ToewsTravels

on my last day in quito, i decided i must indulge my love of natural hot water and go high into the andes 70 kilometers east of quito to the thermal spa town of papallacta. getting there via public transport turned out to be an ill-advised adventure. first, i took the public bus to a huge bus station in the far southern reaches of quito. quito stretches over 100 kilometers north to south, so this took a while. i then got on the infrequently-timed slow bus to papallacta, and the only explanation was that both the driver had never driven a bus before and everything other than first gear was broken, because we finally arrived in papallacta over 7 hours after i had set out. would not advise this route.

but when i finally arrived in papallacta it was magical! they are many outdoor spa pools with varying intensities of natural hot water, all with views of the surrounding hills, clothed in cool mist. there were ice-cold plunge pools sourced from the local stream and gatorade for sale. if i lived in ecuador i’d be there every weekend.

afterward, i had an amazing $6 meal of fresh trout, the town’s delicacy. perfect end to a great time in the amazing country of ecuador!

one day we went north from quito to check out the mitad del mundo, or the “center of the world.” the colonialists identified the latitude where they believed the equator was a few hundred years ago, and remarkably they were only about 100 meters off the mark. now, a stone ediface marks the spot and the place has turned into a veritable ecuadorian disney land, with rides and various other gimmicks. i actually really liked wandering around and seeing everyone having so much fun, even though it is not really on the equator.

the main reason we left town is so we could see some of the countryside and go for a hike, which we did at the pullapaya calderon. this is a large, 24 square-kilometer crater remnant of an old volcano, now filled with small farms. you can take a taxi to the upper edge, where a guy was playing flute music with a synthesizer to stoke us for the hike ahead. we hiked into the basin and had an empanada for lunch at the hostel at the bottom, before the very sweaty hike back up.

while the old city of quito has tremendous history, the action in quito happens in the new city – especially in la marsical around the plaza foch. we hung out around there and had some great ecuadorian cuisine at a restaurant called mama clarinda’s, and some gourmet hot chocolate at a very nice chocolate store.

quito is surrounded by the andes, and i took the world’s second-highest cable car called the teleferiqo to the top of a nearby mountain. at the top there was lots of great hiking (above the tree line), and amazing views over the 100 km north to south expanse that is quito. to get this view took a bit of a hike and then scaling an unmanned fire-tower.

i went to a very nice museum in the former home of ecuador’s most famous artist and perhaps most famous person, oswaldo guayasamin. the english tour of his home-turned-museum was led by local students and very informative. he also constructed a museum called the chapel of man beside his home.

quito has a burgeoning craft brew scene, so i checked out the abysmo brewery which was pretty good.

the coolest thing i did in quito was climb to the top of the massive national cathedral. the cathedral is the largest gothic cathedral in the western hemisphere and towers over quito. what is so cool about climbing to the top is how easy it would be to fall. you walk along a hanging bridge over the peak of the roof, then climb a very steep, slippery ladder to a tiny spire about 200 meters above quito. amazing!

ann and i were lucky enough to go to quito, ecuador for a long weekend this fall! quito is the highest capital city in the world; the two mile high city. it is a wonderful and fascinating place.

the pedestrianized old city is filled with churches from the colonial era, all of which are quite impressive. the most famous one is the compania de jesus, the outside of which is is a volcanic rock facade which has survived many earthquakes, and the inside of which is inlaid in copious amounts of gold.

on the main square sits the national cathedral which houses the tomb of sucre, the father of modern ecuador. one can climb to the domes on the roof of this church for $5. when i expressed that i wished to do this, the staff insisted that i wait for their only english-speaking guide, an ecuadorian conspicuously named “kevin.” 45 minutes later when he finally became available, he asked whether i wanted the version with the lights on or off. of course i said off, and we entered a black tunnel through a nondescript door in the side of the sanctuary, and climbed a few different ladders and passageways in complete darkness. definitely worth it. the views of the domes at the top were very cool.

also on the main square is the presidential palace, where the president often makes an appearance on the balcony on monday mornings. i went to see him but he didn’t appear that week. the current president of ecuador – lenin moreno – is an interesting guy: his father was a fan of the soviets and chose his first name; his mother preferred voltaire, but an error on his birth certificate left his middle name as “boltaire.” he was the prior vice president in the socialist administration of rafael correa, but since becoming president himself has actually pivoted toward increased economic freedom and liberalization. he is the only sitting head of state in a wheelchair, and has increased the government’s support for ecuador’s disabled population by fifty thousand times.

we stayed at a very nice hotel perched on a hill in the old city called casa de gardenia, with a large breakfast of fruit and bread.

overlooking the old city of quito is panecello hill, topped by a large statue of mary, made of tin. apparently the saying is that this is the only virgin in quito. nice views from the top.