Moon Handbooks Ecuador: Including the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador Handbook, 1st ed) - Softcover

Julian-smith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1566911079 ISBN 13: 9781566911078

Publisher: Avalon Travel Pub, 1998

Synopsis

Book by Smith, Julian

About this title

About the Author

Julian Smith has been writing since he could read and traveling since his first trip to Cape Cod with his parents as a child. A pre-college summer in Brazil sparked a love affair with (and in) Latin America, fueled by a stint studying the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Within days of receiving a B.A. in Biology from the University of Virginia, he found himself hopelessly entangled in a self-publishing venture that resulted nine months later in the one-pound, eight-ounce On Your Own in El Salvador, the first in-depth guide to the country. He's also the author of Moon's upcoming Virginia Handbook. In addition to backpacking through much of South America, Julian has ranged as far as Greece, Scotland, and the top of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, but tragic twin addictions to Gobstoppers and The Simpsons always drag him back home eventually. He currently resides in the sublime desert southwest, where Albuquerque is a perfect base for hiking, mountain biking, camping, snowboarding, and rock climbing. On off days you'll find him buried in a book, baking bread, or playing funk guitar.

From the Back Cover

PACIFIC, ANDES, AMAZON Hidden beaches, snowcapped peaks, lush rainforest: veteran South America adventurer Julian Smith guides you to the very best of Ecuador and its Galapagos Islands, with: Descriptions of outdoor adventures, including backpacking, kayaking, and mountain-climbing, and details on navigating the infamous Nariz del Diablo on the roof of a train Discerning reviews of hotels and restaurants for every budget, from luxury rainforest lodges to getting by on US$10 a day Extensive coverage of the world-famous Galapagos Islands, including hints on finding the right tour and where to swim with sea lions 44 detailed maps

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

SAQUISILI'S THURSDAY MORNING MARKET Cotopaxi gleams in the early morning sun as vendors labor to set up one of the most economically important and authentic markets in the country. This one isn't oriented to tourists: the atmosphere here is strictly business, and almost everything for sale serves some utilitarian purpose, from cratefuls of chickens to homemade shotguns, shoes to leeks. Buses from Latacunga drop shoppers in the Plaza Condordia, where racks of tools and mountains of neon-colored yarn line the square. Grab a 20-cent pan dulce (cornbread, Andean-style) and head in just about any direction. The entire city, in effect, becomes one big market on market day. Although most of the major buying and selling takes place in one of eight plazas, every street seems to have its own particular offering--some of which earn a double take. On one you'll find car radios dangling wires; head down a block and over for the fried pig heads. While chickens are confined to the food market, along with the roosters, rabbits, and guinea pigs, pullets are sold in a different street altogether. Tinny loudspeakers trumpet miracle herbal cures for everything from diarrhea to gonorrhea, as ragged old men shuffle by with crates of goods secured on their backs by rough lines tied around the shoulders. Past the food market, with its haggling crowds and pots stewing over smoking coal fires, you'll eventually reach the large metal roof shading the textile market. Otavalan weavers display sweaters and tapestries, and garish wooden festival masks from Cotopaxi province glare off racks in the form of dogs, monkeys, and clowns. To one side sits an elderly row of tailors, each pumping the treadle of an antique Singer sewing machine. More than a few tables are covered with the intricate, colorful paintings from the Tigua valley to the southeast. The real treat, though, waits about a kilometer out of town. Follow the pig squeals down a dusty lane to the animal market, where creatures of every description are bought, sold, and bartered. This market is also divided into sections: placid, dreadlocked llamas cluster with cloud-fleeced alpacas near the entrance, while cows, sheep, and horses congregate toward the back. Some women resemble strange parodies of New York City dogwalkers, with dozens of piglets on strings milling around their ankles. Occasionally someone screams, but no one turns to look--it's just a huge hog being loaded into the back of a truck by a group of sweating, swearing farmers. Aside from the few tourists with cameras, this scene in the blowing dust and harsh equatorial sun seems plucked out of time.

Edition details

• Publisher: Avalon Travel Pub
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1566911079
• ISBN 13: 9781566911078
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 418