Quito 2
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2007
1
65
219
Trip End
Jun 17, 2009
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Quito,
Ecuador
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Cloudy as we left Baltra, we cruised above the clouds for the two hours to 'Guayaquil' on the mainland. We descended through darker clouds and heavy rain and only saw the ground seconds before landing at the drenched airport. Having refueled under the watchful eye of a fire crew we flew on to Quito and a similar cloudy landing, the houses, on the valley sides next to the wing tips, appearing through the clouds seconds before we touched down.
As a domestic flight there were no customs and I went and found the AeroGal offices and was able to recover my multi-tool, which they had wrapped up and stored in a cupboard. An impressively friendly service. Then back to the hotel and settled in.
Quito, the name is from one of the Incan tribes, meaning 'Centre of the Earth' and is the capital of Ecuador, adapted from Equator, which is only 14 miles to the north.
Returning to a stormy Quito.
The Incans had figured out the importance and position of this centre of the earth and the changing sun's equinoxes. There are temples in the nearby mountains that they used as solar calendars and they are in exact positions. The city is also at a height of 2850 metres, something we now became aware of if we over exerted ourselves. Two of our ship mates, Carol and David, had stayed on for a couple of days and we went for supper as a foursome, as a protective measure, but there were many people around and we were comfortable but cautious. We found a Mongolian Restaurant, which produced some interesting dishes from the Ecuadorian / Spanish interpretations!Wednesday 16th
We had planned to stay round the area for five days, possibly travelling south for two days and taking a five hour train ride down a steep valley on the roof of a train. Apart from being advised this was a long way to travel just for the ride, especially if we weren't staying in the area, it seems that recently, an over enthusiastic Japanese tourist had stood up on the roof and been decapitated, so roof riding is now banned, which would have resulted in an uncomfortable, overcrowded ride inside the carriages. So we decided to scrub the train ride.
In the morning the four of us walked up the busy main street looking for a bank that would exchange traveller's cheques, surprisingly few and far between. Whilst Carol went into a recommended bank, we had a coffee on the pavement across the street and people watched.
The calculated Equator
A busy street with many city gents in suits and ties, two types of policemen - Nacional and Municipal plus uniformed Tourist Security, street sellers with kiosks of papers, toys, snacks, several army members all dressed in smart combat uniforms plus Incan descendants, who were identified by their small stature, typical dress of long poncho and trilby type hat (or the tall bowler hat) and selling all manner of wares, added to the Spanish descended Ecuadorians who were passing by. Carol returned successfully with her cash, the fallback would have been to try a 'Cambio' down the street, where she only had to gain entry past the guard with the pump action shotgun on the door! Everywhere here is security driven, with police inside and outside all banks and security men on most large shops and all restaurants. It's another "Do I feel safer because they are there or unsafe because they have to be there"?We were going to visit the "Ciudad el Mitad del Mundo', the City at the Middle of the World and had decided to go by bus as it was cloudy but fine. A 15 minute walk through the traffic choked streets brought us to 'Avenida America' where we bought tickets for the city bus station, 25 cents (12 pence). The two coach, single decker bus pulled in to the train platform type stop and the door opened and a platform lowered to bridge the gap. The bus was full to start with and soon became crowded, as we were jostled by the weaving about in traffic. Nearly half an hour (for 12 pence!) to the bus station and we boarded a 'Mitad" bus.
El Ciudad del Medio Mundo
40 cents (20p) and we retraced a little of the way before turning off and heading uphill - It's all uphill here. We passed through steadily less dense areas and were alerted to the stop by the driver. As we walked up the entrance road it began to shower heavily. The 'Ciudad' is built around a tall Monument on the Equator and is mostly tourist shops and cafes. The Frenchman who calculated the position of the Equator in the 1900's, did so by mathematical triangulation and this was the accepted line until the use of satellite driven GPS, which found he was 300 metres out! Still it is the popularly accepted 'Equator'. After the necessary tourist photos we went off in search of the 'real' Equator, which was 300 metres to the north and now has a small Indian village museum on the line - after all, they found it first, centuries ago and got it right! The typical village was interesting but they had a devised a set of scientific experiments to prove that this was the real equator. There was a sun dial to show which equinoxe the sun was now in (which didn't help us much in the rain), a sink and plug experiment - where as they moved the sink to either side or on the line, the water ran out down the plug hole changing from spinning clockwise to no spin ie straight down to anti-clockwise - that looked convincing and lastly the ability to balance a fresh egg on the top of the head of a nail. I wasn't sure about this one but the theory is that anywhere but on the equator, there is a spinning effect from the rotation of the earth, which means it is an impossibility.
