Quito Ecuador
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Quito Ecuador: This is one of the above ground Metro stations. Articulated buses only stop at the stations and speed around town in dedicated lanes.


Quito Ecuador: This is the monument erected by the Ecuadorian Government to mark the location of the Equator.


Quito Ecuador: Looking across the spiral walkway in one of the major shopping malls near my hotels.


Quito Ecuador: Looking across Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Entrance to the Governors' House on Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: A farm workers union was holding a rally protesting the pending Free Trade Agreement with the United States in Plaza Grande.


Quito Ecuador: A farm workers union was holding a rally protesting the pending Free Trade Agreement with the United States in Plaza Grande.


Quito Ecuador: A farm workers union was holding a rally protesting the pending Free Trade Agreement with the United States in Plaza Grande.


Quito Ecuador: A farm workers union was holding a rally protesting the pending Free Trade Agreement with the United States in Plaza Grande. This group of police remained out of sight as they waited for possible trouble.


Quito Ecuador: A farm workers union was holding a rally protesting the pending Free Trade Agreement with the United States in Plaza Grande.


Quito Ecuador: Another shot of people enjoying Plaza Grande in Old Town where shoeshine boys find eager clients.


Quito Ecuador: The Independence Monument in the center of Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: The Independence Monument in the center of Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Traffic is light in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Pedestrians have the right of way in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Entrance to a church in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Looking up toward the city's landmark from a location in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Looking up toward the city's landmark from a location in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: On the grounds of the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World monument located at the equator.


Quito Ecuador: On the grounds of the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World monument located at the equator.


Quito Ecuador: This monument marks the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World. It sits exactly on the equator.


Quito Ecuador: This monument marks the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World. It sits exactly on the equator.


Quito Ecuador: Floral display in the lobby of the Hotel Dann Carlton Quito. This is the third Dann hotel I've used and they all maintain elaborate floral decorations.


Quito Ecuador: Entrance to the Hotel Dann Carlton Quito, my first lodge.


Quito Ecuador: View of the Hotel Akros with the Metro Station in the foreground.


Quito Ecuador: View from the window of my room in the Hotel Akros.


Quito Ecuador: View from the window of my room in the Hotel Akros showing one of the many planes that roared overhead night and day.


Quito Ecuador: Sculpture standing in front of the Best Western Plaza Hotel.


Quito Ecuador: Sculpture near the elevator on the ninth floor of the Plaza Hotel.


Quito Ecuador: Eat your heart out America. September 2005 Gas prices in Ecuador are half the current prices in the U.S.


Quito Ecuador: View from the ninth floor of the Plaza Hotel.


Quito Ecuador: View of the city from the penthouse restaurant of the Best Western Plaza Hotel where I spent my last night.

 

26 September 2005

Greetings from Quito Ecuador, 

On my way to the Galapagos Islands I stopped for eight days in Quito Ecuador and once again found a wonderful and affordable hotel, another in the Dann chain. Rarely do I find lodges with everything perfect, but this one came as close as any. The fact it sits under the flight path of the busy airport is a minor annoyance, but my diminished hearing dulls those potential irritations anyway. This place even has free high speed Internet access for guests and a wireless LAN available in the rooms. The business center has FrontPage installed so I have been able to get some long deferred work done on my websites and preliminary drafts of several books. After three nights I left early when the big boss decided without fan fair to increase the lower room rate I had negotiated with an underling on check-in. My second hotel a block from the first, Hotel Akros served well for two more nights, after which I again moved to the truly elegant Best Western Plaza to be closer to the airport and to take advantage of their low weekend rate. Quito sits at an altitude of 2850 meters, nearly 8000 feet and sometimes causes mild altitude "sickness," which in my case means a vague sense of malaise, unusual tiredness and "non-specific anxiety."  

