Day 14 – EQ515 from UIO to LIM
We’re experiencing heavy turbulence on our flight from Quito, Ecuador, to Lima, Peru, and the weird lady one row ahead of us must have thought, „it’s just about the right time to unpack my make-up and get ready for Lima“…
Well, for us it’s time to reflect on this day, which has been full of sightseeing in Quito. The first, rather odd experience we have had today was with the Uber driver. Wanting to go to the monument at the equator called „Mitad del Mundo“ in Quito („Middle of the World“) I must have selected the wrong destination because the Uber driver (stereotypically, he was called Juan Carlos, of course) went off to a completely different direction, taking us north and out of the city. Eventually we became worried and asked where he would be taking us – in my imagination he would kick us out of the car and steal all of our valuables, leaving us behind in a remote area where no one would care about us…
Travel Hacks
How to get to Mitad del Mundo in Quito
But our Uber driver Juan Carlos simply explained that if we wanted to go to the monument, it’s about 18 kilometers. The restaurant with the same name „Mitad del Mundo“ would have been the one I had chosen. So he turned out to be everything but dishonest. Now we felt safe we asked him if he could also take us back to town.
Julia
After having explored the site around the monument (USD 5.00 entrance fee per person, USD 3.00 parking, should you need it – well worth it, there are numerous shops, a planetarium and an exhibition inside the monument), we were heading to the historic center of Quito. I found it to be very beautiful, although the altitude (Quito is about 2,700 meters above sea level) combined the constant up-hill and down-hill walking was exhausting.
Juan Carlos dropped us off at San Francisco church. Even if you don’t have much time, make sure you visit it and have a look inside. This is absolutely stunning: the decorations were nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Unfortunately tourists aren’t allowed to take any pictures, not even without flash, so I can’t show anything. I’ve a bunch of catholic churches that I can compare it to all over the world and this was jaw-dropping.
We wandered back to our hotel through the historic district and finally visited the artisanal market, stuffed with Alpaca clothes, memorabilia, hats, and jewelry – Daniel was thrilled… Not.
JW Marriott Hotel Quito: Ecuadorian hospitality
When we arrived at the hotel, we were invited to their lounge again, although we had checked out already. At times it pays off to stay in a hotel almost every week, just to receive some special treatment like this. 🙂
Finally, when we tried to check in and get rid of our luggage at Quito airport, we were told that Daniel’s passport number is identical with mine, so his reservation would need to be changed. Great, add another 20 dollars and 41 cents to our total bill, because this is the cost of having this little detail changed. The 15 minute waiting time at the counter for the attendant to do so comes for free…
I wonder if we will have time tonight or rather fall asleep when we arrive at the hotel. I’d like to have at least one Pisco Sour before going to bed… Fingers crossed!
// great service, very kind staff: JW Marriott Quito
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