Quito, A Tale of Two Ciudads

I´m not normally a nervous flyer, but on the flight to Ecuador, the woman sat next to me performed the Catholic holy trinity action no less than 3 times before we were about to take off. I wondered if she knew something I didn´t. Similarly, after the wheels finally hit the ground in Ecuador a round of applause echoed through the cabin. It seems the saftey of air travel in this part of the world is left, not to the professionals that fly them, but to more spiritual beings.........

Quito is divided into what is known as the Old town and the New town. The New Town consists of mainly concrete buildings, of dubious build quality, not much character and choked with traffic. The Old town, by contrast, retains its oringinal colonial influence and is full of plazas and more interesting architecture. Various Latin music belches out of different shops and I´m pleased I didn´t rush to judge Quito on the New town alone.

I did take a couple of unremarkable pictures but the computer at the hotel is an eMac (no, not an iMac) and I have no idea how to transfer them. The one thing I didn´t get a picture of was of some of the local electrical stores. Alongside the usual fare of fridges, washing machines and TV´s, you can also purchase a motorbike! I´m sure this seems perfectly logical to the Ecuadorians but I cound´t see the connection.

I did try to venture up to the towering Angel statue that over looks the old town, but on setting out on the long climb up the hill I spotted a sign sprayed onto a wall in English stating "TOURISTS BEWARE: Robbery Area. Do not use this street". How efficient I thought, they have contained their crime into a single street. Needless to say I did not venture any further.

Unbelievably, despite the low temperatures (about 18 degress) and cloudy skies, I have managed to get sunburned AGAIN! Apparently the sun´s strength is 3 times more powerful at this altitude. Really must learn my lesson soon, although my face is now colour co-ordinated with my red fleece.

I suspect that internet coverage will be more patchy from now on, so my next post may be a while....