Fragrances and other lovely things (Drive Day 152: November 28th, 2003)
It’s hard to compete with the natural beauty of Cuenca – even the air is scented with flowering trees that line the Tomebamba river and stacks of roses, lilies and birds-of-paradise in market stands – but humans have made a gallant attempt.
The art museums are the most spectacular we’ve seen since Nicaragua. And there’s even a photo lab where we develop the pictures of the Chugchilan potato girls and mail them addressed only to their father’s name and town.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Stovepipes and other toppers (Drive Day 151: November 27th, 2003)
Of course, the moment we order up some Panama hats for ourselves and family (they roll up and store without wrinkles) we discover that wearing them in Cuenca will mark us as tourists. The locals prefer these much more distinctive toppers; literally the style of each differentiates villages and families. Some feel like they’re made of plaster while others are soft and pliable. And the name of the most famous, and friendly, local hat maker? Angel, of course.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Cuenca the colonial jewel (Drive Day 150: November 26th, 2003)
The first thing the Spaniards did when they “founded” this city was start building its cathedral and even the admin buildings date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. No wonder it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. We’re here for the hats, however.
Panama Canal workers may have coined the phrase “Panama Hat” but the distinctive toppers are actually made here. In fabulous workshops with materials from the lowlands, ready to customize at, well, the drop of a hat.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
The difference two years makes (Drive Day 149: November 25th, 2003
The replacement wedding ring I had made back in Guatemala is engraved with the wrong wedding date, we discover on a rare call home to Gary’s folks. Angie remembers dates better than anyone, and we have been away too long. It’s hard to imagine that two short years ago we exchanged Mayan vows on a beach in Tulum, Mexico. Can’t beat a year-long road trip for a delayed honeymoon.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Face of the Inca (Drive Day 148: November 24th, 2003)
Explore enough ruins in South America and you will encounter eager guides who claim the natural rock surfaces are actually in the shape of the great Inca. It’s their version of Elvis in your burned toast. Harmless enough, when the workmanship is otherworldly, the scenery is so spectacular and the altitude so high you know you’re hallucinating anyway.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Giving thanks for no eruption (Drive Day 147: November 23rd, 2003)
We descend to the comfortably humid town of Baños and camp in the parking lot of a resort with indoor hot springs. When we see the gaped-mouth roasted guinea pigs in a shop window we can’t resist pretending that this is what we’re having for Thanksgiving dinner. What we don’t send back home from the internet café is this video of the reason the resort has indoor hot springs. Thermal energy from an active volcano we are close enough to record.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Everyone works in Ecuador (Drive Day 146: November 22nd, 2003)
I see no evidence of schools in this remote, high-altitude detour. Or electricity to light them if they existed. Kids learn instead how to guide llamas to market, or to lift plastic bowls of cocho beans into the air to let the breeze separate the chaff and dirt. But the father of this little family tells me things are improving. He actually owns his own land. His kids have shoes. There’s a local radio station that plays songs that make the work go faster.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
The potato girls of Chugchilan (Drive Day 145: November 21st, 2003)
The town of Chugchilan is perhaps the biggest stop on the Quilotia Circuit – a graveled, organ-bruising loop around a volcanic lake we still haven’t seen except on a tattered map. This was too off-road even for my father. The town square is lit with charcoal fires and vendors selling chicken and potato stew to workers coming in from surrounding farms. Like these two young girls, who agree to pose for a picture if we promise to send a copy to their parents. The trouble is, when I ask where to send the print, they don’t know what an address means.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Silly sounded Saquisili (Drive Day 144: November 20th, 2003)
On market day, this tiny town bulges with buyers and sellers turning seven city squares into street markets. When I was seven, what astounded me were the men behind foot-pedaled sewing machines selling alterations, and the piles of bananas higher than my head. Thirty years later it is no less overwhelming. Chickens, for one. I’ve never seen so many for sale in one place Live and dead. Big and small. Screeching and terrified silent. Neck gripped by vendors in perfectly straight ques. All different colors, yanked out of burlap sacks for inspection before purchase or rejection. The whole thing resembles a line dance constantly ducking and weaving, changing partners.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Otavalo to Toacaso (Drive Day 143: November 19th, 2003)
Never take North American ATMs for granted. In Ecuador, like many developing countries, those machines of convenience distrust your means and resent dispensing cash that would otherwise say in its country’s vaults. Otavalo’s $300 at a time withdrawal limit is actually generous, but it means we can only travel with enough cash to finance six days on the road. And once we leave Otavalo we have no idea if any of the high Andean towns on the map even have ATMs. If the roads are any indication we might need to start stashing cash under the camper’s carpet. This is seriously remote and rough terrain. The camper’s water tank crack is getting more serious. Instead of ATM’s we’ll have to start searching for a hardware store or market to buy contact cement.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
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