We hang around here at the Hosteria - unsure of both when the laundry will return from being sent to Quito and when we will be leaving for Otavalo - for the first must happen before the second. Karen has told me to go occupy myself. So I sit in the pool enclosure where it is a little warmer and read Galileo’s Daughter. It's been cloudy, but the sun has appeared from time to time.
It is currently Carnival time and has been for a week or so. Part of the theme is water - this explains the squirt guns we saw everywhere last week. Carnival is the prelude to Lent, which begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday.
Our Hosteria San Jorge experience is marred by our departure. The taxi driver charges much more than the standard and is upset by waiting for an hour before our laundry is ready and the bill is calculated. Our laundry isn't ready as it's damp. And it’s too late to go to Mitad del Mundo which has a museum we want to see. Karen is upset at the unexpected size of the bill and not having time to look at the itemization.
The taxi ride down to Quito is slow and painstaking. Even the driver complains about the state of the road. The road down from Quito is just as steep but is at least paved but is much more crowded.
It takes about two hours to get here. The driver is not pleased to discover that Casa Mojanda is outside of Otavalo by about 5 km although he is originally ranting about 16km.