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Published: October 16th 2006
Saturday 14th October
Arrgghh - 3 hours kip and we had to get up again (6am) to get the flight to Quito. We´re pretty knackered now and just want to get to Quito. We board the plane with the ever so friendly flight attendants informing us that there is still fog in Quito and poor visibility. Will we ever get there???
Finally, after 30 mammoth hours of travelling we descend from the fog into Quito. It´s not as scary flying in the daylight as it was last night, when everything looked incredibly close and like we could crash easily!
We stood at the baggage conveyor belt for ages praying it would get there safely, neither of us are very hopeful as the luggage only had about 20 mins to make it at Houston to the connecting flight.There´s a dog on the conveyor belt sniffing all the luggage for dodgy things - its not very well trained as it spends most of its time barking at a man with a strange hat on and then pissed on a piece of luggage. Now not only are we worrying about our luggage appearing but whether that damned dog will piss on
it!! Phew here it comes, I make sure I´m close to the dog so I can give it a good kick if it looks like messing with my stuff!! Luckily for me it went back to barking at the hat man rather than doing its job!
We checked into the hostel - the Secret Garden. Its a very sweet place with a roof terrace. We sat here for awhile & had a couple of beers (we deserved them!) whilst looking with at the most fantastic views over Quito .... now it´s definitely time for a nap!
We stayed at the Hostel for dinner as Ecuador´s general election is taking place this weekend & all alcohol has been banned in public places for the whole weekend (imagine that)!
They´re obviously still serving it here though!
Sunday 15th
Lazy day.......well it is a Sunday. Out for a wander in Quito today, not much of one though as we´re suffering from the altitude. We´re at 9300 ft which is pretty damn high. You walk up a hill very slowly and have to stop every few metres to catch your breathe. Your heart beats wildly and you feel very light headed.
We´re told this wears off in a few days once you acclimatise. Glad I gave up smoking, its fairly embarrassing not being able to walk up the flight of stairs in the hostal. I feel like an old lady (sorry nan!).
Quito is a beautiful city - the old town is full of picturesque buildings with colourful balconies. We wandered around taking in the essence of the town and sat in a cafe people watching. It´s pretty packed today due to the elections. Lots of people have come in from the countryside with their "local" dress on - which involves strange hats and woollen things........
We´re off to the Galapagos very early tomorrow. We´re both very excited about it - we have to be at the airport for 6am (eek). Can you believe it, we fly back to the airport that we were diverted to, to pick up more passengers. typical!
We´ve booked our Spanish lessons for when we return - 20 hours in total, spread across 5 days. Its just the 2 of us with one tutor so I guess it will be intense!
I´m not sure about emails in the Galapagos as I´ve got
no idea if we´ll have access anywhere. We come back on the 23rd so will be in touch then.
Love Andrea x
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View from the Secret Garden
Ma & Pa
non-member comment
We're not jealous!!
So glad to hear that you can breathe up there - it must be quite a relief! At least at the Galapagos you will be at sea level. Keep up the good times. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX