Getting In
After my couple of relaxing days at the hot springs in Papallacta and doing the amazing laguna hike, it was time for big city living. I had breakfast at my hotel then took a taxi down to the entrance of Papallacta by the main highway. Since Ecuador doesn’t have a good way to check bus schedules, I just showed up at the bus stop hoping I wouldn’t have to wait too long for one to show up heading toward Quito. After a short 15-minute wait, a bus arrived. It was about an hour ride and I ended up getting off before the main bus terminal because the bus stopped at a stop closer to my hostel. I was immediately swept by the city energy with the heavy traffic on the highway and all the people walking around. I’m not in the mountains anymore. It quickly reminded me how much I prefer nature to cities, but you have to see the big cities when visiting a country for the cultural perspective. I actually ended up really liking Quito. Not sure why it gets a bad rep. It turned out to be my favorite of the capital cities so far (compared to Bogota and Lima).
My second time getting in to Quito was quite an interesting welcome back. After spending three nights in Quito, I went to Secret Garden Cotopaxi (beautiful hostel in Cotopaxi National Park that will be the subject of next blog post) before returning to Quito for a few more nights. This guy Spencer I made friends with at Secret Garden Cotopaxi had a rental car so I rode back with him to save $10 on the shuttle. Spencer had a tiny car that struggled on the pot holed filled dirt roads but we made it back slowly, but surely. We were almost at my hostel in Quito when a motorcycle cop came out of nowhere and signaled for us to pull over. Uh oh. We hadn’t seemingly done anything wrong. Even though my Spanish was pretty good at this point, I couldn’t understand a word he said. I couldn’t put it together why we got pulled over. He asked to borrow one of our phones to translate into but I was kind of worried he would just take it and leave…you never know who to trust. Finally, he used his own phone and told us that we couldn’t be driving because our license plate ended in a number that wasn’t allowed to drive on that date.
Another backpacker had actually told me about this law. Due to the level of pollution created in Quito, there are strict driving rules whereby cars with certain license plate numbers can be on the road each day (Mondays: ending in 0, 1, 2, 3; Tuesdays: ending in 1, 2, 3, 4, etc). The funny thing about this rule is the buses in Quito produced more black smoke than any I’d seen throughout my trip.
Anyways back to the cop. Once he had translated why he pulled us over, we understood (apparently the rental car agency had also told Spencer about this rule), and he told us to drive to the nearest parking garage. We were able to drive away with no ticket and no more questions asked. Got lucky on that one. Spencer drove me the 5 more minutes to the hostel and all was well.
The City
Quito is the highest constitutional capital of the world sitting at over 9,000 feet (La Paz is higher but Bolivia has multiple capitals – La Paz is the seat of government and Sucre is the constitutional capital). It’s a very interesting city because it has a very gritty and slightly dangerous feel to it; yet there’s also lots of beautiful neighborhoods, an incredible historic center, an awe inspiring Notre Dame-like cathedral that has a bar inside, and a volcano hike over 15,000 feet high just outside the city. You definitely don’t want to walk around at night because the streets are empty and have a very eerie feeling. One night I walked a few minutes home from the bar and there were people just having a bonfire on the sidewalk. You had to be a little more on edge here than other places that I had been recently. But all that being said, I actually really loved Quito.
The city is rich in culture and architectural beauty and the historic center (considered the best preserved and least altered in South America) was the first World Cultural Heritage City to be named by UNESCO. Quito is known as the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) and one can visit a monument that sits at the equator line. While I didn’t do this activity because it was a bit of a trek from my hostel and felt tourist-y, I could see the appeal to doing it. I guess 5 days just wasn’t enough time? Because of its proximity to the equator, Quito has 12 hours of sunlight all year round with a consistent schedule of sunrise from 6-6:30am and sunset from 6-6:30pm.
The Lodging
My first three nights in Quito I stayed in the Community Hostel which tried to create a vibe to live up to its namesake. Every night there was dinner cooked in the hostel for a small fee at a set time to create a family style dinner experience. I only joined for the first night but it was a good idea to bring people together. On my first night, they also did a bar crawl where we paid a set fee and had a mini bus transport us to 4 different bars (we had to find our own way home). More on this later. The hostel was located nearby the heart of the historic center and had a rooftop with a nice view of the Basilica del Voto Nacional. The downfall of this hostel was the poor structure of the building. On my last day staying here, it rained super hard and water started seeping through the walls and ceilings. They had to evacuate entire rooms of people because there was so much water dripping onto the floor and the beds. I got lucky and my room wasn’t impacted.
When I returned from my 2-day trip to Secret Garden Cotopaxi, I spent my last few nights in Quito at Vibes Aurik in a cheap private room. There was nothing too special about this hostel but I just wanted my own quiet space before heading to Santiago. My final night in Ecuador, I stayed at a little hotel nearby the airport since my flight was at 7 in the morning and the airport was over 45 minutes away from the center of town. I ate some pretty delicious wings that night at a restaurant right next to the hotel.
The People
Quito turned out to be a social place for me. I felt like a seasoned vet in Ecuador after already having spent 6 weeks here and my spirits were high throughout my days in Quito. I think the fact that I spent so many solo days in Ecuador helped recharge my energy and put me in a good headspace socially. I met a lot of people during the night of the bar crawl through Community Hostel but only a few of them became my core crew for the next few days: Amelia (England), Jordan (England), and Asad (US). We spent a lot of time together over the next few days chatting at the hostel and going out for meals. It was a good crew to hang out with and we had a lot of really good conversations; especially Amelia and I. We spent one night just drinking beers and chatting at the hostel for hours on end. I also met a British girl Meg on my second to last night at the Community Hostel who Yen and I ended up spending a lot of time together with her on the W Trek in Chile but more on her with that future blog.
When I got back from Secret Garden Cotopaxi, I spent the next few days hanging out with two guys that I made good friends with there – Spencer (US) and Stefan (Germany).
I also had lots of good interactions with locals in Quito and I think that really helped improve my impression of the city. My Spanish was at the best point it had ever been and I was especially used to the Ecuadorian accent (which is actually quite easy compared to other countries in South America). I ended up having a bunch of good Spanish conversations over the course of my time in Quito. Almost every Uber or taxi that I took ended up with us conversing for the entire ride. I was feeling confident in my Spanish abilities and it was really showing. I had my canned speech down about my travels so that was always a good conversation starter but then we would start going into new topics and I was able to hold my own. It was so nice being able to communicate people and learn more about their culture just from having a basic conversation.
The Food
My favorite part of my food experience in Quito was my daily trip to El Mercado Central for a local breakfast and fresh fruit juice. I had heard the fruits weren’t as good in the southern half of South America so I really made the most of my last few days with fresh Ecuadorian fruits. Every morning I would get a massive fruit juice for $1-1.50 and accompany it with some cheap traditional Ecuadorian dishes for $2-3 like encebollado (explained in earlier blog) or papas con cuero – hard-boiled egg, avocado, pork skin with potatoes. It was only a few minute walk from my hostel and a great way to start my day.
I also had some really good sushi one night in La Floresta neighborhood with Amelia, Jordan, Asad and this older Dutch dude. I was shocked at the quality of the fish in landlocked Quito, but then again it is the capital and has lots of different culinary options. Most the other meals I ate were just the cheap menu del dia lunches that I had been enjoying throughout my time in Ecuador.
The Experience
Historic Center Free Walking Tour
I showed up at Community Hostel and a free walking tour of the Historic Center was starting from the hostel in 30 minutes. That’s always a great way to learn about a city and I really didn’t know much about Quito. At this point in my trip I was just showing up at places with minimal plans and would just figure things out as I went. I was a seasoned enough traveler to know that you just show up places and fun/cool things start to present themselves.
Our tour guide Caro was born and raised in Quito and currently lived up in the hills with her husband and newborn. She had a great sense of humor. I’m always impressed when people can do that in their second language. She had me cracking up throughout the tour. She also had an incredible wealth of knowledge about Quito and Ecuadorian culture. Incredible guide! It was a small group: just me, an American girl that had just arrived traveling for only a week, and an Irish couple that lived in Vancouver.
Caro was super informative and I learned a lot of cool information within the first 30 minutes. I already knew they said chuchaqui for a hangover in Ecuador but Caro explained that it’s a Kichwa word whose direct translation is chu which means shakey and chaqui is the nausea a person feels after chewing too many coca leaves. She also told us about the Ecuadorian currency collapse in the early 2000s that led them to use the US Dollar and why they use more coins than dollars (both of which I explained in the first blog about Ecuador).
The tour started in the central market and we tried a variety of fruits. Then we went to a fancy hotel where Caro explained why Ecuadorians stopped using the Sucre and starting using Dollars. Then we did a chocolate tasting in the hotel where they explained the production process while we tried chocolate with different percentages of cocoa including one that was 100%. I actually didn’t like the 100% pure chocolate; it was too damn bitter. Ecuador produces some of the finest chocolates in the world and these were as good as it gets.
After the delicious chocolate tasting, we walked through the Plaza Grande and Plaza de San Francisco which were filled with city energy – noise, people, trash, street performers, beggers, all the action. We even saw these 2 guys get in a fight where the cops came to break it up and the dude starting swinging at the cops.
