After the shenanigans on the bus we were relieved to reach Quito where we were staying in the lively Mariscal area of the new town. We were immediately struck by by how vibrant the streets were, there were so many bars restaurants and night clubs and we were right in the middle of it all. The sign on our bedroom door telling us that Quito was a dangerous city reminded us to watch our step.

We would be in and out of Quito on a number of occasions using it as a base for our trips to Cotopaxi, the jungle and the Galapagos islands.

There is very little in the way of sights in the new town area, they are almost exclusively in the old town. During our few days in the city we walked around Plaza Grande and Plaza San Francisco, visiting more churches and climbed 115m towers of the Basílica del Voto Nacional with its Galapagos animals instead of gargoyles. We also visited the Museo del Banco Central which was much of a muchness for us as it contained very similar exhibits to many of the other museums we had already seen in South America. The highlight of the old town was an extravagant church built by the Jesuits; La Compañía de Jesús with its 7 tons of gold to cover the interior from top to bottom. It also has a fantastic depiction of hell in the form of a very large oil painting close to the entrance.

We did simple the nightlife in Quito and on our first night decided to hit the main square for some happy tour mojitos before heading to the restaurant for dinner and a bottle of red wine. In the mood for a party our next (and final) stop was Mulligans Irish/American sports bar. Craig was distracted by a basketball game on TV and alter a couple more cocktails Gemma was nowhere to be seen…

Eventually bar staff had to be dispatched to the ladies to recover a green-looking Gemma, she had to be escorted back to the hostel and tucked up in bed at only 10:30pm! Meanwhile, Craig went back to the bar to finish watching the basketball and play some pool.

All in all we liked Quito but weren´t really blown away by it which is probably to do with the fact that it is very similar to the other South American cities we have visited.