Quito

I made it to my last international stop on my world tour. And it took forever to get there. Literally in the first hour, we  only went 6.6 miles. I can run 7 miles in under an hour on an easy day. That meant I could have run faster than the bus. I really have no idea why we were go so slow. The speed that is prominently displayed on most South American buses was set at zero. We were obviously moving, so we weren't going that slow. We finally started to pick up speed and made our way from Tena to Quito. Once we got going, and were outside of town, I was able to enjoy the amazing landscape. As we headed to the highest capital in the world, we drove up and down mountains, along rivers and waterfalls, all full of mist. Pretty beautiful. Really hard to capture from the inside of a bus.

Misty hills.

I finally made it to Quito, and my dilemma was now how to get to my hostel. I didn't hear good things about Quito when in came to safety. And I definitely didn't want to spend extra time to go to the bus station in the southern part of the city, and then head back north. So I got off at what seemed like a good intersection, and headed somewhere closer to my hostel. After a short bus transfer, I made it to a closer station, and from there, I decided to walk. Except I had to walk up stairs. Of course there are stairs instead of a road. But that's what happens when you are in a hilly city.

I finally made it to my home for the next few days, and then went in search of food. I was staying in the Old City and figured there would be plenty of places to eat nearby. However, the city was pretty quiet. I had looked up a few places to eat, but nothing seemed to be open. I  ended up at a fancier spot then I had planned on. But I did have it all to myself.

Only one in the fancy restaurant.

After a delicious meal, and being warned to be careful, I headed back the 2 blocks to my hostel. On alert, I walked quickly back, but still tried to enjoy the beautifully lit churches and colonial buildings. I had no issue and there seemed to be a fair amount of cops around. It seemed like the quiet was due to the earthquake, and over the coming days, it would get a bit more livelier.

Iglesia de San Francisco.

The following morning I wandered around the Old City to check out La Ronda and to see the colonial buildings in the daylight.

La Ronda.

I gradually made my way up some hills to Basílica del Sagrado Voto Nacional, a beautiful church, but more importantly, a church with beautiful views. I climbed up the main tower, which was a bit precarious at times to see the surrounding city and mountains. In order to get up the tower, I first crossed a rickety bridge, and then climbed a ladder up to the tower. A little scary if you thought about what I was doing. Although it was all worth it for the view.

The back tower.

I enjoyed the views, including the towers up front.

The front towers.

I made my way back down the precarious staircase/ladder, and headed to the front towers, where I had a less-scary climb to one of the clock towers. Some similar views, but a little different.

View of the Old City.

After I was done visiting the church, I continued to wander around and look for some food. But first wine. To my defense, I thought there would be food. I sat on a rooftop cafe of a hostel, and chatted with some people staying there. I eventually had to go and find food though. After that, I had some energy to climb up some more stairs to Parque Itchimbia. For more beautiful views. So many spots to see the city. But no volcanoes. They were all covered by the clouds. 

Quito.

I wandered around some more and made my way back to the hostel. I returned to La Ronda for dinner. This was the spot for food. Many options were open for dinner, even if it was still a little quiet. 

The following morning, I decided to return to Parque Itchimbia to do a tempo workout. I did a hill workout the previous week, but this would be the first time I planned on some sort of tempo. And it was hard. Talk about pain face, and I wasn't even racing. I made ran to the bottom of a set of steps that would take me up to the park. And then walked up the stairs. There was no need to completely tire myself out before the workout. I made my way up to the fantastic 2 kilometer path at the top of the hill. I mentioned that Quito is the highest capital in the world. Doing mile repeats at 2850 meters wasn't as fun as it sounded. After one, I was thinking I would be done. But after a short recovery, I knocked out a second. And while I ran that, I figured two would be good enough. But somehow got a third mile in. And then I called it. They may not have been my fastest miles, but at least they got a little bit faster. And the views were amazing, while I was trying to breath properly. 

Doing mile repeats on top of a hill.

