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Arriving in Quito from Cotopaxi we booked into the secret garden hostel, the parent hostel of the Cotopaxi one. The hostel, which is in the old town has a rooftop balcony with great views over the city and the obligatory South American hill with a Christ statue.
We had arranged to catch up with Andrew, an Aussie guy we had met in Santiago and travelled to Valparaiso with. After a few beers in the hostel we headed to bandido brewing company. The night was cut short however as the current president Rafael Correa passed strict rules to limit alcohol sales (http://monocle.com/monocolumn/affairs/ecuador-sobers-up/) stoping alcohol sales past 10pm in the week, while on Sundays it can only be bought with food. Good for locals an reducing alcohol related violence, not so good for tourists.
It's fair to say we didn't do much research for Quito only factoring in a few days and probably didn't do the city justice. We did however manage to visit the Basílica del Voto Nacional, which you can climb right to the top. And when I say climb, I mean climb. After reaching the roof of the basilica and the outside, there was a narrow staircase up to the viewpoint and out over the ground below. With nothing but a thin bit of metal beneath your feet as you ascend steeply, it wasn't the most fun for someone scared of heights. Having said that the 360 degree views of the old town more than made up for it.
Our main reason for arriving in Quito on a weekend was to head to Otavalo market. The lonely planet lists it as a place not to be missed. The Saturday market here is supposed to be the biggest market in South America with crafts, artesanal goods and even an animal market. We caught a local bus on the Friday night so we could get up nice and early before the hoards of tourists arrive. The place itself had quite a Native American feel to it with most men having long jet black ponytails. After a quiet night (there really isn't much to do there at night) we got an early start and hit the market. Actually we were so early some stalls were still being put up, but after a quick coffee at a great little place called daily grind, it was time to get tucked into present buying.
Most of the stalls tended to repeat themselves after a while, but we managed to stumble across a shop called la tierra on the main street which had beautiful handcraft items. Unlike the main market, (which I have my suspicions most of the stuff is made in China and shipped over) the owner of this shop was making the products in front of you. We went a little crazy in here buying quite a bit of stuff for us to bring back, not really factoring in how to carry it home but when in Rome right? (Please continue...)
Around midday bus loads of tourists started to arrive and we decided to head back to Quito with far too many shopping bags. After another quiet night (recurring theme here) we had just enough time the following day to fit in a traditional ecuadorian lunch. This consisted of enough rice to feed at least 3 people with each portion, but good subsistence for our flight to Colombia.
So with our relatively brief time in Ecuador over here is what we learnt about one of South Americas smallest countries, which is relatively little:
They use American dollars, but whilst the notes are the same they actually have their own change which obviously can't be used in the US. Annoying.
It's all about the Galapagos. All the people we met were either planning to splash the cash and go all out on an expensive tour, planning it themselves and Island hopping, or, like us and being mindful of the budget, planning it for another day. For now, the poor mans Galapagos can suffice.
It's pretty touristy in places. In Baños for example, there were a lot of American tourists cramming in some outdoor activities along with the Galapagos.
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