Cuenca Town….okay I know technically it isn’t a town but it fits the song title.. google Gracie Fields ~ she was an old time (second war) English singer who epitomized the English stiff upper lip stuff….
So things were coming to a close. I took the bus downtown, walked from 10 de Augusto to the Carolina Book Store to exchange some books. Mission accomplished. I walked from there to the Super Maxi and felt a twinge in a tooth. No problem, these things happen. Later that evening (Wednesday) my tooth ache began in ernest. (And if I could have found Ernest, I would have beaten the shit out of him). Went to bed early because I didn’t feel so good, but lay awake most of the night. When the lack of sleep overcame the pain, I slept. When the sleep wasn’t so bad the pain woke me up. Repeat about 10-30 times…..So early doors Wednesday, I called a friend (just like the Millionaire show) and go the name and address and phone number of a dentist. Got in to see him and after x-rays, some filing down of a crown and some discussions he prescribed me some anti inflammatory pills. “If this doesn’t work you will need to see a specialist.” 20
So yet again the Fickle Finger of Fate had made an intervention. Do you remember Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In ??? Thursday morning arrived, I thought that I might try to make the earlier bus, so as I couldn’t sleep too much I got up, took the proverbial shower and began working around the apartment to make sure things were cleaned up and that I had not left anything behind. In the second bedroom I open the drapes only for them to come unconnected with wall and fall to the floor. Bugger. I went to the panaderia only to find it closed, but on the way back, thinking like an Ecuad0ran, I picked up a large stone and a piece of wood to try to effect repairs. After effecting temporary repairs I tried to hook the drapes and net curtains up to the eyelets and lo and behold !!!! The whole effin’ lot came tumbling down…..
My landlady was very good with it but yet again I felt that I couldn’t do anything without the world falling in around me and the entire population of the world sitting back and laughing at my expense when the terrestrial t.v. showed “Candid Camera.”
I chose to take the van for a couple of reasons; one being that it was relatively cheap. The other being that I wished to say goodbye to Cuenca and Ecuador. From a plane the world below looks so anonymous, mountains, oceans or green. It could be any place. I enjoyed the trip, but not the part about leaving Cuenca. As we drove out of town towards the Cajas Mountains, roads I have walked many times, I saw the places that were so commonplace to me.
As you rise higher and higher you get to look back over the hairpin turns and elevations, the wild llamas (or alpacas) grazing in the park and the small shareholdings tucked away into the mountain.
Guayaquil arrived and the taxi driver packed me, my 2 suitcases, my backpack and two other passengers into a smart car. Are you KIDDING me ?? No problemo. A little while later I checked into the hotel. Had a fantastic meal at the Opti-Hotel café…actually I found this Spanish restaurant that I had seen on the web, sat down looked at the menu and realized that I could have had a 5 course meal, a taxi and a flight back to Houston for the price of a starter. I patted my pockets looked alarmed and told the waiter “I have lost my phone I have to find it ~ I’ll be back.” I am sure that everyone put 2+2 together and realized that I had made my exit, stage right… I don’t mind paying for a good meal, because being my last meal in Ecuador I wished to enjoy it, my first meal being a Domino’s pizza !!!!! However, I hesitated to pay for the entire family to be raised in the best school and university in Ecuador at my expense.
At the Omni I had the BEST pasta dish, whole pieces of pasta instead of single strips, salmon, shrimp in a white wine and cheese sauce. I know, I know Emeril says “NO cheese sauces with sea food” but what the hell, were the food police going to come and ticket me ???? The hotel/hostel is right around the corner from the Iguana Parque and ideally situated. As I only need a room for half the night, my flight being at 6.50 a.m. and having to be at the airport around 4.45 why pay top dollar for a room when this place is clean, comfortable and cheep. Did I mention cheep ?? Thanks Sandee.
So my very good friends and blog readers, I will leave Ecuador tomorrow morning, will be back in Houston just in the early afternoon. You can be assured good readers, that I will seriously miss the place, my friends and the ambience of this place. Guayaquil is a busy bustling mess in my humble opinion. So much so that I wasn’t even inclined to take my camera and walk around. I suppose that it would have been very safe being around 2 p.m. but it didn’t feel right or more correctly it wasn’t familiar. Cuenca was. I never thought anything about walking around with my Mo-pod, camera or any combination of the above.
I hope that sometime in the not too distant future I can return to that wonderful city and it’s wonderful people..
However the journey isn’t over, so stay tuned…….






