Quito in 2 Days

We began our day in a bit of a daze--a combination of lack of sleep and a bit of altitude effect. But after a great breakfast (with good strong tasty coffee) we began to feel more normal. We chatted a bit with one of the owners of our hotel, Portal de Cantuna, and found out that the building was 200 years old and had been converted from a private home.  It was quite unique, colonial in style with an inner courtyard that was covered by a intrically-detailed mosaic glass dome. The lower floor was filled with sofas and tables (one with a board game set up and ready to play) while the upper floor balconey was ringed with tables and had several rooms for lounging in.

mosaic glass dome at our hotel

Our agenda today was to recover and try to follow a Lonely Planet walking tour of the Old Town. We explored some wonderful churches and were especially impressed with the "Iglesia de Compania", considered one of the greatest churches in Ecuador. We wandered the narrow streets and enjoyed people-watching in the "Plaza Grande". But as we got a late start on the day, it became our mission to find a lunch spot. End of Walking Tour.

Church and Plaza San Francisco

After lunch, we took a taxi to the New Town to visit the "Museo Nacionale". This is an excellent museum that documented the history of Ecuador from Stone Age to the recent past. The exhibits are well-organized and we learned a lot about this beautiful country. Afterwards we flagged a taxi to take us to "El Panecillo", a huge Madonna situated on top of a hill overlooking the Old Town. The rain had started and there was virtually no one there. We climbed up inside the base of the statue to a viewing deck. The clouds were low and the views for limited (and Len did not bring a jacket as it was sunny and hot when we left the hotel). We had read that it was easy to flag a taxi from the top to get down, but because of the rain it was eerily deserted. We waited for about 30 minutes and did not see one taxi. Len was quite chilled by this time. A car drove by with a man and a women holding a baby, and offered taxi service. Having been warned by many sources in my travel research NOT to accept a ride unless it was a registered company, red flags went up and we immediately said no. But with the wet, cold weather and no other taxis in sight, we threw caution to the wind and when they asked us a second time, we accepted a ride for $3 back to the square close to our hotel. Kids, never do this! Luck was on our side and we made it back safely.

El Panacillo at night

Our dinner was a short walk away. We enjoyed an OK meal on a rooftop terrace (luckily the rain had stopped) to the accompaniment of a duo on guitar and Ecuadorian harp. Very nice, even if a glass of wine cost $7 and tasted like bad homemade plonk!

Our second day in Quito was a prearranged tour led by a highly recommended guide on both Fodors and Trip Advisor. Lincoln is a personable man in his early 40s who speaks excellent English. We shared him with another man originally from Iran but who has been living in Ottawa for 10 years. Our tour itinerary covered a number of "specialty towns" a waterfall and a huge market. We began by driving through a small town that specializes in selling pork for traditional dishes. Every storefront in this community had a HUGE pig hanging on a hook in the window. The next town's claim to fame was the making of intricate "bread dough" figurines. In one of the shops we were given a demonstration on how a turtle and flower are made--each done in about 1 minute. In Guayllabamba we tried an unusual fruit called a chirimoya, which was like nothing we've ever tasted...very yummy! We stopped briefly on what is claimed to be the exact equatorial line, and did the proverbial one foot in the Southern Hemisphere and one foot in the North. This site is separate from the more touristy location where they demonstrate how water drains in different directions in each hemisphere--we were duly told this was fake (apparently its all in how you hold the pan)! Guess we'll never really know...

Colourful Otavalo market

Otavalo market is a enormous market, for locals and tourists alike. We spent an hour wandering and observing the many cultures represented by their traditional costumes, the "made for tourists" cheap products, local bargains in clothing and produce and some exquisite handicrafts. After the market Lincoln took us to a beautiful waterfall at Peguche, where we trekked through the forest, stopping to observe the flora and fauna. A short distance away was a famous weaving center.

weaving

  Particularly interesting was how a tiny bug is used to create the dyes for colour. Squish the live bug (awww) and you get red, add a powder to get orange, add a particular liquid to get purple, etc. The products made from alpaca wool were soft and beautiful -- I couldn't resist purchasing a scarf for a certain someone and Len bought a wall hanging. We had a typical Ecuadorian lunch (lots of pork) in Cotacachi, known for its leather products, then drove the 2 hours back to Quito. Such a full day and we learned a lot about Ecuadorian culture.

But the night wasn't over yet! After resting for a short while, we walked a few blocks from our hotel to "La Ronda", a trendy street filled with bars, restaurants and art stores. It runs about three long blocks and was packed with people. We found a bar with some great live music and ordered some "vino tinto" (red wine we thought). What we got were mugs of steaming wine, kind of like mulled but sweeter, and actually quite tasty. All in all, we enjoyed Quito and environs but we were ready to leave the big city. We were off to the coast tomorrow...