Quito
Being used to long haul flying, I barely noticed the short hop from Bogotá to Quito, the high-lying capital of Ecuador. An airport taxi pickup from my hostel gave me an easy introduction into this new country. Luckily there was a Danish hipster heading to the same hostel at the same time, so I was able to share the cost with him.
With an ultra-modern airport highway, the taxi cruised along until hitting the higgledy-piggledy old colonial streets of the San Blas area of the centre, where The Secret Garden hostel was located. The hostel was recommended to me by a couple of Canadian girls I had shared a dorm with in Medellín, more so for the three day trip to the sister hostel near Cotopaxi mountain that was not to be missed. With the December 10th deadline for the Inca Trail in Peru looming, I only had just enough time to do this three day'er before hitting the Galapagos for four. That would be it for Ecuador.
After grabbing a lovely lunch with the hipster Dane in a French-owned place (and checking out an old cathedral), the rest of my first day in Ecuador was spent organising things. I was disappointed to learn that Galapagos boat tours were not as frequent as I had hoped - the only tour that was in the right time frame was departing in a couple of days. The Cotopaxi trip would have to be saved for another time.
Between deciding on the right tour, paying for it, and booking flights and accommodation, organising the Galapagos took four hours. Part of the problem is that it's not cheap, and paying by card incurs a 10% surcharge. In the end you have the ridiculous situation of tourists needing to go to multiple ATMs (because different banks have different withdrawal limits), sometimes across multiple days, to take out and carry shed loads of cash, all in a city not known to be the safest in South America.
I didn't even have time to pack my bag by the time everything was organised - happy hour in the rooftop bar was about to end. I just about ordered my two craft-beers for the price of one before the 7pm deadline. I was soon joined by the Irish couple I had met during the Medellín walking tour a couple of weeks earlier, which sounds random but isn't so much when you consider that a lot of backpackers on big trips follow the same route. Of course, with fellow Irish around, we had one (or two) too many. After a night of good craic, we made tentative plans to meet up in The Wild Rover in Cuzco, Peru on Christmas Day, or maybe even in Rotterdam next year.
After four nights of confined boat-cabin sharing with Marko the Finn on the Galapagos (which is covered in another post), I once again decided to treat myself to a nice boutique hotel room. The hotel was located right in the middle of the historical centre, a much better base to explore than the hostel was.
After a chilled out afternoon spent reflecting on an incredible Galapagos experience, I headed out for pizza. Unbeknownst to myself, the annual celebrations were in full swing for the founding of Quito. While I was waiting for my pile of dough and cheese I witnessed what looked like the Quito equivalent of the Buttevant St Patrick's Day parade - complete with majorettes, a brass and reed band, and lots of singing and dancing children. This was a pure, local experience, and for it to feel like home really made me aware of how similar aspects of the culture of this part of the world is with Irish culture. Our shared Catholic heritage probably has something to do with it.
The next day was spent properly exploring the historic centre, wandering the old colonial streets and visiting the Museo de la Ciudad and the Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus church, which were both excellent. Quito's centre was nicer than I expected, despite the fact that some of the plazas were construction sites (a common theme in South American capitals at the moment it seems).
I meant to have a light lunch, but ended up accidentally having an Ecuadorian lamb feast instead (accidentally because it sounded delicious - it was). This knocked me out for the rest of the day, so I just relaxed in my fancy hotel room watching movies and soccer. I'm not the traveller I used to be.
To make up for my travel-lazy luxury, the next day I took a trip to the equator via two local buses. The concierge in the hotel couldn't understand why I wanted to do this instead of a taxi from the hotel (it's to experience local life, if you're also confused). The two buses were an interesting experience for sure, with beggars, buskers and a good mix of locals in between.
I met a young Englishman on the second bus, who wasn't really a backpacker and seemed overwhelmed by the whole experience. He was so overwhelmed that by the time we reached the destination, he fecked off as soon as he got the chance (was it something I said?) Whatever, I was happy to experience the equator solo anyway.
The site of the equator is marked by an underwhelming monument, with a line painted on the ground marking the border between the northern and southern hemispheres. Except it wasn't - the actual equator is about 200m south of the painted line. I still posed for a picture and got my passport stamped mind you (it was close enough). Unexpectedly, bizarrely, within the touristy complex I found two of my favourite things - good coffee and craft beer. The cafe served up a flat white made using beans from a local roaster, and a little beer museum had a bar at the end serving up brews from a nearby microbrewery. I helped myself to both of course.
And so all that was left for me to do in Ecuador was to fly out. From my brief impression, I didn't notice a huge difference between this country and Colombia. They share the same mix of indigenous and Spanish cultures, share the same language, and both have urban, mountainous, and coastal regions. To be fair, I barely scratched the surface of Ecuador. Perhaps if I scratch a little deeper I'd uncover the true differences. It had been a brief stay, with so much of the country still to see, but once again my time constraints had kicked in. It was time to head to Peru, to Cuzco, to go check out the greatest indigenous civilization of them all in the south of the Americas - the Inca Empire.
