Ecuador

---

Finally we arrived in Ecuador and we have spent about a week in Quito. Mainly dossing and we had decided to visit Galapagos and that isn't as easy as it seems. Well, when you want to go on a cruise that is. After a failed attempt we sorted out our boat and we were really looking fwd to that trip. More about Galapagos in a seperate blog though.
Quito is a nice place to hang out a few days and there are a few things to do around as well. We probably could have done more if we weren't that lazy. The old town is really nice and the basilica is great to climb up all the way to the top! It's great to just wander around town and soak in the atmosphere. Unfortunately there is not much to do after dark in the old town and you need to head into Mariscal, the new town, for some action. Well, actually even if you want to get some food as the old town is like a ghost town after dark.
The most important thing to visit is the Equator, really and that was a bit of a disappointment. You pay $3 to enter a big touristy area and you have to pay extra to visit the museum and planetarium onsite. And to top it all off, it's not even the real Equator!! The real one is a few hundred metres down the road and it has a little museum called Inti Nan. They give little presentations about the water spinning in different directions on the north and south of the Equator and a little about the history of the indigenous people in Ecuador. Quite interesting but more of a gimmick, really.
We also went to Otavalo (thanks to Happy Gringo for free, because our booking for Galapagos didn't work out too well), the biggest market in Ecuador. On the way we stopped at a few different workshops and on the way back on a not very spectacular waterfall.
After Galapagos we managed to get away from Quito and went to the Secret Garden in Cotopaxi. We had spent a lot of time eating in the Secret Garden in Quito because it was too expensive to stay there 😉 We went with Nicky, a guy from Belgium we met in the hostel and Stephan and Karin that were on the Galapagos with us. Unfortunately the weather was pretty crap the time we spent in Cotopaxi and we only went for a horseriding and fishing trip while we were there. But the place was amazing anyway, very chilled out and the food was great.
After Cotopaxi we spent around 3 nights in Banos, a little village close to the Volcano Tungurahua. A really beautiful place surrounded by mountains and with hot springs. Finally my camera died after Ed's did in Costa Rica and I couldn't take any photos! Imagine, a half-japanese without camera...it's like losing a limb! Well, we had a few relaxing days there anyway and then we were off to Cuenca...the hunt for a panama hat began! Stephan and Karin stayed in Banos and Nicky followed us.
Cuenca, in my opinion, is the most beautiful colonial town I have seen on this trip! The old town is beautiful and so well looked after, it's amazing! There's not an awful lot to do in fairness other than hunting for a camera for us, which took over about half a day and buying a panama hat, which I didn't do in the end! After 2 nights, we headed to Loja our last stop in Ecuador before heading to Peru.

---

Photos

Real Equator
This one was calculated by GPS and it's only a few hundred metres down the road

Comments

[Cynthia]

Nice shot with the blow dart
...I definitely would have missed. Countryside looks gorgeous! Sounds like you're having fun!