Quito, Ecuador

31st July – 2nd August 2017

​Another early flight meant another early start, but this time we weren’t just heading for a new city, we were heading for a new country! We had problems checking out because the wifi was down so the card machine wouldn’t connect for us to pay and the phone line was down so the man couldn’t ring us a taxi. Luckily there was a sister hostel around the corner, so we had to begin our day by walking round to there. Once this was all sorted we got to the airport and checked in our bags.

The flight was probably the most pleasant out of all the flights so far (despite the fact we were delayed again). Even though we were only flying for just over an hour, each passenger had their own TV and we all got a panini, cereal bar and drink included – the panini wasn’t exactly breakfast food but I wasn’t complaining. I wasn’t happy, however, when I collected my bag and noticed one of the zips had completely been ripped off and had gone missing along with my padlock. No one had been in my bag – I could tell by the way the other zip was left – but it’s going to be a big inconvenience for the next 12 months!

Quito was looking very pretty as we were coming into land – lots of high mountains and low gorges all around – as it is the highest capital city above sea level (at 2,800m). We got a very cheap bus from the terminal into the city and then got a taxi to the hotel – it took us about an hour and a half and we were pretty tired when we arrived at the Hostel after all the travelling we had done! We acclimatised in the Hostel for a while before heading out.

First stop on our walk was a market – we are becoming very fond of these back street markets now! We spent well over an hour wandering up and down the aisles of the market stalls, loving everything we saw. I think, if we could, we would have bought everything (Ruth wasn’t far off). We managed to barter on a few items and got some good deals. The colours of the materials and the paints just draw you in and make you want to have it. After much deliberation as to whether I could fit another bag inside my rucksack, I caved and bought one anyway! I did shop around for the best deal though and I seemed to ruin a fair few stall displays because as I asked to look at a particular bag, everything around it seemed to fall in! I felt very bad when that happened and then I walked away not buying one.

Once we managed to drag ourselves away from the market we wandered towards the old town part of the city – it was quite late by this time so we weren’t really looking to do much besides get our bearings. It did look beautiful when we reached the outskirts of the old town, but it’s something we wanted to save for the second day.

On our walk back we were still discussing the bargains we had found in the market. We loved it that much, we made a second trip of the day and bought a few more bits! I had to buy myself a bracelet to loop through the empty zip that is left on my bag, to help open and close it, and as they were 4 for $1, I couldn’t resist getting 4!

Once we managed to drag ourselves away from the market a second time, we got some food and went back to the Hostel. Our roommate was friendly and gave us lots of advice as to what to do and where to go, as she had been in Quito a few days already.

The bed wasn’t the comfiest and I couldn’t move without it squeaking so the sleep was minimal but enough for the day ahead. We decided we were having an early start so that we could see as much of Quito as possible. Breakfast was included in the Hostel and we were made fresh quinoa pancakes – a very healthy start to the day! I did try to ask for no mushrooms on mine but I don’t think she understood because I got some anyway. It was a really tasty breakfast and probably the healthiest I have eaten since leaving England!

We set off from the Hostel about 8.30 and started off by dropping our bags at the hotel (which was the starting point for the tour). It just happened to be around the corner from the Hostel so that was really handy and worked well for us! After this we walked to the bus stop. Today’s first stop was to the equator line at the middle of the world (Mitad del Mundo). We got on the first bus, which was only 25 cents, for about 20 minutes and then after a two minute walk got the second bus, for 40 cents, which took us straight to the middle of the world! To say it was about an hour and a half from the Hostel, it was a very cheap ride – especially in comparison to the taxi ride Ruth wanted us to get!

Once we got off the bus, we went into the centre for the equator line – this wasn’t the official equator line but was a line the French thought was the equator back in the 1700s. We still went and had a look around because even without technology, they were only 240 metres out, to the south! The centre was a bit commercialised but it was still interesting to see and take tonnes of pictures, of course! We tried to take our own photos with the self timer on my camera but that proved to be quite difficult and tiring for me, so missed it a couple of times. Then we met an American family who were happy enough to take our photos, luckily! We wandered around the shops but as we had only paid the basic rate ($3.50) we couldn’t do much else – but what we did was more than enough, especially as we knew it wasn’t the official line!

A very short walk around the corner (no more than 10 minutes), was a little outdoor museum which was the official site of the equator line. It was a little more expensive to go in ($4) but was totally worth it as we got a guided tour included. The tour guide talked about some of Ecuador’s history, showed us some (stuffed) animals we might find in the Amazon and told us about a few different tribes in the Amazon. We learnt about the rituals some tribes would carry out and what some tribes would do to their enemies (such as cut off their head and shrink it – minus the skull – to capture their spirit!). Although many tribes now have contact with the outside world some still don’t and they prefer it this way. We looked at come traditional housing, which was actually an original house that the museum was built around and in the corner of the house were some live guinea pigs which Ecuadoreans still eat today – this kind of delicacy is called ‘cuy’.

