One Day in Quito
Ah – we made it to Ecuador! After crossing the Colombia-Ecuador border, we hitched a cab to the town of Tulcan. From there, we caught the bus to Quito, about a five-hour ride. While on the bus, we could already feel the cultural differences. For example, even the bus was a bit more hectic than the Colombian busses we were used to; we never quite knew what was going on. The bus was also in terrible shape, especially the brake pads. The bus screamed every time the driver braked, which was about every five minutes! However, these adventures make traveling fun!
Up until this point, we had been pretty good about researching our next step. We always had an idea of what bus to take or where to go. When we finally arrived in Quito, though, around 9:00pm, we had stupidly forgotten to document many important details (a) our hotel name and its location (b) the bus station location and (c) the best way to get from the bus station to our hotel and how much it should cost. Most importantly, we forgot to get money! So, there we were, in a very quiet and dark bus station somewhere in Quito with no idea where to go. Luckily, we could turn on data roaming (and pay a considerable fee, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do). Once we retrieved our hotel name and location, we were able to negotiate with a cab driver to take us to an ATM on the way, a risky move for the both of us. When the second ATM did not work, I could see the fear in the cabbie’s face. Was he going to be scammed by these two Americans? Finally, third time was a charm, and we got our hands on some greenbacks. (Ecuador began using US Dollars after their own currency, the Sucre, crashed in January 2000).
I had convinced Arie that after a challenging three days of hiking in Colombia, we deserved a nice room in Quito. We chose to stay at the moderately priced Hotel Patio Andaluz. We had picked a hotel in the old city with the intention of walking to the sites we wanted to see.
We only had one full day in Quito, so we decided to take the Free Walking Tour Ecuador, which met by the Community Hostel. The tour was awesome. Our guide did a great job of showing us a mix of food places and historical sites. Our first stop was the fresh market where we all picked up a cup of fresh juice. Arie and I ordered a mora (blackberry) coconut blend and… an addiction was born. We then visited the town-square and the presidential palace (where we were just in time to catch the changing of the guards). We toured two churches, and we walked by the old central bank. We finished the walk in the bohemian area of La Ronda with a visit to some artisans’ shops. Along the way, our guide stopped at a few snack vendors. We picked up coconut candies and some roasted nuts – very tasty. The tour lasted about three hours, after which we headed out to scope out a spot for lunch.
We spent the rest of the day back in our room relaxing and catching up on emails. At sunset, we headed out to catch the view from Café Mosaico, an Ecuadorian-Greek restaurant perched on a hill overlooking Quito’s El Panecillo (Little Loaf of Bread). It was a good walk, although through some slightly sketchy neighborhoods. The view made it worth the risk, though. It appeared that we could see all of Quito, a sprawling city that carpets the Guayllabamba River Basin. Our time at the café was perfect: a glass of wine and a few snacks while admiring the vista.
Traveling in Ecuador – see what other towns we visited
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