Quito

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"Any moment now, we're going to find ourselves embedded in the side of a building and that'll be it."

I'm sure that I'm not the first or the last person to have that thought as you descend into Quito airport. I'm not sure how high it ranks in terms of technical dificulty to land at, but you just get so close to the buildings in the city that surrounds you that it's sure that there's not a lot of room for error.

Fortunately (and, I suppose, obviously), we didn't end up in the side of a building but, instead, enjoyed a very smooth landing.

Ecuador feels much more like a country that is set up for tourism (than Colombia) from the moment that you set foot inside the airport. The terminal building has a very new feel to it (I'm not sure how old it is). There are handy numbered signs indicating where you should go next:

1 - Passport Control
2 - Luggage Collection
3 - Luggage Screening (yep, they actually X-Ray your luggage on the way out of the airport.
4 - Luggage Check (where they check the number of your luggage tag on your boarding card against the number on the luggage itself).

That last point is worth remembering. If you're the sort of person who rips the luggage tags off your bags as soon as you've got it off the Carousel, remember not to do that in South America - otherwise you're going to have trouble getting out of the terminal building. It's really a much more secure way of ensuring that your luggage doesn't get lifted by anybody else at the airport - I'm surprised that we don't do it in the UK.

As I exited the airport I was approached by somebody asking if I wanted a taxi. I asked if he was an official taxi and he showed me his badge. Fine. He said that he'd had a domestic pick-up that had been cancelled so we needed to walk to the other terminal. What he actually meant was that we needed to walk out of the airport altogether. I was laden down with my rucksack, day pack and guitar. And it took about 15 minutes of walking to get to his "cab".
Which didn't look like a cab at all.
All of the cabs that I've seen so far in South America are yellow - it gives every city a slightly New York type vibe. This guy's car was black. Sure I'd seen the badge but I should have known better than to get in. But I was tired and my defences were down. And he did seem like a genuinely nice guy. So I got in his cab and he drove me to my hostel (at least he knew where it was). When I asked him how much it was I was shocked when he said $20 (Ecuador's currency is the US Dollar). I didn't know how much it should have cost, but I knew that, for the amount of time that I'd spent in his cab, this rate was higher than a cab in London. I protested and said that there was no way that it should cost $20 and offered him $10. I later found out that it should have cost $6. Well he moaned and grumbled but eventually accepted the $10.
It's a real shame that my first encounter with an Ecuadorian should have left such a bad taste in the mouth. Well, hopefully anybody who reads this and is thinking of heading to Ecuador can learn from my mistake. As far as I can tell, all official cabs in Quito have to have meters. Sometimes they try to hide the meter from you and charge you silly money. But the rule that I stick to now is, "if they don't have a meter, don't get in the cab"...or at least agree the price up front.

The hostel room was clean and looked comfortable - although this was the first time that I'd actually ended up in a single bed on my trip so far. Usually, even though I only ever book a single room, I get a double bed.
I quickly unpacked my "essentials" (the stuff that lives at the top of my bag), showered (the first and last hot shower that I was to have in the Cayman) and headed out to try to find something to eat.

Fortunately my hotel (Cayman Hotel) is situated in the heart of the "Zona Rosa" of Quito - an area known as Mariscal (from what I can gather). The hub of the action is the square formed by the intersection of the roads Reina Victoria and Foch.
I found (well, it's hard to miss) a great place to eat called Azucar Beach and, foolishly, ordered both a starter and a main. I was taken aback by how cheap the meal was until I realised that I was looking at US dollars and not thousands of Colombian Pesos. As it happens you can get a really good main course in the center of the most expensive district in Quito for about $7. I finished both courses, but it was a bit of a struggle.
One thing that really struck me about Quito from the moment I got off the plane was just how chilly it felt. As I sat on the terrace of Azucar Beach, I wished that I'd bought my fleece with me - despite the fact that the patio heaters were on.

Well, feeling stuffed, I waddled back the four blocks to my hostel and turned in for the night. It'd been a long day of travelling and I slept like a baby.

Tuesday morning I awoke showered and breakfasted (and unpacked some of the "non-essentials" from my bag). I asked the reception of the hotel (really, it's more like a hostel than a hotel) if they had a map of the area. They didn't. But I had enough information in my guidebook to work out that the city is divided into two parts: The Old Town and The New Town. I was staying in The New Town but most of the sightseeing to be had is in The Old Town. The thing is that The Old Town is basically dead at night (and doesn't seem like the sort of place that you want to be wandering around in). So if you're reading this and weighing up your options about where you should stay in Quito (as I was prior to my arrival), I'd definitely go for The New Town.

