Day 12: Quito, Ecuador

Our final day in Ecuador was spent at the highest altitude any of us have ever experienced.

The Teleferico is a gondola that takes you an additional 3000 feet above Quito.

Our first picture is a shot of a warning sign that notes you are at nearly 12500 feet.

The views are absolutely stunning as we view Quito and the surrounding Andes mountains.

It is possible to ascend an additional 1000 feet or so to a peak that takes about 3 hours to summit. It is very accessible for all of us amateurs. It simply requires the time and getting acclimated to the altitude in Quito for a few days. Next time I visit here I will take some pictures from the summit!

With the Teleferico also checked off the list, we have officially seen all of the tourist attractions in Quito. The higher altitude this morning did take some energy out of us and we took the rest of the day off to eat, drink and reminisce about our time in Ecuador.

Ecuador is definitely a country worth visiting if you are interesting in going off the beaten path a little. As I have mentioned in previous updates, Ecuador is likely what Costa Rica was 15-20 years ago. Vacations here are very inexpensive outside of flights, which are about the same to all major cities in South America.

We believe that more retirees will flock here as the cost of living increases in North America over the coming years. The early investors are already here. We have met many North Americans who are either thinking about coming here to live, or are living here already. The numbers make sense, as a basic Social Security check from most countries will cover living expenses quite comfortably. Real estate is comparatively very cheap.

There are already scores of ex-pats flocking to Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina and Chile to name a few.

As with most countries outside of the US and Canada, you simply need to adjust your expectations as to what amenities you want versus the price you are willing to pay. As with any place, for some it will not meet their needs. For others it will be perfect.

Tomorrow we head back to North America at the crack of dawn. We will all be on US soil by Noon, and in our respective home towns later Monday evening.

In the days coming I plan to add a few more summary updates, along with some video that I have captured. So stay tuned for a little while longer for more on Ecuador!

Did you know: Taxes on real-estate are measured in the hundreds of dollars each year, not thousands. For a small one bedroom condo in a nice part of the country, the total of rent, condo fees, taxes and utilities will not even equal the taxes of some coastal properties in North America.

Day 11: Otavalo, Cotacaxi and Quito, Ecuador

Day 11 began at 7am, with Diego picking us up at Hotel Quito. Again Diego was early, making him my new best friend. The 90 minute trip to Otavalo featured some spectacular mountain scenery and twisting mountain roads. However these roads were quite good. In comparison, they sure beat the mountain roads in Slovenia. Our first picture shows a volcano that is about 200 km away. It's height is roughly 18000 ft. This picture was taken from the side of the highway. I could take a thousand pictures of the landscape as we made our way to Otavalo. I will add one more for your viewing pleasure.

We arrived at, arguably, Ecuador's largest and most successful market around 9:30. I had a few goals for this adventure: to find a cheap soccer jersey, a wallett and possibly some leather shoes. Also I wanted to capture some video from the produce market.

My impression of the outer edges of the Market, initially, was that it was all the same stuff voer and over again. I had a hard time convincing myself that all this stuff was hand-made. How could they produce such volume? Diego informed me that there were lots of hand-made goods but you have to look carefully. Things with "Made in Ecuador" are legit. Everything else is questionable. With that in mind I refused all of the sales pitches from the people who tried to sell me things. Everything is negotiable here for the most part. I found a BSC jersey ( a club soccer team in Ecuador sponsored by my favorite beer) for $16. Diego shook his head discretely and we started to walk away. The price was cut to $10, but Diego said we could find the same jersey elsewhere for $8.

Our third photo of the day shows the street-side stands, something you only see on Saturdays. So this was primetime, and it was an absolute zoo as we approached the main square and produce market.

Please now see our 4th picture of day: Roasting pigs. Please also notice the young children waiting for some pork breakfast dishes. The fresh food being cooked from the fresh produce and animals was astounding. I was contemplating asking for a grilled chicken sandwich, but I was afraid I would have ended up with the feet and head too.

I could have taken hundreds of pictures of this market. In another video, not posted, I remarked: "These people are outta control and Walmart ain't got nothin on this place!" Seriously, I saw a stand that specialized in remote controls, one that had a million cell phones and another that had Huggies stocked to the roof. We started to see designer clothing eventually, and I was tempted to buy some jeans that were clearly from Japan (and yes, I can tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese characters).

I did indulge in a t-shirt shop called Body Art. In California, these designer t-shirts would cost you $50+, but here: $9. I know, some of you don't believe people pay $50 for a t-shirt, but believe me, people do. There were some pretty cool designs in this shop.

