Quito

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After a slightly less hair-raising bus journey we arrived safely in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

We´d been recommended a place to stay, Hotel Internacional Plaza, but on checking-in we discovered the room wasn´t that great - lets just say it was a modern hotel, but around 1920! So we decided we´d only stay for one night.

Having dumped our luggage in our room we then headed straight to the tourist information office. However, when we arrived at the address given on the map we'd obtained from our hotel we discovered the office had moved. We tried asking a local, but he just pointed in the opposite direction and garbled some Spanish at us. Not understanding a word we headed in the direction he was pointing and, surprise surprise.......we didn't manage to find it!

With nothing else planned we took a short walk around the newer part of the city called the Mariscal and soon came across "backpacker central". This is an area with loads of hostels, small hotels, bars, clubs, internet cafés and restaurants. Basically, everything a backpacker could ask for... No wonder the locals refer to the area as "Gringolandia"!!

After what seemed like a walking tour of the entire city we settled in one of the many internet cafés to catch up on some of the travelblog. Several hours later we emerged, tired and hungry and headed to the nearest eatery for a bite to eat.

The next day we´d arranged to meet up with José, our tour guide from the Rio trip who had come back home to Quito for a few weeks of R + R. He'd offered to help us organise a couple of trips in and around Quito which would hopefully keep us busy and out of trouble for the final few days of our travels.

With the tours organised (City tour & Jungle Trip) we set off to find another place to stay and after checking out a few places finally found a lovely little hostel, Fuente del Piedra II, which was to become our home for the next few nights.

With everything sorted and a few more hours to spare we headed back to the internet café to update the travelblog for YOU, our readers back home! The same routine as the previous night... emerge hungry and tired and go out in search of a nice restaurant. With bellies full we headed back to our nice, comfy hostel for a well earned rest.

The following morning we were picked up from the hostel by our guide, Marco, for our tour of Quito with our first stop being the old part of the city.

On route to the Old town, with us "safely" in the back Marco motored along whilst reminiscing about his youth and the girlfriends he would secretly meet on other gang's turf and how many punch-ups he had doing so! He finish that particular story with "... I'm not stupid anymore, now they have guns"!!

Further along the way, as we neared the old town, Marco energetically pointed out all of the city's no-go areas, at one stage telling us "not even the police go down there." Great! But can you drive on now... PLEASE?!!!

Anyway, we eventually got to the old town and Plaza Independencia, which is surrounded by the Palacio de Gobierno (the Governor's Palace), Palacio Arzobispal (the Archbishop's Palace) and Iglesia Catedral Metropolitana de Quito (the Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito).

From here we continued our tour on foot through some of the many streets of colonnial housing dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. We stopped at a couple of the houses and entered via a narrow archway into the most picturesque courtyards ever! Each with a fountain surrounded by balconies.

Marco told us another interesting fact about how some people bury some of the bones of their dead relatives in the structure of the house as they believe it protects them from harm - seriously wacky!! Each to their own I suppose!

Anyway, the old town, despite its quaint and tiny crowded streets is also home to many churches all of which were built during the time of the Spaniards. One in particular, the Inglesia de la Compañia de Jesús, has a rather extravagantly decorated altar, made from 7 tonnes of gold no less!

Now, most of us will at least have heard of the Ten Commandments and I refer to one in particular - Thou shalt not steal. Although Ecuador is a predominantly Catholic Nation this commandment doesn't seem to apply even in Churches as all of them have had things 'disappear'. Wandering around the churches you can see empty plinths where statues of Saints once stood, missing icons, even bits of statues, like hands and fingers, and whole paintings have been stolen!! The problem has become so bad that some churches have... wait for it... CCTV!!

Having visited Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús and then Iglesia del Sagrario and finally Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco we ended-up at the Plaza de San Fransisco where we stopped for a while to watch a fashion show put on by the local fashion college (apparently there´s always something happening in the square to entertain passersby). Marco had headed off to collect the car so we were on our own for a short while. It wasn't long before we were spotted by one of the many shoe-shine boys who approached us asking to shine our walking boots. The fact that they are 100% fabric didn't seem to bother him! So after a good 10 minutes hassling us, we finally decided the only way to get rid of him was to hand over $1 and he promptly disappeared. Before long we were surrounded by another 4 shoe-shine boys (news travels fast round here!) ranging in age from about 7 to 14. Again, we tried to explain that it wasn´t possible to polish our boots, but these little guys are seasoned professionals and very persistent, plus we felt sorry for them especially since the littlest one looked like he´d been eating his shoe polish! So eventually we parted with another $4!!

After this time the news of two suckers on the Plaza spread like wild fire and they started coming in thick and fast, however we were saved because we were out of single dollars and Marco had finally turned up with the car. Phew!

Making a swift getaway we headed north of Quito to the equator.

First we passed the monument originally built to represent the equatorial line, however after the invention of GPS it was discovered that this was actually 5 seconds to the south - Oops!

Anyway, at the real equatorial line we visited a small museum where we were given a short tour and participated in the experiments used to demonstrate the differences between the northern and southern hemispheres - such as the direction water drains down a sink, differences in balance, strength and weight on the line itself and balancing a raw egg on the head of a nail (we both have certificates to prove our efficiency in this highly technical experiment!)

Av also had a go at shooting a cactus plant with a blow pipe (no wild animals available at the time - apparently!) and proved himself to be a true hunter, scoring a hit on both occasions -the practice should come in handy for the Amazon!

With the days events over we headed back to Quito for dinner and to discuss our plans for the following day - our last in Quito before heading to the Jungle.

Next morning we were very pleased to see the sun shining and a clear blue sky - perfect weather for going up the teleferico.

After a quick breakfast we grabbed a taxi to the cable car station at the foot of the mountain. What we didn't anticipate was a flock of other people having the same idea. However, after a short queue we boarded and made our way up, up, up, higher and higher and higher, a journey of about 10 minutes to over 4,000 metres above sea level!

From atop you can appreciate how narrow the city actually is and how it is spreading up the sides of some of the mountains and further out in to the surrounding greenery which goes on as far as the eye can see.

We also had a fantastic view of most of the volcanoes surrounding the city, all of which are active - the most dangerous of these being Guagua Pichincha.

After a light snack and a few photo opportunities it was time to descend as the altitude was starting to take effect.

So back to a more reasonable 2,850 metres above sea level we hit the amusement park at the foot of the mountain. After a short stroll around the park we realised there wasn't a ride that would raise your pulse and decided to head back to town for a spot of shopping at the Sunday market.

After walking through and around the market twice and making a few essential purchases along the way Suzz could no longer resist the temptation of the candy floss stalls and had to indulge!!

Having had enough excitement for the day we decided to return to our hostel with enough time to reorganise our backpacks for the jungle trip the next day, have dinner and then an early night for our early start.

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Comments

[Lou]

fab fab fab
Hey guys, It has been a while since I posted a comment - but I just want to say you're really good at writing these! I totally chuckled about the CCTV and the shoe polish boys - wow that makes me sound mean - I meant I can imagine you guys getting mobbed by these youngsters - hmm... that also sounds mean... well you know what I mean - good going!!! Love Lou xx