As I mentioned previously, Colombia was the destination which people seemed most concerned about, before I started my trip. But once I arrived in South America and started meeting other travellers, Ecuador was the country they would all warn me about. In particular the big cities are notoriously dangerous. One person even told me quite casually “oh, everyone gets robbed in Quito”.
So as you can imagine, I wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence when I arrived in Quito late at night with my camera, smartphone, ipod, netbook and kindle slung over my shoulder! Needless to say I spent my time there being very cautious, only carrying a small amount of cash on me, and wearing my "tough" face at all times (ahem). I even ate at 5pm on the first night (what?!) so that I could be back at the hostel before it got dark. On the second night I ventured back slightly later and admittedly there were a few dodgy-looking characters lurking in doorways but it actually reminded me a bit of living in Harringay for all those years and quickening my pace whenever I walked up my street after getting the night bus home! In fact the most scared I felt in Quito, was going up one of the highest cable-cars in the world, with no-one else in the car to distract me from the height (~4000m/ ~13,000ft)!
Other touristy things I did included a trip to the “Mitad del Mundo”, a monument which sits on the equator... which may have been cool apart from the fact that they got the location wrong and the real equator is just down the road. So that was a bit of an anti-climax.
I will say that both the cable-car and the Mitad del Mundo, were almost devoid of people when I was there. I didn’t see many tourists in Colombia but I think I’ve seen even fewer so far in Ecuador.
I did have one quite amusing experience on the bus on the way to the Mitad del Mundo. A young guy in a smart suit got on and started preaching very loudly and passionately. He must have spoken for at least 20 minutes, after which he took a small stereo out of this bag and started playing snippets of a motivational/ religious CD he was trying to flog. I was desperately trying to make eye contact with someone to share a raised eyebrow/ eye roll, but to no avail and when the guy walked around the bus at the end to sell his CDs at least half of the people on the bus bought one! Can you imagine that happening on a bus near you?! :)
The rest of my time in Quito was spent wandering around the old colonial centre (seems to be a recurring theme). Its a really beautiful place and I particularly enjoyed it on Sunday, when the streets were closed to cars and filled with locals out and about, enjoying their weekend.
On Monday morning I just happened to arrive in the main square in time for the weekly changing of the guards at the President's Palace. It was quite a ceremonial affair with horses, a brass band, speeches, singing etc. The President himself was up on the balcony waving to everyone and the crowd were cheering and waving flags. It was nice to be a part of it.
That said, I’ve come to realise quite quickly that I have the best experiences when I get out of the cities. So after two days in Quito I hopped on another bus to go and explore some of the small villages up in the Andes.
So as you can imagine, I wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence when I arrived in Quito late at night with my camera, smartphone, ipod, netbook and kindle slung over my shoulder! Needless to say I spent my time there being very cautious, only carrying a small amount of cash on me, and wearing my "tough" face at all times (ahem). I even ate at 5pm on the first night (what?!) so that I could be back at the hostel before it got dark. On the second night I ventured back slightly later and admittedly there were a few dodgy-looking characters lurking in doorways but it actually reminded me a bit of living in Harringay for all those years and quickening my pace whenever I walked up my street after getting the night bus home! In fact the most scared I felt in Quito, was going up one of the highest cable-cars in the world, with no-one else in the car to distract me from the height (~4000m/ ~13,000ft)!
Other touristy things I did included a trip to the “Mitad del Mundo”, a monument which sits on the equator... which may have been cool apart from the fact that they got the location wrong and the real equator is just down the road. So that was a bit of an anti-climax.
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| Straddling two hemispheres... or not |
I did have one quite amusing experience on the bus on the way to the Mitad del Mundo. A young guy in a smart suit got on and started preaching very loudly and passionately. He must have spoken for at least 20 minutes, after which he took a small stereo out of this bag and started playing snippets of a motivational/ religious CD he was trying to flog. I was desperately trying to make eye contact with someone to share a raised eyebrow/ eye roll, but to no avail and when the guy walked around the bus at the end to sell his CDs at least half of the people on the bus bought one! Can you imagine that happening on a bus near you?! :)
The rest of my time in Quito was spent wandering around the old colonial centre (seems to be a recurring theme). Its a really beautiful place and I particularly enjoyed it on Sunday, when the streets were closed to cars and filled with locals out and about, enjoying their weekend.
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| Plaza Grande, the main square |
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| Quito Cathedral and the Iglesia del Sagrario |
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| Changing of the Guards |
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| Mr President |
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