The Indian and GPS Equator
The jury's still out on that one.The rest of the 'museum', which was a reproduction of an Indian village, was quite interesting, particularly the shrunken human head and the description on how it is done - night school classes start when I get back! The idea was that you wear the shrunken head to absorb your head's (enemies) power and knowledge. The display of bugs and snakes was impressive for the ladies (not!). As we walked through the shrubs in the village I suddenly saw a brilliant emerald green flash as a hummingbird dived in to feed. This one stayed for a few seconds, so I was able to look at him before a beat of his wings and he was gone. Gorgeous.
We hopped on a passing bus back to the city but I think we were on a circular route when, after passing some landmarks twice and then turning uphill, the driver decided we had had our money's worth and (politely) informed us that it was best if we got of here, wherever here was? We piled into a passing taxi and returned to the hotel and supper. David was leaving this afternoon so our supper was a fondue restaurant which was delicious, especially the chocolate and fruit dessert. Where's the 'Donald' theory on travelling equals losing weight now?
Thursday 17th
The three of us caught a taxi to the 'Old Town', the historic centre of Quito. It cost us 4 dollars (2 pounds) for the twenty minute ride and we started at the 'Plaza de la Independencia' or 'Plaza Grande', where a well kept area with trees, statues and seats fronted 'La Catedral' and the rear of the President's and Parliament Building, an enormous, grand stone construction.
Iglesia de la Compania
Down the street we stopped at 'La Iglesia de la Compania', an ornate stone church with an impressive gold leaf door. We had been told about this place and went in to an overwhelming display of ornate carvings and sculptured stonework, most of it covered in gold leaf - a total of 1.5 tons in all. They were slowly restoring it and one side (the cleaned side) really 'shone like gold' - an amazing place.We walked through the streets busy with people, looking in the great variety of small shops that sold everyday things to spares for Singer foot treddle type sewing machines (yes another age thing) to a pet shop with a tray full of dozens of day old chicks.
We could see the big statue of 'The Virgen de Quito' on the top of a (very) steep hill called 'El Panecillo' or Breadloaf but apart from the coronary inducing steps up the hill, we had been warned to stay clear of the road up as it was a favourite place for muggers. A friendly taxi took us up to the top for fabulous views of Quito, sandwiched for 20 miles long by 2 miles wide in between the mountains.
We returned down to town and visited 'La Vota Nacional', an enormous old, stone cathedral which was as impressive in its simplicity as La Compania was for its ornateness.
Carol was leaving that evening, so after goodbyes supper was at an Italian for a pizza, listening to a Frank Sinatra video. We were becoming more accustomed to the night streets, whilst still remaining cautious about where we went.
Friday 18th
We were having a day off.
Compania doorway
Sent most of our laundry to the hotel and worked on downloading the (seriously behind) blog. Norah sallied forth to find a hairdressers for a Quito Cut and a wander round the main street shops. I had been busy entering a log on 'Happy' and downloading it, with photos, to a memory stick. Unfortunately the pc in the hotel had a different version of Microsoft Word to mine and didn't want to know. So we went to a nearby internet café, remember those? I managed to explain the problem to the guy there and he fixed me up with a latest version pc. The blogs rolled in, hence the Quantum Leap that you suddenly saw. As we returned to the hotel we were greeted by several of our shipmates who had finished their Galapagos tour. The tour was a circular route round the islands, which took eight days but some people were doing a half tour of four days, hence the combination of changeovers with different people on board at different times.
The group of ten of us went out for supper together into the very busy Friday night streets. It was like Manchester on a weekend but the streets were narrower and crowded with mostly youngsters, all good natured. We went to 'Mama Colinda's', a restaurant of Ecuadorian cuisine. We ordered the 'Cuy', a typical dish which was tasty if a little boney. To drink I had a 'Cuchia', a fermented corn with cinnamon concoction that was quite tasty. Norah's dessert was a big chocolate cake, whilst I had very sweet figs and cheese. Delicious. Hey Donald, this weight theory - how many calories are there in a Guinea Pig? What ? - Oh Yes! Cuy = Guinea Pig, a national dish.
