Trip Under Construction: Quito, Ecuador

The way I approach travel is a little off-beat; I travel from the heart, as well as the head and sometimes this looks a little convoluted from the outside.  My upcoming trip to Quito Ecuador is a prime example of this. 

 We just had to cancel a trip to Europe to attend a friend's birthday party because of a  scheduling conflict on my husband's part, so I had travel on my mind.  My husband announced that when he was free, he was going skiing at our place in Colorado. Right now we are watching two dogs, our own and our son's, and I, for one, had no desire to drag them up there where they would do little but refuse to go out in the snow and turn our carpeting into a giant potty-pad.

Still, something had been sparked in me and I had travel on my mind.  I wanted a place not too far away and, preferably, some place that would not make my husband jealous. My destination suddenly, became clear- Quito the old colonial city in Ecuador.  I had long wanted to go there since I also write about Latin American Colonial Art and Architecture and my husband had already been in Quito en route to the Galapagos years ago; it seemed like the perfect destination.  Here are a couple of reasons why:

Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador

View of Quito Showing Pichincha Volcano

La Compania Church, Quito, Ecuador

Quito, the capital of Ecuador has a long colonial history and is considered one of the most beautiful cities in South America. Its altitude of 9,350 above sea level is high and can be challenging, but a medication called Diamox helps with adjustment to altitude and I plan on using it.

I lucked-out, finding an inexpensive roundtrip ticket to Quito and found a hotel with great reviews in the middle of Quito's historic center on Booking.com that was under $60/night.  

Then, I started reading about Quito and the first article should have made me want to cancel my reservations.  According to it, Quito was one of the five most dangerous cities in the world.  I found that hard to believe and kept digging.  A second article said that whoever wrote the first article must have been crazy, that you just have to use good judgment and not run around covered in gold jewelry displaying an expensive camera. The rule is to always double check things you read online. I live in a US city which is considered among the most dangerous, so all of this does not worry me excessively.  

So, I'm going and keep reading about Quito. I downloaded a travel guide and bought two books, but my favorite resource is the app  "Culture Trip" which contains a huge amount of information about cities throughout the world.  I've booked a few tours through Tripadvisor/Viator which offers a cancellation policy, just in case I run into something better. In fact, everything but my airfare is cancellable up to a short time before.

Reading about Quito, I've gotten really psyched and can't wait to go.  You can be sure I'll be writing about it.