This morning was the same as yesterday’s morning routine. After breakfast the Mum called me a taxi and I went to the bus stop. Luckily a bus was passing by at the same time so I jumped on, literally as it didn’t stop with all my bags hanging out the door, found a seat and headed back to Quito. I went straight back to the Secret Garden hostel and checked in. I was given the same bed as before I left and the room was full but with a whole bunch of new people. I grabbed some of the shopping I bought earlier in the week and went to the post office. It was a lengthy process to send stuff home but I got there in the end. It only cost a small fortune, but one less thing to worry about for the rest of my trip.
From there I headed straight over to the Presidential Palace and this time got to walk up to the entrance. I still couldn’t work out how you actually got on a tour so I asked a tour guide that was passing by with two English tourists how you get to go inside. She told me where to go and what to do. So I headed over to the other side of the building and through hand signals the two Military Police said I would be on the next tour, which was a 25min wait. I decided to stay at the front of the line and it started to rain so the MP let me stand inside under cover. Then they tried to talk to me so I got my phrase book out and they went through the dictionary trying to find things to ask me. We went through the usual questions: are you married, how old are you, where do you live, and what do you do? They were quite entertaining; although I think they got into trouble because someone senior came out and ordered them inside. These two Ecuadorian girls who were in the line with me by that stage were in fits of laughter saying they thought I t was funny watching these two military personnel flirting with the white tourist and then being relieved by two more attentive police who were to police who comes and goes through the gate.
The tour went for an hour and half and it was all in Spanish. We had to leave our passports behind, go through metal scanners and then had a photo taken on the steps of the Palace. I had my photo taken with Claudia and her cousin, the two Ecuadorian girls in the line with me. The Palace has some lovely artefacts in it and is quite grand. I am fairly certain it is where the President lives. At the end they gave everyone a copy of their photo. I let the girls have our copy as it meant more to them than it did to me.
From there I walked to the Basilica and walked up three of the towers. It’s a fairly narrow walkway in some places and a bit dodgy but it was worth it from the top. Great 360⁰ views over Quito. After that, I headed over into the new town area looking for somewhere to eat. I found a chicken fast food place and after working out on the menu what I was going to have, they didn’t have it when I ordered it. So I left and kept walking. The next place I came to was KFC, so I had that. It started raining quite heavily while I was there so I waited for it to ease off a bit before heading back to the hostel, where I repacked my bag and went to bed.
Things noted whilst in Quito:
1. There are sunglass shops everywhere, yet I’ve not seen a single person wear a pair of sunglasses;
2. There are clocks on every building and important street corner, yet not one has the correct time;
3. Ecuadorians are really short;
4. It’s a city perfect for people who love fruit juice and yoghurt;
5. Everyone dresses assuming its going to rain, regardless of how hot it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment