From San Cipriano we drove back to Cali and stayed overnight. In the morning we headed to the bus depot and started a very long journey to the border town of Ipiales. On the plus side, our bus had wifi AND english subtitles for the movies. Nothing better than wifi and movies you can actually understand on an 11 hour bus! We arrived in Ipiales around 7pm and decided to cross the border instead of staying the night. The crossing was very easy and we didn't feel unsafe at any point. Once our passports were stamped, we took a taxi to the bus depot and caught a bus to Quito, Ecuador. We finally arrived in Quito at 2am and it was so cold! I couldn't believe it! We found the hostel and passed out right away.
The weather in Quito was such a huge change from the warmth we were used to. During the day you could wear pants and a short sleeve shirt, but at night a sweater or jacket and socks were definitely necessary. We spent the first few days relaxing at a very nice guesthouse called the Traveler's Inn. It had the best breakfast icluded ever! Quito has a very large historic center called the old town. We spent an afternoon there, exploring all the old buildings, churches and courtyards. There was a huge, beautiful public library with original books that were written in the 1500´s. Depending on the time of the day, you can enter the church for a dollar and explore. The architecture and stain glass were incredible.
We had to take advantage of being in a big city and went to the mall for the afternoon. The malls here continue to surprise me. They are always massive, spotless and have a large selection of stores. They put Pine Centre to shame..
beautiful courtyard in the public library
largest church I´ve ever seen!
After four days in Quito, Nick left to travel quickly through the rest of Ecuador and I stayed to wait for Kady to arrive. Her plane couldn't land in Quito due to visibility, so she arrived a day late. It was so great to have a girlfriend from home arrive! We explored the city and made friends with Tabae from Germany and Kim from Norway. Kim and Tabea invited us on a day trip to Otavalo, which has one of the largest artisan markets in Ecuador on Saturday's. We took Quito's public bus for a hour to the bus depot. It was so busy and cramped and a guy on a motorcycle ran into the side of the bus! Thankfully, he was okay! When we finally arrived at the bus depot we accidently took the wrong bus and the trip took an extra hour and a half. We finally arrived in Otavalo around 3pm and had to start shopping immediately before they closed around 5pm. Everyone bought their fill of alpaca sweaters, shirts, socks and pants. All the clothing is so colourful and beautifully made. After shopping we had a $2 almuerzo (lunch) which includes soup, meat, rice, menestra, salad and a juice. It's always a set menu, but the best deal out there! We took the right bus back to Quito and arrived after only 2 hours.
all the alpaca you could ever need
so unfortunate none of this fits in my backpack
For our last day in Quito, Kim, Kady and I decided to take the TeleferiQo cable car and hike to the peak of Cumbre Rucu Pichincha. It was pretty chilly up on the mountain and the altitude made the hike so much harder. We were all huffing and puffing right away and I needed lots of breaks. It´s difficult to keep up to the long legged people. Everytime we thought the peak was close, there was another hill to climb. We hiked for over three hours, with the last 30 metres taking an hour, and finally made it to the top! The fog lifted and we had an amazing view of all of Quito. The way back down was very quick and the total hike took just over four hours. It was good training for the Machu Picchu hike coming up in May. After a hot shower and change of clothes, we spent the evening relaxing and getting ready for our bus trip to Baños the next morning.
TeleferiQo
heading up in the cable car
we found snow!
high above Quito
going down
with Kim & Kady above Quito
WE MADE IT!
aaand Kim celebrated by getting naked
