City of Contrasts

I'm going to start this post by stressing that Quito is a truly beautiful city and that the people are, so far, incredibly friendly and helpful.

Now, with the disclaimer out of the way, Quito is also a city of massive contrasts.

The airport is by far one of the most beautiful - given that any airport is going to be a frustrating and essentially boring place. It's only about four years old and everything is still incredibly new, clean and easy. The immigration folk by far the nicest I've experienced and even the military style uniformed customs people were friendly.

The drive out from the airport was also along the newest freeway we've been on for a while - so smooth and lined with Palm trees. But then the first of the contrasts, the road ran out after 6 kilometres and it was then the last 20 kilometres on pot-holed, cracked and broken roads, old bridges over cavernous gorges and winding hillclimbs.

This morning brought a walk down into the valley (everything is down into the valley) and lunch (it was a late start, sue us we're on holiday) at a really cool cafe. The best coffee I've had in a while and an amazing double-decker sandwich - which was apparently an Ecuadorean sandwich.

Down town (in the New Town) there is a beautiful park full of artists, volleyball players and musicians, and is like a small paradise. But we were determined to walk into Old Town, just over the hill.

Next contrast, once out of the park it was a different world. Not just the chaos of the city, but the hawkers, beggars and crumbling buildings of any other major city in a developing nation and so far removed from the paradise park (not its actual name).

Old Town itself is beautiful - a UNESCO world heritage site and a trapped-in-time replica of a colonial Spanish city. The pink and yellow buildings with balconies (topped with flowers) make the entire district picture perfect. Beautiful churches and cathedrals abound in a state/nation that is still poverty stricken - which highlights the already much discussed priorities of the Catholic Church during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It is still amazing to see such history, and the obvious faith of the people, as shown in the religious iconography both small and impressively large throuout the city. We visited no less than four before deciding that we'd had our church quota.

However, we wanted to walk to he nearby El Panecillo, a statue of an angel overlooking the city. From the bustling Plaza Grande we walked towards a picturesque set of steps leading to the hill's summit, only to be stopped before long by a local woman who pointed out the "tourists beware, this area is dangerous" sign... It was eerily quiet - too quiet? - so we turned around and, while heading to a more populated area, were verbaled by a group of men. I've been in some dodgy parts of dodgy cities before, but this was the first time I'd been unnerved by a part of a city. Another contrast.

Still, the City Museum was a good insight into Ecuador's history - okay be honest, who knew that it was once a state of Colombia - and it was great to look around a former convent and hospital.

Quito is a beautiful, beautiful city, filled with great and friendly people, but you can't go far before you notice the anacronisms that befuddle you, but also add to the city's charm, and despite the contrasts, we're really looking forward to seeing more of this great country.

Cam