Windsor Hotel Quito

... At 1am we called it a night and went back to the hotel –
thought the fights went on to well into the early hours.






In the morning we got up and had
breakfast in the hotel the usual Ecuadorian breakfast of scrambled
eggs and coffee...

We had decided the night before to go
and visit the lake Cuicocha. So a quick bus ride of 15 min's took
us to the nearest town. There we were approached quickly by a taxi
driver asking us in ...

... the others who were washed away numerous times - an over zealous guide! The second day I went biking 20 km though the valley past waterfalls a plenty, Ecuadorians bridge jumping and piles of smelly cars full of tourists - finishing off with a bit of a hike. Then me and 15 other gringos (plus bikes) piled into the back of a small lorry and were transported back to town, with the odd local hopping in and out on the way ...

... crown. The alter when we walked in was spectacular as it is a spectacle of gold leaf, a reputed 7 tonnes covering every inch of the divine interior, it is truly amazing. Also in the church we saw two paintings that were quite amazing, one painting of hell and the other of judgment day. Paul Theroux mentions the painting of hell in his book ´The old Patagonian express´

´From a little distance this mural seemed to me an accurate representation of a night ...

... 45pm. There is no doubt this is an awesome place. A huge cathedral, stained glass windows everywhere, several places inside with flaming candles aside a small statue of the virgin mary. Outside a nice old local told us we could buy tickets and go right up into the spires of the cathedral, and so we did, for $2each, free for kids.

It was quite a hard climb too, stairs to begin with, then we passed a café and a gift shop ...

... of history in South America and the number of museums and churches is baffling. We visited 2 churches and the Museo de la Cuidad (the city museum). Entry fees are cheap compared to anything in the US. We paid just $2 each for the churches and $3 each for the museum. Try to find that deal in the US.

Now we are done with Quito and off to the bus station for the next leg of our adventure. See you all in Otavalo.

... information. Provide at least four references who are not family.

FIVE: Get new passport photos. If, like me, you have been backpacking for four months, you will look terrible in these photos. Mine looks like a 1970s mugshot.

SIX: Bring the stuff all back. Wait three days.

SEVEN: Congratulations! You now have a blindingly white Canadian passport emblazoned with the words "TEMPORARY PASSPORT" for a meager fee of $188 US dollars.

Quito, Ecuador abulia

... Presidential Palace, with guards in traditional uniforms guarding it. We saw small political groups gathered to listen to speakers. The trees were in flower and the area is well kept.

You cannot visit Quito without going to the Inti Nan Museum and the Middle of the World Monument. At the World Monument, you can straddle the Latitude 0.0.0 line with the monument behind you. This is the equator line determined by the French ...

Me and Leppy decided to forgo a day's surfing (well, me anyway, and I did make it out at 6am for a quick one so not really) in order to make it back to Quito to try to arrange Spanish classes. To get back sufficiently early, we needed to take the early bus from Bahia, and to get to Bahia we had to do the Ecuadorian version of trains, plains and automobiles: a taxi, a crowded little punt across the bay and a comically-slow (particularly given that ...

so, justin and jennifer are leaving early tomorrow morning to head back to the states...there graduation from med school is this sunday! so, as a last horray, we got ice cream in the old town. first we went to their favorite ice cream place. then we went where i wanted to go...heladería san agustín. the alvarez ...

... the phone and held our passports aloft as if he was waiting for some bid to swoop down and take them away. I was waiting for him to ask for a bribe, but the moment never seemed to happen and he eventually handed back our passports and dismissed us with a wave of his hand. Outside, two men were leaning up against the most battered looking jalopy I have ever seen. They wore mirror sunglasses and were chewing gum and staring at us intently. The engine was running - we could see that because the ...