Quito - The Centre of the World
After dashing about in Chile for the last 3 weeks, we decided to slow down a bit when we arrived in Quito, the capital of Equador. We´ve been here for 5 days now, and feels like we´ve done pretty little..
Quito has a reputation for being somewhat dangerous. Even while I was researching for this trip back in Australia, I have heard reports of people being robbed in Quito, and in particular, the following travel story of a guy who got robbed twice stuck to mind (http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/06-02/if-only-all-thieves-were-this-stupid-quito-ecuador.html) so I felt pretty nervous about coming to this city. The following warning from Lonely Planet further increased our anxieties.. ¨... in Mariscal Sure (near our hostel), knife and gun holdups are regular occurrences at night... always take a taxi after dark, even if it´s only for a block. Do not walk around any park after sunset..¨
I think I've successfully passed my fear to my travel buddies, and we´ve encouraged one guy to grow his beard and to practice looking tough. Unfortunately he smiles too much, and I think I can look more threatening than him :( The other guy is pretending to be my buddy guard, but is more than likely to run the other way when the trouble comes.
Quito is a pretty big metropolis, spread out to the nearby mountains. The city is divided into the ¨New City¨ and the ¨Old City¨, where the former is more westernised and geared towards the backpackers/ tourists and the latter is where the locals live. The Old City is full of beautiful colonial buildings, much of it reminded me of Prague or Italy, and is a UNESCO heritage site.. It has quite a character.
posted by Susan @ 4:48 PM
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