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Published: March 11th 2017
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I'm in Quito! My 6th continent, meaning another tick on my bucket list. My first impression of Quito was at 1am getting a taxi to my hostel, but already I can see that the people are very friendly, and remind me more of Mexico and Guatemala.
I only have 2 days in Quito, so my plan is to make the most of it. The first morning I headed out to the old town for a walk around admiring the old building and people watching in the main plaza. I'm glad to see things have considerably gone back down in price compared to my recent spending - breakfast is $1-2. There are a lot of interesting vendors and little shops to look at, so I quite happily pass the morning wandering around the streets observing. Heading away from the square I had to do a double take when I noticed a restaurant 'vegetariano', but my eyes weren't deceiving me. The restaurant was packed with locals, so I decided this was too good an opportunity to pass. I'm very glad I went in - it was the best meal I've had in weeks, with way too much food for me to manage -
all for less than $2.50. I even had to subtly unbutton my jeans after.
After letting my food settle I decided to head out to the newer part of town, where I had read there are markets. Once I got to the park it was a very pleasant stroll, and I'm not sure I saw any other tourists until I got to the markets. There are a few stalls lined up in the park, all with friendly local tribes people running them. They are very accommodating but not pushy, which is a nice change to usual markets. I had a lovely time browsing their wares, and I was surprised that they varied a bit from all the other identical markets I've visited on this trip. Once I had seen all the stalls I continued walking around exploring the streets, finding a beautiful church and another market in the process.
The next day I decided to take the hop on hop off bus around Quito. This is slightly pricey but as I'm not here long it was nice to be driven around the sites. Also due to inconsiderate dorm mates I only got around 3hrs sleep, so it was nice to
get the bus around.
The first stop was up a hill overlooking the city where there is a statue of the Virgin Mary. This is a magnificent statue, and gives great 360 degree views over the city. An unexpected bonus was that for an extra dollar you could climb up the inside to a higher platform, giving even better views of the city. The bus ride lasted 3hrs in total, with good commentary as we went.
After the bus I was just deciding what to do when the heavens opened with a massive thunderstorm. Luckily I was in my hostel, so decided to use my time to catch up my blog and make new friends in the hostel!
I fly to the Galapagos tomorrow, so if you don't hear from me it's because I'm too busy having fun! I'll catch up on the blogging when I get time though.
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