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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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IBARRA & SAN ANTONIO, ECUADOR
Ibarra Ibarra is nicknamed La Ciudad de Blanca - the White City (population 90,000). It was very clean and thankfully tourists were sparse. Climate is moderate due to elevation around 7,000 feet. Ibarra is still very colonial - with cobble-stone streets and red-tiled roofs. The population is a nice mixture of Blacks, Indigenas, and Mestizos. Almost everything closes for 2-3 hours during almuerzo - so plan to do shopping and errands in early morning or late afternoon.
Started trip to Ibarra from Quito. Took trolley to Cumunda station and walked downstairs to Terminal Terrestre. Bought ticket ($3) and got roomy first bus seat (so could put backpack under my feet). They were playing Encino Man on bus VCR but I zoned out and enjoyed the scenery listening to my Walkman. You know you have entered Ibarra when you see a large statue (similar in make to Otavalino statue pictured on my Otavalo page) of a woman breastfeeding her baby (takes about 3 1/2 hours from Quito). There are plenty of small parks, churches, and stores in Ibarra to keep you busy for a day or two. Iglesia la Merced houses a small religious museum and a famous image of the Virgin of La Merced. Visit the courtyard of the Iglesia Santo Domingo to see a collection of live animals. OK I guess you could call it a zoo of 5 cages (admission is about 25 cents). You can feed the monkeys if you bring fruit. Though, beware, animals looked particularly sad and malnourished. If anyone saw Lonely Planet's Ecuador video, you'll remember the host playing a tennis-type game with large spiked paddles. Sometimes, you can see locals playing pelota de guante on the weekends. Many also go to Ibarra to catch the Ibarra -San Lorenzo train. I didn't get a chance to ride the train due to landslides, though by now it should be running. Train usually runs once a day at 6:30 or 7:00 am and usually takes between 8 and 12 hours. One-way tickets are $15 and can sometimes be purchased the day before departure.
San Antonio San Antonio de Ibarra is a small village known for its wood carvings. Carvings range from saints and crucifixes to animals to Aztec-looking abstract pieces and cost $1 to a couple of hundred dollars. The main plaza is surrounded by the largest stores, though there are plenty of smaller stores sprinkled along the backstreets. It is also worth a trip to one of the workshops to see carvers in action. Near the main plaza is the Taller Escuela Escultural y Tallano - a carving workshop and school where you can see carvers in action. Buses to San Antonio leave Ibarra from Guerro and Sanchez y Cifuentes in Ibarra throughout the day (about 10 cents) and takes 10 minutes. This is definitely worth a trip as the craftsmanship is incredible! Also, if you go early in the morning, you can literally hear dozens of carvers at work. |
Arrived in Ibarra and walked 3 blocks from bus terminal to Hotel Montecarlo (Rivadeneira 5-63 y Oviedo). The hotel was very clean - even a clean shower - and had a phone and cable TV. The hotel was expensive, compared to other places I stayed, at $20 but it was worth it for a night. If you want to stay somewhere cheaper - try Hotel Imbaya Real (Pedro Moncayo 7-44) for $9. Ibarra is famous for its sweets - arrope de mora (blackberry syrup), nogadas (dessert with walnuts), and helado (ice cream). The Rosalia Suarez ice cream parlor has the best desserts in town. You can get great grilled cuy (guinea pig) just outside of Ibarra in a town called San Jose de Chaltura. A whole cooked guinea pig costs $6. Or you can get yummy $1.50 shrimp ceviche at the Cevicheria a su Gusto (Oviedo y Ribadineira). Gourmet coffee is available at the Express Cafe Music (6-14 Moncayo) and you can hear live music on the weekends. There is Banco del Pacifico (Moncayo y Olmedo) and a Banco del Pichincha (Bolivar y Mosquera). You can take a bus from Cooperativa Trans Otavalo back to Otavalo for 1,500 sucres (about 40 minutes) or from Transportes Unidos to Quito for about 10,500 sucres (2-3 hours). There's also an autoferro/train that goes to Otavalo a few times per day. It costs about 50 cents and takes an hour.
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If you are into climbing volcanoes, go to the Parque La Esperanza and catch a Cooperativa La Esperanza bus to La Esperanza - they leave about every half hour. La Esperanza is the best place to start from if you want to climb Imbabura or Cubuliche. It's also a nice, quiet village where you can relax, talk to the locals, and take walks around the countryside. You can also take a nice 2 hour hike to the nearby lake, Laguna Yahuarcocha. Yahuarcocha means "blood lake" in Quichua - named after an ancient Inca massacre. Head north along the Panamericana, you will see a sign for the lake on the right. You can also take a bus to the lake if you are feeling lazy - although I'd recommend the walk if the weather permits and if you have companions.