Quito Day Three

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Our third day in Quito started off with breakfast at the hostel followed by a late morning visit to the Teleferico, a gondola that terminates 4000 meters above sea level at the base of largest peak in the immediate Quito area. Right when we exited the gondola, both of us noticed the difference in oxygen compared to Quito. After walking for a little over a kilometer in hopes of reaching the 4800 meter summit, we realized that we were not ready for an all day mountain excursion and headed back down. Even from the lower viewpoint, the view was spectacular and highlighted the vastness of Quito.



We took a cab from the telefirico directly to Bella Vista, one of the more wealthy districts of Quito. Many of the homes in the area were quite large and built in colonial style architecture. This was our first exposure to any kind of wealth in Quito. First stop in Bella Vista was the Capillia de Hombre, an art museum concentrated on the works of Oswaldo Guayasamin. Most of the art included in the museum vividly depicts the artist's observations of the desperate poverty in South America by his painting of emaciated figures and torn landscapes. Also in the museum were photos of Guayasamin with various communist dictators such as Fidel Castro and Kim-Jong Il. We observed an unusual amount of support for communist style governments by locals in Ecuador, judging by the number of Che Guevarra photos and the support for Guayasamin and his ideals.

Our final stop in Bella Vista was at the Museo de Guayasamin, which included more artifacts from his life spread across a nice campus of small buildings and gardens.

For dinner, we took a taxi over to the Mariscal district for a quick sandwich and dessert at Kallari, a world famous chocolate maker. The beans used in the production of the chocolate came from a small village outside of town, and in the shop were pictures of the village and its inhabitants. We purchased some chocolate for the road, and called it a day.

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