Zumbahua

Photos here.

I decided to stop in Zumbahua because of the ¨fiesta¨. Although it is a pretty area there is nothing much to recommend about this town. I did enjoy the fiesta. The main event was the bull fighting. I like it first because it was FREE. I am such a cheap skate. It was very different from what I thought. The arena consisted of wood platforms that people used ladders to climb on. You could also watch from below these wood platforms. That was were I watched from. There were sometimes as many as 40 guys in the arena. Only a few had the capes. The rest mainly seemed to wait until to bull looked there way. Then would climb up the platform. I saw two that were not quick enough and blood was spilled. Also a poor dog really got it from a bull when it was in the arena. Sometimes the bull went crazy and just attacked the wood platform - maybe because people were throwing things at it or poking it. I wondered if they ever broke through. There were a couple of other things that people did that were kind of interting. One guy had two long poles. He would egg on the bull until it charged him. Then he kind of vaulted over the bull using the poles. It was funny to look at. Another guy egged ont he bull and then kind of did an acrobatic move and fllipped over the bull.

Also around the ring were various musicians. They played a very long tube. People were dancing and drinking alot. I asked one of the cowboys if i could take his picture. He wanted to charge me $5. I laughed and walked away. He came back to negociate. I couldn´t understand him at first. Then I realized he wanted a kiss in exchange. Again I laughed and walked away. I got a picture of someone else.

In the morning I was going to take the 6am bus to Latacunga. The hotel was locked up tight and at first I thought I coldn´t leave. I finally figured out which door I could leave from and how to work the lock. I got on the bus. They didn´t want to put my large backpack below. Then the bus stalled out on the hill. My backpack slammed down into the stairs onto the bus. As I tried to get it the driver stalled again. I went flying and so did part of the bus. So I wedged myself in until things go under control. Then I inched down to get my backpack and the water bottle that went flying. I really don´t understand this bus´s route. At one point it went up a hill and turned around. Then we drove for while and then on another road we backed up for about 2 miles. We then sat around for about 30 minutes maybe an hour. Finally we left and I arrived in Latacunga.

I have booked a one day tour to Cotopaxi Volacano. I am not summiting. That takes two days. I will walk up to the refuge and walk on the glacier for a bit.