onsdag den 14. oktober 2015

Vamos a la Playa - Atacames.

This Friday was free because it was the Independence Day of Guayaquil. As we had another day off I went with some of the other volunteers to Atacames, which is a beach.

When I told my host family where I was heading they told me that the beach was bad and very dangorous and even my Lonely Planet guidebook said that it was hard to see why people even bothered going to Atacames. However, as we had already booked the hostel we decided to go anyway.

We decided to go Thursday evening at 6 o'clock, as we knew the bus ride would be roughly 6.5 hours. Here we encountered the first challenge. When the persons living near the bus terminal tried buying the tickets a couple of days in advance they were sold out.
So instead, we had to leave at 23.30 and drive all night. So I met up with Brónagh, Constanza, Felix, Rebecca and Stefanie, we cooked together and went to the bus terminal together.
As I sleep very badly in buses I did not get a lot of sleep that night and I ended up observing the other persons in the bus. Since Quito is at an elevation of 2,850 meters and Atacames of course is at sea level, we had quite a steep climb down and one of the others actually got problems with her ear because of this. Lesson learned: Do not sleep on a bus going down almost 3 kilometers without releasing pressure a single time after living almost two months in an altitude of 2,850 meters!
Luckily, I did not have any problems, but maybe that is just because I could not sleep.

We arrived in Atacames at 5 o'clock in the morning, so the bus ride there was actually quick.
When we arrived in Atacames we went straight to the ticket office, that was actually open, to buy tickets for the return bus Sunday (you can only buy the tickets in the place you want to go from). New problem! They only had three tickets for the early bus, and the rest had take a bus 3 hours later.
If we had known the system, we might have been able to catch an earlier bus, because we found out Sunday that they ran extra buses the entire day. We know that for the next time. They probably ran extra buses because of the holiday where all Ecuadorians normally travels towards the beach.

Afterwards we went to our hostel and took a mototaxi that are commonly used there, more than normal taxis. They fit 3 persons normally, but if the police is not around they can fit 6!

Da vi ikke skulle arbejde i fredags på grund af en national helligdag, valgte jeg at tage til stranden i Atacames sammen med nogle af de andre volontører.

Da jeg fortalte min værtsfamilie hvor jeg ville rejse hen. fortalte de mig at det var en dårlig strand og et meget farligt sted. Selv min Lonely Planet guide fortalte, at de ikke forstår hvorfor de lokale altid tager dertil i weekenderne. Men da vi allerede havde booket vores hostel, valgte vi at tage afsted alligevel.

Vi besluttede os for at tage afsted torsdag aften klokken 6, da vi vidste at turen ville komme til at tage omkring 6,5 time. Men da vi forsøgte at købe billetter var bussen udsolgt og vi blev nødt til at tage bussen 23.30 i stedet. Jeg mødtes mod Brónagh, Constanza, Felix, Rebecca og Stefanie inden, vi lavede mad og tog sammen til busterminalen om aftenen.
Da jeg sover rigtig dårligt i busser fik jeg ikke meget søvn den nat. Siden Quito er i 2.850 meters højde og vi tog til havet, var der en stor ændring i højde. Hvilket også medførte at en af de andre fik øreproblemer, der også varede ved efter turen. Men det lærte os noget: Sov ikke på en hel bustur med en højdeændring på næsten 3 km efter at have boet næsten to måneder i 2.850 meters højde.
Jeg oplevede heldigvis ikke nogle problemer, hvilket formentligt skyldes, at jeg ikke kunne sove.

Vi ankom til Atacames klokken 5 om morgenen, og skyndte os hen til billetkontoret for at købe billetter til hjemturen (returbilletterne kan kun købes på destinationen). De havde kun tre billetter til den tidlige bus, så vi måtte dele os op og tre af os måtte tage en bus 3 timer senere. Men måske havde det været muligt for os at komme med en tidligere bus, for vi fandt senere ud af at de havde indsat ekstra busser, men det ved vi til næste gang. Der var formentligt ekstra busser fordi fredag var en helligdag.

Efterfølgende tog vi hen til vores hostel i en mototaxi. Normalt kan man være 3 personer i én, men hvis politiet ikke er i nærheden kan man nemt være 6 personer.

Mototaxi
We actually found out that we should have gotten of the bus a stop earlier, at the city of Tonsupa very near to Atacames, but then we would not have had the possibility to buy the return tickets that early and would probably have been stuck in Atacames until Monday. It was to our luck that no one read the hostel information carefully.
We slept two hours in the hostel before heading out to the beach.

