Last Stop: Quito

The last stop on the parentals-and-Jordan vacation was the capitol, Quito. Quito’s a thriving city running the length of a valley that’s very high up in the Andes mountains. Because of the extreme altitude and narrow airspace (the airport is in the middle of the city), pilots have to have a special license to fly in and out of here. At least, that’s what I’ve been told; thus far I’ve found no corroborating evidence. What I did find was this excellent picture illustrating the airport itself and how it's situated in the city.

"Mariscal Sucre International Airport (IATA: UIO, ICAO: SEQU) is an airport in Quito, Ecuador, named after Antonio José de Sucre, a hero of Ecuadorian and Latin American independence. It began operations in 1960, and currently handles about 3.9 million passengers and 125,000 metric tons of freight per year. The airport, one of the highest located in the world (at 2800 meters AMSL) is located in the northern part of the city, in the Chaupicruz parish, within 5 minutes of Quito's financial center; the terminals are located at the intersection of Amazonas and La Prensa avenues."
-Courtesy of pilotoutlook.com

The good news is, a much larger airport is currently being built in a much more open area east of the city. The bad news is, this means yet another cab ride once your plane lands there.

Quito, unlike Cuenca, is so big that public transportation and taxi cabs are not an option, they’re a must. But if taking cabs five and six times a day was the worst part of visiting the city, we had it pretty good. It’s all part and parcel of getting to be a tourist for a few days – which I highly enjoyed.

One of the touristy things we did was take a day trip north to see some sights and visit the famous market at Otavalo. This place will bowl you over with the sheer variety and display of colors. Brightly woven blankets, sweaters, and scarves of wool and alpaca hair; paintings of every conceivable shape and size; purses and shoulder bags, woven or of leather; hand puppets; carved gourds; handcrafted jewelry; dolls; hats; and the list goes on. The stalls fill the square and filter into the side streets. This is the most famous indigenous market in Ecuador, and every Saturday and Sunday it is in full swing, with handicrafts in the square and food stalls lining the perimeter. Gringos stroll down the aisles, and the vendors invite them in. Then follows a whole song and dance based on eye contact, concealed interest, studious perusal of wares, and price haggling. There’s no better place to go to learn how to bargain, and you’ll probably learn the hard way (i.e., by overpaying and finding out later).

The people of Otavalo do not shop here, making their purchases instead closer to the source of the product. On the whole, they are a wealthy and well traveled people. As our tour guide told us, “You could meet an Otavalan anywhere in the world – but in the end, they always come home.” And when they return, they shed their travel clothes and don traditional dress. Otavalo is known for being one of the last big cities where residents still regularly wear traditional outfits, one of which can cost $120-$180, depending on the quality.

[Above are hammocks for sale]

An interesting fact: Because alpaca hair is so fine, it requires special machinery to be processed into weavable material. In the United States you will find alpaca hair, but only ever raw or homespun. This is because the North American alpaca industry lacks the volume of animals to justify the cost of such processing, whereas in South America (notably Peru and Ecuador), you will find all manner of goods woven from alpaca hair. It’s a very lucrative business, as much of these products are exported or sought after by tourists from the north. I didn’t make this up. It came straight out of the mouth of an alpaca farmer from Georgia, USA. No joke. I found myself sitting next to her waiting for a flight that turned out to be delayed until about 4am; I learned a lot about alpaca farming.

But I digress.

Back to being a tourist in Quito. The Old Town is one part of the city that requires a full day of lazy wandering punctuated by coffee & dessert breaks. That is, assuming you don’t get caught in the rain as we did. There is a lot to see, from historic homes to churches to museums to plazas, and the best way to take it all in is step by step.

The morning we spent there happened to be Father’s Day, which is more widely celebrated in Ecuador than in the US. We were pleasantly surprised to arrive to a dance festival featuring performances from various peoples around the country.

Above are some performers from the Sierran province of Azuay, where Cuenca is located.

Below are pictures of some sort of Spanish-influenced dance involving much twirling of skirts and handkerchiefs, followed by a performance in celebration of the harvest by one of the Oriente peoples.

And now, please humor me: I know there are lots of churches in the world, but I am still going to mention one here because of its direct contrast to the church we visited in Biblián (the one where the mountain forms one wall of the church). La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús is one of the most oft-visited churches in Quito. Here is a picture of it:

Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what is outside, but what is inside that counts. (Name that movie.)

Directly you walk inside those doors, you wonder if you’ve walked into a gigantic treasurebox. Or maybe you’ve shrunk, you’ve fallen down the rabbithole, it's actually you who are tiny, and you are in a normal-sized treasurebox. What I mean is, This church is molded, plastered, and carved to within an inch of its life – and then gilt in gold leaf to top it off.

Pictures don’t do it justice; you just have to walk inside and see it yourself. It's beautiful. There are so many comments I could make about this particular church being named “The Jesus Company” or “The Jesus Society”…but I will refrain.

Thank you for humoring me. And now, for a breath of fresh air.

A great way to get oriented to the city is to get a good view from up top. So, up we go.

Up the teleférico.

And over here to the left – er, north – we’ve got the Nevado Cayambe, the snowcapped mountain on the right hand side of the picture. During training, that is what I saw every morning when I stepped out of the house and looked down the street.

From up here, you can see two snowcapped peaks as well as the Volcano Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.

Below, in all its smog and glory, lies Quito.

Four days and sixty cab rides later, we were spent. Time for the parents to head back stateside, and time for me to go simmer in the Guayaquil heat. But there’s always time for one last meal with family before parting ways. Buen provecho, y'all.