The first day we arrived in Quito we were blown away. It is an incredibly gorgeous city with a huge volcanoe sitting at the base of the city. It is visible from all spots in the city, and it is sitting there right in your face. What a lovely large metropolitan area tucked into the smallest country in South America.
The first day, my first thought was this city is just like New York or San Francisco where I have spent lots of time. Our initial foray into Quito we stayed in the Mariscal neighborhood which is walking distance to most parts of the city if you like to walk. To the old part of the city, the colonial section of town, its less than one hour south of the Mariscal. If you want to walk north towards the financial district and Carolina Park its also less than one hour.
The Mariscal is kind of like a mini Greenwich Village or in San Francisco like North Beach. What a pleasant surprise for me. After traveling a bit around Ecuador, I had heard some different comments from local Ecuadorians about Quito and they all turned out to be true in certain ways.
Quito is a large city that runs north south pretty much on a grid. The main streets all run in parallel to each other along the narrow rather skinny sausage. The sausage metaphor is not mine, but rather a local Ecuadorian we met at a nice Indian restaurant.
Throughout this blog I will continue to speak about the friendly Ecuadorians we meet along the way. This particular very nice young woman was an English teacher at a local university here in Quito. She had studied for four years in Oregon and her mom was from Venezuela, but moved here many years ago. We had a very pleasant lunch together and at the end of the meal she offered me her phone number and contact information in case we ever have any questions or problems here in Quito. I am continually blown by the friendly nature of the Ecuadorians, and how they basically all go out of their way to help you with things you may need.
Quito is a great city to walk around in, especially if you like parks, hills, and just overall people watching. However, at night the city pretty much shuts down. Unfortunately, there are random incidents of crime that the touristas are probably a little more suseptible too. So we have heard some stories that probably in a good way add some caution to our walks after dark. I believe and hope in time these isolated incidents will subside, but I believe for now they are a reality. However, during the day we feel very safe, so for those of you used to walking around the city at all hours of the night, use a bit of caution while venturing out into the surroundings.
sábado, 26 de enero de 2008
viernes, 25 de enero de 2008
Ambato
Ambato is the fourth largest city in Ecuador and is on the Pan American Highway about two and one half hours south of Quito. The only major town between Quito and Ambato is Latacunga. Latacunga is the main entry point for the Quilotoa loop and the famous Black Sheep Inn. Ambato is two hours west of Guaranda.
In the middle of the town is a river, and there are several bridges that connect both sides of the valley. The Mira Flores area of town is the nice part of town with some nice hotels mainly the Mira Flores Hotel and the Florida Hotel.
The guide books say that the Monday market in Ambato is the largest in Ecuador, but I didn´t find this to be the case, although it is quite large. The city is very nice, with about 140 thousand people, mas o menos.
It is certainly a nice place to take a break if you are traveling to Banos, and also a nice resting spot on the way between Quito and Cuenca which is about 5 hours to the south. Its also a nice spot to take a break if you are traveling from Guayaquil to Quito on the long bus ride...
The downtown area is typical of this size city in Latin America with lots of tiendas, banks, etc...
I would recommend Ambato as a nice resting spot for several days before moving on to other parts of the country as it is a nice place centrally located in Ecuador with all of the big city amenities and not alot of the big city problems.
In the middle of the town is a river, and there are several bridges that connect both sides of the valley. The Mira Flores area of town is the nice part of town with some nice hotels mainly the Mira Flores Hotel and the Florida Hotel.
The guide books say that the Monday market in Ambato is the largest in Ecuador, but I didn´t find this to be the case, although it is quite large. The city is very nice, with about 140 thousand people, mas o menos.
It is certainly a nice place to take a break if you are traveling to Banos, and also a nice resting spot on the way between Quito and Cuenca which is about 5 hours to the south. Its also a nice spot to take a break if you are traveling from Guayaquil to Quito on the long bus ride...
The downtown area is typical of this size city in Latin America with lots of tiendas, banks, etc...
I would recommend Ambato as a nice resting spot for several days before moving on to other parts of the country as it is a nice place centrally located in Ecuador with all of the big city amenities and not alot of the big city problems.
martes, 22 de enero de 2008
Guaranda and Salinas
Guaranda is a beautiful small town high up in the Andes four hours from Guayaquil and two hours west of Ambato. The ride from Guaranda to Ambato is absolutely spectacular as you climb many thousands of feet up from the town of Guaranda which is at around 9000 feet. On the ride you skirt around a huge volcanoe by the name of Chimborazo. It is snow capped all year round, the descent into the town of Ambato is down a long narrow valley with some small villages along the way and off into the distance.
