Quito

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Almost ten years that I've dreamt of going to South America, and here we are!
First stop on our 3 month exploration of this diverse sub-continent was Quito in Ecuador.
We based ourselves at the Juana de Arco hostel in the old town. A very nice place to stay however get a room away from the main road as it is noisy almost all of the time.

We took a walk around the old town and saw the main plazas under a grey sky which later cleared up. Quito is quite hilly and at 2800 masl you do feel the breathlessness creep in when going up any incline.
Taxis are plentiful and a cheap way of getting about quickly and more safely (just make sure you get them to put the taxi meter on). The taxi was a big help when getting to the base of Teleferiqo. There are amazing views of the stretched out city of Quito and beyond. Unfortunately the clouds obscured the view of Volcan Cotopaxi but you could make out the snow covered cone to some degree. Its best to get to Teleferiqo early morning as the clouds start rolling in by late morning.

Food is quite cheap too, we had our first Empanadas but declined to try the Cuy (guinea pig) that the guy on the street was cooking. Most main dishes seem to include chicken, rice and chips.

I'm glad I spent 6 months learning Spanish as not many people spoke English, or maybe they didn't want to. It's great to be able to communicate and understand the basics as it makes it more fun and interesting!

We thought Quito was nice but also thought two days was quite sufficient, but we're not to keen on big cities so we may be a bit biased.

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