More of Quito

After breakfast we took Uber to TeleferiQo and then ascended by the cable car to the summit.  It was higher than Mount Cook in New Zealand and similar to Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia.  But here it was effortless in a cable car.

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We took a short walk and enjoyed the view before returning down by a minivan for USD5.  We realised later that the Uber driver had kept the “meter” running and we were charged USD26 for more than 2h of travel.  I submitted an e-form and promptly saw this revised to less than USD4.

Having asked to be dropped off in the city centre, we picked the Carmen Alta Monastery (Convent) as our only museum to visit and it turned out to be a great choice.  The Carmelite convent had been very nicely restored and we were given an English guided tour for USD1 pp top of the entrance fee of USD2 pp.

We saw aspects of nun’s lives eg. kitchen, cell, craftwork, prayer but the highlight was the display of the Assumption of Virgin  Mary.  She lay in bed, assumed by two angels, surrounded by Jesus’ disciples.  It was an awesomely (a word I don’t use lightly) beautiful scene.

We decided on repeating yesterday’s lunch place and it didn’t disappoint.  The meals were good and so were the juices (eg. soursop, naranjilla, strawberry).

It was too early to return to our room so we walked to the gothic Basílica del Voto Nacional.  Groundbreaking took place in 1892 and it was consecrated in 1988 despite technically considered unfinished.  Inside, the stained glass windows were gorgeous.

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On the way back, we stumbled upon a tour company and we checked on the possibility of last minute cruises in Galapagos.  The lady was super-helpful, more so than the people at Community Hostel on this subject.  While we couldn’t take up any of her offers, we decided it would be nice to use her for our airport transfer tomorrow for USD25 (USD5 cheaper than out hotel’s pricing).

We also dropped into an English bookshop.  The guys had seen me outside and said they thought I was about to beat someone up.  Little ole me?  I did have a new t-shirt that was rather tight or maybe I had my bad face on.

After a rest, we ventured out for a simple dinner.  It was our first dinner in Ecuador, having skipped dinners the last two nights.  Looking for the ATM later, we came across a protest in the nearby square.  With the barricades, we gave up and returned to our room.