My first night in Quito, Pablo told me I was staying in what the locals refer to "Gringolandia" or the Mariscal Sucre section of Quito.
This is due to the fact that the majority of hotels, bars and restaurants are located in the area that caters to tourists. I got to witness "gringolandia" first hand when a friend of mine from Atlanta invited me out to a local bar to hear some bluegrass music.
Victor has been living in Quito for a year, teaching English along with several other young Americans at a local school. Victor and I participated in KSU's TESOL certificate program and spent some time teaching together at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Atlanta.
Monday night, we met for a drink at an Ecuadorian bar next to my hotel. It was alright... but after a carafe of Brahma (the Ecuadorian version of the Beast) I was ready for something else. We headed to "Le Foch" or the major nightlife scene in the area. It was teeming with anglo bars, drink specials, and tons of gringos. You could've been anywhere. While it wasn't particularly authentic, the beer was a lot better. We went to the Irish bar where one of his housemates was playing bluegrass mixed in with some Irish tunes. Soon after, Victor's friends joined us and we had a great night of sharing stories, singing songs and drinking some Club Verde.
The next day, I had to be up bright and early to try and organize the "Nariz del Diablo" or Devil's Nose train tickets in Alausi. My friend Stephen would be flying in late that night and we would have to wake up at the crack of dawn on Wednesday in order to catch a bus down to the tiny mountain town of Alausi. The "Nariz del Diablo" is a very scenic train ride through the Andes, and was once considered the "most difficult train in the world" by the engineers who laid the tracks.
On Monday night, a few people told me that the train ride filled up very fast, and it was best to book the tickets well in advance. Of course you can't do it online, and Stephen and I thought we would be able to buy them at the station upon arrival in Alausi. When I found out that this wasn't the case, the only thing I could do was try to track them down in the one tourist office selling them in Quito. I was a bit stressed. I hadn't really been in Quito more than an afternoon and the map I was working from wasn't the best. I also needed to meet up for a walking tour at 10 am so I had an hour to find the tourist office and buy the tickets before meeting up with the group.
The previous day, I didn't really get a chance to see much of the city so I thought I would take the 30 minute walk from the Mariscal (New Town) to the Plaza Grande which is right in the heart of the Old Town, and by far the most beautiful part of Quito. I randomly decided to take my iPad mini with me (something I would normally never do) and it turned out to be a lifesaver later in the day.
One of my absolute favorite things to do when I travel is to simply wander through a city on my own and take pictures. Doing this with a group (or even another person) is not nearly as enjoyable. I always feel rushed and I can't explore every little side street that appeals to me.
Anyone who has ever been anywhere with me knows that I like to take pictures. A lot of pictures. Of everything. To me, mass quantity serves two purposes: you usually end up with more
quality photographs at the end of a trip and the photographs help me remember the places I visited, the things I did, and the people I met. Some people spend time writing these things down (I'm doing that too - hence the blog) but I prefer to tell my story through pictures.
Here are some of the things I saw on my morning stroll to the old town:
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| L to R: Pretty building in the Mariscal, Park Ejido, Sculpture in Park Alameda, Basilica de Voto National, Park Alameda compass. |
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| National Museum, Park Alameda, San Blas Plaza, hibiscus bloom, Quito observatory, and a pup. |
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| Plaza India, Park Alameda, Park Ejido, Plaza de Teatro. |
And then I came upon this:
Plaza Grande was beautiful. And fortunately, the one ticket office selling the "Nariz del Diablo" train tickets was located off the main square. At the office, there were five smiling faces but only one could help me with the tickets. Of course she was busy helping other customers. I noticed that the others had their passports and they seemed to be a key part of the transaction. I realized that a) my passport was a 30 min walk back up to the hotel, and b) Stephen's passport was with him in the US. It became clear to me that I needed the passports for the tickets - the next part was how I was going to finagle getting them in such a short amount of time. Fortunately the Plaza Grande had free WiFi. I emailed Stephen for his, and found a copy of my passport in my email. Within 10 minutes, I had everything I needed. Hooray for technology!
When I go back into the ticket office, the only lady who could help me had gone on break. I had to wait 30 minutes at the desk for her to get back. It was so frustrating. I didn't have time to come back and fool with the tickets later - I had to get them sorted out, now. FINALLY, she came back, and I was able to buy tickets for the last departure on Thursday. It altered our travel plans a bit, but I was glad to have the tickets in hand once and for all.
I had to race from Plaza Grande to the Community Hostel in order to pick up my free walking tour. Our guide, Obi, was from Ecuador and a very fun and knowledgeable guide. There were about 15 young people on the tour who had come to Ecuador from all over the world. Obi showed us the sights and some of the girls and I hung out after the tour and did a few more things around town. It was a fun filled, action packed day. Here are some of the photos from the tour:
This is due to the fact that the majority of hotels, bars and restaurants are located in the area that caters to tourists. I got to witness "gringolandia" first hand when a friend of mine from Atlanta invited me out to a local bar to hear some bluegrass music.
Beautiful city!
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