A Quick ¨Hola¨from Quito

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Hi All,

I´ve been hanging out in Quito the past four days. I meant to go mountain biking to a town known for its hot springs yesterday but I woke up feeling ever so slightly like I might have a cold coming on. Wanting to play it safe, I spent most of the day lounging around Linda´s muy modern apartment. It´s hardly like I´ve left the US - there are so many conveniences there. But tomorrow morning I meet up with the group I´m traveling with to the Amazon basin. As some of you may have heard already, the group is being led by my college roommate, Prema. What this means, is basically I have no idea what we´re doing. I pretty much signed up without paying much more attention beyond hearing ¨Amazon¨, ¨Shaman¨ and ¨Ecolodge¨. So we´re doing some other stuff, I´m just not sure what it is yet. Not too concerned about it. I´ll be sure to share at a later date.

What´s Quito like, you ask? It´s a big city. A really big city. It´s the capital, in fact. It sits in a long narrow valley. And if you take the TeleferiQo, you´ll see the most spectacular views. I went on an overcast day and the views were still spectacular.

¿Que mas? There are lots of buses. Ecuadorians mostly get around via bus hence they are everywhere. Unfortunately, they´re not running on green fuels which means they are constantly spewing black filth. Much to my dismay, I´ve found myself feeling a little grimy here in Quito.

Oh! I´ve forgotten one of the most important facts. Quito was the second ever desginated World Heritage Site. Here´s what the World Heritage site has to say about it: The City of Quito has the best-preserved, least altered historic centre in Latin America. It is located on an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains. The city's elevation is 9,300 ft (2,850 m) above sea level.

I haven´t been too inspired to take pictures but here is the link tp the flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69192286@N00/sets/72157622400816396/

Here is a youtube video of the view from the teleferiQo:

And another video of the scary music playing next to the amusement park at the telferiQo :

ciao ciao!

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Photos

View from the Top
The TeleferiQo is there on the right.

Plaza de Independencia
In el Centro Historico

World Heritage designated architecture
The monastery of San Francisco.