After about 90 minutes we moved on to Cotacaxi which is the Leather Capital of Ecuador (and possibly the World). The main street has about 50-75 shops that specialize in hand-made leather goods. Again, with the volume of things here I question the 100% hand-made thesis. One thing is clear about Cotacaxi: it caters to women shoppers. This makes perfect sense to me, that on average, women would spend more money here. However, for an outlier like myself it was a little frustrating. I was trying to find a pair of nice leather shoes and could not find the quality nor the quantity. Better yet, when I did find a pair, I found the cost to be too high. A pair of Clark's on sale at Macy's beat most of this stuff down here.

However I will re-state, for the lady in your life, this place is a shopping mecca.

I post no pictures from Cotacaxi since you can go to your local mall and see the same stores, roughly speaking. Maybe I am just getting lazy at this point, but there were no compelling photos.

Our final stop before returning to Quito was Cuicocha which is a lake covering a volcanic crater. The final photo of the day is from there. The afternoon clouds had rolled in, covering the crystal blue waters with gray shadows.

The 2 hour journey to Quito was pretty crazy if you have trouble being a passenger and no control over the driver. Diego is a great driver, but you must be aggressive down here, as I mentioned the other day. I slept in the front passenger seat, while Dad fretted in the back as we traversed the crazy mountain roads.

Well, folks tomorrow is our final day in Ecuador! This blog is coming to an end. (Or is it?)

Did you know: Ecuador's land mass was cut drastically in a war with Peru. Conflicts with Peru have been numerous with the last being in 1995.

Day 10: Quito, Ecuador

Quito has a very interesting history, as do many of the South American capitals. The common theme, given my readings, are Indigenous conflict, followed by Spanish meddling, intertwined with Jesuit and/or Catholic teachings.

With this in mind we proceed to the Centro Historico (The Historical Center) of Quito. Diego, our driver arrives early before our scheduled 9am pickup time. I love it when people are early! There are several of you rolling their eyes and/or laughing now.

The 15 minute drive through the bustling streets of Quito led us to The Basilico del voto Nacional. This large cathedral is our first picture of the day. We spent quite some time there, mostly due to the lengthy climb that yours truly made to the top of the tower shown as the highest point in the photo. It is somewhat surprising to us that people are allowed to climb up there. There are stairs on the main floors, however the towers require climbs up ladders. Once in the top tower, I found the "rails" in the tower to come up only to my knees. This climb and view is not for the faint of heart or those fearful of heights. When I asked Diego if he would join me in the tower he quickly replied "No sir, I am afraid."

The terrain of the Historical Old Town is like a bowl. There is a high point at the Basilico leading down to a flat part at The Plaza Grande. This main square houses the Presidential Complex which essentially surrounds the Plaza Grande. We were lucky enough to view a memorial service in honor of a previous conflict with the Spaniards decades ago.

Our next stop was a church, La Compania de Jesus, that was constructed by the Spaniards using 7 tonnes of gold! This certainly captured our attention. Every square inch of the place is covered with a 23-karat gold laminate. Perhaps even more impressive is the art collection. As a confirmed Roman Catholic I was also thrilled to see that my confirmed sponsor saint, Ignatius of Loyola, was one of the inspirations for the church. This is not surprising as Ignatius was a main leader of the Jesuits. As an aside, Ignatius was very scholarly and well respected as an educational authority, authoring many volumes during his life. I chose him for this reason, as the patron Saint to guide me through my life.

After completing our tour of the main Old Town we then proceeded to one of the highest points in Quito, el Panecillo. This 45 meter tall monument of the madonna is apparently the only one in the world with wings. From the Apocalypse, the image of a virgin with a serpent at the feet, is an image that was reproduced here in Quito in 1976. This is a very important monument in Quito, symbolizing not only the religious icon, but however the progressive art culture here in the 70's. Here we are standing at the foot of the monument at 9300 feet.

We returned to the New Town for lunch before venturing out into the area surrounding the hotel. Here is where the amateur travel writer in me came to life. I was severely disappointed by the coverage of this very excellent part of Quito. The main avenue in front of our hotel is the southern border of the New Town and also lies several blocks south of the Mariscal, also known as Gringolandia (or, roughly translated, White Tourist District). I am therefore not interested in Mariscal outside of a few compelling restaurants. I want to be where the locals are, and that is New Town.

Our part of the New Town, I have discovered, is where the upper echelon of Quito dine and drink. This was not evident to me in any of my readings on Quito. Prices are more in line with those back home, for mid-range meals, so still a discount, given the area. We explored a side street, Isabela de Catholica, and found a great number of converted houses that are now cafes and restaurants. This is where doing a little bit of smart exploration in a new city pays huge dividends. Further down October 12th Street we found some very nice 5-star hotels and also a SuperMaxi grocery store that would rival any of ours back home. This has changed our view of Quito and also our recommendations for where to stay and eat while here. For those seeking more American 5 -star accomodations, I recommend the Swissotel. The Hotel Quito is nice, if you get a renovated room. Also the price, at our discounted rate of $57 per night is probably a 60-75% discount to the Swissotel.

