Quito. Where do I begin? We got picked up by our hostel at the airport and the journey was terrifying. 60 minutes of holding onto anything stable in the car. At corners the driver sped up. No one indicates. Where there are 2 lanes the cars seemed to make 3. We were glad to arrive alive!
Our hostel room was…a total dive. The panel above the door was missing so we heard everything and the bathroom had a huge gap from door to ceiling. Still. We decided to move past these ‘quirks’. We’ve always said we wouldn’t judge a place if we arrive at night as everything seems weird/sometimes scary. I judged Quito. We were given a map of the area and the hostel employee drew on the areas where we should avoid after 8pm. These roads were only a few blocks away. Hungry, we decided to venture out to get a takeaway. We only went a few minutes from the hostel but I was so edgy I could barely talk.
After a rubbish nights sleep we moved rooms. We booked ourselves onto a free walking tour and wanted to give Quito a proper chance. The tour was brilliant. We saw the old town and ended up in the central market for an epic lunch. We climbed to the top of the cathedral for a view of the town. You realise how crowded the place is. Buildings packed in to any possible space. The real issue with Quito as a traveler is the altitude. I had to take at least one rest going upstairs!
That evening we decided to cook and use one of the local sauces. Note to self. Always taste the sauce before covering noodles. It was like eating pure salt. Totally rank. Alex was not about to be defeated so rinsed the food in water and we managed a few more mouthfuls. Not our most successful meal!
Quito has a cable car to a great viewing area. There is a mountain you can climb but we didn’t do this. There was a swing at the top which makes you feel you are swinging over nothing which was fun! We were both finding it really hard to breathe and always had a slight headache. Back to the central market for lunch as it was so delicious. Today we had soup with avocado slices on top. Slightly random but it worked. We took a taxi to see a statue which is a bit like Christ the redeemer in Rio. We had been told under no circumstances to walk to it as it’s mega dodge. We got that vibe when going up in the taxi. It also seemed to be the place that every man decided to take a leak next to my side of the taxi so I got to see a lot more than I bargained for! The view was ok and neither of us were blown away by the statue. La Ronda is the street where ‘all the fun happens’. It’s essentially a narrow street that has bars and restaurants and attracts tourists. Not wanting to miss out we also headed there and enjoyed the local drink which is a hot cinnamon drink and v boozy. I stuck with a classic: mulled wine.
Our plan for the next day was to go to a town called otavolo which has a huge market. Whilst it sounded my kind of place we already had too much luggage so wouldn’t be able to buy anything anyway! At 3am we called off the trip to the market. Alex hadn’t slept for 3 days (we later discovered it was altitude insomnia) and so we sacked off the market and bought our plans forward a day. We got a public bus to Mindo which is a town in the rainforest. The bus journey was hilarious. At every stop whether an official one, or just stopping by the side of the road, hoards of people come on selling water, ice cream, snacks and fruit. The aisles get pretty chaotic. Arriving in Mindo we didn’t have anywhere booked to stay but I had read about an option called Cinnamon House. It was so lush. The bed was massive. It was dark, clean and no altitude to contend with! Hooray! We looked forward to a good night of sleep. We explored the town which seemed quite sweet. Full of the usual tour operators and souvenir shops. After trying to replicate the food from the central market (which I have to say was a very good effort) it was time for a beer and bed.
The next day we headed into the rainforest. We bought a multi ticket which started with a ski lift over the rainforest. It was brilliant. It had to be started up for us as no one was using it! It was very high and there were sweaty palms but a really good trip. Next we headed to the waterfalls. But to get there we had to take a short cable car. This thing FLEW! The speed was insane. Like a jet over the rainforest. We actually felt a bit sick. The waterfalls were nice. I was going to go in but then I saw what we think was a leech so I hastily withdrew my foot. The rainforest was hot, sweaty and noisy. So everything we had expected. Alex tried to cross one river without taking his shoes off and failed, so got wet feet. I was sensible and took my shoes off!
After returning on the crazy cable car it was time for zip lining. This was the star of the show. 10 lines. Through the rainforest. At speed. Alex and both had our crotches in the guides face when we tried out the butterfly and superman position. It was hilarious. Even though we got bitten alive by the mossies it was still brilliant fun. The final chapter of this ticket was the canyon swing. From the viewing platform it looked tiny. Having done a bungy jump I felt confident I had this covered. No dramas. Alex went first in our group. The guide attaches to ropes to you, one of which is so tight you are forced to walk forward. He then opens the gate stopping you from stepping off and you are supposed to swing. Alex stepped off the moment the guide opened the gate.
My turn. It was absolutely terrifying. After a few deep breaths I was falling to the ground. Luckily the ropes caught me. Looking back it was quite fun but the zip lining was definitely better. That evening we had signed up to a night walking tour. Alex declared he was afraid of spiders and our guide said we would definitely see spiders! We both kept our jacket hoods up the whole time. With our mega bright torches we soon found ourselves searching on leaves and up tree trunks trying to spot things. We saw spiders including a tarantula, frogs, stick insect, bats, a possum and so many moths. Alex found his speciality in the walk which was finding moths. Every set of eyes he thought was something huge. Just another moth.
The next day we soon found ourselves heading back to the bus for Quito for a quick collection of our luggage, a change of bus terminals and a bus down to Latacunga for the Quilotoa loop. Alex can fill you in on that trip.
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