We could see the Virgen del Panecillo from Plaza de San Francisco which is a giant winged Virgin Mary statue that is visible from almost everywhere in the city. Caro told us that the road leading up to the statue goes through a very dangerous neighborhood where you have a 50% chance of getting mugged after dark. Me and the Irish guy looked at each other and I said “if we go it’s either me or you.”
Then we went inside Iglesia Católica San Francisco, which had a beautiful ornate ceiling but also these creepy statues with real human hair and baby faces that look like they’re staring at you. The tour ended in Plaza de La Victoria with a few last good facts and jokes from Caro. The guide can make all the difference with these free walking tours and she crushed it.
Me and the Irish Canadian couple went out for drinks after on Calle La Ronda, which is a colorful street with lots of bars. They were a fun pair of people and we had a good time chatting and cracking jokes. I immediately vibed with them on the walking tour and the energy was even better over some beers. They had a flight out that night otherwise I would have spent more time with them. It was dark at this point and I had a 10-minute walk home. I know Quito is not the best place to walk around at night, but I was a little buzzed and it was a short walk, so I put on my New Orleans face and power walked home.
I went back to Community Hostel for the nightly family dinner. It was a good way to meet people. There were quite a few British people I was chatting with (Jordan and Amelia of note), an America guy Asad, and another Irish couple. The drinks were flowing as we all prepared for the pub crawl organized by the hostel. Around 10:15 we hopped in a mini-van for the first of the four bars we were going to. It wasn’t very crowded, mostly our crew from the hostel, but I kicked back a few beers and they gave us a free shot. The second bar we went to had karaoke and an Ecuadorian girl wanted me to sing with her so of course I abided. But she chose a Bruno Mars song that I had never heard so it was a struggle. She knew the words better in her broken English than I did trying to read them directly off the screen.
Then we went to the 3rd bar which was more of a club and much higher energy. This is when the party really got going as the volunteers from the hostel were passing around fish bowl drinks. I was quite drunk by the 4th bar which was another packed out club with high energy and lots of dancing. Memory of this is hazy but I know I was having fun. I got back to the hostel around 3 and Jordan and I shot the shit for another hour. It was a much-needed fun drunken party night with lots of socialization.
Basilica del Voto Nacional
I woke up the morning after the bar crawl around 9 feeling pretty rough but I forced myself to have a productive day. After breakfast in the market, I went to the Basilica del Voto Nacional or the “Ecuadorian Notre Dame” as Caro liked to call it. It was designed by a French architect who was inspired by the Notre Dame, so she really isn’t wrong. It has two large clock towers toward the front that perfectly align with the Virgen del Panecillo and another smaller tower toward the back.
This beautiful church looms over the city and it currently stands as the largest neo-Gothic church in South America. The outside façade is lined with gargoyles and animals that are endemic to Ecuador, including iguanas, tortoises, armadillos. and condors. Construction on the church began in 1884 and it is said to still not be completed – local superstition stays that the day the basilica is completed is the day the world will end.
I had no clue what I was doing when I first arrived so I paid $2 to get into the main downstairs church area. I walked around for a short bit and there was even a sermon going on. But I really just wanted to go up top and get the views. I found out that I needed to go to a different ticketing office for that. So, for another $2, I started walking up the staircase (they do also have an elevator). It was about 16-20 floors to the top of the two towers but worth it for the amazing panoramic view of Quito, a city that just never seems to end with red roofed houses as far as the eye could. This city is already sitting at over 9,000 feet and yet it is still surrounded by huge mountains and volcanoes. It truly was a magnificent view.
When I was heading down, I noticed that they have a bar on the 12th floor. I was still nursing my hangover, but having a beer in a church seemed like a novel idea. I mean how often do I really get to drink a beer in the house of God? And it was just the medicine I needed. I ended up chatting up the Venezuelan girl (Pao) who was working behind the bar. I must have still been feeling drunk from the night before, because after one sip of beer, my Spanish was flowing and we started having some really good conversations. She and I were jabbering about who knows what when these two Mexican guys sat at the bar and I starting chatting it up with them as well. They were in a band touring around South America and had played in Quito the night before. We had some good convos talking about music and traveling. All of the sudden I was really in my zone sitting at the bar chatting with strangers in Spanish. I ended up ordering a second beer and continuing to shoot the shit with all of them. It was a really proud moment in my Spanish speaking career. Then the Mexican guys left and I also continued along my way after my second beer. But not before Pao asked me if I had seen the views from the other side of the church. I said no and she told me to go up a few floors then walk across.
