Thursday 4th May 2017
Banos to Quito
9am start with private minibus driven by Lenin (this is a
Socialist country after all !). Driven through very agricultural area with most
pieces of land covered with sugar and banana plantations as well as fruit trees
and vegetables. All surrounded by volcanos and mountainside. Very picturesque,
but unfortunately they’ve removed lots of forest in order to maximise the
farming. About 30 km from Quito we
ground to a halt with part of the fan-belt disappearing. Used opportunity to catch up on blog while
they sent a replacement vehicle.
Eventually arrived in Quito, booking into the Hotel Reina
Isabel. Quite good location with lots of
cafes, hotels and small shops. All the
gang went for a walk into the old part of town.
Very large city, buzzing with usual food and trinket sellers through the
park. The cathedral was massive and
seemed to be in three sections. I quite liked the outside stone carvings –
instead of usual angels, it had different jungle animals. Otherwise, they charged $2 entry fee, as did
all of the churches in Quito. Iain didn’t
bother – all Churched out. Gunna found a
nice little café opposite, so we indulged in a late lunch of mixed churasco and
some dodgy wine which they found lurking in a cupboard somewhere. On way back, Iain and I wandered into some
music shops and I managed to stop him buying a charanga (small Andean guitar
with 5x double strings like a lute, with an armadillo as the ‘box’!). Not sure
that customs or my ears would stand it.
No comments:
Post a Comment