Quito

We went into old Quito in the morning, seeing the Basilica and many Catholic churches which were truly beautiful. The highlight being watching the Corpus Christ catholic procession pass us, with huge numbers of clergy in all their robes, people scattering rose petals and lots of singing. This is a very catholic place, made evident by the number of churches everywhere!

Lunch consisted of rotisserie chicken; however you get a starter of soup unbeknown to us. Free starter sounds good, but when it ends up being soup with whole chickens feet in it is not ideal. We left feeling bad at not eating all of it though, as all around us were people who would not waste a scrap.

In the afternoon we went to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World), the equator line. This is a popular tourist destination, and we thought we had done really well when we caught the first bus. However we soon realised this was just a bus to the main bus terminus, and that the buses from here were very popular. With potential 2hr queues and crazy, shouty South American's pushing and shoving, we realised our mistake in heading out on a Sunday, and especially a Sunday when they have free music festival there. After realising the chaos ended in nothing, we headed outside of the bus station to try get a taxi there instead. It was there that we realised the option of flagging down the recently departed bus which was typically half empty as the driver just has to drive off because the pushing is so bad!

Our image and hopes of traditional music, and maybe even some dancing was quickly quashed as we neared the monument and heard a rock band thumping out some music, and seeing the hoards of moshing people. Undeterred we went to the equator line, took our typically touristy cheesy photos and headed back into the pouring rain of Quito (somewhere that rains more than London). After eating at what had become our favourite restaurant here (Sean developed a chicken wing addiction) we packed for our next adventure - Peru and the Inca trail.