Exploring "Old Town" revealed an early Spanish settlement beautifully maintained in its original colonial charm. There are so many magnificent churches and opulent haciendas it is easy to loose count. Cobblestone streets and multiple plazas interconnect a rabbit warren of mixed residential and commercial neighborhoods. The unique colonial city planning, or lack there of just adds to the exotic charm of the place. The old town is centered around the Plaza de la Independencia or Plaza Grande as it is known locally. Getting around the sprawling city is easy and most bus rides are a mere twenty five cents. Many streets bear names commemorating one date or another; I suspect all 365 days of the year have been taken. During one of my days poking around the old section of town I stumbled  on an anti-TLC rally sponsored by an agricultural workers union. TLC is the short Spanish acronym for the Free Trade Agreement being worked out between the United States and several South American countries. I saw  similar sentiments expressed in Colombian graffiti while in Popayan.  It took me a few hours of hearing a chirping every few minutes to discover the sound accompanies the green light at crosswalks. Interestingly, I never in all my watching saw a blind person in the city who might have appreciated the audible signal. Gas at the pumps is about half that being reported in the United States as I write this in September 2005.   

The "New Town" city center is situated between the historical area and the busy area of multiple shopping malls near the hotels I chose north of the city.  The major shopping areas are connected by an above ground "subway" system modeled after the technology pioneered in Curitiba Brazil. I remember being impressed with the efficiency of that system when I visited there 15 years ago. It has served as a model for many other cities in the world trying to solve their own inner city transportation problems. Double articulated buses speed through town in dedicated lanes stopping only at elevated boarding platforms where  passengers pay a quarter to ride as far as they wish. Like their underground counterparts in other parts of the world, Quito's popular rapid transit buses are crowded and people always find room to push into the already packed cars. 

Naturally, I made the pilgrimage up to Mitad del Mundo park exactly on the equator. Here at the Middle of the World the government has erected a huge monument to mark that important geographic line. One of my photos shows my right foot standing in the northern hemisphere and my left in the southern. How's that for straddling two worlds? 

Someone asked me what I packed for such a long trip. My bag is standard carry-on size soft luggage with padded shoulder straps that can be hidden in a zipper pocket for those times I want to enter a hotel looking respectable. I got it at a sports attire shop in Santa Barbara eight years ago. The Patagonia brand bag cost $250 at that time and though the company is still manufacturing a line of similar bags, I have been unable to find another one exactly like mine to replace my now well worn original. The main compartment opens completely for easy packing like an ordinary suitcase. It is made of heavy Nylon and loaded weighs about 20-30 pounds.  

I carry what I am wearing plus 3 shirts, a pair of dress pants for changing and 5 changes  of underwear (too many). I also carry a virtual pharmacy plus various other personal items like my Pocket PC, a down vest (recently needed), etc. I still feel like that is too much as anything that might be needed can usually be purchased along the way... with the exceptions of my so carefully selected bag and shoes. Bottom line for anyone contemplating the life of a twenty-first century vagabond, is take less than you think you will NEED! But, be sure  to take several means to get money and put backup copies of all vital documents including images of your credit cards on the Internet. 

Finished reading Aesop's Fables. I'd always thought the fables were for children. The introduction to this collection made it obvious they are not, and most were not even written 2500 years ago by Aesop who's name they bear. My research discovered Aesop to be another trouble maker like Socrates, suffering a similar fate. 

After eight days in Quito Ecuador I flew off to the islands which served as the inspiration for Darwin's insightful observations and controversial theory of evolution. 

Peace,
Fred L Bellomy

 

 

 


Quito Ecuador: Some of the Indians resting in the Plaza Grande.


Quito Ecuador: Diagram showing the layout of Carolina Park near the Hotel Dann Carlton.


Quito Ecuador: This is one of the above ground Metro stations. Articulated buses only stop at the stations and speed around town in dedicated lanes.


Quito Ecuador: Long articulated bus stopping at one of the above ground Metro stations, a very practical system.


Quito Ecuador: Looking into Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: A farm workers union was holding a rally protesting the pending Free Trade Agreement with the United States in Plaza Grande.


Quito Ecuador: Typical street scene in Old Town, a lottery ticket seller makes a sale.


Quito Ecuador: Icecream cone sellers in Old Town keep them cold on a block of dry ice.


Quito Ecuador: You are never far from an inviting sidewalk cafe in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Old Town is popular with foreign tourists and locals alike.


Quito Ecuador: Near the entrance to the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World monument located at the equator.


