Quito

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We are glad Ecuador is a small country, we really are enjoying the short bus trips, only two ours to Quito from Otavalo was nice. Set at 2800m Quito is similarly set to a lot of the Andean cities, long and narrow. With large mountain peaks forming a channel. We stayed at Chicago hostal which had a nice terrace that looked over the old town, only with a couple of ugly tall old buildings blocking some of the view. Our first day we took a stroll to the new town, to the Marsical Sucre area. It is very traveller orientated, there are plenty of bars, internet cafes and tour agencies (Galapagos tours the most popular, and expensive) The most we have come across on our trip. Being in the city we thought we´d try a couple of bars that may remind us of the world we left behind. So we ventured to the Reina Victoria (Queen Victoria) and Finn McCools, and Deb was very chuffed to spot KFC also. Another day we decided to take the teleferico, it takes you on a long journey up to 4100m, the views were fabulous, looking down at all the buildings together in a mish mash of colour and concrete and just the setting of the city is quite inspiring. Up behind the top of the teleferico is another mountain Pichincha (4735m) I decided to try and climb to the top, while Deb went back down to have more of a look around the town (secretly I think she had three letters on her mind K.F.C). The walk up Pichincha still wasn´t as steep as Fuya Fuya but I still took my time. As I started getting nearer the top I did begin to feel a little strange, legs a bit heavy and light headed, I thought maybe it was all in my head as I was on my own so had too much time to think. My pulse wasn´t racing and my breathing was fine so I decided to continue. I got to the point just before you have to scramble (only a hundred metres or so from the top) and I was starting to get a tight sensation in my forehead so I decided to come back down. Being on my own I thought it best. I really felt high up there, everything looked and felt like I was on top of the world. Once back down in Quito I had the dull headache and dry mouth so I knew I was feeling the altitude a little, nothing too bad, but has me thinking now that some of these higher mountains may be a bit out of reach.
The weather in Quito is much warmer than I had expected, we didn´t have any rain and the temperature felt like the mid 20´s. We caught the bus through the long urban sprawl of Quito before reaching the Mitad del Mundo. The official equator. They have created a little city there, monument, some shops and the like, next door is the unofficial equator running through some guys property so he has created a museum. (GPS shows the equator line through the property, and the museum shows some tests to try to prove the equator runs through the museum). It was a good museum, showed a few things from the culture of the people around the area as well as the lovely shrunken head, and a DIY guide. The equator tests showed water move straight down the sink on the equator line, clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the northern hemishpere (I knew that everything was backwards in the northern hemisphere!) Another test involved balancing an egg on a nail head, apparently easier on the equator due to gravity. I found it no easier, but a couple of people managed to do it. It was really windy and dusty out there, it has seemed so dry in Ecuador in our first week, we are chocking in dust.
Back in the city we had a wander around the old town, set below El Panecillo (a small hill with a statue of the Virgen of Quito) it really was a cool part of town, lovely architecture, some leafy plazas and some lovely churches. The best of which was La Compañia de Jesus, which had gold coated walls and ceilings which really painted an astonishing view. We took a cab up to El Panecillo to take in another different view of the city, there are so many different ways to view it!
On the Saturday we went early to the Basilica del Voto National to climb the belltower. To Debs pleasure there was a wedding on and she was able to see the bride make her entrance. The weather was brilliant that day and in the afternoon was the World Cup qualifier Ecuador v Colombia (we had no favourite). The Marsical area was packed, nearly every person seemed to be wearing an Ecuador jersey. We went to Finn McCools to try to watch the Ireland game first, then we headed to another bar to try to have a more Ecuadorian experience. Two late goals to Colombia put a damper on it but it was a nice atmosphere around, but we were definitely feeling the alcohol so we decided to head to KFC, where Deb had raved about the Pechugas! We did have an experience there, some of them were rare to say the least. Deb now with a bit more courage, left after going up to the counter and saying ´mass tiempo´ or ´more time´(her Spanish is getting better). I watched from outside trying not to be associated.
Food in Quito was OK (apart from KFC) tried Lapingachos which was fried mash potato and cheese pancakes with eggs and avocado. Also caldo, which is soup, one of them which had some bones which looked a lot like little pigs hooves mmm.
On Sunday we did a day trip out to Quilota to see the Laguna that is set in a caldera of a Volcano. This really was a great day trip. Some of the scenery out there was amazing. We had a lovely clear day which made it even better. We headed south and had brilliant views of the surrounding Volcanos, Cotopaxi, Iliznas and the largest Chimborazo all with their white snow capped peaks. Once off the main road we stopped in Pujili for the market. This market was very traditional and not touristy. Plenty of food and full of traditional people in all different types of attire, velvet hats, ponchos, black shoes and socks pulled up. It made for a very colourful sight. Deb wouldn´t let me buy a pigs head! After leaving Pujili we headed up, the landscape was very dry and dusty, not many trees around, a few llamas here and there and hard to believe we were only a couple of hours from a sprawling city.
The lake itself was stunning, set in the caldera with the backdrop of Iliznas in the background. We walked down to the lake itself, it was about a half an hour down but it was a challenge. The ground was so dusty, like shallow sand and the wind was just howling. I spent most of the trip down trying to cover my eyes and trying not to breathe in sand. Once safely from the wind it was time to return up, we decided to wait for the mules as I wasn´t relishing the idea of an hour or so with wind, altitude and sand. The mules were very strong and hardy, almost as strong and hardy as the women and children who lead them. They literaly run down the mountainside with the mule to collect passangers, some of the women still had their children in a blanket tied around their backs, then once we climb on the mules they hold the tails to help them up but still it looked like some of the hardest work I´ve ever seen and at the altitude also! Cold, tired, dusty and dirty we had our lunch and set off for Quito. I had a gregarious Colombian woman next to me who was very patient with my Spanish but she kept me thoroughly amused for the trip back to Quito. A truly great day trip and one we will both never forget.
We have decided to stick to the Andes in Ecuador. It has the coast and the Amazon as well, but we are going to head straight down the Andes. We are back in the Amazon in Bolivia and will see the coast again in Peru. The scenery has been so great and looking forward to some more as we have booked to stay in a nice hostal in Cotopaxi next.

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