 |
| Quito 2018 |
16/01/2018
this day for me started with a visit in the Colombian Migration.
A small
throwback to when my 90 day of a tourist visa ran out – here in Colombia as a
European citizen you can enlarge the visa for another 90 online as one has 180
each year. In my case it worked out really well and I thought in 2018 I could
do the same – online – as I had other 180 days for 2018. And as I have an
occupation in a university here so I thought I won’t have to leave the country
for a day just to renew my visa. Well in the end it turned out to be like that - I had to leave Colombia within the next 36 hours, because if I didn’t, I’d have to pay a fine for not leaving the country on
time.
DAY 1:
 |
| El Santisimo was the most beautiful place of all |
 |
| Finally arrived on top and it is definitly worth all the stairs |
 |
| The very "safe" way to get to the tower |
After a wonderful and calm time in this impressive church that reminded me a lot on the Notre Dame, I went down to one of the main squares. After a small search for this central spot I encountered it thanks to the nice help of Ecuadorian police which makes the center of the city a very safe place.
 |
| Loved this sandwich!! |
 |
| Plaza de Independencia |
At around
3 p.m. I started my hop on hop off bus tour, that in the end wasn’t coined by a lot of
hopping, but more sitting on the upper deck of the bus to discover in the last
full 3h tour around the city. It was actually a very easy and fast way to get
to know the hotspots of Quito, including the La Virgen de El Panecillo, also
known as the Virgen de Quito. This statue is located on a hill in the middle of Quito qhich gives you a breathtaking panoramic view above the city. The tour
was very nice in the sense of taking us not only to the most important sightseeing
points but also letting us explore the hill for around 30 minutes before
continuing the trip. Around this are you can also find nice locals which are
selling all kinds of souviniers. Personally I really enjoy buying memories from
the places I’ve been to so some magnets and other cute stuff from Ecuador and
Quito couldn’t be missed.
The tour
costs $15 and if you want you are also able to buy tickets online at http://quitotourbus.com/quito-city-tour/
 |
| Gringo bus like in every city - PLUS Wifi |
 |
| The city showed itself from its best side with a rainbow |
 |
| La Virgen de El Panecillo |
 |
| Amazing Panorama photo of Quito I could take from the hill |
At night I
decided to go to Baños the next day. My hosts told me it is around 2,5h away so
I thought that is really doable considering I just had one day to go back and
forth.
DAY 2
My second
(proper) day in Ecuador I spend in the beautiful town Baños – a must do when
you’re in Ecuador. Different than my hosts expected it took me around 4h to get
to Baños as on the way the bus was stopping in a (felt) frequency of 10 minutes
to let out or pick up passengers on the way - Hello Welcome to South America. The positive side of taking the
bus was that taking buses in general in Ecuador is very cheap. For my 4 hour
trip I paid $4,50.
To arrive
as early as possible I arrived at the terminal at 5 a.m. and took the bus at
5:20. We arrived at Baños around 9 a.m. First thing at the terminal was a guy
offering me tours and bringing me to their agency. Normally I wouldn’t follow
such people right away but as I had no time to lose this was the best and
fastest option. They offered me a waterfall tour and the tour to the tree house
with the famous swings (Casa del Arbol). After lowering the price from $25 to
$20 with the argument that I take both tours with them
(#whatlivingincolombiataughtme) I figured I had one more hour to finally get a
breakfast and then start my first tour to the waterfalls.
My breakfast was
typical Ecuadorian: Fresh Mora (blackberry) juice, hot milk that I could either
make myself a coffee with milk or a hot chocolate with, “full grain” (integral)
bread with butter and jam and to round it up like in all northern south American
countries: scrambled egg.
3 hour Waterfall tour:
At 10 a.m.
I was ready to get on the Chiva – a common Ecuadorian and Colombian vehicle
that is decorated from the outside and is normally known as a party bus kinda
thing. In the last row I had a nice view to the back of the bus and I was
accompanied by a very friendly elderly Ecuadorian couple.
Our first
way went over a small bridge over the main river “Pastaza” which had a very
impressive view. After we continued the trip by going through a tunnel that led
us to a smaller waterfall that is supposed to make your hair grow faster –
sadly the weather was not on my side - too cold - but once I want longer hair I definitely
have to come back :D . Further down we encountered a rock that has the shape of
Jesus’ face – when touching the wall they told us you can make three wishes and
within the next years they will become true.
 |
| Can you see Jesus? |
On our way
to the next waterfall we had the opportunity to do zip lining for $10 – even though
I am like the most anxious person in the world I jumped over my shadow and did
it. For around 20 seconds I hung on a string more than 100m above the ground.
At first I was super scared but as the guy getting me ready really felt that he
just send me off fast than I could think about it twice and in the end I LOVED
IT!!!
 |
| I did it!! |
 |
| El Manto de la Novia |
Further on
the way we saw a waterfall called El Manto de la Novia which is a waterfall
of 60 meters height and which we could see a bit closer taking some sort of “cable
car” which in the end was actually more scary than the real zip lining I had
done before.
After sufficient selfies from the cable car we went further on to
the last and most famous waterfall called “Pailón del Diablo”, which until now
is one of the biggest waterfalls I’ve seen in my life. All the scenery is very
impressiveand beautiful, and with the stairs build right next to the waterfall it reminded me
a lot on a Asian scenery. There you definitely will get wet – to my luck it
also started raining when we were about to leave and as the car is open it was
a rather cold experience.
 |
| arrived and my hair was still dry at that point |
  |
| ...and here it wasn't dry anymore - Pailón del Diablo |
Resume of the first tour: Damn why am I here just for one day?! There is a lot more I would like to do!
2 hour Casa del Árbol tour
My second
tour as to the Casa del Árbol and its Columpio del Fin del Mundo (Swing at the
end of the world) – one of the most known places in Ecuador. Passing by a view
sport to see Baños from above we continued our trip to the Casa del Arbol.
First thing to do there is of course to take one of the 4 swings you can find
in the area. Even though the weather wasn’t the best with rain once in a while
and many clouds I was able to take some nice pictures and enjoy the view. If
you’re lucky arriving there with good weather you will also be able to see the
volcano close to the spot.
 |
| THE foto from the Casa del Árbol |
All in all, my so unexpected trip to Ecuador was a full success and I am keen to get back to it as soon as I can. If anyone thinks about a trip around South America I can tell you do not miss the spot.
That’s it
for now – hopefully some clearup also for all following me on social media and
who were wondering what I was doing in Ecuador after visiting so much of
Colombia. In addition for sure I’ll write some posts about the different areas
around Colombia I have visited before in the end of December and January. I
hope you liked this rather long post. Let me know what you think about it.
Muchos Besos,
Leonie
No comments:
Post a Comment