Our party of 4 safely arrived in Quito at 4:30am. No robberies this time thank God. Even the taxi drivers seemed normal. We got to our nice hostel, recommended by Swedish Daniel, which was actually Swiss-French operated. The French boys I was travelling with were very content with the idea that they got to speak French again and to eat really nice Swiss food.
We pretty much spent the whole morning sleeping and I didn't do much in the afternoon either except browsing the internet for a laptop and a camera. I later on gave up on the idea as some Ecuadorian person told me that I had to pay import duty to bring the stuff into Ecuador.
When I went into the restaurant area to find the French boys, of course, they have already started to dine and wine. Being French, they just can't help sipping their expensive wine and eating their nice little anti-pastos with Swiss cheese and some very small hams. Daniel and I can't stop laughing at them when we saw that.
We went to explore the bars/dancing holes in Quito with 4 other girls we met that night. I felt like I was back home again. Partying with friends. So the 7 gringoes went out and attracted a few attention from the locals. But mostly nice stares than anything. The dancing was heaps of fun. The Canadian girl, Natalie, was doing this crazy gymnastic work-out dancing which kinda cleared a quarter of the dance floor for us which was good. Man, I have never seen anyone danced like that for years. It was certainly entertaining! I managed to lose everyone by abount 2:30am, but ended up partying with this Australian guy and his mate till 4am. Everything was just so random but it all worked out.
Saturday - not a good day after arriving home around 4:30am. Went to see a crafts market with the gang. Everyone were just exhausted. Another uneventful day followed by another night partying. I really was just not in the mood anymore as I was too tired. I said goodbye to the rest of the gang at 1am.
On Sunday, I was going to go and check out the Equator and a few monuments just outside of town. Didn't work out. Ended up going shopping, eating MacDonalds and going to movies with the gang. It was getting bit attached now. The usual 4 boys and the 2-3 girls. Iron Man 2 was a great film though. I really enjoyed that, particularly at the price of $4 per ticket.
I also managed to do some research on the Spanish lessons I wanted to take. I finally picked a school which offered private classes for $5 an hour. Bargain!
The next few days pretty much filled up with Spanish classes, studying and walking around the old town to check out the churches and the ancient buildings. The Historical Centre is so different from the new town. It had many beautiful ancient cathedrals, plazas and some ancient Incan remains. It was still felt like a blast from the past to me and does't matter how many of these Plaza de Armas I have seen. I really quite like walking through it and appreciate the history behind it all.
Spanish lessons went really well. I could really feel my improvement. I hope that I do keep up with Spanish after I return back to Oz. It's such a beautiful language to speak and to listen. I haven't tried French yet, but so far, Spanish is by far the most beautiful language I have known.
I stopped my lessons on Friday as I suddenly discovered that I was short of time to do everything I wanted to do in Ecuador. I was going to climb Cotopaxi, visit the jungle and a few other towns before I leave.
Oh, small world. On my last day of Spanish lesson, I went into the office to talk to the principal about my intention to stop the lessons. He was busy talking to another man. I saw this backpack on the floor which looked quite familiar, and saw the back of this guy the principal was talking to which also looked familiar. He turned around after the conversation, and I was like, holy dooly, it's Mike again! I met Mike first in Santiago back in January and we did Spanish lessons together, then again in Bolivia, then again at the bus stop in Lima, Peru and now we met again in Quito, Ecuador!
It turned out that he also wanted to do more Spanish lessons and wanted to stay in the hostel attached to the school.
I somehow convinced him that we should go and do Cotopaxi together and do a trial acclimatisation climb the next day.
It all worked out quite well, and we summited a mountain near Quito that was 4,700m high.
The following day was kind of a rest day, except we went to the Equator and an museum nearby which was like an hour away from the city and had to organise our Cotopaxi trip the next day and pack.
But it all worked out in the end.
I was really glad to bump into Mike again as I actually changed my class time from morning to the afternoon as the French boys were leaving for home and I wanted to say goodbye in the morning. It was verz nice that I constantly had friends around me during those 2 weeks.
