Hostal El Cafecito Quito

... oversized knickers were fabulous, the hostel´s shared meals on a terrace with a panoramic view over the whole city and the numerus travellers from all over the world (with names including ´My Johnson´- seriously) have made for an altogether more pleasing perspective than the hint of Martella´s nipples through her see-through cami.

So since the move we have really started to relax into Quito. The hostel move coincided with the starting of our projects (yeah ...

... Lunches siempre for 2 courses ($1.75) Definitely worth a mention.

-Gloria. We met here in a cafe in Meriscal, approaching 70, who invcited us for tea and cake in her house from which we´ve just returned. She wants us to stay with her and make tea with her every day. Lovely if slightly racist and homophobic...pero.. still, she mentioned cake? Also could understand everything she was saying (even said homophobia). QUE CHÉVRE.

- We say highlight but this ...

... nearby. It was so nice to have food in my stomach. Quito is kind of cold at night, but quite alive. And the hostel has a heat torch outside, which was very nice.

So I got a beer after the long journey and sat with my hostelmates. It was quite the curious experience. I first started speaking in Spanish with them. One is from Buenos Aires and the other is an Englishman living in Germany. Both spoke great Spanish and English actually. We eventually ...

... something else. I spent my time with my face stuck to the window. I took a few photos but they don´t do the views any justice at all. Words cannot describe these mountains. Endlessly reaching up to the sky and stretching from east to west as far as the eye could see.

From Ipiales we had to take another bus/minivan to the border. Here we were stamped out of Colombia and then had to walk across the border to get stamped ...

... steep upwards through thorn bushes and high dry grass. After a long climb we finally made it to the top at around 3 kilometers above sea level and at around 11am. We found some shade and got some rest and some snacks before we started to explore the top and the beautiful view that met us on all sides. It was especially nice to see Lumbisi from above.
After a little while of exploring we wanted to eat lunch but the sun had set in zenith above us and all shade was practically gone. We ...

... zo bang gemaakt wordt dat je zowat niet over straat durft, dat wordt met de tijd ook wel iets beter merk ik. Ik woon in een straat die als gevaarlijk wordt beschouwd (even wegtipexen aub als jullie dit aan ooms laten lezen), dus je kan ´s avonds ook niet lekker nog even naar buiten zonder erg op je hoede te zijn en je moet zowieso na 19 uur gewoon een taxi nemen, het scheelt want die zijn hier erg goedkoop. Ik ga zowat niet met een tas over straat en al mijn ...

Friday July 11th
We made out early with Dany and her friend and started walking to the Old Town. We entertained the idea of taking a taxi to get there, but decided that that would defeat the purpose of sightseeing and instead planned out a route that would pass us through a few parks on the way. Besides, it was only a 30 minute walk. The first stop we made was at the Bascillica* (correct name?). It was free to enter and walk around, so we did just that ...

... is accounted for. a very good lesson in how careful you have to be though.

we were actually on the way to take spanish lessons with a local girl we met through another person here, and she was nice enough to take us to get our bags repaired both for cinco dollares. so our bags are fixed, looks like they had their appendix removed or something but otherwise good as new.

we signed up for spanish ...

... its just valuables. Kind of puts a nice light on it...though I'd still rather pay my monthly World Vision money instead!

The city is really lively on weekdays, there are great food stalls and restaurants, lots of Latin American music blaring from most shops which gives a festive atmosphere to the streets. One thing I noticed too that is similar to Mexico is the large amounts of nudy pictures up in all kinds of shops! Its everywhere! People are generally very small ...