Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Friday April 15, 2016 Paccha

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Friday April 15, 2016

Yesterday I decided to check out new helmets I had seen at Coral. I ended up choosing a silver helmet, not quite like an old WW2 German Helmet, mainly because there is no covering for the ears, so it allows better hearing ability and better visibility. I feel much safer wearing it for those reasons alone so I can detect surprises coming from behind me. Another bonus is that it is much, much cooler to wear, so we minimize that distraction too.

I also checked out some vector images for skulls and found the one below that I like. I would like to find an artist to paint this on my helmet, with or without the sword.... It would go great with Toxic's image....

Today I had been seriously chiding myself for staying housebound and decided to enjoy the sunshine, get out and take more photos of Ecuador and its culture.

I called my buddy Oswaldo to see if he was home and was very surprised to hear that he was at the home of one of his sisters,... because he had been the victim of a home invasion!! He said that he had feared for his life..!! His phone was stolen, along with most things of importance, so he couldn't call me, but I had managed to reach him on the phone his sister had lent him. He said that he would stop by tomorrow and give me more details. He will have my full attention.

I headed East anyway and decided to turn off to check out the Paccha area again. I was uncertain of where to turn, but a friendly truck driver who spoke English led me to the turnoff to climb the mountain. I did not go all the way to the top because I was alone and did not want to stray too far from Toxic. Sunshine and dramatic skies made for some pretty decent shooting. There is quite a mixture of very old, and new, housing in these small places.

Then I crossed under the Autopista and headed to try to get to Table Mountain (El Tablon) again. This mountain with the empty, flat top should have a fantastic view of Cuenca. I went back to the road that Mike told me to try, took a left fork and kept climbing and climbing, and I was so sure that I was on the right road. NOT! The housing never disappeared and I never did reach the flat top. I finally asked some folks and they said I would have to access it via Ricaurte (been there and failed before too). One day, we will get up there. I was amazed at the huge estates up there...

I came upon a paved road so I hung a right and followed it. Eventually it came out on the old highway near Ucubamba, about 2 miles east of where I started my climb.

I then was going to check further north up a picturesque creek in the east end but my phone was ringing, .. and I could hear it because of the new helmet... It was a fellow from SRI who spoke English and said that I had not signed the forms that I had dropped off yesterday. I asked if I could come right now and he said yes, so I roared through the traffic and met with him and signed the papers.

I asked him if December's refund payments had been made yet (someone on GringoPost had written that they had not been paid...) and he sheepishly said that no, they hadn't. Then I asked him if the online submission system had been corrected to working status. Again, he sheepishly said that no, it was not, but they expected it to be working next week. I got his phone number so that I can check with him before I try to submit January to March... My retirement time is too valuable to be wasting it on a system that is designed to frustrate you. I actually felt sorry for him having to indirectly apologize for their failures to properly serve the old people. If anyone else is having trouble, his name is Fernando Galarza and his number is 288-7777, Ext 7653.

I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al