Crossing the Colombia-Ecuador border overland took me seven-and-a-half hours. Next to me, tourists were ready to write off the country there and then. Yet despite this backdrop of festering frustration, I fell for Quito almost immediately.
After arriving very late the night before, I woke in the capital on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning. As in Bogota, many of the city’s streets close on Sundays to encourage people to jump on their bikes. So like any good Quiteno, I hopped onto the saddle and explored the city’s parks. On weekends they are a hive of activity, full of food vendors, artists and street performers. La Carolina is the most popular park in the capital and boasts an excellent botanical garden. It also plays host to numerous games of extremely competitive volleyball matches.
The city is laid out across a narrow valley, giving visitors great views of the capital from several viewpoints, including the Virgin Mary statue and the Basilica del Voto Nacional. While walking to the former is considered dangerous, the climb to the top of the Basilica is much more straightforward and costs only $2.
Two alternative places to see the skyline are Itchimbia Park and the TelefériQo (cable car). Photo enthusiasts will find the famous ‘Quito’ sign in Itchimbia Park, yet the biggest incentive to climb the stairs towards the park is to enjoy the views from one of the three restaurants on the road nearby. We went to Cafe Mosaico to see dusk fall. The TelefériQo costs $8.50 and is the second highest cable car in the world, rising from 3,117 m to 3,945m. From the top, adventurous hikers can start climbing to the top of Volcano Pichincha – a further 840m up.
Unsurprisingly, Quito is surrounded by peaks to climb. Arguably the most famous of these is Cotopaxi. Situated 55km from the city, at 5,897m it is the third highest active volcano in the world. On a day tour I hiked to the volcano’s snow line – 5,000m above sea level – and cycled back down into the valley below.
Many tourists don’t stay in Quito long before heading off to see Ecuador’s other attractions. However, the capital was one of the world’s first two cities to be declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site and deserves to be regarded as much more than a place to pass through. For me at least, it was certainly worth the wait.
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