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Published: March 11th 2008
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Quito from 13,000 feet
This was at the main plaza before getting on the gondola to go up. Yesterday was largely a day with my head in the clouds, literally. I also got sunburned, somewhat to my initial disbelief. I took a taxi to El Teleferiqo. I’m not sure what the translation is, but basically you take a cab up the hill a ways, and then come to the entrance to an area where you catch a gondola on a cable that takes you for about a 10 minute ride up the side of another mountain, reaching a height of at least 4100 meters (at the reception area, anyway). This translates to 13,450 feet in height. It was a fine ride, though I wasn’t sure how much I would be able to see at the top. I could see the gondola was literally going into clouds. At the top, I ended up being able to see enough from the one side to see just how high we actually made it. It was definitely up high with clouds rolling by at the same height as me off in the distance. As with some of the other sites I’ve seen, there is some tourist element. They had a rather nice welcome center at the top with some shops to browse. They
Inside the gondola
Their is a brownish hue from the tinted window, but here is a view on the way up. also had a medical clinic that I read has canned oxygen should you get light headed. At the bottom, where you initially got onto the gondolas, is a small amusement center with other shops. Given it was Monday and it is slow tourist season, many of these shops and restaurants were closed. Nonetheless, it was a good time to be had. Obviously, the views were spectacular with even limited visibility from the clouds. There is also an area you can rent horses to take a ride into the mountains, plus a hiking trail. I went part way up the hill, perhaps an hour. You could easily walk further and spend several hours up and down. It was when I did the hiking I really felt what you were clearly warned about when told to walk slow. You really do get winded quickly with the altitude and thin air. In matter of fact, I once became light-headed and had to stop to let myself get a little acclimated to the altitude and thin air. You can joke about the oxygen at the clinic, but it wouldn’t surprise me if more people use it than you’d think. There was the one point
Quito from the clouds
The clouds are basically at the same height as me to help bring home how high you are... where I felt just a little dumb was when I was walking slowly up the mountain on the mini-hike and watching the elderly man who appeared to be a local going slow but faster than me up the mountain. I am going to tell myself as a local, he’s used to the thin air so it doesn’t affect him. I felt more justified (whether it’s a legitimate claim or not is debatable) when I took a seat to look at the scenery and listen to the absence of noise besides wind and saw the elderly man already walking back down with some shrub. Maybe as a local he knew there was some shrub he wanted from up there? I’m sticking with that story...
Anyway, lots of pictures that will ultimately look a lot the same in the long run, but how do you not take all those pictures while there? How often are you at a height of 14,000 (and higher if you take the hike) feet? It was a great experience, not only to the plaza/welcome area where all the tourists go, but also for the mini-hike up the mountain. As with all these types of destination, it
No running in the hallway
or at 13,000+ feet. Translated it says (with reasonable accuracy, if not absolutely correct): Caution 4100 meters altitude (which is 13,451 feet) slow, do not run. They aren't kidding either. When I started climbing stairs to the mountain pathway, I was a little light headed for a minute helps to really give you a sense of how big this planet is compared to what we might think. After a while, though, it was time to head down. It was windy and cold, so I figured I had enough time on the mountain. Heading down was a great deal easier, but at that altitude even going down gets you a little winded just from moving. In any case, I made it back to the welcome area and took a gondola down. At this point, I shared the gondola with a couple from Virginia and another couple from Toronto. Once to the area where you buy your ticket, the Toronto couple went ahead of the rest of us and got into a cab to wherever they were headed next. They had sights to see as they had just gotten into Quito the night before. The Virginia couple was on the last hours of their trip, actually heading to the airport in the evening. The Virginia couple and myself shared a cab and I managed to get the Virginia couple to think I knew Spanish better than I do. I talked with the cab driver and managed to not only tell
Me and Quito
A nice family from Omaha took my picture (and I, of course, reciprocated). This is from the plaza and, again, Quito is in the background - the southern part of the city. him where we wanted to go but negotiate a price. He spoke a lot more than I understood, but the main messages were communicated. Back in La Mariscal, we got out of the cab and went our separate ways.
I headed back to the hostal and ended up taking a nap. When I woke from the nap, I noticed something strange - the feeling of sunburnt skin. I wasn’t expecting this...the sun was out all of a few minutes. However, I need to remember I’m basically on the Equator and at that altitude it’s not as though the rays have as much atmosphere to pass through. It’s a good thing I had a long-sleeve shirt on so at least only my face and neck were burnt! Ultimately, it seems fairly minor and I’m sure I’ll be fine in a day, but yet another experience and thing to remember.
After my nap, I was on the computer awhile and then decided to head out. I wanted to get some bottles of water from the supermarket and get some dinner. I wasn’t successful on the water as the big supermarket was already closed for the evening (at 8:30 PM), but
Going higher yet
This was another mountain off in the distance from the top plaza. Here is where you could walk to if so inclined. I suppose it would be a 3-4 hour hike to the very top, not sure how much higher you'd go but guess several thousand more feet higher. I went only part way... headed back to Uncle Ho’s to meet my Irish acquaintance who half owns the Vietnamese restaurant in Ecuador.
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Beth
non-member comment
wow
The view must have been great. It was warm and sunny here today. I had the front door open for a while. I hope you are having a great time. Maybe we will hire you to be out tour guide.