ORIGINAL
My first thoughs when arriving at Salinas de Guaranda, my home for 2 weeks in the middle of the Ecuadorian Andes, were “Ok, you’re up for a quiet 2 weeks, working a bit and enjoying long walks in the beautiful countryside, but that’s about it”. Little did I anticipate what I would be experiencing in the following couple of days and weeks!
It all started quite relaxed, my host and colleague Joshua showed me around the village and introduced me to a couple of people that work around town and are involved in tourism here, a business the village is trying to grow as there are quite a lot of things the place has to offer apart from its beautiful landscape. Green mountains and really nice trails allow you to calm down and connect with the nature that surrounds you, and one of the first mornings we took a hike up to the peak of a nearby mountain to see the sunrise right over the peak of Chimborazo, a truly magnificent sight.
I also met Augusto of Saminas’ Centro de Turismo Comunitario, for whom I’d be helping to set up a website in order to present all the local businesses and attractions on a platform that will help to grow tourism here. We defined what we wanted to do and I got an overview of what were first things I would be tackling.
Apart from work and tourism, I was diving right into the real life and connected with a lot of locals as Joshua took me to almost everything he had planned. As he is pretty well connected and knows a lot of people around here, it didn’t take long until we were invited to the first social happenings, which turned out to be truly stunning events.
It happened that I arrived here just in time for the carnival season that kicked off the first Friday after my arrival, and everybody was mad for it! The majority of conversations was about carnival in Guaranda, and in every spot, on every bus and camioneta the typical tunes were played which got everyone even more thrilled - including ourselves! I set up a little playlist with some tunes, the following 3 are the ones that are hyped the most:
We went to to see the pre-carnival parade, a warmup for the real madness 2 weeks later and it didn’t disappoint! Standing at the side of the road watching all these marvellous groups in their colourful outfits dancing and marching past us, we quickly made friends with the people around us and got introduced early to Pajaro Azul, a quite strong liquor typical for this region, which helped to improve the good mood even further.
It was great to see all these local traditions paired with a strong indigenous influence and an exciting experience, that was topped with an invitation to a birthday party of one of Joshua’s contacts after the parade. Although the people didn’t know me, I was taken up well immediately and had great chats. It is amazing how nice and welcoming the people here are, and you don’t take long to feel comfortable in this new place.
On that day before the parade, I walked the city a while and discovered the cemetery from the top of a nearby hill. As I entered I was immediately thrilled by the location - yes it still is a cemetery but wow! - the layout and the endless walls with its countless recesses, that all were individually decorated by hand, were holding a beauty that heavily impressed me and also made for beautiful photo motives. You could almost forget that in all of these recesses caskets were stored, almost like in gigantic shelves.
As my shoes were quite dirty, I decided to have the cleaned by one of the numerous cleaners that were offering their service on the street. I didn’t sit long in that seat as the whole show was over already, and as I looked down I was stoked: my shoes were shiny AF, I’m sure they looked worse on the day that I took them off the shelf where I bought them!
The following day we were guests at a baptism, invited by Lenin, the owner of 2 local hostels and a really great character. This was very special to see as we were the only (foreign) strangers in a party of merely family and relatives but quickly got into the flow and later danced with the whole party till midnight! On this occasion I also got to try my first guinea pig, something that is only served on special occasions and is considered a delicacy. However, I think I might have to give it the chance for a second first impression….
My personal highlight, however, was the day we spent at the Pawkar Raymi festival, one of the 4 most important holidays of the indigenous people in Ecuador. It took us a while to get to the community of Tagma San Jose, an indigenous village outside Guaranda. From there we went on on the back of pickup trucks, amidst all the members of the community.
The holiday itself is an ancient and religious custom to honour water and flowers, and to thank Pachamama for the products that the the earth is giving to the people. These goods are shared within the community, accompanied by a lot of traditional music and dancing. The indigenous people are very aware of their roots and culture and try hard to keep it alive, something that really impressed me. The Kichwa language plays an important role in these efforts.
Parallel to all this, the election of the Reina de Carnaval, the queen of carnival for this region, is held: every community is sending a group, who compete against each other through dancing and music. The most important role, however, is the one the reina of each community, who compete against each other in something that could be described as a very traditional Miss-Voting. The young women have to present themselves in numerous disciplines, supported by their groups. The festival lasts the whole day and is interrupted by countless open dance breaks, where many of the viewers join in.
Joshua and myself were the only people without indigenous roots and the only foreigners on that day and happily joined the party, supporting “our community of Tagma San Jose. Someone must have told the host that we were there (we weren’t that hard to spot amongst all the locals to be fair), as he mentioned the “visitors from England and Germany” a couple of times, so we didn’t want to disappoint of course!
As for the work that has to be done here, we didn’t start designing the page yet as there was plenty of work to be done in terms of collecting and preparing all the relevant informations that should be displayed later. Not sure if I’ll be able to finish the page, as my time here comes to an end - another week or 2 would be necessary - and to top it all off, my Notebook started to give up too! Ok, it is already 12 years old, but seriously? First my camera and now my notebook?! What a timing and just a sh*t joke!! For that reason, this blog entry is completely written on my mobile phone, my last remaining ally on the blogging front - better keep your fingers crossed that this little helper won’t let me down too, otherwise there won’t be too much to read for you in the future…
All these experiences were absolutely amazing for me, things you don’t find in a travel guide or can’t book into - this to me is the original taste I am looking for on my journey, and it’s quite hard for me to put these experiences in words that actually do justice to all the events, all the kind and welcoming people, and the privilege to be a witness of all this. Especially the invitations to the baptism and the Pawkar Raymi were an honour to me that I surely won’t forget.
Luckily for me, Joshua is into photography as well and sent me a few of his pictures. They are the latest addition to the images section, they are also highlighted as 3rd party pictures when you enlarge them. Decent shots I have to say, thanks Joshua!
Special thanks to everyone that filled these 2 weeks place with an overwhelming cultural experience of it’s own - again I’ve met very interesting people, witnessed beautiful nature, danced with the native population and celebrated traditional festivals that. I couldn’t have imagined all that!