About an hour outside of Guaranda is a small town called Salinas which is literally at the end of the road. It is surrounded by gorgeous Alpine meadows and Andean peaks surrounding it. The town is quite special in regard to the fact that about twenty years ago or so, a small group of people, particularly one man introduced the town to making cheese, chocolate and textiles. Today they are a thriving small village that has world class products. It is nice to see people in the village with good jobs and the monies from the sales is distributed in a cooperative fashion which makes for a nice energy to the whole situation.
The town of Guaranda is very tranquil with a nice church at the center of the plaza. The market is simply spectacular, this town although it is tucked in the Andes many hours from any big city is completely self sufficient and independent of the global trade issues of food traveling thousands of miles on trucks.
I will continue to write about the people of Ecuador and how friendly and warm hearted they are, and in future posts will talk about the different people we have met as we travel around and live in this beautiful country.
The other day we met a young woman of college age while out on a walk in the hills outside the village. We spoke to her for a short time, and she offered to give us a ride to the top of the hill overlooking the whole entire town and valley. We spoke to her for about one hour entirely in Spanish and she told us about the people in the town and how tranquil the town was to live in.
On another occasion we befriended a local restaurant owner. He turned out to be a very interesting person, and we got the opportunity to speak with him for over an hour as he gave us a ride home from one of the side journey´s we went on. He just so happened to have another small restaurant in the town of Salinas. He told us all about Ecuador, and between his knowledge of English and our knowledge of Spanish we had a very nice talk.
We enjoyed meeting and speaking to a security guard at the local university. We spoke to him every day while he was on his guard, and he told us where to eat, what to do, and more general information about the town of Guaranda. I could go on and on about other very nice people we met in this lovely town.
In one of the next posts I will talk more about the Central Highlands of Ecuador and what it has to offer in the way of beautiful people, scenery and most importantly a really good feeling.
About an hour outside of Guaranda is a small town called Salinas which is literally at the end of the road. It is surrounded by gorgeous Alpine meadows and Andean peaks surrounding it. The town is quite special in regard to the fact that about twenty years ago or so, a small group of people, particularly one man introduced the town to making cheese, chocolate and textiles. Today they are a thriving small village that has world class products. It is nice to see people in the village with good jobs and the monies from the sales is distributed in a cooperative fashion which makes for a nice energy to the whole situation.
The town of Guaranda is very tranquil with a nice church at the center of the plaza. The market is simply spectacular, this town although it is tucked in the Andes many hours from any big city is completely self sufficient and independent of the global trade issues of food traveling thousands of miles on trucks.
I will continue to write about the people of Ecuador and how friendly and warm hearted they are, and in future posts will talk about the different people we have met as we travel around and live in this beautiful country.
The other day we met a young woman of college age while out on a walk in the hills outside the village. We spoke to her for a short time, and she offered to give us a ride to the top of the hill overlooking the whole entire town and valley. We spoke to her for about one hour entirely in Spanish and she told us about the people in the town and how tranquil the town was to live in.
On another occasion we befriended a local restaurant owner. He turned out to be a very interesting person, and we got the opportunity to speak with him for over an hour as he gave us a ride home from one of the side journey´s we went on. He just so happened to have another small restaurant in the town of Salinas. He told us all about Ecuador, and between his knowledge of English and our knowledge of Spanish we had a very nice talk.
We enjoyed meeting and speaking to a security guard at the local university. We spoke to him every day while he was on his guard, and he told us where to eat, what to do, and more general information about the town of Guaranda. I could go on and on about other very nice people we met in this lovely town.
In one of the next posts I will talk more about the Central Highlands of Ecuador and what it has to offer in the way of beautiful people, scenery and most importantly a really good feeling.
martes, 15 de enero de 2008
First Thoughts About Ecuador
One of the most interesting aspects about Ecuador is the transition from the coastal lowlands to the central highlands. From Guayaquil to Guaranda the bus ride is about five hours. The old road from Guayaquil to Guaranda passes through the town of Babahoyo. The new road from Guayaquil goes north past Babahoyo to the town of Santa Domingo de los Colorados, but going through Guaranda gives you more of a sense of the Central Highlands before getting to the Pan American Highway.
The day we traveled it was raining so the view probably wasn´t as spectacular as it could have been. The people getting on and off the bus were very interesting and one really gets a sense of the native andean population.
More about the people and observations in the next entry.
The day we traveled it was raining so the view probably wasn´t as spectacular as it could have been. The people getting on and off the bus were very interesting and one really gets a sense of the native andean population.
More about the people and observations in the next entry.
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