More tours around Quito

I went out again at night in Quito after my day tour with my guide. I went to the same club as I had the other night and I again met a bunch of expats there. I had a good time with them but then I started to feel a bit sick so I went back to my hotel. My plan was to go to the Amazon region for a few days and I did not want to be sick for it. Too late though. I got sicker than crap.

I canceled the trip to the Amazon because I was really sick. I might have eaten something that made me sick or I had some type of flu or something. I got a fever, upset stomach and diarrhea to make sure I felt lousy. For the next couple of days I stayed in my hotel. My guide checked in on me every day but I could not do any tours or anything at all except try to survive. I needed to have her change all my reservations minus the trip to the Amazon. I had really wanted to go to the Amazon. I was going to go fishing for a fish with big teeth like a dog's teeth called a tigerfish while in the Amazon region so I was very disappointed that I did not make it there.

Finally after a few days of agony I started to feel a bit better. I told my guide I was ready to start my tours back up so the next morning we headed out to a place called Cotopaxi National Park. It is a large active volcano just outside of and towering over Quito. I made it part way there before I told her to turn around and take me back to my hotel. I just could not do it. I returned to my hotel and went to bed with tentative plans to try another tour in the morning. Such is life sometimes.

The next morning we again headed out to go see a big indigenous peoples market at Otavalo and side trips including Cuicocha Lake, Peguche Waterfall, Mojanda Lakes, and Condor Park. This time I made it all day. We actually went to several different markets in all. We went to one that looked like it was for tourists first and I told my guide I wasn't too interested in this market then we went to a real indigenous market that I enjoyed seeing. We wandered around for a few hours and then we drove to another market that was for livestock. We got to that market a bit late but we watched them load their animals back in their little vehicles which was funny to see.

Then after the markets we drove around to look at the countryside for a while before stopping at a waterfall for a short hike. Standing in the spray of the waterfall is meant to rejuvenate and energize people in a spiritual and physical manner. I tried but I just got wet which did feel good in the heat but that was it for transforming me. After the waterfall at Peguche we had some lunch. Lunch was good then we went to Lake Cuicocha and to Mojanda Lake. They were all nice but not very interesting to me. I prefer learning more about the people than just looking at nice scenery all the time. The markets were better for me. All the mountains look very nice with the terraced farm fields and interesting houses setting them off. I enjoyed my day. I was just happy that I was starting to feel better now.