FIRST DAY IN QUITO

So, first  the good news.  All our gear made it!  More good news - the fifty bucks each we paid in Vancouver was all we had to pay for the bikes.  But the airports got it back in spades for any food we bought.

Highlights of the trip, if you can call them that after 36 hours travelling, 3 flights and only whatever sleep we could grab in airplane seats.  Vancouver was Vancouver - no problems. The Redeye to Toronto, but a very efficient change there.  A nice flight to Bogota, but we couldn't enjoy the 7 hour layover there due to fatigue, and a slightly bumpy but short night flight to Quito with Avianca, who turned out to be very efficient (not the stereo typical Caribbean airline).  The hotel arranged for us to be picked up in Quito, and we managed to stuff everything into a large tour agency van.  To our hotel and into a very comfortable bed at midnight.

Our hotel - can only be described as 'vintage.'  Old and slightly creaky but as I said, a good bed.  Here's the view from outside.









And the inside.  High ceilings, single pane windows, and the big arch partway own.  This may have been a small room with a balcony and they closed in the balcony.









Out and about.  It;s Saturday, so lots going on in the plaza near us.  We hit a bunch of artisans in the plaza with some fabulous weaving.  Here's  a sample.

And some ceramics.  Brilliant colours 

We wandered about near our hotel.  Tried to look at cellphones & smartphones but the language barrier was a problem and a lot of the prices seemed high compared to the Bogota airport.   Couldn't find an English speaking tour company, so we wandered into the Hilton (nice!) and spoke to the Concierge, who was very helpful.  He explained that there was a 70% import duty on many items, which explains the prices.  Such a deal - buy 1 pay for 2!

Tomorrow is Sunday so nothing will be open, but we will do a bit of touring.

Oh yeah, I assembled the two bikes in my spare time.  No missing or extra parts - yay!  More tomorrow, hopefully (good WiFi here).