Oh, the boys and I went partying for the last time on Wednesday night, their last night in town. We walked around heaps and it was such a dull night. Not many people around and we coulnd't find anywhere good to dance in. Then we met this drunken English girl who came up and started talking to us and asking us for directions to this club. After she found out that we spoke English, she drunkenly invited us along. She was actually quite lucky that she found us, considering she was wearing very very small white skirt and a small tight singlet and was very drunk. All the Ecuadorian men on the street were staring at her and looked at her escorts, hmmmm us, in jealousy. But the place she took us to, the Bungalow, was AWESOME. It was so packed that we could hardly dance. Heaps of dancing, great music. It was a place full of gringoes though. A good find nonetheless.
Anyway, Mike and I went to Cotopaxi on Sunday morning. I think Naomi already posted a summary of the climb for me.
It was one of the hardest climbs I have done. Being very exhasuted before we even started the midnight climb was probably not the best thing. As we were all roped together, Mike and I continue to push each other up the ice walls. The sheer determination and perserverance led us to the top. Also we felt guilty to be one letting the other person down too....and so much money was at stake! Anyway, the view from the summit at 5,897m was completly amazing. The crator in the ice was also so perfectly shaped. Many ice pinnacles along the way. I bruised my toe on the way down. I hope it's not frost bitten as it is still currently black!
Before I left Quito, I was unfortunately robbed again. This time there was nothing I could do different. I had a nice breakfast with Mike, swapping photos etc. Then I went to the old town to take some last minute photos and to check out a few museums I missed out. On the bus there, this native looking woman was standing really close to me and someone managed to slash my backpack, without me noticing, which I had in front of me and with my arm around it. I did not feel a thing. I only realised that she slahsed my backpack and took my phone after she gave me a small smile before she left the bus. I was soooo annoyed. Second robbery in 2 weeks in Ecuador! Not happy jen! I was very disappointed with it all.
The same night, Mike was also robbed at knife point and lost his mobile phone too.........what is the go with this country???????
Needless to say, we both left the Quito the very next day after I filed yet another police report.
We pretty much spent the whole morning sleeping and I didn't do much in the afternoon either except browsing the internet for a laptop and a camera. I later on gave up on the idea as some Ecuadorian person told me that I had to pay import duty to bring the stuff into Ecuador.
When I went into the restaurant area to find the French boys, of course, they have already started to dine and wine. Being French, they just can't help sipping their expensive wine and eating their nice little anti-pastos with Swiss cheese and some very small hams. Daniel and I can't stop laughing at them when we saw that.
We went to explore the bars/dancing holes in Quito with 4 other girls we met that night. I felt like I was back home again. Partying with friends. So the 7 gringoes went out and attracted a few attention from the locals. But mostly nice stares than anything. The dancing was heaps of fun. The Canadian girl, Natalie, was doing this crazy gymnastic work-out dancing which kinda cleared a quarter of the dance floor for us which was good. Man, I have never seen anyone danced like that for years. It was certainly entertaining! I managed to lose everyone by abount 2:30am, but ended up partying with this Australian guy and his mate till 4am. Everything was just so random but it all worked out.
Saturday - not a good day after arriving home around 4:30am. Went to see a crafts market with the gang. Everyone were just exhausted. Another uneventful day followed by another night partying. I really was just not in the mood anymore as I was too tired. I said goodbye to the rest of the gang at 1am.
On Sunday, I was going to go and check out the Equator and a few monuments just outside of town. Didn't work out. Ended up going shopping, eating MacDonalds and going to movies with the gang. It was getting bit attached now. The usual 4 boys and the 2-3 girls. Iron Man 2 was a great film though. I really enjoyed that, particularly at the price of $4 per ticket.
I also managed to do some research on the Spanish lessons I wanted to take. I finally picked a school which offered private classes for $5 an hour. Bargain!
