Quito Virgin on a trip

Hey there Danny

I just got back from Quito. Otavalo was okay. But I got extremely sick when I was there after I had a burger at Nel's burger. Just stay away from the hamburgers. There only 2 streets of restaurants on Sucre. Do not say at the Riveria Sucre Hotel. I think one of the senora is in cahoots with the driver Santos. Also I got bitten by bed bugs there.

Otavalo market was great. If you don't care about seeing the market opening and closing, you should go up there for a day trip. But it takes about 2 to 2 1/2 hour trip. It's extremely cold up at Otavalo so bundle up. I didn't really experience altitude sickness in Quito but I did when I was in Otavalo. It's good for souvenirs, sweaters, silver jewlery, indigenious art stuff, and little here and there. Great city for hiking.

I went to Mitad del Mundo with another traveller. It cost us about 40 dollars for a round trip via Quito but it was well worth it. He took us to the Crater, Mitad del Mundo monument and the actual equator. At the actual equator they did a few experiments and you were shown around via a guide.

I was carrying a dSLR with me in Quito. Be very careful. A lot of people asked me about my camera and how much it cost because there aren't really dSLR in Ecuador. I didn't feel it was safe to walk around with my camera most of time, and I to lock it in my bag every time I used it. If you're carrying a dSLR, I would recommend getting a UV filter for your lens and a telephoto lens.

Well December is high season in Ecuador. You should definitely make reservations. I stayed in the Mariscal area. And it was really nice. It was also weird to see a lot of arm guards around. It's also an issue of how much you want to spend.

The correct location of the equator is a few hundred metres from where it has been marked. Apparently when the French did their surveying as to exact location of the equator they didn't leave any marks to indicate this location the locals made a rough guess for the currrent monuments and were a few hundred metres off the mark.

I'd recommend a few days and do the Quilitoa Loop if possible and take in the Thursday market at Saquisili. Otavalians also go there and sell stuff but the market is mainly for the indigenous people to come into town to do business. They aslo have an early morning animal market then along similar lines to the one in Otavalo early on Saturday but the Saqusili markets are less touristy.

The streets of the colonial part of Quito are great for pohotographs and the buildings at night are particularly lovely. Just be streetwise and you should be fine. I've never had any trouble there and I've been there four times now.

The site you need to go to if you want to be on the equator is called Inti Ñan. When you get off the Mitad del Mundo bus, walk past the monument on your left and a couple of hundred metres up the road you will get to the entrance.
If you´re on a budget, eat a Menu del Día with the locals at lunchtime. I know everyone always tells you to steer clear of local food, but it´s two dollars for a huge, tasty meal with fruit and fresh juice. In la Mariscal you can pay four times that amount for a soggy sandwich.The only time I got sick when I was away was in the gringo restaurants anyway - as Urbanblitz says above. Or fill up on humitas - mashed up corn either sweet or savoury. Just make sure you avoid the ubiquitous guatitas - some kind of cow´s stomach thing that even the locals are cautious about.
Sorry - I know you didn´t ask about food, but I hope it´s of some use to you anyway!

You can do a day trip to Mindo which is in the cloud forest. It only takes two hours from Quito and its an extremely beuatiful place. Theres also plenty that you can fit in while you are there such as Canyoning, Tubing and waterfall jumping! That was awesome. Probably my favourite place in Ecuador. Well worth a look.

Hi there,
Spent two amazing months in Ecuador and The Galapogos earlier on this year and there is so much to do. If you have time you should definitly get a tour into the amazon, this can be quite cheaply arranged when in Quito and it is quite simply amazing, you will certainly get some stunning photos. If you only have one night, or two then I would reccomend Pueto Quito and a resort called Cocoa, which is a beautiful lodge set in the cloud forest, which is owned by a couple and their children. The husband is the guide and when I went we climbed a waterfall, went tubing, made chocolate and I was shown around their fruit farm. The wife does the cooking, which was outstanding. I think this is about a two hour bus journey out of Quito, but if you find a trvel company called Gullivers they will book it for you and sort it out, I think it worked out at about $10 a night. Cotopaxi, the volcano, is stunning, again awesome for photography. Otovello is good, but there is a huge market in Quito which is where the Otovellians come down and sell their wares anyway.
hope this helps xx

We just returned from Ecuador 2 days ago. We went to Mitad del Mundo while we were there and it is a TOTAL tourist attraction. I wouldn't waste your time going to the "fake" one because they charge $2 (I think) to get in and $3 to go up the tower. The "real" equator is on the right side of the tower, just outside of the walls of Mitad del Mundo. Going to the real equator is totally worth it. They do all those experiments you've read about.

We took a taxi from North Quito to Mitad del Mundo which cost us $14 one-way. I wouldn't stay out there overnight because there is nothing there.

WOW! Thank you very much for all your tips. I leave to Panama on Saturday then in a few weeks I will do Ecuador as I mentioned. Thanks to you guys, I look forward to my trip. I'm thinking of adding the Devil's Nose. Hey- If I do the Devils Nose, does that make me a boogar from hell?

Safe travels,
Danny