I am so glad to have gotten this tip from Pao because the other side of the church had even more spectacular views. You got the perspective of viewing the city between the two towers as well as more 360 views of Quito and the gorgeous surrounding backdrop. There was one part that was not for those afraid of heights. There was this steep, ladder-like staircase that you had to climb while gripping metal rungs. I wouldn’t want to do that one a rainy day.
La Floresta
After my fun morning/early afternoon in Basilica del Voto Nacional, I decided to keep exploring Quito by doing what I do best in big cities…power walking. I looked up a few parks on the map and started walking in their direction (I always like to find good green spaces in big cities to walk around or rest in). I walked through Parque La Alameda up to Parque El Ejido, where I found a nice place to lie on the ground and relax. The day was still young and I didn’t have a plan. While I was lying there and thinking, I remembered reading a few days before on a “Quito things to do” blog that there was a cool off the beaten path neighborhood with a movie theater. I was feeling really confident about my Spanish after the interactions that I had at the basilica so I figured fuck it, why not go to see a movie in Spanish? I found the blog post about the neighborhood, La Floresta, and the indie movie theater, Ocho y Medio. I looked up how far it would be to walk and it was about 30 minutes. Perfect!
The center of La Floresta had a totally different feel than the other neighborhoods that I had been to in Quito. It was a much more artsy and hipster feel: there was colorful buildings, walls covered in murals, art galleries, cafes, clothing stores, restaurants. It’s become a popular area for communities of artists and writers to move into. I was liking my decision to come check out this different part of town.
I walked into Ocho y Medio with no knowledge of the movie schedule and asked at the ticket counter what I could see. They told me there was a showing at 3:30. It was currently 2:45. Great! I’ll take one. I didn’t even ask any questions. I was in for whatever it was. I ordered a glass of wine at the movie theater bar, found a comfy sofa, and just people watched. Then right before the showing I got another glass of wine and found a seat in the theater. I had no clue what to expect.
It turned out to be 3 short films for a film festival. I didn’t exactly love any of them. At least they were short? Each film was 10-15 minutes long. I was able to understand most of the dialogue because it was just passive Spanish listening, but even if the movies were in English, I don’t think I would have fully understood the artists’ visions. They were just too indie and abstract for me. The first and third were super weird; the second one was decent. I honestly don’t even have notes from them, nor would it be worth sharing. All I do remember is that one of them was about a girl getting pregnant and then they pretty overtly showed some scenes from the pregnancy. So yeah that type of vibe.
My favorite part was afterwards when the directors talked about their work and answered questions from the crowd. It was a cool interactive experience to be a part of and gave me a further glimpse into Ecuadorian culture. I didn’t understand everything the directors said nor all the questions asked but I got the general gist. And it did make me respect their films more afterwards. Overall, going to Ocho y Medio was a cool and different experience. I came out in a bit of a daze and walked about 10 minutes to a tasty Chinese place. It was night time at this point so I ubered home rather than walking and ended up having beers at the hostel with Amelia and chatting with her for hours.
Casa Museo Guayasamin
Okay this is kind of a stupid story, but also kind of funny. At least for me. On day 3 of Quito I woke up wanting to hike Pichincha (volcano right nearby Quito, more below when I actually do hike it) but the weather was too cloudy and ominous looking. One of the volunteers at the hostel highly recommended against it and showed me a video of him getting caught in some heavy rain and hail while hiking it a few weeks back. Okay that’s a no for today then. So instead, I went and got a haircut to at least feel productive with my morning. Afterwards I was chatting with Amelia and she recommended going to the Guayasamin Museum. It’s the former home of Oswaldo Guayasamín, who was a famous Ecuadorian painter, and it has a number of his works as well his collection of other pieces. I figured sure, why the heck not? I don’t have any plans and sounds cultured. So, I typed in Guayasamin in Uber and had a lovely ride with a driver that I was chatting with the whole way.
When I arrived at the building things seemed a little off but it matched what I had told him. I go inside and now it really doesn’t look like I’m in the right place. I asked for a tour at the front desk and immediately knew it was wrong. The lady gave me this expression like what do you mean? Another lady who was teaching a classroom saw how out of place I was and asked what I was doing here. I said I thought it was the Guayasamin Museum and she said no it’s the Guayasamin Institute; which is a school that teaches kids English. Wow classic mix up! But then she proceeded talking to me and asked if I wanted to join them on Sunday for a field trip up to Mindo. They love having English speakers come and talk with the kids. Honestly if I weren’t flying out to Santiago before then I would have considered. It would have been a fun, random experience and I could have also practiced my Spanish. Alas it didn’t work out. But what a funny scenario that all was. I looked into my mistake and I should have put Casa Museo Guayasamin to go to the correct place. It would be another 25 minute Uber there plus having to get home later. I felt defeated and just went back to Community Hostel. At least I had another nice convo with my Uber driver. So even though I didn’t get to go to the museum, I got a good laugh and some solid Spanish practice in with my Ubers.
