Ecuador by www.born2travel.it

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08. 03. 2015 Quito (ECUADOR)

[Stefy]: 'We land at one forty at night in Quito from Lima.

The family who will host us even come to pick us up at the airport despite the hour!

We arrive at their home at 03.20 in the morning and Edmundo, who speaks perfect Italian, suggests we spend the following day all together... we could go to Otavalo!

We gladly accept... departure at 07.30! Four hours later!'

09. 03. 2015 Quito (ECUADOR)

[Stefy]: 'Otavalo is famous for its handicraft market... it is two hours by car to the north, and along the way we also pick up Ryan, an American guy who had been their guest a month earlier and who now worked, as a volunteer, on a farm in the province of Iribarra.

The market is very characterful and we lose ourselves among the colourful stalls of fabrics and carved masks.

10. 03. 2015 Quito (ECUADOR)

[Stefy]: 'No set alarm today!

After so many days we really needed it!

In 15 minutes by bus we reach Playon de la Marin and from there the old town of Quito.

In the Plaza de Independencia we are drawn by the harmony of a musical band; we go closer and watch the changing of the guard in front of the Palacio del Gobierno, complete with the President of the Republic waving from his terrace!

Wandering about we end up in one of the many little eateries for locals and for two dollars and a half we eat a soup, chicken in sauce with vegetables and rice, and papaya...

A lady shows us an excellent 'fruteria', 'Jugos de la Sucre', behind the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, where we eat an excellent fruit salad and various natural juices of carrot and orange. That is why we love letting ourselves be guided by the local people. Only that way can you really get to know a place!

We roam about all day with no aim, stopping wherever we like, savouring this city with its colonial charm, its pastel-coloured buildings and its helpful, smiling people.'

11. 03. 2015 Banos (ECUADOR)

The alarm goes off very early at Jimena's, it is 05.25, but that is the price to pay if you want to live in a quiet area on the outskirts of the capital and work in the centre!

The day is a little gloomy and Quito, covered by a light mist, seems to us even more sombre!

Three hours by bus southwards, crossing mountain passes up to 3100 metres, take us to this little town not far from the Amazon rainforest, where we will spend a few days relaxing.

Banos is a town of about 18000 souls in an idyllic position in a valley of lush vegetation on the slopes of the Tungurahua volcano (5016 metres), which in the early 2000s frightened its inhabitants so much with its sudden heating-up that an imminent eruption was feared!

13. 03. 2015 Quito (ECUADOR)

Today we return to Quito, leaving behind this Amazonian landscape and returning to colonial history in three hours by bus.

The Central terminal is packed with people and we have quite a struggle to catch a 'trolebus' to the centre.... In the end, crammed in like sardines, we reach Plaza Santo Domingo and our hotel.

We leave everything and plunge into the Ecuadorian capital!

[ to be continued: ]