Friday we spent at the beach in Atacames, some people in the water, but most of the day I spent at the beach talking and reading. I think we were lucky that it was a bit cloudy, because it is warm at the beach! It really makes you appreciate the warm, but not too warm climate of Quito and the cold mornings and nights. What also made it worse was the humidity!

Vi fandt faktisk ud af, at vi skulle være stået af bussen et stop tidligere i Tonsupa, der ligger lige ved siden af Atacames. Men hvis vi var stået af det, så havde vi ikke haft muligheden for at købe returbilletter og var formentligt strandet i Atacames til mandag. Vi var heldige at ingen læste informationen omkring hostellet.
Da vi ankom sov vi to timer, før vi var klar til strandtur.

Fredag tilbragte vi vil stranden i Atacames, og selvom mange af de andre var meget i vandet tilbragte jeg dagen med at snakke og læse. Vi var formentligt ret heldige at det var overskuet, fordi det var stadigvæk helt utroligt varmt. Og luftfugtigheden gjorde det endnu værre. Da det også var virkelig varmt om natten fik det en til at savne Quitos perfekte klima: Tilpas varmt om dagen og koldt om natten.

Atacames

Saturday morning I spent with Felix and Stefanie at the beach in Tonsupa and I spent most of the time playing around in the high waves. In the afternoon, the others joined us, and I again spend most of the time in the water. 1½ hour playing in the waves without a break and without getting cold. There was a lot of people, but I really enjoyed the beach, but maybe the other beaches are way nicer and that is why people say "Do not bother with going to Atacames".

Lørdag formiddag tilbragte jeg sammen med Felix og Stefanie i Tonsupa og denne dag tilbragte jeg størstedelen af tiden i vandet. Om eftermiddagen tog vi til stranden igen hele gruppen. Hele dagen var der store bølger og om eftermiddagen tilbragte jeg 1½ time i vandet i streg, hvor jeg legede rundt i bølgerne. Alt i alt en rigtig succesfuld dag og den dejlig strand med rigtig mange mennekser, men måske er det bare fordi vi ikke har oplevet de andre strande i Ecuador?

Atacames
Sunday we had to go home and I took the late bus with Brónagh and Rebecca. As we had to wait until 13.30 before the bus left, so we went to Atacames, enjoyed the last views of the beach and had an early lunch. When we headed back the bus ride ended up taking a long time! As everybody was heading back to Quito there was a lot of cars and buses on the road and we was back in Quito at 9 o'clock, and had to share a taxi back to where we live.

As I spent the weekend at the beach, I ate lots of fish and seafood that you do not normally eat in Quito, because it is expensive. I tasted had Ceviche, a dish where the seafood of your choice is cooked in the acid from limes and tomatoes. The taste is nice, but with all the acid you feel like you need to go to the dentist afterwards. Ceviche is normally served with popcorn and banana crisps on the side.

Søndag skulle vi hjem, og jeg tog den sene bus sammen med Brónagh og Rebecca. Fordi vi skulle vente indtil 13.30 før vi kunne komme med bussen tog vi til Atacames, nød stranden en smule og spiste tidlig frokost.
Busturen tilbage endte med at være noget længere end busturen dertil, fordi alle andre naturligvis også skulle tilbage til Quito. Derfor var vi først tilbage ved busstationen klokken 9 og blev nødt til at tage en taxi hjem.

Fordi vi var ved havet, bød vores måltider også på fisk og skaldyr, som du normalt ikke spiser i Quito, da det er meget dyrt. Jeg smagte blandt andet Ceviche, der er skalddyr eller fisk kogt i syren fra tomater og lime. Det smager meget godt, men i længden bliver det meget syre og du slutter måltidet af med tanken om, at du nok har fået syreskader på tænderne. Ceviche serveres normalt med bananchips og popcorn ved siden af.
Ceviche
Photo credit: http://ecuatorianoenvivo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ceviche-de-camaron.jpg

I also tasted Encocado, which is seafood cooked in a coconut sauce, served with rice and cooked green bananas. It has a very rich taste and I would definitely recommend you to try that if you ever visit the coast of Ecuador.

Jeg smagte også Encocado, der er fisk eller rejer i kokonødssovs, serveret med ris og stegte grønne bananer. Det smagte virkelig godt og er helt klart en af de ecuadorianske retter jeg ville anbefale til andre.
Encocado
Photo credit: https://fromjuliewithlove.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/tsachila-the-leap-284.jpg

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