Anyway, I jumped in a cab down to The Old Town which took about 25 minutes. It should probably have been 10 minutes but the traffic in Quito is the worst that I've seen anywhere on my trip so far. I was told that "Tunnel" was closed until May (I don't know if "Tunnel" is actually a tunnel or some sort of bypass) which had made the traffic much worse in the center. Any way, it gave something for the taxi drivers to moan about - almost like being back in London 😊

I was dropped at Plaza Grande (one of three main squares in Quito) and wandered around the square taking photographs. Confusingly, my map of the old town (in my guidebook) labelled Plaza Grande as Plaza de la Independencia (and then labelled somewhere else as Plaza Grande) so it took a while before I realised the mistake and got my bearings. In fact, I didn't realise the mistake until I'd got another map from the super helpful people at the tourist information center which is in the South East corner of Plaza Grande.

The next few hours were spent wandering around the city checking out the squares and the churches. The interiors to the churches are really ornate - in fact, they're a bit over the top, really. What's odd is that you're not made to feel particularly welcome in any of them - there was a sign in one saying "please, no tourists"! And you're absolutely not allowed to take photos (even if there is no service on) - which I thought was a bit off.

I mentioned before that population of Popayán is more indigenous than in other parts of Colombia. Well, in the old town of Quito, the population is almost entirely indigenous. You get the feeling that you're in an entirely different country...which, of course, I am!

The weather was hot and muggy. I felt sticky from all the walking around and, although it had only just turned 12, decided to try to find something to eat. I wandered back to Plaza Grande and into a building on the North side of the square. I noticed a sign that read "Food Hall" (which was actually a food courtyard) and then saw a lovely looking restaurant upstairs (with chairs on the balcony that ran around the courtyard).
An hour later, I was fed and feeling kind of sleepy. But across from the restaurant, I could see a shop selling handicrafts so thought that I'd check that out before heading back to the hotel. I picked up a rather nice hand crafted necklace (made of fruit seeds and fish vertabrae). I realised later that haggling is a way of life in these places and I should have tried to beat them down on price. But being the dumb gringo that I am, I ended up paying top dollar ($10 to be precise).

As I left the restaurant, it started to rain. Not heavily. That fine rain. You know, the sort that soaks you through (I know that there won't be many who get that quote...but for those that do, I hope that you enjoyed it! 😊

I headed back to the hostel and rested up for a while before heading out into the main square of the New Town to see what was happening. It was about 5pm and, despite the fact that it was a Tuesday, there were a few people around. I decided to perch up in the downstairs section of Azucar Beach (I'd eaten in the upstairs section the day before) and asked for a beer. At the table next to me was a girl on her own and we got chatting. Her name was Ana and she lived in a place about 40 minutes from a town called Otavalo which, itself, is about 2 hours north of Quito. I'd read about Otavalo in my guide book (it "probably" has the most impressive handicrafts market in the whole of South America). Well, Ana was just in Quito for the day to meet with a friend who'd actually had to go off to the hospital to attend to his sick mother. But before she left we exchanged numbers and I said that I'd give her a call if I made it to Otavalo.

By now it was about 7pm and, although I was thinking of leaving to get some dinner, I ended up chatting to a group of three who were at the other table next to me. One was an Ecuadorian guy called Andres and the other two were Turkish girls whose names I never quite caught. They all spoke perfect English and we chatted and drank away before Andres suggested that we head down to a Salsa bar a few blocks down. Apparently, the Salsa dancers in this place were the best in the city. Why not, I thought.
Well, it turned out that the Salsa bar was basically empty apart from a few guys sitting around the bar. But still we had a great night - especially the girls who danced the night away whilst Andres and I got slowly more drunk in the corner.
It was still early (about 10.30, I think), but I'd had enough already. I exchanged numbers with Andres and headed back to my hostel.

Wednesdy morning I woke up with the hangover that I deserved (it was all going so well until that blasted barman gave me a shot of Aguardiente). Tenderly, I manouvered myself downstairs for breakfast. That perked me up a bit and the shower helped too. Wandering back downstairs I ran into (not literally) and got chatting with a (I think mid-fifties, early sixties) American guy called Ken who was also staying at the hostel (it turned out that Ken was the only other person staying at the hostel for the whole of the time that I was there). Well, we had a good long chat about our travels so far and life in general.

