I have to admit that I like writing postcards, even though it's so old school. But it's different from taking a selfie and posting it. You have to bring the addresses, get postcards, write on them, get stamps, and then send the cards. And most of the time, you're already back home when the cards start arriving.
I'm still disappointed about cards I've posted in Sikkim and also in Myanmar over 20 years ago that never arrived, because those cards were always meant to maintain connections. A few years ago, I wrote about what it's like to send postcards from Argentina [1]. Since I recently sent postcards from Mongolia, I didn't plan to send postcards from Ecuador.
What I didn't know is that I couldn't have sent them anyway. Well, you can still buy postcards, and as the sign in the photo shows, you can (maybe) still buy stamps, but you can't send postcards anymore. The postal service has been somewhat unreliable in recent years, despite its existence since 1831. Due to significant losses, it was liquidated in 2020 (almost sounds like it was killed) [2]. Somehow the signpost is a bit clairvoyant (Correos del Ecuador - ¡La solución definitiva!) The EcuadorTimes reported that there is a successor organization, but I didn't look for it or try it because my time for the trip was too short [3]. So, even though it may not help tourists, business travelers will probably be happy that a postal service has been rebuilding since last year.
Links and Annotations:
[1] On sending postcards from Argentina https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2015/11/on-sending-postcards-from-argentina.html
[2] "Correos del Ecuador is the national post office of Ecuador. It was first created on May 2, 1831 by President Juan José Flores as part of the Vice Presidency, and it is considered the oldest public company in Ecuador. The company suffered financial losses and it was submitted for liquidation in May 2020." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correos_del_Ecuador
[3] EcuadorTimes.net: "The new state Postal Services of Ecuador is the company that replaces the extinct Correos del Ecuador." https://www.ecuadortimes.net/the-new-post-office-in-ecuador-will-send-and-receive-packages-from-18-countries/
.
No comments:
Post a Comment