A man wandered over to me with a bag full of brightly colored pictures painted on sheepskin stretched over frames. The scenes depicted the snow on the peak of Cotopaxi as a perfect white drizzle under a cloudless blue sky and showed village people going about their business in its shadow. We sat on the curb under a hot sun as I studied different sizes and scenes. After a little negotiation, I gave him $12 for my favorite. It made us both quite happy.
This purchase, near the start of my stay, was the beginning of a two-week buying spree. I couldn't resist the soft alpaca sweaters and scarves, woven belts, a chess set pitting conquistadors against Incas, and ivory-textured buttons made from the tagua nut of a palm tree. During a stop at a Panama hat factory, I walked out with a newly made one. Fact: The straw used to make Panama hats grows only in Ecuador and only in two of its provinces. Moreover, the hats are made almost exclusively in Ecuador. By rights, they should be called Ecuador hats.
Llamas and alpacas are a common sight in the countryside below Ecuador's Mount Chimborazo.
(Ellen Perlman)
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The volcano tour ended in Cuenca, on the banks of the Tomebamba River, a colonial Spanish city that many Ecuadorians cite as their country's most beautiful. Cuenca is the country's third-largest city, with narrow, one-way cobblestone streets, small neighborhood stores and several universities. A central square with a park is surrounded by La Catedral Vieja (the Old Church), started in 1557; La Catedral Nueva (the New Church), begun in 1880; and a pretty row of buildings known as the French neighborhood.
I left the country feeling that I needed to come back and explore more: cloud forest areas, hot springs, the coast. And, of course, the Galapagos still await.
Ellen Perlman last wrote for Travel about resorts in the Poconos.
Details: Ecuador
GETTING THERE: American Airlines flies to Ecuador's capital Quito, via Miami, with October midweek fares starting at $675 round trip; Continental flies via Houston with midweek fares starting at $690.
GETTING AROUND:
Latin American Escapes (800-510-5999,
www.latinamericanescapes.com
) offers customized tours of Ecuador. My 11-day tour, booked through the California company, included several nights at the Sierra Madre Hotel in Quito, a four-day Quito-to-Cuenca trip and a four-day stay at Sacha Lodge. It cost $1,830 per person, including two internal flights but not international airfare. In Ecuador, the largest tour operator is
Metropolitan Touring (011-5932-298-8200,
www.metropolitan-touring.com