My plan for the day was to head to the west of the city to ride the cable car up to the top of the mountain that looms over the city and then to head to a place called Panecillo (which is a big hill to the south of the Old Town which not only boasts one of the best views over the Old Town but, also, a 40 meter high statue of the Virgin of Quito.

But as I was chatting with Ken, I looked out at the mountain and could see that it was basically covered in low-lying cloud. Today wouldn't be a good day for the cable car.

Well, by the time that I was through with Ken, it was about lunch time, so I headed down to the scene of my previous night's downfall and got a bite to eat (I know, all I seem to do is eat and drink and sleep!)
As it happened, the Champions League match between Manchester United and Bayern Munich started just after I sat down (at a lovely place called the Coffee Tree just facing the main square) and soon I was surrounded by avid football fans (not shirt-wearing, beer-swilling lager louts, just people who were really interested in watching the football).
By about the kick-off of the second half, I was done with my sandwich and juice but I stuck around to watch the second half. I had a vested interest in this game since Gary (my very good friend and neighbour who's coming to visit me in Buenos Aires at the end of May) is a huge Manchester United fan. The Champions League final is scheduled for the day that he arrives so if Man Utd got through, the first thing that we would be doing together in BA is finding a bar that showed the match. But, for those who don't know, Man Utd lost on the away goals rule. Sorry Gary.

Just as I was preparing to leave the heavens opened...and I mean really opened. Although I was two tables back from the protection of the canopy of the restaurant, I was getting soaked. Fortunately, most of the football crowd had already left so I could move further back to stop me from getting splashed.
And it rained. And it rained. And it rained. It got to the point that I really thought that it would never stop.

I used the opportunity to ring Andres and we arranged to meet up in the near Plaza Grande. It really didn't look like it was going to stop raining so I loitered in the shelter of the restaurant canopy until I spotted an empty cab then signalled him from across the street and scampered into the back of the car. I was soaking already. I needed to buy an umbrella from somewhere!

I got to the center of town 25 minutes later and called Andres again from the shelter of a hotel lobby. He and the girls were in a restaurant called Café del Fraile. It took some asking around, but finally a kindly police officer took pity on me and walked me to the restaurant. It turned out that this was exactly the same restaurant as I had been in the day before.

Of course, I'd not long eaten so I just had a beer with them. They were basically done with their meals anyway and asked if I wanted to join them in a ride up to Panecillo (remember, I had wanted to do this at the beginning of the day). So I jumped at the chance. They wanted a quick look around the historic center first but it was still raining so I said "fine, so long as I can find an umbrella".
Outside the restaurant, an old lady was shouting "umbrellas - two dollars!". Perfect. We got three between the four of us.
Of course they weren't of the best quality and, of the three, only one actually seemed to function well as an umbrealla - Andres' collapsed at the slightest sniff of wind and mine leaked! I know that I only paid $2, but I would have thought that waterproofedness would be the primary consideration when considering materials to use for an umbrella...

Well, we had a (very) quick look around the old town (still the churches didn't like visitors), and we headed down to the car park where Andres' 4x4 was parked. We all jumped in and, after only a couple of wrong turns, we ended up at Panecillo.
Unfortunately it was just too wet and windy to be able to enjoy the view and, despite my best efforts to get some decent shots, I beat a hasty retreat to the car.

Just down from the statue itself is a restaurant called Pim's. It's a really excellent restaurant and the views are superb offering great views over Quito (even in the bad weather).
None of us had much to eat but we had a couple of drinks and a long chat (largely about working in hotels which is their background and something that I've had some experience of myself).

By 10.30 we were all kind of tired and they had an early start the next morning - they were driving down the coast. Andres (very kindly, considering the distance involved) drove me back to my hotel and we said our goodbyes.
And I called it a night.

That's you all up to date until Thursday. My internet connection is finally back. Maybe I'll write more later.

...and just after I wrote that, JUST as I was about to hit publish, the internet connection went down again! So you get it today instead 😊

Hasta luego!

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Photos

05 - Plaza Grande #4
A monument to the "Heroes of 10th August 1809"

13 - Iglesia de El Sagrario #4
The closest that I could get to taking a photo indoors!

14 - Iglesia de la Compania #1
Easily the most over the top exterior to a church that I've ever seen!