Quito: Day 3

We started our day at the Basilica del Voto Nacional. Like most basilicas it was a huge building and very impressive. It was also very young for what I normally associate with basilicas. Construction began in the late 1800s and everything was officially finished in 1988.

The first ticket we got was to climb the basilica. The first set of steps opened up onto what was almost a balcony to the main area of the basilica where mass was taking place. There was a large Rosette window here too. We continued up the steps (several flights at a time) and reached an interior roof and a walking bridge over the domes of the main area. There were ladders that led up to near the top of the steeple. It was pretty cool, but also a bit nerve-racking going back down.

Next on the basilica climb was up some more flights and then to a small, iron set of circular stairs to the clock tower. The clock faces on the clock towers definitely don't match the aesthetic of the basilica and are so simple, even more so when you see it from the inside, think plastic number screwed on to the plastic face.

We could still continue climbing almost to the top of the tower. There was only a ladder to the bells left! We were very high. We came back down and paid entry to go inside the main chapel. We thought we might have to wait until mass finished 20-minutes later, but apparently money talks.

The building and high ceiling meant that all the singing and organ really reverberated beautifully throughout. The main interior was not ornately decorated and relied more on the building itself being beautiful. The stained glass windows were very bright through, even though it was cloudy outside.

After the basilica we went up to the TelefériQo, the cable car up the mountain just outside of Quito. We weren't sure if we would manage to go because the clouds were low this morning, but we took the chance before the forecasted rain. The cable car experience was very similar to Medellín. There's been a couple of times when Allan has remarked that Quito reminds him a lot of Medellín, like a mini version, in how the valley and mountains are used for the city.

When we reached the top (3,940m not the 4,050m as advertised on the car) we made our way to a couple of the viewpoints and did climb to over 4,000m by going to the viewpoints.

One of the viewpoints had swings, which was pretty cool. However, they were hogged by a group of Instagramming girls. Just as Allan thought he was next in line, another one of the Instagrammers joined and took her place on a swing reserved by her friend. Allan wasn’t a happy chappy, so he walked towards the group, grabbed the swing and pointed to his watch. Before he caused any trouble, the other swing became free and he jumped on that one to release his inner child.

We had good views of Quito below us, but the clouds were covering the volcanoes in the distance making it harder to see them. The top of the cable car is actually the beginning of an apparently simple hike: Pichincha at around 4,700m. Many people attempt this hike in preparation for bigger climbs, such as Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. However, today was an urban exploration day, not a hiking day!

We each had our turn on the swing and made our way back to the cable car area and cafe. We had a brief rest in the cafe and saw the clouds and rain rolling in and wisely made our way back down to Quito.

While on the cable car, it almost seemed like the clouds were chasing us down the mountain they were rolling into the valley so quickly. We also had a nice chat with the people in our cable car: two Australians and a couple from Quito. The Australians were sisters who were travelling in South America for a couple of months. The young guy in the couple spoke English and was telling us about some nice things to do in Baños and that Quito has approximately 1.2 million people in it. Allan said that he was looking to climb Cotopaxi after the Galápagos and the local said that the conditions were excellent.

Once we were safely back on the bottom, and eventually managed to find a taxi with our poor service, we made our way to the Museo Nacional.

The Museo Nacional was pretty dead. The young girl at the counter told us that they recently changed the hours and open days, so we nearly had the whole thing to ourselves.

The first floor had some paintings and artifacts that aimed to tell the story of Ecuador. The religious section was pretty intense with some wild paintings and sculptures (I didn't take any pictures). The last section depicting Ecuadorians today had some great landscape paintings and a video showing children a few decades ago at school.

On the second floor was a temporary exhibition honoring an, Ecuadorian artist. A lot of his art was to do with finding himself and how he fits into society. There was a wide variety of paintings, drawings, and writings with social commentary and self expression.

We had a quick snack 🍔 (sometimes you can’t beat McDonalds for price and convenience) and got an Uber to Mitad del Mundo (the fake equator... slightly off the line unlike the real one yesterday and another later today).

The Mitad del Mundo was SUPER touristy. It reminded me of a tiny Disney Springs with it's little shops and carts and flower decorations. We took some pictures on the "equator" and then got an Uber to the nearby indigenous site that's at 0°, 0’, 0”. Interestingly, it was the first female driver we’d had.

All was going well, until we turned off the main road and the driver’s shitty car was struggling up the rocky dirt road to the top of the hill. We think the driver was asking us if it was ok to keep going. Allan kept saying ‘si’ (yes) because he wanted to go. He was reassured every time he saw another vehicle on the road. Admittedly, most of them were motorcycles.

A combination of shitty car and shitty, unconfident driver, meant she wouldn't go all the way up, so out we got and hoofed it the rest of the way up the hill.... we were not happy. I couldn't blame Allan because he couldn't have predicted all of the events and really, I should've known he'd never be content visiting just the touristy area and not the real site nearby.

The good news was, there were people and two other cars, including a regular yellow taxi, at the top visiting the pillar on the equator. It was a tall pillar with square-like stars all stacked on top of each other and the view from the top of the hill was pretty good.

Luckily Allan had service and managed to get an Uber to come and get us, so all was well! And we got to see the indigenous location on the equator. We've officially been to two different spots on the equator 🌎.

We made our way back to the hostel, had some quick dinner, and then it was time to pack and get ready to head to the Galapagos! Turtles and boobies here we come! 🐢🛥️

Vibes Aurik
9/10
Facilities: 😀
Comfort: 😀
Location: 😀
Cleanliness: 😀
Value for money: 😀
Staff: 😀

Summary: Huge rooms, great manager, ideal location, decent breakfast, excellent value for money (previously Quito Backpackers)

Good: Rooms. Our ”deluxe double room with balcony” was huge! After staying in some tiny rooms in Colombia, it was a luxury to have such space. Manager. The manager was great. We initially booked two nights knowing we’d arrive late from Colombia and not wanting to have to check out the next day. We actually considered moving round the corner to another, very well known, hostel since there didn’t seem to be anybody else staying. However, after chatting to the manager for about an hour when we went to pay, we decided to stay for the next three nights before our Galápagos trip. He told us more about the political situation and how it had impacted bookings. Breakfast. Decent breakfast with tea, fruit juice, eggs and bread. Location. Great location less than a 10-minute walk to the main plaza. Nearest supermarket is around a five-minute walk away.

Bad: The property could do with a refurbishment, but it sounds as though the manager has plenty of ideas for the place.Læs mere