Quito

I had basically no expectations for Ecuador. It was the country between Colombia and Peru so I didn't want to skip it but that was all I knew when I crossed the border. I had made a reservation at the secret garden in Quito as Luis had told me he was staying there and decided to figure everything else out once I got there. On the bus to Quito I got a message from Luis saying that he had left to Baños. I'm used to travel by myself but after my Ahayuasca adventure in Mocoa I had actually been looking forward to talking to someone familiar about it. So I was a little upset that no one was waiting for me in Quito.
When I arrived to the hostel I started questioning my decision to go here: the reception was on the 5th floor in the bar area. Not being used to the altitude walking up 5 flights of stairs was actually super exhausting. I left my backpack before climbing the final spiral staircase that led up to the rooftop terrace. Up there everybody was drinking, music was playing loudly. My room was just below the terrace and in there it felt like sleeping in the bar area. Is this what I wanted? I was super hungry as I hadn't eaten properly all day but the hostel didn't serve food anymore. So I went to a little restaurant across the street. When the food arrived my grumpy mood was lifted. The hummus and homemade bread was delicious.
When I got back to the hostel it was after 11pm. The music had been turned off and everybody in a party mood had left to the clubs. I went to sleep and when I got to the rooftop the next morning I was completely convinced by the hostel: the view over the city was amazing. They had cheap but really good breakfast. I met a group of 3 guys in my room - Brad, Tommy and Eliott - and suddenly it didn't matter anymore that Luis had just left.
I spend my first day just strolling around the old town and walked up to a lookout point with views over the city and all the way to some snow covered mountains surrounding it. The lookout wasn't in a touristy area. I found it on a map and just decided to walk up there. I was doubting my decision for a moment when I realized that I had to take some really quiet streets bit once I found a streetfare with people eating on the street and realized the lookout was right outside a school I felt safer. I actually liked to see this more authentic part of the city.
At night we had dinner at the hostel. They had a big net extending the terrace in which we were lying with a bunch of people. It was pretty cold as soon as the sun was down but we protected ourselves against the cold by using all the blankets we could find and just getting closer together.
Like the night before they turned of the music at 11pm and everybody who was in a partymood jumped on the partybus. We stayed behind and went to bed around midnight - I'm really not the biggest party person while traveling.
The next morning the 3 guys left for one night to Quilotoa. They tried to convince me to join them but when they said "We might run the 14km from Chugchilan to Quilotoa as practice for their hike up to Chimborazo I figured they might not be the right company for me hiking. And I didn't feel I was done with Quito yet so I decided to stay behind.
I went to visit the middle of the world instead (extra post). After another dinner on the rooftop with a bunch of girls I met that day we all signed up for the free walking tour the next morning. It was a really nice and informative tour. It was nice to actually learn something about this country, its history and culture. We learned that the last president gave the Galapagos islands to China as security for some money they lent for oil pipelines in the Amazon. All hope is on the new president to change this arrangement or pay back the money soon. I guess no one wants to see the Galapagos actually going over to China.
The tour went on for over 4 hours including a typical lunch in a market. Afterwards I went to an artisan market to buy me a warm poncho for the cold destinations lying ahead of me. I was planning on buying something cheap but after I touched an actual alpaca poncho I couldn't go back to lama anymore. So after I spend ages in the stall of a nice lady I couldn't do anything else but buy that one. I got it for $24,- which was the cheapest price I found in the market for similar ponchos and I liked that once she realized it's a decision I have to make with myself she left me alone - she probably knew I would come around at some point.
Brad and the other guys came back to the hostel that day and we spend another night in the net with to many people and to little blankets. Luckily now I had my new poncho to keep me warm.
Early the next morning I left to get to Quilotoa by myself to do the hike at a more decent pace.Read more