December 11th, 2021
Yesterday I flew from Cusco to Lima and then 3 hours later up to Quito, the capital of Ecuador which also is the second highest capital in the world, after La Paz in Bolivia. My first impressions of Ecuador were quite positive. The airport was modern and clean and it didn’t take long to get through the Covid screening (just had to show my PCR test results and proof of vaccination) and immigration. I found out that my Claro sim card from Peru didn’t function here, even though I was told it should. That made it next to impossible to order an Uber, so I took my chances with a taxi, which was no problem. It was about 25 kilometres to get into the city centre and the highway was super smooth, modern and I noticed the lack of garbage on the side of the road, a big difference from Peru.
Checking in at the hostel called Masaya Quito, the young
woman behind the counter was very informative and helpful. Some of the info was a bit disconcerting
though. “I would be careful going out
after 7pm. And definitely don’t go in
that direction at night” she stated as she motioned to her left. Okay, duly noted. That sure doesn’t give one warm feelings
about arriving in a new city. The hostel
was an old building but in good condition, apart from some squeaky wooden
floors, and it had a restaurant on the bottom floor so I opted to eat there and
explore the city in the morning.
The next day I tried to find a walking tour. I found the sign and I was there at the right
time, but no tour guide or other tourists were present. With Covid, you never know what is
operating. Instead, I took care of a few
menial tasks such as a haircut and getting a new sim card. It was only $10 USD to have a 30 day package with
10 gigabytes of data…crazy cheap!
Afterwards I walked towards the biggest building I could
see, La Basilica. I snapped a few pics
and decided to retrace my steps and head up the hill behind my hostel called El Panecillo. At the top of the 200 meter peak is a statue
of the Virgin Mary called the Virgin of Quito, which
was built in 1976 and it’s modelled after a wooden sculpture created by
Bernardo de Legarda in 1734 (he was from Quito).
La Basilica:
It cost all of a dollar to get in and climb up the inside to
a lookout area that ringed around the base of the aluminum statue. The views of the city in all directions were
great…well worth the price of admission.
Afterwards I stopped at a nearby restaurant called La Pims for a beer and an appetizer while continuing enjoy the vista. As I descended back to the hostel, the skies opened up and rain began to fall. Luckily I had my rain coat and umbrella with me. Not a bad first day of wandering around the historical centre of Quito.
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