I recovered from my workout, and headed to another hostel, where I paid for the Quilotoa day tour I was taking the following day. I also dropped off a few suggested items for earthquake victims. Afterwards, I intended to volunteer for a couple of hours. However, I find out that I had inadvertently signed up to donate blood. Not volunteer. To my defense, when I was looking up some words to translate, a cop came up to me to ask if I would sign up. And since he didn't speak English, and I don't speak Spanish, I somehow signed up to donate blood. I, of course figured it out the next day. However, that day wasn't the day I was giving blood. So I continued on with my plan for the day. Go to the Center of the Earth. I wanted to help in some way, but I also wanted to see a few things before leaving the country.

I loaded the local bus that would take me to Ciudad Mitad del Mundo, otherwise known as the equator. The bus ride was pretty uneventful, but definitely long. But it was only 60 cents. 

The equator is marked with a yellow line, but not exactly in the right place. It's actually 240 meters north of where the line is marked. I didn't actually go check it out, and didn't go inside the monument, which I learned later, there were some fun science experiements. Oh well. There's always next time. It was still fun to be in the Northern Hemisphere, and then back in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Walking along the equator.

After spending a few hours there, I got back on a bus back to the Old City. It was my last night in Quito, so I needed to pack up my bag as much as possible. But not before dinner at a cute cafe in La Ronda. With a little bit of live music. 

Wine and tapas.

My alarm went off way too early in the morning, but I showered, got my backpack packed, and left it downstairs. I headed to the cafe to meet the rest of the group, which happened to be all female. All from Ireland, the UK, Australia, Curacao, Spain, and Argentina. Pretty split on English vs Spanish speakers. It was a great group of girls to spend my last day in Ecuador with. 

Our first stop was a visit to a local market in the town of Saquisili. This market was great as it wasn't meant to be a tourist market, as it was mostly locals selling and buying items.

Saquisili market.

I aleady had breakfast, but did want to try some local fruits. So I got a bag of achotillo (rambutan). You break through the spindly skin and eat the fruit on the inside. There is a large pit though, so it's a little bit of an effort to get all the fruit. But it was tasty, a mix of sweet and sour. Pretty good. I was able to sample some other fruits as well like tomate dulce.

Achotillo fruit.

We continued on our way and drove through some stunning scenery. I saw a lot of similarities to Peru, like this mini Huayna Picchu. Not really, but that's what the locals like to say. 

Beautiful drive.

We finally made it to Quilotoa, a water-filled volcanic crater. It was pretty cool, and glad I decided to make the trip. After a few photos, a few of us trekked down to the bottom. I'm usually not a fan of hiking down a hill, mountain, or volcano, and then hiking up. Hiking down is usually the reward. 

Quilotoa Crater.

We made it almost to the bottom, where we took a break to swing for a bit. After swinging in Banos, this was a bit easier. Although, you can't spend too much time looking down or you may want to get off.

Swinging.

We made it to the bottom and I stuck my feet in. For being on top of a volcano, it wasn't even close to being warm. But it wasn't as cold as I expected it to be. I wished I had brought my swimsuit. I regret not going all the way in. What other chance would I have had to swim in a lake on a volcano? I'll just have to find another one, and just go for it. With or without my swimsuit.

In the volcano lake.

We made the hike back up, which wasn't easy, but fortunately didn't take that long. Since we were at elevation, it was still a challenge. It better feel great when I'm back at sea level and running/hiking around.

We got some lunch nearby and then made a quick stop at Rio Taochi Canyon. Nothing like the Grand Canyon, but I did see some similarities with Pai Canyon in Thailand. We took some photos and continued on our way.

Rio Taochi Canyon.

Our next stop was at a local indigenous family's house on the side of a hill. Very similar to the Quechua we met in Peru, they live a very simple life. And also with their guinea pigs, which they will most likely sell. There seems to be little differences between the two countries, but I'm definitely not an expert. As with most groups of people though, I imagine the language is a little different, and they have adapted over the centuries dependant on outside influences, the landscape, and other factors.

Quechua house.

We made our way back to Quito, with a stop for ice cream and a photo-op of Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi.

We got dropped off, I said goodbye to our fantastic guide and the great girls I met, and headed off to get a final beer before leaving the country.

Final beer in Ecuador.

I had a really great time in Ecuador and wish I had more time. The earthquake was definitely an unfortunate event that happened. It would be great if I could find a way to help those who were impacted. I'll be keeping an eye on the progress and will be hoping for the best for everyone affected.

Off to Ft. Lauderdale for a quick stop, and then off to Texas.