You know how I said that the people in Ecuador are less than
friendly and even less so than some of the people I met in Bolivia. Well in
Quito, over a period sixteen hours, I’ve been robbed/pickpocketed three times!
I’m sorry for the nice Ecuadorians that I offend here, however, what I want to
know is this; Did they find every low-life, degenerate delinquent.....scumbag,
call them what you will, in South
America and send them all to Quito? You definitely get a feeling that you are
being staked out by everyone that approaches or passes you, particularly the
young guys in their mid to late teens or twenties. I’ve never felt that during
my travels throughout South America
My first near robbery (and beating) was in a taxi between
the old town and new town, to go for my penultimate big city Thai restaurant; Siam.
I’d been sitting in the restaurant in the gran plaza hotel (the only place I
could get access to wifi, for a scandalous $8 per hour) well I suppose that was
another robbery..... So lets make it four!
However the doorman kindly offered to get me taxi to take me
to the new town, which he said should cost no more than $3, but should only be $2.
As the taxi drove away I asked the price to the new town. He said 8
dollars.No way I said. “No es possible.”
“ Si” he said, followed by “LLuvia” and something else I didn’t understand. “Irrelevant”
I said. “Solo three dollars” and that was what I was told by the doorman at the
hotel. I shouted “meter”By this time we
had travelled a couple of miles and he was raising his voice and I assume
swearing. I knew I should have learned Spanish swearwords first!!
More seriously now.......After about a minute, he decided
that he didn’t want me as a customer and stopped the taxi and said “tres
dollars”. I said “ no esta neuva town. No esta Calle Victoria”. He said “tres dollars” whilst
reaching down at the side of his seat
and pulling out a baseball bat. I have to say that it was tempting to remove
the bat and finish off both him and his car, but that would probably mean a
longer stay in South America than I had bargained for. I said “ no pagar”
followed by a couple of words, the last being ....off” He opened the door by
this time apoplectic and let me out. However, where he was very clever, is
despite having had the opportunity to stop miles back, he decided to stop in
Mariscal Sucre. Now I wasn’t aware that I was there at the time, but I was made
aware as soon as I managed to flag down another taxi. To be brief, Mariscal
Sucre is a definite no-go area after dark and never on your own! The guy who
stopped, said “no para turistas .....muy, muy peligroso” (not for tourists,
very very dangerous). I started to explain the situation and thought that it
might end up me being thrown out again, so thought better of it. It was less
than 2 dollars and he put the meter on! After all of that, the Thai meal wasn’t
worth it.
The next morning, I was standing at a kiosk buying water,
whilst certain that someone was in my bag, I turned around and found this
little scumbag setting off like a bullet across the Plaza, even almost knocking
down a female police officer! I took my bag off and the zip was open. All I could
see that was missing was my trusty old FCUK baseball cap. Though not a major
loss, it was the principle.
Anyway, as I had a couple of days to wait for the bike, I
decided that I would take a bus out to El mital del Mundo, the middle of the
earth (or Equator), where you can get your passport stamped just as I did in
Ushuaia ( with my last passport that was stolen) to say that I’d reached the
end of the world! I took the trolle bus ( tram ) out to La Y where I was going
to catch a bus, The trolle bus was packed and at every stop a bunch of “up to
no good” delinquents were getting on and off. Fortunately, or so I thought, I
was positioned dead centre of a group of woman who were all dressed formally in
business gear. As I got off at La Y, I immediately felt that something was
wrong. I felt the side pocket of my day pack, which is under my arm. I knew
instantly that the camera was gone, but couldn’t understand how as I have a
lock on it. Someone ( and it almost definitely had to have been a woman) had
cut the bottom of the pocket and the strap of the camera, which is tied to the
zip, without me feeling a thing. I looked around to see if I could identify
anyone who was beside me, and there was no-one. All I assumed, had got off at a
previous stop! This is definitely the last straw for me! I have lost photos
through the andes and going as far back as Mancora and Tumbes on the border of
Peru( which I know is my fault...... but you know the trouble I had getting the
photos to upload). It’s also been difficult to charge the computer in Equador,
partly because I have had to camp a bit and the two hostals I stayed in had no
sockets in the room. I also lost a day and night’s worth of photos of
Quito, some of which were stunning, and photos of some of the people I met cycling
south together with a photo with the Equadorian Cruz Rojo ( red cross)! Worst of all, I managed to lose a brilliant
camera, my third!!! Just don’t want to be here!!!!!!
If all that wasn’t bad enough, I went to four different
police stations over a period of three hours, none of which were able to take a
report, and was eventually directed back to the police station which is a few
hundred metres from the hostel.
Oh and a few days before Quito, I also had some other degenerate
getting out a taxi, shouting something about a gringo, whilst looking for a
fight! Hilariously, he opened the door of the taxi just in front of the bike,
got out as it was moving and fell flat on his face, clearly drunk out of his
mind and unable thereafter to move. I manoeuvred around him and his mate got
out of the taxi to help him back in.
To add insult to injury, the bike shop phoned the hostel to
say that it would be at least seven days before they could get a new rear rim
for the bike, but it could be longer!
Just want to go home.......and definitely don’t want to be
in Ecuador a minute longer!
However, to show that there are some really nice Ecuadorians,
the couple that own the hostel gave me their camera to allow me to take some
pics and also gave me a number of pictures they had taken of Quito at night.
And I know this is a bit supercilious given the purpose of
the journey, but having my camera stolen is just making me question whether I
can really truly enjoy the rest of the journey. Can’t be arsed buying another
camera and definitely won’t be doing so in Ecuador. Am also pondering getting
my bike taken over the border, which is 150 miles away to get it repaired in
Colombia and to get a dose of that superb Colombian friendliness.
