After a long overnight bus from Guayaquil to Quito, we finally arrived in the second highest capital city in the world. It is 6 am when the bus arrives at the terminal, on the northern part of Quito. We got into a cab, directly to the hostel near Plaza Foch
Right after we left our bags in the hostel, we took a nice breakfast, quick shower and a taxi to the community hostel located in the historic center of Quito. From there you can catch a daily walking tours which will get you around the main points of interests and the history of the old city center. It has been classified UNESCO’s patrimony in the 1970’s.
The guide will explain you the story of the country, its presidents, the financial crisis while taking around some of the most interesting places of the neighborhood. It might be a free walking tours, the guide will remind to leave a tip if you enjoined the tours.
On the afternoon, we've decided to climb up the famous church, which does look like Notre Dame in Paris. For $5 you can climb on top of the left tower, as well as the arrow, which allows you to have a nice 360 degrees view over the city.
As La Paz, Quito has its own cable car, which will bring you up to 4000m. It only costs $8,50 for a round trip. Make sure to keep the ticket with you for the way back.
Once you are up there, you can hike towards volcanoes, or towards a swing, similar to the one in Banos, which gives you a nice lookout point over Quito.
It is located in the new Quito, and it is the plaza where all the bars and nightclubs are open all week long. You have everything from sport bars, dancing bars, clubs, German brewery, etc. Everybody is going there to have fun on the week ends.
During the day you will find some restaurants with excellent food, but sometimes a bit expensive.
