Stairways to Heaven AND Hell

My third day in Guayaquil. I'm feeling at home here now and can find my way to virtually everything that's on my list of important sites in the city. Yesterday, I hit two major ones that all the tourist information deem as "must see" locations- the famous Mercado Artesanal (artistan market) and Las Penas, the oldest neighborhood in Guayaquil.

I set off for the market first since it is relatively close to my hotel - about a mile - and I had also been "jonesing" for some real arts and crafts, indigenous, "folksy" Ecuadorian handiwork which had seemed conspicuously missing from my trips around the core of this large, most-modern urban center. The market is the largest in Ecuador with over 270 shops and small booths that takes up an entire city block. Walking into the market would make anyone's head spin due to the incredible amount of artwork and handmade crafts. The intense concentration of items is mind-boggling! The market is a labyrinth of narrow walkways and tiny shops filled to the brim with carvings, paintings, woven goods, jewelry, pottery, clothing, trinkets and a tourist's paradise. It took me about three hours to get through it all, and I left with a bag full of treasure.

My next stop was Las Penas- the oldest and original residential neighborhood in Guayaquil dating back to the mid 1500s. It is built on a very steep hill and only accessible by foot, and I had read a great deal about the charming cobblestone stairway that one must climb, 500+ steps, in order to reach the top which guaranteed unobstructed views to the entire city as well as a small chapel in honor of Santa Ana and a spectacular lighthouse. So I set out for this unique climb. As I approached the famous hill, I saw thousands and thousands of dilapidated box-like homes built one atop the other, laundry hanging everywhere, filthy dogs roaming the dirty streets, garbage strewn everywhere; it reminded me of images I'd seen in Haiti. Scratching my head and reassuring myself that the literature I'd read said Las Penas was very old and picturesque, I continued on. Finding a large, very steep stairway ahead of me, I thought to myself, "This must be it!". But the decrepit stairway ahead of me was not very inviting with no tourists in sight and only a handful of dusty kids in tattered clothing kicking empty water bottles around, an ancient, blind man sitting scraping a razor over his grey stubble and a few scraggly cats panting in the heat. I grabbed my camera, snapped some pictures and tried to reconcile in my mind how these ramshackle, broken-down, deserted steps could be considered "charming" by any stretch of the imagination.

100 steps and still climbing, a young and beautiful girl about 14 years old suddenly appeared in a small window and started wagging her finger at me, shaking her head and saying, "Senor! No. No ir e ese camino." I smiled and told her I didn't speak Spanish- a phrase I say about 1,000 times each day- and she repeated it. I stood look puzzled because I could sense she was desperately trying to convey something terribly important to me. Was she saying I shouldn't take pictures of the local residents? She called to her mother to help translate. Mamacito appeared in her oil-stained housecoat and only had to say one word that instantly made the whole picture perfectly clear to me, "Criminale'!" The girl's urgency was trying to save my life! Apparently- duh!- this was the wrong staircase and was leading me directly into the absolute WORST and most crime-ridden section of the city! Whew- I thanked both of my guardian angels profusely and turned around.

I descended and rerouted myself and eventually found the correct pathway to the top. The correct stairway was all it was supposed to be- impeccably clean, quaint, each step meticulously numbered with its own plaque and lined with upscale shops and boutiques. At the top of the hill, 1,000 feet up, I found magnificent views, a much-needed cool breeze and vistas of the entire region. It was well-worth the ascent and a twist in my day that left me chuckling.

Didn't I just start by saying with great confidence that I could find my way around the city with no problems?!