Ecuador another expat haven

We stayed in Cuenca , Ecuador for 11 days. Cuenca is a charming , colonial city which it's historic area  is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of the buildings date back to the 1500's and the streets are cobblestone and narrow. It has a small town feel even though there are 330,000 people living in Cuenca. We rented an apartment  in a hundred year old  building for 10 days overlooking the Tomebamba River for $280 . If we had decided to stay for one month the rent would have only cost $500 which includes utilities and satellite tv. We found housing to be extremely affordable in Ecuador. You can rent a beautiful apartment in the historic area, which is the center of town , for $400 a month utilities included plus maid service once a week, plus free continental breakfast every morning. This apartment has high ceilings with tin tiles, arched doorways and a balcony overlooking the main square. We met some expats  from Canada who were renting this particular apartment. Everywhere we went we met Americans who had retired and decided to move to Ecuador due to the low cost of living and low cost health care. Most of these people had never even been to Ecuador. After researching and of course probably reading "International Living", they had decided to sell most of their things and move to Ecuador to live comfortably during their retirement years. Some people that we met were very young and just wanted to live a better quality  life than they were  in the United States. International Living Magazine has deemed Ecuador the #1 Retirement Haven. After being in Ecuador for almost a month now, I truly understand why. I think if you lived on a  budget, for two people,  you could live comfortably on less than $1000 a month. This would include rent, utilities, food, health care, transportation and entertainment. Most people who live in Cuenca use public transportation or walk, so this would be the trade off. I think you may even find that you could live off of $600 if you were really smart with your money. It is very difficult to find housing in the U.S. for under $600. The trade off would be your location and safety. We all know how much health care costs in the US, the price alone is killing people.In Cuenca you can chose the hospital you want to affiliate with and sign up for their plan, the cost is generally under $100 a month for a family of four. This is just another reason why someone may chose to live in Ecuador. It has been interesting meeting all these people who are truly happy living in a 3rd world country, living a better life than they would coming from a 1st world country.

-Rent  a two bedroom apartment for $400 utilities and satellite tv included plus weekly maid service

-Go to the central market and buy a weeks worth of organically grown papayas, banana's, tomatoes ,onions and avocados for $4.00

- Have lunch at a neighborhood restaurant , hot vegetable soup, stewed beef , white rice, salad and fresh squeezed juice for $1.50

-Fill up your gas tank for your car for  $1.48 a gallon

-Go to the Museum of Contemporary Art for  free

-Stay at a four star hotel for $20 a night including breakfast

- Take a taxi anywhere in the city for  $1.00

After 10 days we hopped on another bus for 8 hours and headed north to Quito, Ecuador. I was a little nervous because the elevation in Quito is 9350 feet and a few of us had suffered altitude sickness at 7330 feet in Arequipa ,Peru. When we arrived it was a little hard to breath but it was mainly because ths sidewalks were very hilly and it was a struggle to climb uphill with a stroller. After a few days we had all acclimated and were actually ok with the high elevation.


Quito  has a well preserved historical center and was one of the first UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES in the world. The  streets were narrow and cobblestone and the architecture was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We had an opportunity to go to the equator which was about 30 km from Quito. There  was a bus that took us to  this attraction called "Mitad del  Mundo" which means" middle of the Earth" and we actually had to pay to get in. Someone had turned this piece of land into the Disneyland  of the Equator. There were souvenir shops and restaurants and even roaming alpacas. This is the monument they had built to show the line of the equator. Unfortunately, after we had visited this place, we found out that the equator was actually 240 meters from this monument. We had been suckered into a tourist trap! But , considering we had been traveling for almost four months and this was maybe our first or second time being lured into the a "touristy" attraction , I'd say we've done pretty good!