Tales of Quito - Ecuador

Our first stop in Ecuador, Quito. Quito is a city, there’s nothing small about it. It’s big, a little noisy, full of cars but if you look hard enough there’s some great things to see. The first thing we were reminded of is the altitude, at 2,800m above sea level even a brisk walk down the road is out of the question, take it slowly and be realistic with your expectations. You will be out of breath, we were lucky in that’s the only symptom we struggled with for the most part. 

A few of our favourite sights are listed below; 

Bascillia del Voto Nacional - probably the most romantic, beautiful cathedral we’ve seen. A six floored masterpiece, with access to all. For the price of $2 you can enter the sanctuary itself, the stain glass windows ooze light on to the pews, an atmosphere of serenity and calmness leaves you wanting to explore more. For another $2 you can enter the rest of the cathedral. There is a lift for the first couple floors, however you get a feel for the vastness of the building by walking. As you get higher the views get better, unfortunately as you get higher the stairs also become slightly more promiscuous, having limited health and safety concerns, I’d advise you watch your step. As you make your way through the roof and up what seems like fire exit steps you arrive in to the viewing point of the spire. With a view of the two clock faces, a whole lot of Quito and it’s surrounding mountains, it’s one you can’t miss. Just remember you need to get yourself back down the steps, anything over a size 6 foot and you might want to consider going backward and praying. 

Old town - Old Town Quito is what most people go for, Plaza Grande, Plaza San Francisco, cobbled streets full of pastry shops, coffee shops, gold trimmed doors and children chasing pigeons. There’s some great places to sit and watch the world go by.

Parque La Caroline & the Botanical Gardens - A 20 minute stroll from our hostel led us to the biggest park in Quito, a river runs through the middle full of pedal boats and birds. Our reason for visiting the park was the Botanical gardens. Neither of us are keen horticulturists but we can appreciate the beauty of the gardens. Blossom trees, carnivorous plants, fish ponds and even a bonsai tree museum... someone try convincing Stefan we’re not having a Bonsai tree garden when we get back, please! 

Quito sign @ Itchimbia Park - Were suckers for a tourist trap! This park is situated high up on a hill in the centre of Quito. S&J doing what we do best obviously found the hardest way to get there, who needs a bus when you can hike up 800 steps in the burning sun. Travel tip - don’t always listen to google maps! The park itself is nice, full of kids flying kites and tourists looking to get that snap shot of the famous Quito sign (like us). The views of Quito old town from here is lovely and it’s a nice walk, especially if you continue north to the less occupied part of the park. We found on the way back that there is a much easier way to get here, but where’s the adventure in that?

Pichincha Volcano - Not one for everyone, but if you’re accustomed to the altitude and like a good hike with some treterious  terrain, then this is the one for you. As previously stated, Quito is 2,800m above sea level, we got a taxi to the cable car at the top of Quito and enjoyed the 8 minute ride up the mountain up to 3,900m, the views from the cable car alone are insane, worth doing even without the hike. At the top of the cable car is a small cafe to appreciate the views, they claim the sell coca tea which is meant to help with the altitude, however wait till Peru for this, I’m pretty sure it was green tea. A little further along and we made it to the swing, a new tourist attraction where you can take pictures with the fabulous view in the background. On to the hike, rising from 2,800m to 4,800m in an afternoon is a challenge for most, especially when not accustomed to the altitude, it was quite literally, breathtaking. We were forced to stop every 20-30 meters for a breather before we gained the spirit to go again. The top of Pichincha is lurking in the background, a constant reminder of how far away we were and how little ground we’d covered. Amongst our many, many stops we discussed whether we could finish it, the higher we got the harder it became to breathe. Stefan’s head was pounding and I wasn’t keen on having a 75kg man collapse on me at the top of a Volcano. After a lot of debating I made the call to turn back about 200m shy of finishing. A bitter sweet ending to our efforts but I’m sure our parents will be happy to know, safety first! This was a gentle reminder of how you need to listen to your body (or the heavy thumping in your head) and make the difficult choice. 

One piece of advice on what not to do in Quito - don’t get a $3 haircut from the side of a busy touristy street. Something you may not learn until it’s too late, for Stefan, this was the case. Our Spanish is pretty poor so trying to explain to a Spanish speaking barbour the details of his usual cut, was obviously not clear enough when the result was a skin fade... I’ve never seen so much scalp, which within a few days, resulted in a very burnt scalp and some surfers asking “dude, did you bang your head on the rocks?” 

S&J