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Published: October 13th 2007
QUITO AIRPORT
Meeting Sharyn at the Quito airport with my rent a crowd Chilean friendsAfter leaving the Galapagos Islands I was on a plane bound for the capital of Equador, Quito. Quito is situated across a beautiful Andean valley and is flanked by volcanic peaks. The day I arrived was sunny so I had a great view of the city and the area around it as I came into land. Quito was a major Inca city that was destroyed by Atahualpa's general, Rumiñahui, shortly before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. The present capital was founded atop the Inca ruins by Sebastian de Benalcazar on December 6th, 1534.....but there is no Inca structures that remain today.
I already knew where I was going to stay so it was just a matter of not getting ripped off by the taxi driver that was going to take me to the hostel. Once I was there my only mission for the day was to chill and relax and then find somewhere to have some food. Where I was staying was in the new part of town and in the El Marsical area, which is where all the bars and clubs are. I was pleasantly suprised to find an Indian restuarant there and even more happier when they
QUITO AIRPORT
Alessandro, Me and Hielo practicing our welcome before Sharyn walks out the big double doors brought out some awesome food for my dinner....it was cheap and great to eat after being on tight-arse rations on the islands. That was pretty much it for that night as I was in bed pretty early with no intention of checking out the busy night life. I really don't have much to write about Quito because at this stage of my trip I was completely exhausted and in need of doing a lot of nothing and watching a lot of crap TV. For the first few days I didn't venture further than the local market where I got fresh juice and stocked up on fruit and veg so I didn't even have to leave the hostel. The hostel was pretty homely with lots of friendly people so it felt like you were hanging at someone's house. On the second night I was there I decided that I should at least check out some nightlife and went out with some friends I had met in the hostel, Alessandro and Hielo, two guys from Chile. A lot of laughs had with these guys and they were great fun to go out with,....they had heard of a DJ playing at one of
QUITO AIRPORT
Finally getting a hug from Sharyn after being too embarrassed to come near us the clubs so I thought why not! I was a little sceptical on the quality of the club as the ones on the main street all look terribly tacky and have touters out the front willing you into their clubs. This one that we went to was pretty damned flash, up to Chapel Street standard, and on arrival I felt incredibly undressed as I had put all my washing in that day and had nothing to wear. In short we danced a lot and the music was also suprisingly great and with being the only gringo in the bar I felt like I was lucky to have met the Chileans otherwise I would probably be at some dodgy bar. Did have a great night but suffered majorily the next day...luckily I had nothing to do and I could ride out the hangover quietly.
Then the big day of meeting Sharyn at the airport who was flying in from Spain arrived. After spending the night with the Chilean boys they had told me that they would also come to the airport and help me welcome Sharyn with a big sign I intended to make as well as balloons. So off
QUITO
The gothic looking building of Bascilia del Voto Nacional we went to the airport and once we got there we saw that Sharyn had already touched down early....I had told her that I wouldn't be in Quito so was concerned that maybe she had already come out and left in a taxi which would destroy our welcome party. So we hung around at the big double doors and waited for her to walk out, meanwhile practicing our cheers and teaching the Chileans how to say Sharyn properly. Finally she walked out to find us yelling and cheering her name and she did exactly what I thought she would do......pretend she wasn't Sharyn and walk on with her head down embarrassed. So we just followed her up the walkway still making a spectacal until she finally would come our way and give me a hug. So thanks to my Chilean friends who made the whole thing so much better than if it had been just me making an idiot out of myself. It was great to see Sharyn again after 6 months and we spent that night starting to catch up on what had happened since I left Australia. Back to the Indian restaurant with a bottle of wine before
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Inside the Bascilia del Voto Nacional jetlag caught up with Sharyn and then we went to bed......not a very outrageous first night together. At this time I was feeling like shite and was not sleeping properly and having headaces as I had put me neck turning around the day before. I was looking to find a chiropractor to help me out as there was no way that I was going to be able to sit on a bus to get out of Quito. As luck would have it there was a Korean guy staying at the hostel who was an chiropractor as well as a acupunturist and chinese doctor.....heaven! He was giving a girl a massage and I just had to ask him to help me out....which I did and told him I would pay. That night he gave me one treatment in a very noisy hostel common room, not ideal but who cares, and he told me that the problem in my neck was actually coming from my stomach and intestines. He hit a lot of pressure points that caused a lot of pain and I knew then that he knew what he was talking about.......told me things that I was possibly feeling or experiencing
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Inside the Bascilia del Voto Nacional and hit the nail on the head each time. He worked on me for a while and told me that I would sleep much better that night and have good dreams...again he was correct. Already I felt much better but he told me that I should have more treatment the following day.....with a little bit of a language barrier I couldn't understand fully. He spoke spanish and limited english and me vise versa....so I would ask Sharyn to help me but when she came to interpret for me he would speak english to her while all along he spoke spanish to me......we couldn't work it out! As it turns out he got his friend who is also a chinese doctor to come help with the next treatment. After an examination and then lots of talking in Korean for about 10 minutes I was taken upstairs and given a great acupuncture treatment. Afterwards I could feel that I was better already and with some recommendations on how and when to eat I was excited that I was actually feeling human again.....I really couldn´t believe my luck and it was for the best price as well as they wouldn´t accept any payment.
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Bascilia del Voto Nacional So with feeling better and having some energy we thought that we should at least do something in Quito. We decided to vist the historical Old Town, which is actually a world heritage site. The streets are full of old colonial buildings and it was lovely to wander around them looking up to the statue of the Virgen de Quito that sits up on the hill above the town. After trying some of the local food and some juice we ventured up to a restuarant that is situated on one of the hills and gives a great view over the city. A perfect place for a beer and coffee, which we did, before heading back to the hostel. I was glad that Sharyn was also feeling lazy as I really needed some down time and couldn't be bothered going out at night as going to bed early was all I could manage. The following day we thought that we would get another view of the city and went on a cable car to the other side of the city. I hate cable cars or anything that resemble cable cars and I don't have confidence in anything that big hanging
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Inside the Bascilia del Voto Nacional from a wire....this one however was not too bad. Again the views were great and with the weather being a little clearer we could see the mountains and volcanoes in the distance. After this little venture that was it for our sightseeing of Quito.....cities are cities to me and after being in many I am preferring to be out of them rather than in them. So it was time to move on and after changing our minds many times we decided to head into Columbia to see Sharyn's friend Christian...he was leaving for Europe in 3 weeks so we had to go first to Columbia. The hostel was like a terrible share house by this stage as well and we both couldn't wait to get the hell out and back on the road heading into a new country.
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