Quito - Blogabond

Quito, Ecuador

I spent one week in Ecuador prior to a wedding in Quito. We went on day trips from Quito, including an overnight at the Papallacta Hot Springs resort. The climate was gorgeous with the hottest time being around noon with temperatures in the mid-70s and then dropping down to the 50s once the sunset at 6PM.
Sat. night: late arrival.
Sun.: trips around Quito to El Panacillo (the Virgin), other hills overlooking the city, lunch at Pims.
Mon.: drive to Papallacta Hot Springs Resort, gorgeous drive through the Andes, up up up and then down down down. The resort was a cluster of different cabins, very rustic but with all the amenities you need. The hot springs were in a courtyard in the middle of the cabins and were of varying degrees. I stayed in long enough to look like a prune.
Tuesday: drive to Otovalo indigenous market. It wasn't the prime market day, but lots of stands were open mainly for tourists like ourselves. We stopped on the way to buy some homemade cheese and salty crackers - a local treat.
Wednesday: drive to Cotopaxi. It was covered in clouds and the bus couldn't go high enough to go above the clouds. We went to Hacienda la Cienaga which is a restored colonial farmhouse with a nice restaurant, hotel rooms, and gorgeous gardens. I went off the property and took a tour of a rose business - roses are one of the biggest exports of Ecuador. This company had 42 different varieties and over 150 employees.
Thursday: trip to the family macadamia nut farm. The drive was long - due West and we drove through the mountains and descended down into the rainforest where the weather got much warmer and much more humid. Lunch was great - very relaxing, a hike down to the river and then horseback riding.
Friday: We took the Trole (p.t.) to Colonial Quito and toured around some churches and had lunch at a cafe in the Teatro Sucre plaza. Colonial Quito is a UNESCO world heritage site so there is no new development there. It is gorgeous, but not very touristy - Quitenos use that part of town for all their business, school, stores, etc. so it's pretty authentic. it reminds me of what I think Cuba would be like.
We picked Sergio up at the airport, took the taxi to Daniel's and we all went to dinner at a great Thai restaurant.
Saturday: relax, sleep in, and a trip to the Club to get hair, manicures and pedicures. The wedding started at 7:30PM and was a very touching service. The reception was gorgeous with amazing food, good wine, and whiskey (Ecuadorian tradition). The dancing was a mix of latin music and american music, to match the guests. The music stopped at 4:15AM and we were in bed by 5AM.
Sunday: sleep in! trip to Mitad del Mundo (center of the earth) where you can stand on both the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time. (no pictures, my camera broke on sat. night).
Monday: early departure at 6:40AM to Boston.

Quito, Ecuador

I am writing to you from an amazing altitude of 9,350 feet. My heart has managed to keep the blood flowing and I wholeheartedly beleive that I have acclimized to the altidude. Quito truly is a picturesque city. It is nesstled in between various dormant and some active (it´s been like 300 years since an eruption) volcanoes. Flying into Quito was a truly heartpumping experience. Not only was the altitude reaking havock on me but the turbulance on the plane was incredible as we descended, the clouds and updrafts tossed and boggled the qaircrafts precious cargo like a two year old playing a game of Boggle on a Cedar Point ride. As our plane taxied to the airport the passenges gave a well deserved round of applause to the captain, the crew, and Jesus himself(still spelled the same but now pronounced hesus).
We walked of the plane and immediately stood out in a sea of dark haired Ecuadorians. Eic could have been mistaken for a local if not for his towering 6´2´´ frame while Ken with red hair and me with black (Morena) skin stood no chance.
The airport was surprising clean and effiient and seemed much like Denver un benownsed to us this temporary shelter did not parralel Quito´s true charicter but rather masked it.
The three of us made our way to the luggage carousel (with matching small backpacks). Grabbed our luggage which had arrived on time, unscathed, and unopened.
We took a ride straight to our hostel ¨CASA BAMBU¨. The airport of Quito is located in the middl of the city so we were bombarded with the harsh climate of any major metropolitan area. the three of us rode excitedly in the taxi with windows rolled down. We inhaled the abundant deisel smoke and watched as motorists weaved their way through traffic with careful wrecklessness. a smorgishboard of people, cars, police and vendors assaulted our senses with sweet pans of bread and buckets of putrid fish. The streets themselves are extremely confusing because of the mountainous region. In the 5 minute trip to the Hostal I confided in Ken that I was sure we were driving in circles. We arrived at our Hostal and were greeted by a magnicent view of the whole city as well as an exceptionally exotic and good looking women. Our confidence was put to rest as soon as we tried to inform her that we had a reservation.. in Spanish. Although it was evident that she understood some english she seemed to enjoy watching the three of us stumble over words and try to talk over each other to relay the simple message. After what must have been two hours, we received our Keys and began unpacking our bags and praying to Allah, Jesus, and the Pope that we had packed all the essentials, from ipods to the 8 cans of bugspray and of course our Passportes. Our first day in Quito had ended in some minor successes. First, none of us had been raped, robbed, or killed. second, we had been let into the country, and third we all maintained the enthusium and often accompanied naivity that blossoms in the opening moments of an adventure.

1 week in Ecuador

Quito, Ecuador

Week 2, Still in Quito!

Quito, Ecuador

Heading South?