election day! jazz, jessica, & i decided to leave the city yesterday for papallacta. we figured it would be a bunch of foreigners like us, who would head out the to the mtns. near quito to go to the thermal springs, since everyone else was voting!
on
the way out of the city, there was this shark graffiti in guapulo, there is a big problem with all of us who enjoy shark fin eating....it's a big sustainability issue for the ecosystem, of course, but also here in ecuador politically.....and economically.....local fishermen are now allowed to sell fins if they are caught "accidentally".....but thousands of sharks in the galapagos area are "caught accidentally" daily.....the laws have been fluctuating over the years, but since 2000, about two million sharks have been exported from ecuador. the last time i had shark fin soup was in august when i went to taiwan.....i tried not to have it, but my host said, JUST this one last time....it was soooooo gooood....but.....anyway, not again....i fear.....

anyway, papallacta is on the eastern edge of the city, only 1.5 hrs to get there and 1 hr to get back. it's amazing to think how narrow the mountainous area is around here. as you go up to papallacta, you then realize, just on the other side is the descent to the amazon! it's also amazing, cuz the road is so well made to get to these springs, mainly because this is the road that goes down to get the OIL out of the amazon. the directions, driving there are....take the road to the amazon, then take a left after the oil pipeline...the pic with the railing and pipeline above the road in the upper corner......

as well, here are some bad car pics of the ride up, all the construction, for oil extraction.....otherwise, infrastructure is random, and housing and communities go up on much smaller scales here.....also note the beautiful billboard promoting amazonian oil (and flora & fauna)!

the road is fine, but crazy....marked with crucifixes for victims of bad driving in dense cloud cover & fog, steel barriers that night as well not be there, amazing landscape of a much higher elevation than quito...the bridge here, is of the most "well-constructed" bridge in ecuador!!!!! it well might be, and it is made of steel, but they painted it to look like aluminum????? it definitley sounds like it when crossing.....

anyway! it was great, to get out of the city!!!!! and it's really beautiful there. i was surprised and happy to see how well designed and maintained this place was!!!!! mind you, this is not like bathing in japan, as i have been spoiled by the obsessive cleanliness there concerning public bathing, but this place was alright! and gracias a dios, it is so close to the city......



they are famous for trout, but it is pink, like a light salmon or a guava....is this normal????? i am not a fish expert, but......anyway very good and very fresh! unfortunately, the coffee was nescafe.....again, the problem of a country that exports its best resources (coffee & cacao) and is left with the multinational corporations desire to promote inferior imported products.....but do not fret, things are changing, and there are a few good companies here producing and developing coffee and chocolate and food industries for local consumption!

i have no idea what the name of this dessert was, but it was delicious!!!!! it is fried dough, covered in maple syrup.....well, fake maple syrup.......but nonetheless.....it was good to have it.....i haven't had corn syrup in so long!!! unlike the states, where there iws hardly any real sugar, just gov't subsidized corn products....here they still have real cane sugar as a sweetener for everything!