Jan 29 - Jan 31: Quito, Ecuador

Quito, sitting at 9,000 or so feet in the Andes Mountains, is a pretty city. Its accessible and there is lots of plazas, parques (parks), and churches. The older part of town is a World Heritage site and dominated by colorful colonial-style buildings (thats what the book calls it) with ornate balconies. There´s hills/mountains all around town where you can great views of the city.


I even did some high altitude hiking in Quito. I took the new teleferiQo (gondola) up the flanks of Volcan Pichincha to 12,000+ feet. Then I hiked to Rucu Pichincha at almost 14,000 feet.

On my first outing in the city, I came across a political demonstration. There were a few items thrown and the police were out in full gear. I tried asking what was going on but all I figured out was "no mas queso a los ratas de congreso" (no more cheese for the rats in congress?) At least they like their president.

I visited a working convent filled with bloody images, a dark-skinned saint figurine (the first I´ve ever seen?), and a scary life-size Virgin doll sleeping/dead in bed. I met a nice guy there who tried to give me a tour of the place. At one point I think he was talking about recent animal sacrifice. I´m hoping something got lost in translation.