Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Days 91-92: On the Wrong Side of the World
May 9-10, 2006
It was late at night when our plane landed in Ecuador and we took our first steps on the "wrong" side of the world :) (Guayaquil is slightly below the equator line). Although a big port town, Guayaquil did not look very active on Monday night, and neither did we. A room in a decent hotel fulfilled all our needs for the night, and the official opening day of the other America was postponed until the next morning.
The first major project on the other side was to look for the peculiarities
of South America. In general, Guayaquil did not appear much different from
a typical big city of Central America: similarly abundant budget hostels and
Internet cafes on every corner; lots of old-fashioned eateries, where every
meal necessarily comes with a ton of rice (rice only, though! - have not noticed
the legendary rice'n'beans combo anywhere); and, finally, similar hectic streets
full of old Russian Ladas and homicidal bus drivers. Only our favorite "chicken
buses" (old school buses imported from the States, typically repainted
in bright colors and assigned such indisputable names as "Rey de la Carretera"
(King of the Road), "Rey de Reyes" (The King of Kings) and alike;
frequently seen everywhere in Central America) had all remained above the
Darien Gap.
There is lots of music of all kinds in Ecuador. Seems like every Ecuadorian
either knows how to dance to impress (the honest-to-goodness truth: all the
Latin men are natural-born dancers!), or plays some musical instrument, or
at least has got a loud stereo player and is determined to share his hottest
salsa hit collection with the entire neighborhood. The contemporary folk music,
a.k.a. salsa, is, of course, on top, but other genres and popular bands can
also be heard playing or being played.
There is not much to see or do in Guayaquil, but it is possible to spend a relatively pleasant day or two, in case you have to stay there for some reason. Our reason was the car, which was arriving at the port of Guayaquil two days later than us, and the low-priced tickets to the Galapagos (not sure if $300 tickets for a 1.5 hour flight to the islands can be called low-priced, but the flights originating in Guayaquil are cheaper than those from anywhere else, including the capital Quito).
Notorious for being the most dangerous city of Ecuador, Guayaquil is evidently trying hard to become safer, prettier and more interesting. The city has transformed the once very dangerous waterfront street into the fancy "Malecon 2000": an attractive 2.5km long boulevard along the Rio Guayas, filled with all sorts of pieces of architecture, shops, restaurants and inexpensive snack bars. There is also a visitor center offering free Internet access, and lots of "Policia de Turismo" all over the place. If by any chance you do not feel safe enough on Malecon 2000, continue to the artsy Las Penas district situated at the northern end of the Malecon - we counted about 2 policemen per tourist over there! Most of the wooden colonial houses of Las Penas have been turned into pretty art galleries, while the top of the hill, Cerro Santa Ana, opens fantastic views of the entire city. A dodgy area in the past, today Cerro Santa Ana looks absolutely safe.
Tip #1: The main office of Banco de Guayaquil, located in the downtown
of Guayaquil, seems to be the only bank in town that has got a vague idea
about what a certified check (a money order) is, and sort of knows how to
issue one; however, that also depends on which bank employee you happen to
talk to!
Just to be on the safe side, upon arrival in Guayaquil we contacted APL de
Ecuador to make sure we had all the necessary papers in order and would be
able to pick up the cars on Thursday. Naturally, it turned out we had to pay
more money!! A $72-container-release-or-something fee could only be paid by
check or wire transfer because APL does not accept cash or credit card payments.
Since we have no bank account in Ecuador and could not transfer the funds,
we went in search for a certified check.
Getting one turned into a whole day project. Most of the banks either had
no idea what we were talking about, or suggested that we opened a bank account
in Ecuador (out of the question! - judging from the speed of other bank operations,
opening an account would probably take a year!).
Finally, one of the clerks at Banco de Guayaquil found a way to sell a money
order to us. In order to get one, we had to present a printed petition, stating
that we were really willing to buy a $72-value certified check :) Hand written
requests are not accepted! (The helpful lady at the information desk will
print it for you, just look helpless and ask nicely).
Click on the pictures to enlarge
|
Malecon 2000 along the Rio Guayas
Rio Guayas krantine Malecon 2000 |
Looks like we've just missed Che who stopped by to have his portrait painted... and also the horse...
Kaip gaila! - Praziopsojome, kaip isiamzinti atejo Che... ir arkliukas... |
Cerro Santa Ana
Cerro Santa Ana |
|
The charming backstreets of Las Penas
Siauros zavios Las Penas gatvytes |
A little bit too neat? We thought so, too :)
Gal net truputi per saldu? Mes irgi taip pagalvojome :) |
The stairway to the top of Guayaquil
Laiptai i Gvajakilio virsune |
|
The city from above - to the left...
