Time to Acclimatize

Trip Start Jun 07, 2008
1
34
Trip End Sep 14, 2008


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow
Where I stayed
Hotel Huasi Continental
(Quito hotels)

Flag of Ecuador  ,
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

After an overnight flight and brief layover in Bogota, I arrived in Quito a little groggy on Sunday morning. Got off to a good budget traveler start by shunning the cabs and taking the local busses into the Centro Historico. Found a private room with shared bath for $6 at the Hotel Huasi Continental, right in the heart of historic old town. Those most important of tasks accomplished, I set out to explore the city. Walked to Plaza Santo Domingo and Plaza Grande (aka Plaza de la Independencia), both of which were packed with Quitenos enjoying the sunny weekend afternoon.

I started to feel the altitude (Quito is the world´s second highest capital at 9,350 ft) on my walk up to the Basilica del Voto Nacional. It was built fairly recently (1920s) but provides amazing views of the city if you´re willing to brave the climb into the tower. Continuing my hunt for good views, I hiked up to Parque Itchimbia on a hill east of old town Bright flag, gray day
Bright flag, gray day
 . That was plenty of hiking in the thin air for these sea level accustomed lungs, so I called it a day after that.

Between the travel, the altitude, and the physical activity, I must have been pretty exhausted because I slept for almost 12 hours that night. When I finally got up, I caught a bus, then a cab to an even higher viewpoint. At teleferiQo, a sky tram takes you up a mountain on the west side of the city to an altitude of 13,450 feet. From there it´s possible to hike a couple thousand feet higher to the top of the still quite active Volcan Pichincha but I decided I wasn´t quite ready for that. Back in old town, I hit a few more sights, including Plaza San Francisco and the 17th century Church of El Sagrario. Also spent an hour or so chatting with a local student who was eager to work on his English. Didn´t do much for my Espanol unfortunately.

Started the following day by visiting Quito´s most ornate church, La Compania de Jesus. Construction started in 1605 but it wasn´t completed until 1768. In the intervening years, they manged to gild just about every surface with 7 tons of gold! Sadly, no photos allowed. Followed that up by going to the Museo de Banco Central, reputed to be the country´s most important museum. It certainly covers a lot of ground, from ancient artefacts to colonial painting to contemporary video work (surprise: my favorite) Twilight in Plaza Grande
Twilight in Plaza Grande
 .

Between all the sightseeing (and internet cafe hours) I´ve managed to squeeze in a few good meals but the snacking has been even better. The empanadas de verde (filled with plantains and cheese) are a favorite so far, and the higos con queso (figs and cheese) made for an interesting combo. Plenty more still to discover food-wise. I´m planning to move on from Quito tomorrow but not sure in which direction just yet; one of the true pleasures of this sort of travel.

For a lot more photos from Quito, check out my flickr page
Slideshow Print this entry