Ecuador – LISTENING TO THE WORLD

unnamed valley, Ecuador, April 13, 2018

I do not know the name of this valley. I don’t even know whether it has a name. I just stopped to pee while headed for Cuenca from Riobamba, Ecuador.The drive was not easy – not only because it was curvy and hilly, but because it was so scenic that I wanted to pull over twice an hour. “You are a lucky country, Ecuador,” I repeated in my head. Overlanding can be tiring because you are driving 100% of the distance, but having to experience the...

Fanesca, Quito, Ecuador, April 7th, 2018

Fanesca is a traditional soup in Ecuador usually consumed during the Holy Week, or Semana Santa. It is not too visible in pictures but there were lots of beans at the bottom of the bowl, and they say they use 12 different kinds of beans, representing the twelve apostles of Jesus. And one of the side dishes contains salted cod, or bacalao, symbolizing the Jesus. As hinted by the appearance, it was thick and creamy. They say the recipe varies a lot regionally, so I’m happy...

Emotional sauna, Quito, Ecuador, April 6, 2018

Today is my 4th day in Quito, but I haven’t explored the city much, well, at least in the touristy sense. The day I crossed the 4,000 meter-high mountain range to arrive in Quito, I saw my car struggling to go uphill – the speed was comparable to the human walking speed. Although I knew that there were only about 60% of oxygen at that altitude compared to the sea level, I thought something was definitely not correct. So I meant to thoroughly review the exhaust...