Quito, Cotopaxi & Otovalo

Ecuador, April 30-May 17

We very much liked Quito, Ecuador’s capital. Arriving from Cuba, it offered all the luxury: access to money, fully stocked supermarkets, mobile data, clean roads 😊And a laundry next to our hotel that took care about our 15kg of dirty clothes, a few more days and we’d have had to walk around in our rain ponchos. Ecuadorians like their cheese which makes for happy Swiss. There is hot chocolate with cheese, potato soup with cheese, roasted corn combs sprinkled with cheese…

Quito is also great for single and multi-day trips. We went for a hike & bike to the beautiful Cotopaxi volcano. Got lucky with the clouds and actually got to see its symmetrically shaped, snow covered cone. We hiked from 4.500 meters to 5.100, the highest we have ever been, and also the slowest we have ever walked. After a short stop with hot chocolate and cheese, we then got outfitted with helmets, knee and elbow protection and started our downhill biking. Which sounded a lot better before we got on the bumpy road with headaches from being up so high. Being in Quito on a Saturday also allowed us to visit the markets in Otavalo. The animal market where locals buy everything from chicken and cuy (guinea piggies) to cows and horses. And the colorful craft market where these days mostly tourist shop for souvenirs and take photos of the indigenous women in their beautiful traditional clothing.