Hotel Quito has an excellent restaurant with 5+ star food for 3 star prices. Tonight I had a beautifully presented shrimp dish in a fried plantain basket with salad for $9. I have also sampled the house red wine, a Malbec from Argentina, for the reasonable price of $4.50 per glass.

Here in the New Town of Quito you can get absolutely anything you want, from North American groceries, to local produce, to International cuisine.

Did You Know: The New Town is only about 40 years old despite Quito being in existence for hundreds of years. The reason? Oil exports to the USA in the 70's and 80's brought business and, of course, money to the area, leading to expansion, and perhaps more importantly leading to a need to cater to international guests.

Day 9: The Equator and Quito, Ecuador

Our first full day in Quito began with an early breakfast before heading out to Le Mitad to Mundol, or The Center of the World.

We hired a driver, named Diego, who will be with us for the rest of our time in the Quito area. For about $15 per hour you can have a driver take you anywhere you want to go and will wait for you. Driving is... well, not recommended down here unless you are thinking 2 moves ahead of the drivers around you, have nerves of steel and are really aggressive. Not many of you out there qualify, believe me. I sure don't.

We made the 45 minute journey north to the Equator and first stopped at the "real" equator line. The French Academic Society I referenced in a previous "Did You Know" section, came close to the actual equator. Until we invented GPS. Once GPS arrived, many tourists were pointing East to the actual 0'00 line. Sure enough, they missed the mark by about 250 meters. Not bad for the 1700's but not close enough for today's tourist armed with GPS on almost every cell phone.

Fortunately there is a little museum featuring native culture as it applies to worship of the sun, that just happens to lie on the true equator. Now this is the place where the 0'00 line is. Sadly, the Ecuadorians built a huge monument on the "old" equator. Our first picture is from about 50 feet up at what I call The Equator Theme Park. The next is on the "real" line.

Our tour guide was a nice college student who spoke excellent English, well enough to catch my witty one-liners and laugh. Now that is rare. Normally you get the blank stare and a polite smile.

Our 45 minute tour included a great deal of information about the indigenous cultures in the region and how that applies to the location of the equator and the sun. It is actually pretty neat to see the sun directly above you, pretty much straight up. The Spring solstice is the time when you do not have a shadow while standing on the Equator. For about 2 minutes at noon on that day.

We also visited a large volcanic crater, however some clouds decided to pass by, and since we are 8000 feet, the clouds were at eye level. Therefore we could not see the 6km wide crater. The pictures look nice though.

Upon returning to Quito we had a late lunch (for us) at 2pm, though this is the peak time for lunch in Ecuador. The picture posted is a traditional dish called Cebiche. I chose Cebiche Caramon, which has shrimp in it. Cebiche is like a soup, with the broth flavored with Cilantro and other spices. I kicked it up with some of the hot sauce you see off to the right. Cebiche also comes with Popcorn and Plantain chips. That's just the appetizer. I had the Chicken Fajitas Ecuadorian style. These are pretty much the same as what we have but all of the garnishes are fresh organic produce and the chicken was seasoned like none I have ever tasted. Muy bien!

The final picture of the day comes from the 3rd floor of the Hotel Quito, overlooking the pool and the valley off in the distance. Quito has such great views. Very unique, though they do remind of San Francisco.

How to build Quito from a model of the Bay Area, by Jamie Powers: First remove the bridges and fill in the Bay with land and buildings. Connect The City and Sausalito with a ridge, and raise these peaks to 11000 feet. On the Oakland side, push the Berkeley Hills in a mile closer and raise these peaks to various heights ranging from 7000 to 12000 feet. The main part of Quito would be where The Bay was and the rest of the city built up on the slopes. For those of who familiar with The Bay Area, I hope you now have a clear view of what Quito is like.

The weather here is currently in the rainy season. Fog rolls in at night with occasional showers. Morning begins with fog burning off by 9am, and clear/partly cloudy skies until around 1pm. The afternoon clouds roll in and typically there is light rain at some point in the afternoon. This again clears out for a few hours before sunset, when the fog rolls in and we start the cycle again. Temperatures start around the high 40s and top out in the mid 60s by the afternoon.

Our basic itinerary now is morning-weighted to catch the nicer weather. We will tour the Historic Old Town tomorrow and then take a day trip up to Otovalo on Saturday.

Did you know: Quito is the 2nd highest capital in the world (at 9,500 feet). 1st place also belongs to South America, La Paz, Bolivia (13,000 feet). The highest major city in the US is Denver at 5183 feet, however there are over 200 towns with higher elevation in the US, most with sparse population.

