Today we hiked. We rode a bus for 2 1/2 hours to hike this beautiful mountain and meet some pretty awesome people and buy things we don't need. I wore my hiking boots. I will never hike in tennis shoes again. It was like walking on ankle supporting clouds, and it was magical. We had a great tour guide (who's name I cannot remember and it is killing me) who wore a fedora and hiked in essentially what were half TOMs (like they had the front part thingy but his little toes stuck out and it just had a strap in the back). He spoke zero English and was less than 5 feet tall and had a braid and was so smart (he's actually the president of all of the indigenous tribes in that area). Can I start by saying that I thought I was getting adjusted to the elevation? Okay, well I'm gonna end that thought by saying, I was wrong. Almost 10,000 ft is not a joke people, and getting to that elevation causes heavy panting and sore legs. Well anyways, this hike was pretttyyy awesome. We were in essentially a sanctuary for indigenous people. Kinda like a national park plus people living in it. Well this awesome tour guide showed us around the hike (yes in his cute sandals) and it had replica examples of their various traditional practices. There was a sun clock (I totally made that name up I don't know what it is called) but it shows you what time of year it is based on where the shadow of a pole in the center is hitting certain rocks on the outside of the circle. There was also a moon clock (same name deal as the sun clock) that showed where the full moons were. He talked of moon shadows but I didn't know moons had enough light to cause strong enough shadows but he didn't speak English so I smiled and nodded. There was also a place for offerings, a place for special baths, and a circle of peace thing (again name..?). This peace thing is really cool. They believe that there isn't enough peace in this world so they have a circle with a cross shape in the middle of it and two people who have a conflict get in the middle and basically just agree to forgive each other and move on. It supposedly releases the bad energy from inside you so you can live a happier and more peaceful life. I thought it was a pretty cool concept. The guide also talked about their children losing their culture because they go to schools that, what I assume teach Catholicism, and they are no longer interested in taking special baths or finding inner peace. Well Mr. President tour guide wants to open schools for the indigenous children so that they learn what Ecuador wants them to learn, but they also learn about their own culture. I found it very interesting that they want to maintain their heritage but also include modern aspects of life and learn about the science of today so they are able to incorporate it into their beliefs. Oh forgot to mention that this hike is around a crater lake. It has two small islands in it and it was created by a volcano that erupted. The water is apparently clean enough to drink, but there is no marine life in the water due to various places that secret gasses on the end of one of these islands. The indigenous people see this lake as sacred and they see water in general as the blood of the earth. They have a lot of respect for the earth and see it as more than just a dwelling place but rather a place to coexist with. The rest of the world should learn from them. So we hiked, ate lunch (the best ham sandwich I have ever had in my entire life, and it didn't even have mustard on it), and went to this "world-famous" market. The indigenous people run it and they will haggle with you until you are paying $2 and walking away with a blanket, a wallet, a bracelet, and a sweater. They also speak little to no English. I guess my ability to say: "Cuénto cuesta?" (How much?), "No gracias." (No thank you), "Esta hecha a mano?" (Is this made by hand?), and roughly count to 30 made them think that I spoke way more Spanish than I do which was both flattering a terrifying at the same time as they spoke a million miles a minute while dressing me from head to toe in ponchos and scarves. I bought a lot of useless things and I'm pretty sure they lied to me about what was made by hand but it was a colorful, fun experience. I had a dinner of champions of cheesecake and coffee. Us picky eaters do what we can around here.
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