Quito, Cotopaxi, Otavalo

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I left Colombia on monday feeling a little worse for wear and a little sad to be leaving such a great place. I had been there long enough to get quiet comfortable with my surroundings but it was time to move on to the next adventure. I never planned on visiting quito originally , I was only interested in hitting the coast of ecuador to get some waves but after reading more about it and hearing stories from other travellers I felt that I would be cheating myself if i missed out on visiting this city.
Quito sits at 2850m above sea level its the capital of ecuador. although it sits 22ks from the ecuator its elevation gives a spring like temperature pretty much all year round much like medellin. As I flew in staring into the clouds i noticed one really white cloud, which turned out to be the peak of a huge volcano then i realised there where three peaks sitting way above the clouds. It was a spectacular introduction to quito very impressive. The city its self is massive from the plane it seemed to sprawl out forever.
After landing I checked myself into a cheap hotel i needed a private room for a few days so that i could kick this cold and catch up on some shut eye. My first few days where spent walking around Quitos old town. Much like cartagena in the old town all the colonial style building churches and plazas where kept absolutely perfect it is a beautiful city to walk around lots of nice reastaurants and museums. The city of Quito is surrounded by huge mountains 9 of which are active volcanoes . Every new and then you will be walking along and the clouds will part and reveal another massive snowcapped peak and it just takes your breath away. Ive never seen any place like it. That night i spent a few hours planning my time here in Ecuador, and once again my plans have changed. I decided that after colombia and the amount of time i needed to get the most out of the place, i would cut out bolivia all together and just concentrate on ecuador and peru both of which have so much to offer it would be a shame to only stay for a couple of weeks for the sake of seeing more countries. My flight is now booked to leave from lima on the 16th sep so that would give me just over 2 months to explore both countries which if a plan my time will be more than enough.
The next morning I got myself a taxi to el panecillo. its a small hill right near the centre of the old town. but when i say small it would be considered a mountain in australia. At the top is a statue of the virgin mary and a viewing point from her head. From there you can see the entire city and all of the mountains and volcanos tat surround it , i sat up there and had an icecream just taking in the wicked view. After that i moved on to the central plaza where i was lucky enough to see a brass band playing. The place was full of people many locals who came to watch and dance. i met this old guy who spoke a little english. He was hanging out with a bunch of other funny old blokes with no teeth so i sat with them and watched the band. a couple of crazy homeless people got up dancing it was so funny i took some video on my camera he then started asking for money after the first song hahaha when nobody paid he started wearing and walked off while the lady stayed to entertain us. I was starting to get hungry so i decided to ry and find Mercado central which is the central market where the locals buy all there produe. i had heard they had some great set lunches there for 2 bucks. The market was very intresting meat hanging up lots of fresh veggies and roses. The meal I had was beautiful I had a side dish of fresh popcorn and fried plantanes a ceviche which is a seafood soup with prawns fish and some muscles and a huge peice of trout with rice and potatoes mmmmmmm. That afternoon I made my way to the new town to find a tour company which would take me to the volcano Cotopaxi.
We left the hotel at 8 am and made our way to the volcano in a mini bus full of families on vacation. Our tour guide was great she spoke to us nearly the entire way as we stopped off to take photos of the many volcanos surrounding quito she explained about each suburb and the class system. We made it to the gates of cotopaxi national park around 2 hours after we left from there it was another hour drive along a bumpy road to about a quarter of the way up the volcano. A t the half way point there is a refuge which is where we where going to be hiking to the refuge is roughly 5000 metres above sea sea level so the hike was going to be tough with the high altitude. if you do a two day trip you can stay at the refuge for a night and hike to the summit. Once we parked there where two paths one which was long but much flatter and the other straight but very steep i went the steep way , i took my time because every now and then id get head spins and out of breath it was hard work. I made it to the refuge in half an hour the others took about an hour or so so i had plenty of time to walk around and get some great photos. the view was amazing it was completely silent up there a perfect day no wind at all. after an hour or so we made our way back to the van and headed for some well earned lunch.
That night i decided to treat myself to a few beers and some mexican in the new town on my way to the restaurant i was mugged by a huge black guy right in front of loads of tourists. lucky enough i never cary my credit card or huge amounts of cash so i only lost 20 bucks. I had spoken to a few travellers since and 90 percent had been robbed here in quito or had there bags slashed. its quiet funny because with the amount of tourists here I imagined it would be quiet safe. I had even spoken to some families on vacation who thought i was insane travelling alone in colombia when in fact Quito is way more sketchy at night than the majority of places i had been to in colombia and i was never robbed there in 6 weeks. Anyway the mexican was great and the beer tasted pretty damn good too hehe.
Friday i went around town to find some spanish classes. I was going to see the ecuator line but I think from what i had heard it was a long trip for little reward spanish classes sounded more productive to me. I booked myself in for one saturday afternoon, I had decided to learn while im travelling seems pointless to learn when im in uk ill never practice anything. That night I hit the new town a little wiser for my mugging I hooked up with some travellers at a bar strength in numbers as they say. All the places in the Mariscal have guys out the front spruking and handing out free drink flyers so i decided to collect the whole set! and go from bar to bar taking advantage of our free drinks. we eventually stayed at one place I had joined a group of young German guys who gave me some good advice for companies that take you to the Amazon. I had been trying to find a good deal but the majority where catering to seppo families with loads of cash. charging 100 bucks a day. but these guys went on a trip 250 for 5 days . Sounded ideal to me , it involved pirrana fishing hiking paddling canoes and watching birds and monkeys do what they do.
AAHHH I slept through my alarm too many cheap cocktails the night before and i nearly missed my first spanish class!!! I arrived 2 mins late thank god sunnies on and struggling to keep my eyes open. They had fresh coffe so i downed one before we started which saved the day. My teacher began the class by saying in spanish we are not going to speaking any english today. She wasnt kidding , and i suprised myself I can definately underatnd more than I can speak but i got through. She did give me a few translations here and there but most of the time it was only spanish.
Sunday was to be market day! Everyday but especially on the weekends, in a little town called Otavalo just outside of Quito. They have indigenous markets selling everything you could possibly imagine. I caught a bus along with the rest of ecuador! sunday was a popular day for the markets as i found out. Otavalo is a cute little place the markets seemed to take over the joint they where huge I spent the first hour walking around taking in all the amazing colours and music being played. I decided before i bought anything id get some lunch I cant think on an empty stomach let alone walk. I had a great time ther haggling with the locals. I had a bit more confidence after me spanish class so I practiced a few things i learnt and saved some money because of it. At the end of the day I grabbed my loot and head back to town for a few more beers . That night i caught up with some Aussies which was a nice change from all the seppos. I got some good advice for surf spots and apparently i could pick a second hand board up in good nick for about 120 at a beach called montanita. We had a pretty loose night 5 Aussies in a bar together is dangerous in any country we started having shots and thats when things got messy I talked one of the guys in to getting temporary tatoo of fozzy bear saying waka waka! not being the smartest guy in the world but definately the drunkest in a 2km radius he went ahead and did it when his girlfriend came over and lost it at him he told her it was me who told him to do it. she looked pretty angry so I backed away slowly, found a cab and ran away hahahaha.
Monday I studied my notes and later that day booked my trip to the amazon. I am so excited to go it sounds incredible. QUITO is a brilliant city i think the most beautiful I have seen in my travels although some places are a little dodgy at night its definately worth the visit and a great starting point for loads of tours and treks. NEXT STOP ECUADORIAN AMAZON WOOO!!

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