Quito: From the Equator to Planet No Bar
March 11th, 2009
View the trip so farOn Sunday I went to Medio del Mundo, Middle of the World, or the Equator. It took a little over an hour and a half by two buses. Luckily enough for me I was able to get seats on both buses on the way there. The bus ride was fun and interesting. It was interesting to ride threw some poorer neighbourhoods. Along the way different merchants would jump on board as the bus was moving selling different kinds of food from fruit to ice cream. And then they would just jump off again.
The actual park where the equator is, is pretty nice. Its a tourist trap for sure. There were tons of families there on Sunday. There is a show in the middle of the park with all sorts of dancing. I watched most of it from the restaurant where I had lunch. I straddled the equator and took a picture.
Then I asked a family from Virgina to take a picture of me. Its not the best but it will do. I walked around a little looking into the different shops they have there. Mostly souvenirs. I then checked out the little exhibits that they have there.
When I left the park and headed to the bus stop I realized that I didn’t really pay attention to the buses that I took to get there. “Shit!” I thought to my self, but I figured it out and made it back just fine. The first bus was standing room only, which sucked for a little while, until I was able to get a seat.
When I got to the hostel I took a little nap. I was tired. I have been taking little naps almost every day before heading out to dinner. I am loving them.
I didn’t have any plans to meet any couchsurfers and hadn’t made new friends in the hostel so I headed out to dinner on my own. I ended up in Foch, which is sort of a little square here in Mariscal that has a bunch of restaurants. I sat outside at one of them, ate dinner and people watched. I then headed back to the hostel and spent the evening uploading pictures.
Monday morning I went to the travel agency that Pablo, one of the couchsurfers, had spoken to on Friday and supposedly had room on a boat for me. Well they had room, but the cabin was for women only. Damn it. They had room for a 5 day trip but I wanted an 8 day trip. The company that runs the boat is in Australia and it was night time for them, so Veronica, the agent sent them an email to see if they could open up that room for males. She told me, she would email me, after 5:30 and let me know. So I went and found another agency that had room on a boat, that was leaving a day later, as a back up. I went to El Centro again to check it out during the day. When I got back to the hostel I checked my email, and there was nothing from Veronica, so I headed out to the gency. She had not heard back from them and decided to call, when I told her I had a backup. The other agency was open until 6:30 so at this point I had about a half hour to head to the other agency. Fortunately for me they were able to get me on the boat. I was so happy! I just needed to come by the next morning to pay for it. Which was a little bit of problem because they charge 8% if one uses a credit card or nothing if one pays in cash. The problem was that the ATM wouldn’t let me take out the full amount that I needed. I was able to pay using paypal which they only charged 4%. Better than the 8%.
El Centro during the day was nice. It was packed full of people. I found a place for lunch. Here they have tons of little places that serve Almuerzo or lunch for $1.50. For that you get a large bowl of soup, rice beans, salad, some kind of meat, and a glass of juice. The first place that I went into was serving fried steak. I really wasn’t in the mood for fried steak again. Some places give you an option on what kind of meat you want, but some places are just set. So I found a place that was serving chicken. It was really good. I felt really guilty only paying 1.50 for it.
I then went to El Panecillo, where La Virgin de Quito overlooks the city. It was pretty dead up there, but the views were amazing. I then went back to El Centro, hung out for a little bit more and then went back to the hostel. That is when I went to the agency to finalized the Galapagos trip.
After that I went and found the Reigna Victoria Pub, which was supposedly a spot where travelers congregate. I found it easily enough and hung out at the bar with a New Yorker and a Georgian. The Georgian who was also the barman, is named Victor and has been living in Quito for over 2 years. I had three large beers (not sure the amount of beer that is, but if I had to guess I would say it is a pint and half) and only paid for one. The first two where buy one get one free, and the last was bought by another traveler at the bar. It was a nice evening. The conversations where all over the place. It was fun.
Tuesday morning I went to the agency to pay for my trip to the Galapagos. Then went to Confederate Books (thanks Alison), which is an english used book store, and picked up Elmore Leonard’s Be Cool. I then found the South America Explorer’s club house (thanks Sheri) and got a tour. Its a pretty cool organization. It’s main purpose is to help travelers with anything they need while traveling through South America. I am going to go back and become a member today. The rest of the day I just hung around Mariscal.
I made plans with Pablo, one of the couchsurfers to have dinner. I thought we were just going to have dinner. Boy was I wrong. Since I thought we were just having dinner I didn’t bring my camera. That is a mistake I will never make again. I got to the restaurant a little early and ordered a drink. He showed up and informed me that one his friends was coming to meet up with us, but first he had to show an apartment to someone from the South America Explorers. I informed him that I had been at the club house earlier in the day and got a tour. Turned out that it was the same guy that gave me the tour. Small world.
After showing the apartment they took me to eat traditional Ecuadorian street food, and I didn’t have my camera! There was so much food, I don’t remember it all. One of the things they were excited for me to try was Tripa something, basically beef intestines. At least that is what I think it was. It was really good. There were all sorts of different types of corn, potatoes, beans. A lot of good food. Angel then drove us back to Mariscal and Pablo took me to a club, Planet No Bar, where we hung out with more of his friends, danced and drank until two in the morning. One of his other friends then drove us to a hot dog stand where we ate, strangely enough, hot dogs. They then dropped me off at my hostel. What a night!
I was going to go hiking this morning, but didn’t quite make it. I am just taking it easy today before I head to the Galapagos tomorrow. I will be there for 8 days and I am guessing that there will not be an internet connection on the boat, so you wont hear from me for about a week. I’ll let you know how the Galapagos go. I can’t wait!