The next few days pretty much filled up with Spanish classes, studying and walking around the old town to check out the churches and the ancient buildings. The Historical Centre is so different from the new town. It had many beautiful ancient cathedrals, plazas and some ancient Incan remains. It was still felt like a blast from the past to me and does't matter how many of these Plaza de Armas I have seen. I really quite like walking through it and appreciate the history behind it all.
Spanish lessons went really well. I could really feel my improvement. I hope that I do keep up with Spanish after I return back to Oz. It's such a beautiful language to speak and to listen. I haven't tried French yet, but so far, Spanish is by far the most beautiful language I have known.
I stopped my lessons on Friday as I suddenly discovered that I was short of time to do everything I wanted to do in Ecuador. I was going to climb Cotopaxi, visit the jungle and a few other towns before I leave.
Oh, small world. On my last day of Spanish lesson, I went into the office to talk to the principal about my intention to stop the lessons. He was busy talking to another man. I saw this backpack on the floor which looked quite familiar, and saw the back of this guy the principal was talking to which also looked familiar. He turned around after the conversation, and I was like, holy dooly, it's Mike again! I met Mike first in Santiago back in January and we did Spanish lessons together, then again in Bolivia, then again at the bus stop in Lima, Peru and now we met again in Quito, Ecuador!
It turned out that he also wanted to do more Spanish lessons and wanted to stay in the hostel attached to the school.
I somehow convinced him that we should go and do Cotopaxi together and do a trial acclimatisation climb the next day.
It all worked out quite well, and we summited a mountain near Quito that was 4,700m high.
The following day was kind of a rest day, except we went to the Equator and an museum nearby which was like an hour away from the city and had to organise our Cotopaxi trip the next day and pack.
But it all worked out in the end.
I was really glad to bump into Mike again as I actually changed my class time from morning to the afternoon as the French boys were leaving for home and I wanted to say goodbye in the morning. It was verz nice that I constantly had friends around me during those 2 weeks.
Oh, the boys and I went partying for the last time on Wednesday night, their last night in town. We walked around heaps and it was such a dull night. Not many people around and we coulnd't find anywhere good to dance in. Then we met this drunken English girl who came up and started talking to us and asking us for directions to this club. After she found out that we spoke English, she drunkenly invited us along. She was actually quite lucky that she found us, considering she was wearing very very small white skirt and a small tight singlet and was very drunk. All the Ecuadorian men on the street were staring at her and looked at her escorts, hmmmm us, in jealousy. But the place she took us to, the Bungalow, was AWESOME. It was so packed that we could hardly dance. Heaps of dancing, great music. It was a place full of gringoes though. A good find nonetheless.
Anyway, Mike and I went to Cotopaxi on Sunday morning. I think Naomi already posted a summary of the climb for me.
It was one of the hardest climbs I have done. Being very exhasuted before we even started the midnight climb was probably not the best thing. As we were all roped together, Mike and I continue to push each other up the ice walls. The sheer determination and perserverance led us to the top. Also we felt guilty to be one letting the other person down too....and so much money was at stake! Anyway, the view from the summit at 5,897m was completly amazing. The crator in the ice was also so perfectly shaped. Many ice pinnacles along the way. I bruised my toe on the way down. I hope it's not frost bitten as it is still currently black!
Before I left Quito, I was unfortunately robbed again. This time there was nothing I could do different. I had a nice breakfast with Mike, swapping photos etc. Then I went to the old town to take some last minute photos and to check out a few museums I missed out. On the bus there, this native looking woman was standing really close to me and someone managed to slash my backpack, without me noticing, which I had in front of me and with my arm around it. I did not feel a thing. I only realised that she slahsed my backpack and took my phone after she gave me a small smile before she left the bus. I was soooo annoyed. Second robbery in 2 weeks in Ecuador! Not happy jen! I was very disappointed with it all.
The same night, Mike was also robbed at knife point and lost his mobile phone too.........what is the go with this country???????
Needless to say, we both left the Quito the very next day after I filed yet another police report.
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