Quito

The view of the Basilica from my hotel

As the sun sets the Basilica lights up

Changing of the guards and President Correa

View of hill called Panecillo with the Virgin statue from my room

view of the Virgin statue from my hotel

Here are some photos taken from my hotel.  Quito has lots of hills and I feel like so many of the hotels are on hills.  I have stayed at, at least 4 hotels in Quito.  Two of them were on very steep hills.  But the hills also means there are many good views.  Quite a few of the hotels have nice roof decks like the Secret Garden in Old Town but is also on a bit of a hill.

Panecillo is a nice hike up.  It only took us 20 minutes and is pretty straight forward. We did not bring our cameras cause they said there have been many robberies there but it seemed OK.  Just be aware when going up. There are police stationed at the bottom of the stairs and the top.  A taxi ride they told us would be about $2 from Old Town to the top or vice versa.  

Today I was walking by Independence plaza and I saw a large crowd had gathered and found out they have the changing of the guards. So I stayed to watch but didnt have my camera with me.  President Correa came out for it.  After a while I left and got my camera but you couldnt see the president anymore though I think he was still there.

Quito, teleferico

Yesterday we went to Panecillo, a statue of the virgin on a hill. We walked there, the guide books say there are many robberies so not to bring much money or camera so we left our cameras at the hotel but we didnt see anything that looked to bad.  There were other people walking around so I think its becoming safer.  Its maybe a 20 minute walk and tourist police were at the bottom of the stairs and at the top. It was a nice view and inside the statue is a museum and you can walk up a few flights of stairs to have a view from the top of the statue. We also went to the City Museum after.  Then went to la ronda a cute street with lots of bars, cafes and restaurants which is right by our hotel. 

Went to the teleferico today. The ride up takes about 10 minutes and has a nice view point.  We did the 3 hour hike to the top of Rucu Pichincha. Which is 4,696 meters.  I have no pictures of the view from the top because it was completely cloudy so we had no view unfortunately. 

How to get there: We walked most of the way to the teleferico from the Santa Clara station on the Trolebus but then a taxi told us it was so far and it was all uphill when we got to the entrance and it was a few km. So we took the taxi but it wasnt far, it was uphill yes but I would have been fine to walk it.  There are buses that go to the entrance and different parts of town, the problem is that there are not hours.  We took the one back that goes to San Fransisco plaza and stops in front of the big hotel and passes through Santa Clara where we are staying.  The bus costs 1.50 and is a small van that says tourist van and has a small sign in front that says teleferico.   

made it to the top!

nice views on the walk back