Feb. 12 – A day in Quito, EC

2009 February 16
by joe

After a fairly quiet night (a rare thing anywhere along the Pan Am), we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and then got a cab to the TelefériQo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telef%C3%A9riQo), a  gondola cable-lift that runs from the western part of the city up to the top of one of the volcanoes than surround the city.  It is a fabulous ride, and affords great views of the city on the way up.  When we reached the top, it was still fairly clear, and we could marvel at the view;  but before long the clouds descended and we were enveloped in fog.  The top of the lift is over 13,000 ft. in elevation.  We walked around the top, met and talked with all kinds of tourists from everywhere you could imagine, and had some terrible instant coffee.  A very cool experience.

After getting back down, we rode the trolley into the old city center, and did some inernet and some window shopping.  Saw some more amazing buildings, plazas and churches.  Levi bought a hat that he had been wanting.

We returned to the Santa Clara market near our hotel for a hornados lunch, since it was just too good not to do again.  Then we spent a couple of hours relaxing in the hotel spa;  delightful.

A nice break from the routine, and we were ready to get back on the road tomorrow.

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