Quito old town
You know - when in Rome!!Back in bed we scrolled the TV channels for news. Mostly South American (naturally), some American and the only English news was the Boeing 777 prang at Heathrow. Not even Weather Channels down here. We suddenly came across an episode of 'Life On Mars', the police series, set in the 60's and filmed in Manchester. I really do wonder what impression other countries have of us!
Saturday 19th
We walked to an indoor market, a sort of an Ecuadorian version of Bury Market but selling mostly tourist goods in ornaments, clothes, leather goods, pictures and rugs. We were still tired after the boat trip and perhaps also the altitude, so we had another easy afternoon just strolling round town. We also organized a day trip for tomorrow through a friendly hotel concierge, who knew a friend who could take us.
Sunday 20th
Up and out by 9am to meet Pedro, a national guide with a 4 x 4, who was taking us south to see 'Cotopaxi Volcano'. This is the highest active volcano in the world, 5897 metres high and some 40 miles away. The first half by road took us through part of the "Avenue of the Volcanoes', where we could see great peaks on either side of us. Then we turned towards the 'Cotopaxi National Park', where the road became rougher and steeper. We climbed and left fields with cows and sheep, pine and eucalyptus trees behind and the terrain became sparser. We passed two Indian horsemen, who eke a living out here, doing their rounds before we finally parked at 4500 metres.
Guards outside the Parliament Bldg.
Nearing the parking place we were buzzed by a Falcon like hawk, who sat in a nearby bush before floating off down the mountain. We were near a park 'farm' and were greeted by five inquisitive Llamas, who emerged from the ramshackle farm buildings, before we set off walking, very slowly, uphill in the thin air, stopping every few yards to get our breath back. Our guide has advised us to eat chocolate, presumably to increase our blood sugar to give us energy and counteract altitude sicknessWe were on a ridge between two gorges and as we climbed we could see Cotopaxi covered in thick drifting clouds ahead of us. Even at a height of 4600 metres, we never saw the complete picture book volcano but rather a shifting jigsaw of views of splendid snow covered slopes, which covered the glaciers crawling down the volcano sides. It was a magnificent sight and we stood and watched this rolling display, whilst circling, whispy clouds whirled up the valley on one side of us. Pedro had hoped to see Condors in these valleys below us but even without them it was still a mesmerizing experience.
Setting off back down we were given a friendly send off by the farm dog, who had grown tired of his game of rolling a large stone down the mountain and then chasing after it - I kid you not. We just couldn't get it on the camera for laughing.
Pedro pointed out the other volcanoes down 'The Avenue', one of which we could see in the cloudy distance, he identified as 'Tungurahua'. This turned out to be the volcano that we had seen news reports of in Panama, when it had started to seriously rumble and they had evacuated hundreds of people from the nearby town.
View over Quito
It must have been a false start as everything was now quiet. Just shows - you never know!On the way down we saw a group of Indian women washing clothes in a narrow river that had run straight off the mountain. An intriguing sight. This was a memorable day.
Monday 21st
The last day was to be for final preparations for moving on. A last internet session, check banking, last minute shopping as I wanted a CD of Andean music because I love pan pipes music - no, not the 'Scarborough Fair' versions but the lively, natural South American style. On the way back I was crossing a street and got cut-up by a speeding taxi. Jumping to get out of his way I twisted my knee on landing and limped back to the hotel. Luckily we did not need to check out until 2pm, so we leisurely packed, put the bags in hotel store and checked out.
Since Florida we had collected maps, guides, a few souveniers of CD's, DVD's and T shirts and wanted to send them back to Mission Support. We found a DHL 'shop', complete with friendly security guard manning the locked entry door and proceeded, with the help of a very attractive Senorita, to box and send these things home. I had to make a full list of items, where obtained and costs for British Customs, was told that I may have to pay import tax on them and the whole thing cost more than the total goods were worth. Who says sentimentality is dead!
To the airport at 6pm and friendly check-in, departure tax dept and migration, then a long wait for the (delayed) flight to Lima, Peru.
Reflection - I considered Ecuador to be merely the gateway to the Galapagos Islands, which we thoroughly enjoyed and feel that we saw all the wildlife that we had expected - OK, so we missed the hammerheads, Shark Girl and I will catch them somewhere else. Quito was not quite as lawless as we had been expecting but then we have developed a certain 'street awareness' in the time we have been away. It was quite an impressive city, very modern in some ways and yet interestingly dated in others. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful, especially if you made the effort to talk to them in Spanish. Again there was more that we could have done but I think we saw a good representation of Ecuador.