After learning about some of the history, we looked at some scientific equipment and did some experiments with the equator line. We looked at the sun dial calendar and clock and learnt about how the shadow created determines the time of year and time of day. The clock was interesting as it was a few minutes behind the actual time and the tour guide explained that because we have an extra day every four years, these seconds mount up over the days and that’s why it was slightly behind.

Next, it was time for the experiments. We looked at how water is affected in each hemisphere due to the earth’s forces. On the equator line, the forces run in a straight line but in the Northern Hemisphere they run anti clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere, clockwise. She showed us this by letting water run through a plug hole: it ran straight through when it was on the equator, anti clockwise down the hole in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere – it was very strange.

After this we had a go ourselves at some things. Due to the gravitational force being less on the equator (so we would weigh less), we were able to balance an egg on a nail, which we got a diploma for (even though it took me a few attempts). Then we had to try and walk on the equator line with our eyes closed. It was strange to feel the pulls either side and we could not walk without wobbling! The final experiment was that we had to put our arms out and push up as the guide tried to push down. In either hemisphere she couldn’t move our arms but on the equator, I couldn’t stop her from pushing my arms all the way down. It was very interesting but rather bizarre!

We finished the tour looking at how chocolate is made, from cocoa beans. We had a go at grinding our own beans and the sampling some chocolate made in Ecuador. It was very tasty and the first bit of chocolate I’ve had in a long time – even if it was like 0.5cm cubed! We then got a passport stamp in our passports to say we had been to the middle of the world! After the tour we took some more pictures with the ‘official’ line and headed back towards Quito.

I had done some research as to how to get to the cable cars from the Mitad del Munro because we were on a very tight schedule so wanted to make the most of the day. We went to the bus stop we thought we should be at but an Ecuadorean man told us we were in the wrong place and sent us to another bus stop. As we got on the bus I showed the ticket man (who isn’t the driver, there are two people that work on the buses over here) my phone and asked if this bus went to the stop we wanted and he said yes. We should have been on the bus for about an hour before we got to the cable cars but after half an hour the bus pulled into the bus terminal and stopped. At this point we had no idea what to do, we were lost in Ecuador with no one at this bus terminal speaking English! Another local tried to help us out a bit and told us which stop we needed to go to (San Gabriel), to get to the cable cars, so after a bit of deliberation and trying to understand his Spanish, we got another bus. On the bus we checked our maps and this bus stop was a bit further out than the original bus stop we wanted (which was already a half an hour walk from the cable cars) and as we were on a time limit due to the tour meeting at 6pm, we decided to leave the cable cars and instead head to the Historical Centre (the old town).

We got lost (kind of) a second time going to the old town because the bus went down a different street to what we imagined it would, so we got off and walked – it’s a good job we’re good at reading maps! In the old town we didn’t really know what to do, so we just walked. We ended up outside the Basilica (a very impressive cathedral). We got the map out to see where we could go to next and realised you could walk up a spire in the cathedral to see the city from above! We decided to do this as we missed the cable cars. We walked up a couple of floors thinking that would be it and found some ladder type stairs to go even higher. We eventually ended up practically in the bell tower – it was a very impressive view and we were glad we did this instead of the cable cars because it was something different and we’ve done cable cars before (even if Ruth is terrified of heights and was literally trembling coming back down)!

 

We carried on walking back through the old town but slowly started heading towards the hotel. We got our first ice cream of the trip (it was only 50 cents!) and wandered through the plazas. We could see the angel statue (Virgen de Quito) on a volcano in the distance which is another viewpoint for the city but that was also too far for us to go in the short space of time we had.

Back at the hotel, we had a little bit of chill time before the tour group meeting at 6. We met our new friends for the next 20 days – there are 13 of us (from different parts of the world: England, Germany, France, Australia and America) and 2 tour guides (David and Rianne) – and everyone seems lovely! After the meeting and all the formalities were complete, I had my first hot shower of the trip (it was lovely) and we all went out for dinner together. We went for an Italian (so not quite typical Ecuador food) but it was gorgeous and so cheap ($5 for a pizza)! Once we’d had the meal and had chance to chat with everyone, we went back to the hotel and got some sleep in before the tour really starts! It was probably the latest night we’ve had since getting here but we actually socialised with people other than ourselves, so it was nice!

Quito was a very interesting city and quite different to the Colombian cities we have seen. The main difference I noticed on the streets though, was how many people there were selling different foods and drinks, or how many people stood in front of a line of cars at traffic lights and did some form of entertainment (such as juggling), just to get some money! There were even children on the streets trying to sell food and drinks. It wasn’t just the streets either, they would get onto buses with their goods and do a big speech before trying to hand out what they hand, so that you would buy them! It was interesting to see but also sad to see how much people have to do just to earn a few dollars!

It’s been great to experience another city and adventure on our own, picking up new bits of Spanish (even if I can ask a question and not understand the answer) but I’m excited for someone else to take over the organising now and I can sit back and enjoy it all. First stop, the Amazon jungle!

To travel is to live, Katie x