Never sit in the front seats

Stumbling upon the finest $12 p.p.p.n establishment this side of mongolia, the amazon inn, we spent the last few days aclimatising to the altitude. We will aim to use this as a base for forays into the oriente, highlands, galapagos and the coast.

Quito, consisting of the unesco heritage old town, with it´s 300 to 500 year old colonial building and churches and the new town, an slightly interesting and dirty metropolis. The surrounding picturesque mountains, stand tall between 3,500 to 4,000 metres. The mestizo denziens are often improverised, but friendly. Although, trips at night are almost strictly undertaken by taxi. The local fare is a hearty mix of pork or beef, with rice, casava, one of the hundred varieties of potatoes, and mercusa vegitables.

Yesterday, we headed on a trip to the bustling Saturday market at Otavlo. The 2.5 hour ride through the Andies is anything but safe and only enjoyed in a middle or back seat, watching an 80´s van damme or waynne´s brother movie in Spanish, without a view of the road and oncoming traffic. Local merchants seemingly jump on at will for a ten minute ride, selling anything from water, nuts, icecream, and bread.

The markets themselves are overwellming at first. Covering three plaza´s and overflowing in the side streets, the incan and mestizo market has a fine assortment of ceramics, musical instruments, local and often live produce, painting, and daily wares. If only the market was a daily event, I could easily imagine my mother spending an entire week.

Today we head to baños, home of many more mountains, volcanic warmed baths (baños), hopefully white water rafting, the odd hike, and a rather active volcano, which seemed to miss the 2000 ed of the lonely planet.