Loja is a provincial capital, and according to the guidebook is known for its music scene (and as the gateway to the jungle). While we were there, we got to see one of the local reggae acts, and they seemed pretty good (I’m not the biggest reggae fan, but it was fun!). We also saw the gateway to the jungle that Loja built (in 1998):
I can’t explain why they built it, but it looks pretty cool – it reminds me of the Disney castle that they use in their film logo. I alps can’t explain why they built the gateway in the middle of the city…
We also learned two other things about Loja:
- It has the WORST street layout ever. Basically, every sidewalk is wide enough for one person only. This was great when we arrived on Sunday afternoon, when basically everything in the city was closed and no one was around. But Monday morning the streets filled with people, and we had to step into traffic every 5 minutes just to walk down the street (not fun).
- It hosts the Ecuadorian National Waiter Championships (or at least one of the qualifiers). On Sunday night when we were there, in addition to the standard Sunday night concert, they held a waiter’s race – a race between table servers. It was a big deal – the winner received $100, which is a lot in a country where most people make about $5/day. There were also a lot of rules:
- Waiters had to be dressed in full serving outfits, including dress shoes.
- They had to carry a silver tray with a full cup of either rasberry juice or chica, the national liquor (not sure which, but they had todrink their glass at the end!).
- They had to keep one hand behind their back at all times, so only one hand balanced the tray with it’s precious cargo.
- The waiter who completed two circuits of the main city square (approximately 1/3 to 1/2 mile) first with the most liquid remaining (as determined by a completely arbitrary panel of judges I think) was declared the winner.
As it turns out, this was almost too much – after the first race was deemed inconclusive, the waiters raced AGAIN. The oldest one (in his early 40s) won on the second go-around. Don’t believe me? Here are a couple of race photos.
Loja was a trip, but we were glad to move on (to Vilcabamba) after a day and a half…