Quito Ecuador: This monument marks the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World. It sits exactly on the equator here in Quito.


Quito Ecuador: Iconic view of the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World identifying the exact location of the equator.


Quito Ecuador: Near the entrance to the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World monument located at the equator.


Quito Ecuador: This sculpture sits on the grounds of the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World.


Quito Ecuador: Near the entrance to the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World monument located at the equator.


Quito Ecuador: Floral display in the lobby of the Hotel Dann Carlton Quito. This is the third Dann hotel I've used and they all maintain elaborate floral decorations.


Quito Ecuador: View from the window of my room in the Hotel Akros.


Quito Ecuador: View from the window of my room in the Hotel Akros.


Quito Ecuador: View from the window of my room in the Hotel Akros looking down on one of the above ground rapid transit Metro Stations.


Quito Ecuador: View from the ninth floor of the Plaza Hotel.


Quito Ecuador: This sculpture marks the entrance to the Quito Airport.


Quito Ecuador: About nine buses like this every hour pass the Plaza Hotel on their way to the Quito Airport.

 

 


Quito Ecuador: My left foot is in the Southern hemisphere and my right is in the northern here at the Metec del Mundo... feeling a little schizophrenic.


Quito Ecuador: Looking across Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: One of the protestors demonstrating against the "Free Trade Agreement." Sadly, I don't really know the pro's and con's of the controversy yet.


Quito Ecuador: I couldn't resist snapping a picture of real school buses. As you may recall, old American school buses are widely used throughout Central America for public transportation. I guess the Darien Gap prevents them from being driven any further south.


Quito Ecuador: Looking down the spiral walkway in one of the major shopping malls near my hotels.


Quito Ecuador: San Francisco Plaza and its church in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Church steeple in the old historical part of the city.


Quito Ecuador: Looking into Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Entrance to the Governors' House on Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Another shot of people enjoying Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: The Independence Monument in the center of Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: The Independence Monument in the center of Plaza Grande in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Typical street scene in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Another church in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: This row of stone balls near a church in Old Town reminded me of the ancient stone balls found all over Costa Rica.


Quito Ecuador: Typical street scene in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Police protection is never far away in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Notice the huge statue on the hill in the background in this typical street scene of Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Some of the Indians resting in the Plaza Grande.


Quito Ecuador: Looking up toward the city's landmark from a location in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: Looking up toward the city's landmark from a location in Old Town.


Quito Ecuador: This monument marks the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World. It sits exactly on the equator marked by the yellow "lane divider" line on the pavement.


Quito Ecuador: This monument marks the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World. It sits exactly on the equator.


Quito Ecuador: This monument marks the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World. It sits exactly on the equator.


Quito Ecuador: Near the entrance to the Metec del Mundo or Middle of the World monument located at the equator.


Quito Ecuador: One of the paintings hanging in the lobby of the Hotel Dann Carlton Quito. This one depicts old Quito.


Quito Ecuador: Another of the paintings hanging in the lobby of the Hotel Dann Carlton Quito. This one depicts old Quito.


Quito Ecuador: A lion guards the entrance to the Hotel Dann Carlton Quito, my first lodge.


Quito Ecuador: Entrance to the Hotel Dann Carlton Quito, my first lodge.


Quito Ecuador: This sculpture graces the lobby of the Hotel Akros.


Quito Ecuador: Entrance to the Plaza Hotel, the third place I used in Quito.


Quito Ecuador: Sculpture near the elevator on the ninth floor of the Plaza Hotel. Photographer with his tiny 2 megapixel Philips GoGear digital camera visible in the mirror reflection. You can see why it attracts so much attention.


Quito Ecuador: This colorful sculpture marks the entrance to the Quito Airport.


Quito Ecuador: View from the ninth floor of the Plaza Hotel.


Quito Ecuador: View of the city from the penthouse restaurant of the Best Western Plaza Hotel where I spent my last night.


Quito Ecuador: View of the city from the penthouse restaurant of the Best Western Plaza Hotel where I spent my last night.


Quito Ecuador: While waiting for my flight to San Cristóbal Island I spotted the Santa Barbara Airline plane... a bit far south for a California company.

 

Reference photo: author
 August 2002
 

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