Quito, Ecuador - Day 4 - Pichincha

The weather forecast looked good so I decided to climb Pichincha which is a volcano just outside of Quito. To get there I took a cab to the Teleferico which is a cable car that goes up the side of the mountain. From the top you can see the entire city and from there begin the ascent on Pichincha.

On the Teleferico I met two guys one from Canada and another Australia and we started to hike the volcano together.

Because Quito itself is high up in elevation being so high made the hike must harder than expected. It was cool to see the peak in the clouds and work our way closer.

Eventually We climbed to a height of maybe 15,500 ft and the weather was freezing. But from there towards the top you could see the city, the countryside, and the trail we took way down below.

We met another group of hikers from Sweden and made our way back down. The elevation change was very noticeable.

I can't say it was easy but quite rewarding and nice to get out into nature.

That evening my Couchsurfer took me to get some street food "tripa" or tripe (lamb intestine) it was quite good. We then met some of his friends Daniella and Alejandro and hungout at a closed bar called Misquilla which is a Kichua word that means "the feeling you get when you play traditional Ecuadorian music (Pasillo)".Read more