Quito

Day 170 – Blogging, backing up photos and more all you can eat sushi.

Need I say more?

(Except maybe that some people were critical of our staying power when we insisted that we would keep posting daily updates. Clearly we don’t like to be proven wrong, even if we can’t manage more than about 10 words and can’t be bothered taking photos!)

Day 171 – Off our lazy behinds

So from a tourism perspective we hadn’t achieved a lot in Quito so far. Though judging by the number of bars and restaurants catering to western tastes in Quito’s Mariscal district we weren’t the only tourists who didn’t see much more of Quito than sushi and internet cafés.

Many people had told us that they thought Quito was ‘really nice’ or ‘very pretty’ so we set off on a walk around town to see if we agreed. Like many Latin American cities, Quito has an express bus system (dedicated lanes, priority at traffic signals, etc.). So we hopped on one of these buses and to head for the centre of the old town. Despite the bus stopping only at ‘stations’ and us being equipped with a route map we still got lost, but eventually found our way to the main plaza in the old part of town. From here we did a big loop, finishing up back in the Mariscal. Some pics:

La Compañía de Jesús

Colonial era balconied houses along La Ronda.

Erin enjoying a delicious hot chocolate at Café del Teatro on Plaza Teatro.

Basílica del Voto Nacional, we climbed the right hand spire to the very top.

Erin heading up the spire.

Inside the clock, the mechanics are still there, but unfortunately they are jubilados (retired, great word hey!).

The view over Quito from the top.

On our way back to the hostel we swung by the office of Latintours to drop in a box of chocolates for Monica who helped us organise our unforgettable Galapágos trip and was very patient while we tried various methods of paying. She looked a little confused when we first walked in, but when she realised who were she was all smiles.

Late in the afternoon we headed for Otavalo, famous for its quality Saturday market. Obviously one of the two of us would not be missing that!