A Relaxing Afternoon in Gringolandia

This morning, after an excellent coffee at El Cafeto, I caught a bus to the New Town, or more particularly, to Mariscal Sucre, or ¨Gringolandia¨as the locals called it. It is the part of town where most of the hotels and tour/travel agencies are located. (I am staying in the Centro Historica). It is actually pretty nice. Very colorful and packed with hostels and hotels and international restaurants and bars catering to the back-packing and traveling crowd. (There are also lots of locals there.)

First stop was the National Museum, where i viewed some excellent ancient and Incan art, mostly pottery, sculptures and gold. There was also a lovely exhibit of Colonial religious partings.

After that I had a coffee on the Avenida Amazonas, the main street. I browsed in the shops and waled up and down all of the blocks.  I had a leisurely lunch and cigar at a cafe in a square (below) and then browsed at an art market.The weather was perfect today and it was a delight to be outside.

Upon returning to the Old Town, I sat in the Plaza Grande and people watched for some time. There was a street performer dressed as Charlie Chaplin who was interfering with traffic, much to the delight of the large crowd. Even the Police were cracking up.

After that, i must admit that I returned to my room and had a nap.

Now i am going to do back to La Ronda for a beverage or a bite to eat before an early bed. Tomorrow morning I plan to be at the bus station by 6am to catch a bus to Otavalo - about a 3hour journey. I may or may not go to other towns along the way, depending on how the scenery looks.

Whew. Three blog entries in one day. A personal record. I am all caught up now.  I shall write again tomorrow morning.
drn