Quito

Another early start :( We got up at 6am, took a cab to the bus station 2km north of town, took the $2 bus 45 mins to the top of Santa Cruz and got the boat across the narrow channel - not the easiest airport to get to! The free bus arrived and people started jumping onto it before it had even stopped. There was a mass bundle and people piled on until it was completely rammed. We decided to wait and it drove off with people hanging out the doors. It returned after 15 mins and this time was far more orderly since it was mainly westerners waiting.

Our plane took off at 10am, stopped in Guayaquil, then arrived in Quito at 2:30pm. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is at 2,800m and the landing path is through the middle of the mountains which is very scenic if slightly scary.

The airport toilets were rather fancy with tvs on the sinks and you could put toilet paper in toilet for once.

The taxi man quoted us $26 and said there was no bus but I didn't believe him so I went to investigate. Turns out it is the standard price but there is a much cheaper way...we hopped on a green public bus right outside the terminal which took 45 mins to reach Rio Coca, then paid 25c to enter the local buses terminal which have their own lanes and tram-like stops so are very easy to navigate. Bargain.

We got off the second bus and were walking up the road when we heard K & L shouting our names! What are the chances in a huge city?! Our hostel was 100m away from theirs. We had a quick catch up and then said goodbye to Lisbeth who is flying back to Portland tonight - we hope to visit her one day (hoping to catch up with Kolya in Columbia). Kolya used his iphone and sent us in the wrong direction but after a bit of puffing and panting we found La Rosario ($28), a beautiful hotel with an amazing shower and friendly staff.

After a bit of wifi action - it's finally decent - we got the 25c bus back to the Mariscol area (new town) in search of falafel but both places were closed. Instead we ended up in the central square which is very modern with many restaurants around the edges. We went to a witches-themed restaurant ($33) and Anna had humongous ribs and enchanted potatoes whilst I had witches' nachos and an amazing dessert called Hansel and Gretel's temptation which was layers of crepe with nutella, dark chocolate, marshmallow and oreos in between, shaped as a slice of cake, served with ice cream and passionfruit coulis - absolute heaven!!! I also had frozen iced tea with spearmint which was really good.

It was 9:40pm by the time we left and the next bus was an hours wait so we got a taxi ($3). It is walkable but Quito doesn't have the best reputation and Anna has sore feet from her new flip flops which are falling apart already!

We have heard a few tales of pickpocketing of phones plus Sabine had her new 60th birthday necklace ripped from her neck on her first day in Quito! Anna called it a voucher for a ride on the back of a police motorbike. We are being extra vigilant and are hoping we look far too grungy to be worth their while.Read more