Day 8: Quito, Ecuador - Part 2: Views from Above

After this morning's "best of the coast" update we proceeded to the airport for the short flight to Quito. We experienced a travel delay of about 90 minutes due to aircraft mechanical issues. Our aircraft this time was a Dornier 328, which is a twin-prop very similar to the Bombardier Dash-8. Once airborne our flight time to Quito was about 40 minutes.

The first picture is just above Manta minutes after take-off. The turquoise waters were absolutely stunning to see set against the coast line with mountains in the distance. Again, I can only hope my iPhone camera captured this effectively for all of you readers.

Cloudy skies prevailed for most of the flight, and continued once we arrived in the Quito area. The temperature is now 60 degrees instead of the 80s on the coast. It has been great to see all of the different geographical variations that Ecuador has to offer.

The next picture shows just how big these mountains are and how high up in the Andes we are. The rather large peak off in the distance is a good representation of the terrain up here. As we arrive into Quito you can see how the city is built in a valley and up the sides of the surrounding mountains. As I wrote last time we were here (a week ago), this place reminds me of San Francisco, only more dramatic in elevation changes and of course no San Francisco Bay or Golden Gate Bridge to speak of. The Quito airport is cruelly placed right in the middle of the city. You just don't see this in North America. Flying into the city is quite an experience as we dust the tops of many high rise buildings. This is actually a major safety hazard, and this airport would not be allowed to function in North America. The buffer zone around this airport does not exist whereas our airports have a substantial buffer zone. The new airport is nearly finished and will be placed at a lower altitude and 15 miles to the east of the city.

We returned to the Hotel Quito for our second stay, this time for 5 nights. The picture is from the balcony of the 5th floor room at Hotel Quito. We are in the "new" town which has a number of hotels, restaurants and bars. We are just north of the Historic Old Town which we plan to visit over the coming days.

Did you know: The current Quito International Airport is located at an altitude of 2,850 meters above sea level and its runway is only 3,120 meters long, therefore larger airplanes can only take off with 60% of their maximum capacity.

Day 8: Manta, Ecuador - Part 1: The Best of Ecuador's Coast in Pictures

As we depart the coast today, here is what I consider a good set of pictures to capture the essence of our time here. There are so many images in my mind that are not captured in pictures, from twisting mountain road drives leading to scenic vistas of the coastline from high above, to beautiful sunsets into the Pacific Ocean. These past 7 days have been some of the most memorable for myself in terms of travel experience! I hope you have enjoyed following us up the coast, for now we head into the Andes and Ecuador's capital, Quito.

Day 7: Manta, Montecristi and San Lorenzo, Ecuador

Day 7 began in Manta early as we proceeded to view the fresh fish market on Manta's harbor. We were a little late to the party at around 8:30am since most of the business is conducted between 6 and 8am. However a number of stalls were still open and there was still some action going on. In our first picture of the day we can see our friend here creating large steaks of some kind of fish. We confirmed it was not tuna. Right beside the sales stalls there are a number of small stands that provide fresh fish meals for very low cost. All of the local restaurants purchase their fish from this market. Having been to Pike Street in Seattle, I can say this fish market is way bigger, but a little rougher around the edges. But let me say these guys can carve a large fish with a machete with artisan skill.

Before leaving for Montecristi we walked a few paces down the road to watch large boats being made by hand out of wood. These are pretty cool to see and the picture below shows a relatively finished product.

Montecristi sits half way up a hill just 15 minutes outside of Manta. We entered the shop below in search of Panama hats. This shop was featured in a segment by The Early Show, live from the main square in Montecristi. We know this because the shop worker showed us the VHS. These hats are all hand woven and have different degrees of quality which are directly proportional to the price. We picked some along the middle of the road. The price listed was $80, and we paid $60. Back in the US you can expect to pay anywhere from $200-300 for a similar hat. So buy them here. I practiced my golf swing in the shop to see if the hat would stay on my head. Success. Now I will open a new chapter in my golf career by wearing my Panama hat, unless my first round is over 100 then the hat stays of the golf course. We golfers are weird that way.

Ho hum, another beautiful and picturesque drive south along the coast to San Lorenzo. The scenery on these drives is just spectacular yet we are getting accustomed to the beauty a little bit. I feel like I should take a billion pictures, but my iPhone would probably quit and go back to the States. Today is our last day on the Ecuadorian Pacific Coast. Tomorrow we head back to Quito into the Andes. So we go from ocean to mountains.

Tonight we are having a grill out at our host's place here in Manta. What a nice gesture from our friends at Ecuadorean Coastal Properties. Tomorrow I will post pictures from the dinner.

Did you know: Ecuador is one of the largest exporters of tuna in the world. Maybe that is why my sashimi was as fresh as I have ever tasted.