And it was also a good thing I didn’t try to hike Pichincha. That afternoon when I was chilling in the hostel with Amelia and Jordan, it started dumping rain and even hail. So much so that the hostel started flooding and that poor Jordan had to switch hostels because his room was fucked.
Parque Carolina
The day after I got back from Secret Garden Cotopaxi, I met up with Spencer in Parque Carolina to hang out. Known as the Central Park of Quito, this gigantic green space makes you forget your in the center of the bustling capital of Ecuador. There is a plethora of activities one can do: a huge skate park, a small lake with water fountains and row boats, botanical gardens, soccer fields, volleyball courts, tennis courts, and a circular track. I chilled by myself for a bit before Spencer showed up and then we threw the frisbee around like some good ole American boys. Afterwards we went bar hopping in the area grabbing a few beers at each place. Then we said our goodbyes and I met up with Stefan for some beers at Bandido Brewery. We decided to have beer for dinner and I unintentionally ended up getting really drunk that night.
Rucu Pichincha Hike (6.2 miles, 2700 feet elevation gain, in and out)
After 7 full weeks of being in Ecuador, it was my last day and I was lucky enough to have a sunny one. I didn’t have the best weather during my stay in Ecuador and wouldn’t necessarily recommend going in September and October. I woke up feeling pretty hung over from the long day of drinking before but had to take advantage of this nice weather. It was the perfect day to get some good city views. Stefan and I had discussed hiking Rucu Pichincha the night before. Pichincha is an active volcano next to Quito with three summits.
After I had my morningly breakfast and fruit juice at the market, Stefan and I met up in the center of town between our two hostels. He was surprised I was able to make it after how drunk I was the night before. We got a 15-minute Uber to the teleférico (cable car) that takes you 13,000 feet high to some incredible views of Quito as well as the start of the trailhead to Rucu Pichincha.
At the top of the teleférico is a coffee shop with an amazing panoramic view of Quito. Supposedly on good day you can see Cotopaxi and a bunch of the other volcanoes but unfortunately it was too grey and cloudy. We started the hike and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that high altitude hiking while hungover is miserable. I felt like shit for first 30 minutes. I had a slight headache and while I normally get in great mindset while hiking, I was strugglin to find my happy place. I was just trying to push past this crappy feeling.
The trail was a nonstop slight uphill along a wide dirt path with a few steep sections. Finally, after about 30-40 minutes I kicked the hangover and was starting to feel much better and enjoy myself. I was able to pick up my hiking pace to my normal hyper speed. After about an hour we reached the base of the real climb up the volcano.
It was a flat path to get to the backside of the volcano with a few narrow edges before the steep uphill began. There wasn’t a clear-cut path to follow through the volcanic sand although some ways made more sense than others. I slowly worked my way up the steep, sandy switchbacks. We were over 14K feet high at this point so breathing was getting harder. The last couple hundred feet up was a scramble through the rocks and required a bit of rock climbing using all four limbs at certain parts.
I made it up to the top of the jagged summit a good bit before Steven (we both went at our own pace at the end) and felt super accomplished after how shitty I felt at the beginning of the hike. At 15,413 feet high, it’s pretty incredible that such a high altitude hike exists right next to Quito. I would do this all the time if I lived in the city. The view of the city was spectacular even with the clouds, although unfortunately couldn’t see any of the other volcanoes. The clouds were moving so fast that the views of the city came and went. At least we had something. We enjoyed the view at the top for about 20 minutes before it started getting cold. After scrambling down the rocks at the top, we had to side step our way down the steep sandy downhill then cruised the rest of the way. The sky was less grey now so we had great city views all the way down.
Afterwards I had a nice donut and coffee at the café enjoying looking at Quito from above one last time before taking the teleférico down. Stefan and I had lunch in the center than parted ways. I took an Uber out to my hotel by the airport where I had a nice conversation with the Venezuelan driver the entire 45-minute ride. It was an amazing last day in Ecuador. I’m so glad to have ended my stay in the country on a good note: with a high altitude hike on a beautiful day. I really turned it around from the terrible hangover I started the day with. I ended Ecuador with a bang doing a 14er, 15er, and 16er on 3 of my last 4 days (stories about 14er and 16er in next blog post).
