Everything, and the Kitchen Sink

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Question:  Huaraz, Peru is dirty little blue collar city with an incredible back drop of the Cordillera Blanca, the world's highest mountains outside of the Himalayas.  90000 residents and plus a few tourists.  How many cabs would you think the city would need?

Answer:  7000 bright yellow cabs in various degrees of decay bump along its gravel and potholed roads day and night in search of fare.

Our seven months of travel has exposed us to these massive inequities of incredible supply versus demand that would be impossible to fulfill.

In La Paz we spent the better part of day walking their Sunday market which explodes into their streets.  The color! We walked along three cities streets lined on both sides by vendors selling banana.  The odd watermelon stand or vegetable stand?  Nada one.  It was as if one friend saw another selling bananas and thought - 'Hey, I CAN sell bananas and this street looks pretty good!'  And so on, and so on, and so on.

For the consumer it means one is spoilt for choice as you get to comparison shop without taking a step.  Prices on the street - while always negotiable - were for the most part extremely cheap.  We bought bananas for pennies a pound in La Paz,  Mussels and Clams for a pittance in Pucon, Chile;  enjoyed an hour long massage for 7$ in Cuzco; ate copius amounts of ice cream for  a dollar in Galapagos,  and a Christmas tree in Buenos Aries for a few bucks.

Part of the problem that leads to oversupply is the issue of employment.  With often little in the way of secondary and tieritary industry in much of South America unemployment, particularly in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador is rampant with estimates put at 40% country-wide.  So if you have a fruit tree - or your neighbor does -, or a friend with a shop in Lima to buy his Nike, Adidas clothes or Oakley knock-offs from you do it.

Our necks were sore the first day in Huaraz as the cabs constantly honked in the hopes that we might suddenly decide we needed a ride somewhere.  The cost anywhere in the city, one dollar.  With the market saturated with cabs the competition is fierce; and wages along with their expectation poor as a result.  With work options limited everybody battles to keep their job and head above water.

In Cuenca, Ecuador we passed two blocks of car seat upholstery shops about hopping with business on Good Friday.  They worked fast and efficiently for no doubt little pay.  How many times does one re-upholster their cars?

In Quito it was kitchen sinks.  As we walked into old town it was store after store selling plumbing supplies.  The best part was when I stopped to take the picture above the store owner asked me if I - clearly the gringo being at least a foot taller than a majority of Ecuadorians - was interested in buying.  'Of course! Just looking for one to fit in the backpack.'

Christmas tree shopping in Buenos Aires took us along 'Christmas tree alley' where the packed stores seemed to insure most owners would have a happy Christmas.  We laughed at the dozen stores selling stuffed beaver dolls in Ushuaia hoping to capitalize on the ill-fated introduction of our sharp toothed friend to Patagonia.

While we hope to not be frequenting the flea markets in Vancouver's East Side upon our return we certainly will miss our market education.