Post 75: Capital to Capital, and thoughts on Colombia

Fellow adventurers,

I'm not sure how we'll be sleep this evening, as we've arrived during the week long celebration of the Founding of Quito.  Live Ecuadorian folklore music, and fireworks abound on the streets surrounding us.  You're probably wondering why we're not out celebrating as well, but with a daily itineraries and plentiful celebrations throughout the weekend, we need our rest.  These streets can be quite dangerous at night from what we have heard, and we'd like to become more familiar with our surroundings in the day time before venturing out in the evening.

It's a good evening to reminisce on our time in Colombia.  Our last night in Bogota, we had a simple dinner and had a little bit of money left to use before our departure.  Even in the lovely La Candelaria district in which we stayed, the streets are not safe come dusk.  Many businesses close early, and the few establishments that stay open keep their doors locked.  Wanting dessert, we found an artsy cafe across the street from our guesthouse.  After being allowed in, we ordered 2 sweet dishes, coffee and hot chocolate.  Our friendly waitress brought out was some bitter, grassy tasting, fresh from the cows utter hard cheese; paired with a mix of jelly like fruits.  The cheese was too strong for my taste, and the jellies too sweet.  The cake we were brought was very thick, and moist with bits of nuts.  Quite tasty, but sweet.  It was our waitresses sister's birthday, so there was a party being held in the cafe on her behalf.  We were given complimentary hot drinks; a mix of aguardiente, panella (sugarcane water) and a juice I'm unsure of served in a wineglass.  Yum!  Gavin and I also enjoyed complimentary pork, red pepper and lentils rolled and fried, served with sour cream.  Quite a treat!

I enjoyed my time in Colombia.  The people were quite ingenuitive.  We didn't see many beggers, but instead those selling simple everyday items, singing on busses, or putting on street shows for example.  We were less often approached to make a contribution, yet were more willing to make one because it was not expected.  Many people were joyous and wanted to share that with you.  I felt safe a majority of the time spent there.  The food was often a crap shoot, but that comes with immersing yourself in another's culture.  I think Colombia, regarding tourism, will be quite popular in the future.

T'was another long day of transit. At the airport, we were informed we needed a departing reservation (thankfully which we weren't required to purchase) out of Ecuador for the authorities when we arrived. This delayed us a little longer but we managed to make it to the gate right on time for our departure. When we arrived in Quito, we waited for what seemed like forever in the Migrations line. After much traffic and a couple close accidents, we made it to our lodging until around dusk. We pulled some money out of a local ATM and stored it away in our room before eating some Punjabi Indian food for dinner.

We will spend the next few days here in Quito before heading south to Banos and then eventually the Peruvian border to catch our flight next weekend. Our plans for the city are pretty loose, but we are set on some ideas for what to do. Among them are seeing the "Mitel del Mundo", another football match, eating local cuisine, biking around town, and yet another cable car. The Teleferico here is the 2nd highest in the world and we have yet to tire of these adventurous rides.

Much more to come.

June y Gavin