Quito - A colonial dream

We arrived at Quito's international airport in the evening. Upon arrival, we went through immigration control. We had the coolest stamp guy ever. He was a very cheerful young man who always had a good joke. He called Marius Leonel Messi (soccer player) because he looked like him in his passport photo. Marius responded by saying that he was the Grande Messi. Everyone laughed. After going through all the checks, we took a taxi to the city, which was about 35 kilometers away. Marius and I have developed a wild theory. We believe that you can best recognize the differences between countries by looking at the way people drive. In Peru, we often felt scared and sweaty, while in Colombia, the driving style was much more positive and cars actually stopped at pedestrian crossings. In Ecuador, on the other hand, we were reminded of European road traffic. People stayed in their lanes, blinkers actually had a meaning, and people drove where they indicated. It was a successful and reassuring first impression that made us excited for more. Upon arriving at the hostel, we settled into our Green Room and enjoyed a welcome beer on the hostel's rooftop terrace. The next morning, we set out to explore the city. We headed towards the center and the grand cathedral of Quito. The beauty of the city is that all the houses are magnificent, colorful colonial houses. It's incredibly fun to stroll through the streets and just look around. We visited the cathedral, which strongly reminded us of our cathedral in Bamberg, but had many Gothic features compared to ours. High arches, painted windows, altars, and shrines dominated the church. After enjoying the midday heat, we continued our way to the presidential palace and the rest of the old town, which was about a fifteen-minute walk away. Once there, we wandered through the streets and alleys until we had seen enough for the day. We headed back to the hostel to plan the next day. We wanted to get out of the city and go hiking again. As if it was meant for us, there was an option to take a cable car to one of the surrounding mountains and then hike to the summit. So the next morning, we set off, and on the way to take a taxi, we met a couple from Canada who also wanted to climb the summit. So we shared a taxi to the cable car and immediately started chatting and decided to do the hike together. At the foot of the cable car, we had to climb a steep 15-minute trail to reach 4100 meters. There, we reached the starting point of our hike and also the first viewpoint of the city. As far as the eye could see, there was a sea of houses and the surrounding mountain ranges. An impressive sight! But enough gawking, now it's time to hike! So we started hiking up a trail that strongly resembled one of the Lord of the Rings movies. Lush greenery and mountain formations surrounded us on both sides. The trail was steep, and we were quickly reminded that the air at 4100 meters was much thinner than in the valley. So we adjusted our pace to our lung capacity and made sure to stay hydrated to avoid altitude sickness. The Canadian couple struggled more with the altitude, and soon their water supply was exhausted! Being good colleagues, we shared our water with them, and Marius gave one of his bottles to the Canadians. We had to share our last bottle, which I carried. Gradually, we continued our way towards the summit, and soon everyone developed their own pace and adjusted their speed accordingly. I was able to separate myself from the group and steadily climbed towards the top. We continued along a path until we reached the base of the summit. From there, climbing was necessary since the summit couldn't be reached via a regular trail. Drawing on my experience climbing Zugspitze, I climbed the mountain more or less skillfully, and soon I reached the summit. Once there, I saw a welcome sign defining the mountain's height as 4695 meters. I took a twenty-minute break and enjoyed the view and the clouds dancing around me. Before the clouds completely covered the mountain and it became cooler, I started making my way back down, hoping to meet the others. Descending proved to be even more challenging than ascending and required a lot of skill. Nevertheless, I safely reached solid ground and surfed down the sandy slope. Unfortunately, at this point, I seemed to have missed the others as they were nowhere to be seen. So I thought they might have turned back and quickly made my way to the cable car station in the hopes of finding them there. I retraced the same beautiful path on the way down. On the way down, wanderlust struck me, and I enjoyed every minute with good music in my ears. Upon reaching the valley station, I treated myself to a small snack and waited for another half an hour, but I still couldn't find the others. After waiting and waiting, I had one last idea. Perhaps the others were too affected by the altitude to make it down to the city as quickly as possible. After all, the cable car station was at an impressive 4100 meters. So I took the cable car down and hoped that they would be waiting for me below. Well, as I had a certain intuition, nobody was waiting for me below. I decided to take a taxi back to the hostel, where I would hopefully find the others or wait for them. After a hot shower at the hostel, Marius, completely thrilled by the hike, arrived, and we celebrated our reunion with a shared dinner with the Canadians and a couple of beers. During dinner, we planned our next day and decided to visit the presidential palace in the morning. Every Monday, the president waves to the people, complete with a military parade and all the accompanying spectacle. What a spectacle it was! There was a horse parade, soldiers marched from the presidential palace onto the street and the surrounding square, and back again. The national anthem was sung, the national flag was raised, and there was euphoric waving and clapping for the president and his ministers. It's hard to imagine experiencing something like this in Germany. After we had seen enough of the spectacle, we headed to our second activity of the day. We went to the center of the Earth. To the equator, latitude 0°. After about an hour's bus ride, we arrived at the location. There was a huge monument that pointed to the different cardinal directions and a yellow line symbolizing the course of the equator. After taking a few quick photos, we continued strolling through the area and discovered the egg balancing game. Due to the magnetic field that exists specifically at the equator, it is possible to balance an egg on a nail. After a few attempts, we successfully balanced the egg on the nail and celebrated this scientific phenomenon. After exploring the entire site, we took the bus back to the city and the hostel. It was time to pack and repack our bags. Tomorrow, we would embark on a trip to the most beautiful and mysterious islands in the world, the Galapagos. We were incredibly excited because it was one of our big life goals that we would fulfill with tomorrow's adventure.

You will find out more about our stay on the Galapagos Islands at a later date! Until then, take care!

Greetings,

Marius and Max