Toks vaizdelis is virsaus i kaire... |
... and to the right
O toks i desine |
Downtown Guayaquil
Gvajakilio centras |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
91- 92-oji dienos: Anapus
2006 m. geguzes 9-10
I Gvajakili (Guayaquil - Ekvadoro uostas, i kuri issiuntem Nissana) vakar atskridom jau sutemus, todel siryt vos galim sulaukti ausros; o isausus puolam laukan ziureti, kaip smarkiai Pietu Amerika skiriasi nuo Centrines. Musu nedideliam nustebimui, is pirmo zvilgsnio Gvajakilis visai panasus i Panama: panasiai daug interneto kaviniu, biudzetiniu viesbuciu ir tarybinio stiliaus uzkandiniu; gatvemis zuja panasiai daug Ladu (ispudingiausi - geltoni sesto modelio Ziguli-taksi); o zmones net gi kalba tokia pacia kalba! :))
Taciau yra ir is karto pastebimu skirtumu. Pavyzdziui, cia nebera simpatiskuju
"vaziuojanciu vistidziu" ("chicken bus" - is JAV importuoti
mokykliniai autobusai, labai populiarus visoje Centrineje Amerikoje, kur tradiciskai
tampa perdazomi ryskiom spalvom ir ivardinami reiksmingais vardais, kaip kad
"Rey de la Carretera" (Keliu Karalius), "Rey de Reyes"
(Karaliu Karalius), "Dios Me Guia" (Dievas man rodo kelia) ir panasiai;
"vistidemis" pavadinti del ispudingo keleiviu asortimento - tokiame
autobuse gali tekti prisesti salia kolegos turisto arba salia i turgu issiruosusio
ukininko ozkos, arba, mielos moteriskes paprasytam, ant keliu palaikyti krepsi
su visciukais).
Ekvadore zymiai daugiau muzikos, ypac "tautines" salsos. Ispudis
toks, kad cia visi arba groja, arba soka, arba bent jau kuo garsiau leidzia
populiariausius hitus. Gatvese sunkiai issitenka piratiniu CD pardavejai (standartine
disko kaina - $1) - neoficialaus "uzleisk muzika taip, kad nustelbtum
uz 2 metru grojanti konkurenta" konkurso dalyviai. Prie tokio muzikinio
popuri nepratusiems praeiviams, deja, po pasivaiksciojimo po miesta dar ilgai
spengia galvoj.
Vakarais eiti sokti gvajakilieciams taip pat butina, kaip vakarieniauti. Net
taksi vairuotojas, pavezantis is uosto I viesbuti, nepraleidzia galimybes
uzklausti, ar jau apsisprendem, I kuria salsoteka sivakar eisim - gal noretumem
eiti su juo kartu?!?! :))
Ketvirtadieni turetu atplaukti masina, todel abidvi dienas tam intensyviai ruosiames: susirandam APL'o ofisa, uosta, muitine, banka, galinti isduoti sertifikuota ceki (vel ta pati problema, kokia jau turejom Panamoj - su APL'u grynais atsiskaityti neimanoma, pavedima padaryti galima tik is saskaitos Ekvadore, o apie sertifikuota ceki dauguma banku nera net girdeje! Siaip ne taip radom viena banka, kuris sugalvojo buda, kaip parduoti mums sertifikuota ceki). Kitaip tariant, dvi dienos ir vel uzsipildo jau per gerai pazistamais masinos siuntimo reikalais, tik si karta nebe Panamoj, o Ekvadore. Naktimis sapnuojam Nissano "skrydi" per Atlanta ir laiminga rytoju, kuriame daugiau nebereikes eiti i muitine, rasyti pareiskimu ir rinkti antspaudu...
Pats Gvajakilis pasirode per didelis, truputi per purvinas, nelabai grazus
ir nelabai idomus uostamiestis. Girdejom, kad taip pat ir pats pavojingiausias
miestas visame Ekvadore (apie vagiu gausuma ispejo ir is oro uosto i centra
pavezes taksistas, ir viesbucio darbuotojai, ir visi kiti gvajakilieciai,
su kuriais suspejome susipazinti), bet sito negalim nei patvirtinti, nei paneigti
- vaiksciojom po Gvajakili ir diena, ir nakti - ir be nuotykiu. Populiaresniuose
rajonuose - pilna turizmo policijos (Itartinai daug - maziausiai po 2 policininkus
kiekvienam turistui! Taciau jie nieko nedaro, tik ramiai sedi kampuciuose
ir maloniai sypsosi praeiviams.)
Pavojingas ar ne, sis miestas nelabai vertas demesio, bet, is neturejimo ka
veikti (pavyzdziui, laukiant atplaukiancios masinos), galima pasivaikscioti
modernia Malecón 2000 krantine palei Rio Guayas upe, apziureti Las
Penas - istorinio meniniku rajono - galerijas, uzlipti i Cerro Santa Ana -
kalna, nuo kurio puikiai matosi visas miestas, arba pagainioti po Bolivaro
parka (Parque Bolivar) lakstancias ispudingo dydzio iguanas.
Vis tik pagrindine Gvajakilio atrakcija yra pigius lektuvo bilietus i Galapagu salas parduodancios kelioniu agenturos (jeigu $300 bilieta pusantros valandos skrydziui galima pavadinti pigiu!!, taciau tai yra geriau, negu dar siek tiek brangesni skrydziai is sostines Quito, arba zymiai brangesni is bet kur kitur). Taigi, kantriai sedim Gvajakilyje, labai laukiam masinos ir truputi svajojam apie Galapagus.
