Quito, Ecuador

Quito Ecuador

June 2006

First stop on a 20 day solo South America Walkabout.

Quito is a beautiful colonial and large city (1.86 million; 2.8 with ‘burbs) high in the Andes. Everything is up or down. Everything. I had to step-up to go into my bathroom. Google showed the magnificent Basilica del Voto Nacional was a 12 minute walk from my hotel. What Google didn’t tell me is that it is all uphill. Significantly uphill. Like climbing a 30-40 floor building. Over cobblestone. Quito sits at an average of 10,000 ft. It is the second highest capital in the world. I’ll visit the highest capital city in the world, La Paz, in two more stops on this walkabout. So sitting, the elevation isn’t that noticeable, but walking up a mountainous street requires more oxygen than the thin air appears to provide.

I chose a local hotel that met my primary requirements: 1) it was close to the historic district and 2) it was cheap. The Hotel Catedral is located on a very narrow Quito street. So narrow, that if the driver and passenger both opened their doors while driving, they could scrap buildings on both sides at the same time. But if they did open their doors while driving, they would probably knock over a motorcycle using the 18 inch clearance to zip around all the traffic. This makes an interesting walk up or down the street when meeting walkers in the opposite direction as cars and motorcycles zip by. The Incas must have had much smaller cars when they laid the city out.

Uber dropped me off at the hotel around midnight. Everything was shut down. The huge wooden doors to the hotel were locked, so I rang the bell. And rang the bell. And rang the bell. The very kind Uber driver waited to see if I would be admitted. After a while a voice belted Spanish out of the speaker. The driver replied that he had a crazy Americano wanting in, or something like that. Finally after another 5-10 minutes the door opened and an older gentleman admitted me. He said something in Spanish that I’m pretty sure implied there were no reservations. I pulled up my reservation on my phone and showed it to him. He read it then nodded and walked around the counter and plucked a key off a rack. He escorted me to a room on the second floor. As we walked down the hall, all doors were ajar showing all the rooms to be empty. We finally arrived at my room and he handed me the key. There must have been 40 rooms in this hotel and not another guest, so you would think he could remember the only guest this week, maybe this month, without having to be reminded.

Getting settled into my room, I saw there was no toilet paper. Fortunately I made this observation before I was incapacitated. I went down to the desk and found the old man still there. I asked for toilet paper. He just looked puzzled. I said it again, probably accenting my English with a Spanish accent because we all know doing that and saying everything louder always helps. Along with this vocal assault, I also mimed wiping my backside. He nodded his understanding and reached into his desk and handed me the instructions for accessing the hotel WiFi. I have really got to work on my miming skills. Either that or he has a very low opinion of internet connectivity. With the aid of Google Translate, I was finally handed a partial roll. In two nights and days, I never saw another guest. I’m not sure what kept everyone away. Was it the lack of toilet paper, the complete absence of any hot water, or the risk of being hit by a speeding car when you exited the hotel directly onto the busy one-lane street? I never actually checked into the hotel. There was never anyone at the front desk my whole stay until I left the second morning. And that person either couldn’t operate the credit card reader, or there wasn’t one, but I was able to pay in cash. Did I mention it was cheap? And it had three things, as the realtors say, “location, location, location.” It was about one block away from the Presidential Palace and three blocks away from the Plaza Grande and a whole bunch of really old and ornate buildings that I’m pretty sure were important for something.

I caught a Hop-on Hop-off bus on my second attempt the first morning. I say on my second attempt because, just like in Reykjavik last year, Oslo in 2024, and now Quito, the HOHO buses change their routes without updating their websites and in the two previous cases, their printed maps. In Quito I found a stop at the intersection of two streets and could not find any indication of a sign designating a stop. I waited 15 minutes or so and decided to walk the half mile to another stop. There I found a sign for the bus and a kiosk to buy a ticket. I rode the entire route and we never went anywhere near the first stop I tried. We did go past a mosque. I recognized the turrets. That cracked me up when i realized it was mosque in Quito. Say it fast – mosque-Quito. Is it a west nile or malaria mosque-Quito? Good thing I had renewed my yellow fever vaccination for this trip.

There is a huge statue of an angel, or what I thought was angel, on a high mountain overlooking the city that is visible from most of the city. This was my first stop on the bus, so I got off and took in the great views of the city. The statue is of Mary, and is called “Virgin of El Panecillo”. I found out it is the tallest aluminum statue in the world at 41 meters (135 feet). Mary is stepping on a giant snake and I never did get the straight story on why. I did learn that this statue is a replica of a sculpture called both “The Virgin of Quito” or “The Dancing Virgin.” I know I certainly would be dancing if I were standing on a giant snake. Or levitating.

Quito is a very neat town. The old town is really old, but clean and well maintained, and the new town is really new and modern. I spent over 2 1/2 hours doing the full loop in the HOHO bus and never saw anything run-down. So they must do a good job of hiding it, or there isn’t any. I thought it was funny that when we went by liquor stores, the spelling was with a “c” instead of a “q”. This is from a town that starts with a “q”. Also the Equator is the Ecuator, aligning with the spelling of the country. But I also saw a billboard announcing in fun (at least I assumed it was in fun) referring to Quito, “the Qapital City.” So while I’m not sure about their p’s, they don’t appear to mind their q’s.

Only a late night, one whole day, then a following morning departure, so I didn’t get to do much in Quito. But it seems a good place to revisit at some point. Maybe if I ever get to the Galapagos, which are part of Ecuador, I can tack Quito on before or after.

Adios Amigos,

Keith

PS: Please send toilet paper. And WiFi instructions.