Around Quito’s old town

I woke around 0300 in Quito (around 1000 Madrid) and dozed till 0530 when I thought I could use my time productively.  I did a few things on my to-do list that had been postponed for a few times before breakfast at 0800.

We headed out at 0930 for a little wander before joining the free walking tour at 1030.  The guide took us to a few places of interest in the old town and told us a fair bit of Ecuadorian pre-history and history.  While knowledgeable and informative, he didn’t have the charisma of some of the best guides we’ve had. So, nothing much stuck in my head.

We visited the Iglesia San Francisco, built by the Franciscan order.  It was free to enter and was absolutely stunning with the gilded everything.  The guide explained that the Iglesia de Compania de Jesus (built by the Jesuits) was twice as stunning and we paid (literally USD5) a visit after the free walking tour.  It was bigger and more gilded than the other church.  Sadly, both churches do not permit photography inside.

One interesting observation during the tour were the local buses here. I’m used to seeing the “bendy” buses made up of two halves joined together.  But despite the narrow windy streets of old Quito, we saw a few that were made up of three parts!  Wow!  The drivers must be very skilled.

We had a good lunch at a local fast-food style place that did milanesa, grilled chicken etc, near Plaza Independencia.  It was an awesome meal for us as at 1400, we were famished since our tummies were on 2100 Madrid time.

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Back at the hotel around 1500, we were feeling sleepy and I wasn’t very motivated for the rest of the afternoon.  We skipped dinner and had some muesli and milk before retiring early again.  I find westbound travel very easy, even with time change of around 5h which is still a piece of cake.  This time with a westbound time change of 7h, I’m feeling the tiredness a little.