More photos of Quito
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| View from Secret Garden rooftop |
With an ultra-modern airport highway, the taxi cruised along until hitting the higgledy-piggledy old colonial streets of the San Blas area of the centre, where The Secret Garden hostel was located. The hostel was recommended to me by a couple of Canadian girls I had shared a dorm with in Medellín, more so for the three day trip to the sister hostel near Cotopaxi mountain that was not to be missed. With the December 10th deadline for the Inca Trail in Peru looming, I only had just enough time to do this three day'er before hitting the Galapagos for four. That would be it for Ecuador.
After grabbing a lovely lunch with the hipster Dane in a French-owned place (and checking out an old cathedral), the rest of my first day in Ecuador was spent organising things. I was disappointed to learn that Galapagos boat tours were not as frequent as I had hoped - the only tour that was in the right time frame was departing in a couple of days. The Cotopaxi trip would have to be saved for another time.
Between deciding on the right tour, paying for it, and booking flights and accommodation, organising the Galapagos took four hours. Part of the problem is that it's not cheap, and paying by card incurs a 10% surcharge. In the end you have the ridiculous situation of tourists needing to go to multiple ATMs (because different banks have different withdrawal limits), sometimes across multiple days, to take out and carry shed loads of cash, all in a city not known to be the safest in South America.
I didn't even have time to pack my bag by the time everything was organised - happy hour in the rooftop bar was about to end. I just about ordered my two craft-beers for the price of one before the 7pm deadline. I was soon joined by the Irish couple I had met during the Medellín walking tour a couple of weeks earlier, which sounds random but isn't so much when you consider that a lot of backpackers on big trips follow the same route. Of course, with fellow Irish around, we had one (or two) too many. After a night of good craic, we made tentative plans to meet up in The Wild Rover in Cuzco, Peru on Christmas Day, or maybe even in Rotterdam next year.
After four nights of confined boat-cabin sharing with Marko the Finn on the Galapagos (which is covered in another post), I once again decided to treat myself to a nice boutique hotel room. The hotel was located right in the middle of the historical centre, a much better base to explore than the hostel was.
After a chilled out afternoon spent reflecting on an incredible Galapagos experience, I headed out for pizza. Unbeknownst to myself, the annual celebrations were in full swing for the founding of Quito. While I was waiting for my pile of dough and cheese I witnessed what looked like the Quito equivalent of the Buttevant St Patrick's Day parade - complete with majorettes, a brass and reed band, and lots of singing and dancing children. This was a pure, local experience, and for it to feel like home really made me aware of how similar aspects of the culture of this part of the world is with Irish culture. Our shared Catholic heritage probably has something to do with it.
The next day was spent properly exploring the historic centre, wandering the old colonial streets and visiting the Museo de la Ciudad and the Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus church, which were both excellent. Quito's centre was nicer than I expected, despite the fact that some of the plazas were construction sites (a common theme in South American capitals at the moment it seems).
I meant to have a light lunch, but ended up accidentally having an Ecuadorian lamb feast instead (accidentally because it sounded delicious - it was). This knocked me out for the rest of the day, so I just relaxed in my fancy hotel room watching movies and soccer. I'm not the traveller I used to be.
To make up for my travel-lazy luxury, the next day I took a trip to the equator via two local buses. The concierge in the hotel couldn't understand why I wanted to do this instead of a taxi from the hotel (it's to experience local life, if you're also confused). The two buses were an interesting experience for sure, with beggars, buskers and a good mix of locals in between.
I met a young Englishman on the second bus, who wasn't really a backpacker and seemed overwhelmed by the whole experience. He was so overwhelmed that by the time we reached the destination, he fecked off as soon as he got the chance (was it something I said?) Whatever, I was happy to experience the equator solo anyway.
The site of the equator is marked by an underwhelming monument, with a line painted on the ground marking the border between the northern and southern hemispheres. Except it wasn't - the actual equator is about 200m south of the painted line. I still posed for a picture and got my passport stamped mind you (it was close enough). Unexpectedly, bizarrely, within the touristy complex I found two of my favourite things - good coffee and craft beer. The cafe served up a flat white made using beans from a local roaster, and a little beer museum had a bar at the end serving up brews from a nearby microbrewery. I helped myself to both of course.
And so all that was left for me to do in Ecuador was to fly out. From my brief impression, I didn't notice a huge difference between this country and Colombia. They share the same mix of indigenous and Spanish cultures, share the same language, and both have urban, mountainous, and coastal regions. To be fair, I barely scratched the surface of Ecuador. Perhaps if I scratch a little deeper I'd uncover the true differences. It had been a brief stay, with so much of the country still to see, but once again my time constraints had kicked in. It was time to head to Peru, to Cuzco, to go check out the greatest indigenous civilization of them all in the south of the Americas - the Inca Empire.
More photos of Quito
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