Quito Day 1

We slept well and were anxious to see what our first Ecuadorian breakfast experience might be like so we headed down to find out. I was delighted to see a bowl of popcorn on the buffet, having seen videos about popcorn as a common side dish in Ecuador. I decided to try the ceviche and it did not disappoint- in fact, three weeks later and I am still thinking about it, its marinade tasted like a rich and creamy gazpacho.

We repacked and headed to catch the hotel shuttle/taxi back to the airport for our flight to Quito. The hotel was only a few kilometers from the airport so we didn’t get to see much of Guayaquil on the drive and arrived quickly. We were sharing the taxi with another passenger and our driver stopped to let him out first at the International Terminal and also unloaded our bags. Scott used a combination of english/gesturing/and Google translate to convey to the driver that we needed the Domestic Terminal, not the International. He gave us a befuddled look, shrugged, reloaded our bags into the trunk, indicated for us to get back in the taxi, put the taxi in reverse, backed up about 75 meters… and stopped at the entrance of the Domestic Terminal. Oops! We hadn’t realized that they were directly next to each other. Laughing, we tried to tell the driver that we didn’t know they were so close. He probably thought we were just typical lazy entitled Americans, but we got a good laugh at ourselves.

Guayaquil is the typical jumping off point for travelers heading to the Galapagos and it was fun to see all the people headed to San Cristobal for their Galapagos adventures while we waited on our flight to Quito. Our short Latam Airlines flight was thankfully unremarkable and we both were able to catch a nap on the hour long flight. In no time we found ourselves inside a taxi in the highest official capital city in the world¹, at nearly 3,000 meters (9,350 feet), with the Andes mountains soaring up and around us as we made our way to our hotel in the Historic Center of Quito².

Our driver had no problem squeezing down the impressively small alley where our hotel was located and dropped us off at the front door. The Hotel & Rooftop King Experience by David (a rather long and lengthy name if I do say so myself) welcomed us with open doors and allowed us an early check-in which was much appreciated. We were shown to our room and it was just as over-the-top as the pictures on Booking.com had promised- its decorative style best described as Hobby Lobby and Liberace’s lovechild in a cool colonial building. We both lol’d when we saw the bathroom inside our room- it was essentially a glass cubicle!

We decided to go tackle the historic district and we also needed to go in search of a market to buy jugs of water since the tap water in most of Ecuador is not potable (and annoyingly, this was the only hotel that we stayed in that didn’t offer complimentary potable water so on principle we didn’t want to buy it from them). When Scott mentioned the market that we were intending to go to, the front desk clerk suggested we go to the one closer to the historic center, as the one Scott had in mind (the Mercado Central) wasn’t very safe. I was thankful that he offered up the suggestion.

We found the historic center which was a quick walk from our hotel, and enjoyed walking around the square taking in all the sights. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and the locals were out in droves visiting the cafes and various vendor stalls that surround the stunning Iglesia de La Merced, which serves as the anchor of the square, or just sitting around and relishing the lovely day. We struck out at the first cafe we stopped at- none of the menu items we chose were available, so we kept walking until we found another. We successfully ordered sandwiches and drinks and people watched while we ate.

We decided to head to the Basilica del Voto Nacional,the iconic cathedral, which was just a few kilometers away. It was easy to get to because it rose up and above the historic center and the main street led straight to it. We arrived and figured out where to purchase tickets, then headed inside to take on the famous climb to the top of its impressive towers, which involved a few hundred steps that eventually narrowed into a climb up a ladderlike spiral staircase. When we reached the top, feeling only slightly winded³, we were rewarded with the most incredible panoramic views of Quito which spread out below us and crept up the surrounding steep mountains. It was incredible to look down onto the church as well as the city from this viewpoint.

We made the trek back down and walked around the cathedral grounds for a bit, stopping to admire their Pope-mobile⁴, an 80’s model Chevrolet truck complete with a lifesized Pope mannequin in its glass cubicle in the truck bed.

We wrapped up the cathedral tour and then went in search of the market to get our water. We found it and enjoyed walking around looking at the various food and drinks which is always fun to do in a foreign country. We got our water with fairly little trouble and were even able to use a credit card- one of the few times we actually were able to while in Ecuador, and I was glad that Scott paid more attention in Spanish class than I had because I still can’t count to ten en espanol without some serious concentration and thought.

We took our water haul back to the hotel and spent some time figuring out where to go for dinner. We settled on a restaurant that was in one of the fancy hotels in the historic center- Cafe Plaza Grande Restaurante. We had a lovely dinner and ate some of the “things you are supposed to eat in the place you are supposed to eat them” such as tostado (roasted corn), popcorn, plantain and sweet potato chips with various dipping sauces, potato and cheese soup with avocado, more ceviche (I was still thinking about my breakfast ceviche and couldn’t get enough), and empanadas. It was way too much food but it was all delicious and we went to bed with full bellies.

Quito Day 2

Our big activity today was to take the Teleferico Quito (chairlift/gondola) from outside the city up to the Cruz Loma lookout. So after breakfast at our hotel, we took a 20 minute taxi ride to the ticket office and got tickets. The teleferico ride took 18 minutes and ascended what felt like a nearly vertical at times 2,000+ meters. Scott had strategically put us on the correct side of the shared car so that we could look over Quito as we made the ascent and it was wild to see both how far up we were and how widespread Quito is.

Once we got to the top we walked around and took pictures for a bit and then went to investigate what else there was to do up here. Scott suggested we do one of the hikes. I foolishly assumed that the gondola had done the hard work of climbing the mountain for us and that we were already at the top, and envisioning a leisurely and flat stroll, something akin to a nice amble along the Swamp Rabbit Trail, I happily agreed. Once we got started, I quickly discovered by reading the posted placards en espanol, that this is the jumping off point for summiting the Pichincha volcano or for doing the other hikes that lead to some of its peaks. I also learned later that it is considered a good acclimatization hike when preparing to summit other volcanoes in the area (Cotopaxi, Chimborazo) because the altitude is 4,000+ meters. (Some people even experience altitude sickness at the Cruz Loma viewpoint because of its high altitude.)

And yet, here I was hiking myself up and along the Rucu Pichincha trail, and better yet, surprising myself by being able to do it without absolutely dying. Scott surprised me by agreeing to wrap it up and turn around when we were a little over 2 miles in and thankfully didn’t suggest that we continue on and try to summit it (who was this guy??). We enjoyed a little picnic snack when we got up as far as we wanted to go and took advantage of his packable picnic blanket so that we didn’t have to sit on the ground that was wet with fog and dew. The clouds actually lifted for a bit when we were up here and we could see the surrounding mountains rising up around us as well as Quito below us.

Going down was easier on the lungs but harder on our legs and mine felt like Jello by the time we were down. When we got back to Cruz Loma we spent some time on the swing that made you feel like you were soaring out and above Quito. I’ll let you guess who swung higher. When we were satisfied with our Pichincha experience we made our way back to the gondola station and rode one back down, getting to savor the views again.

We summoned a taxi from one of the rideshare apps and when we got back to the hotel enjoyed a well earned nap. We awoke to a torrential downpour a short while later which caused us to reconsider our dinner plans which had originally been to go to one of the rooftop bars in the city. Instead Scott found us a nearby pizza place that came highly recommended. It was tucked inside a nondescript building and took a little work to find but we had a nice dinner while looking out at the famous angel statue, or the Virgin of El Panecillo⁵. As we ate we got to see her gradually become lit up as day turned to night and she became illuminated from the lights below.