20/10/12 - It wasn't a great night's sleep for me and I was woken up by the annoying dogs barking! After a quick shower, we grabbed a breakfast bar each and headed out.

We flagged a taxi down on the main road to take us to El Panecillo meaning little bread loaf. The taxi driver was really nice and even tried a few English words - good for me but not so great for Neil who is always trying to practice his Spanish! It was a good 20-25 minute drive past La Mariscal through the Old Town and up El Panecillo - I really enjoyed looking out of the window and taking it all in.

When we got to the top we decided to ask the driver to wait and Neil bargained a good price with him. We would have liked to have walked up and down the hill but have read bad reports about robberies, and have been advised not to, so better to be safe than sorry.

The Virgin de Quito on top of the hill is stunning. It's a huge aluminium statue over looking Quito which can be seen from most points in the city. The views from the top were amazing, and we enjoyed looking down at the city we are familiar with, pointing out landmarks we recognised. We also saw planes coming into land, and snow capped mountains - simply stunning.

We walked to the back of the statue to look over the south of the city - apparently the poor part. After taking in the views we mooched the souvenir stalls, buying a few post cards before getting back into our awaiting chariot. Back at the bottom of the hill we were dropped off at the main square and walked from there to La Rhonda. This is a very pretty street with lots of restaurants on but it was all closed up so we simply strolled along the street and then walked back to the old town.

Wandering around we stumbled upon a small market fair in Plaza San Francisco which was great to look around, and as it was a lovely hot day there were a lot of people around too. After this we looked around some shops and got some lunch in a little local place - we both ate huge lunches for $4! With full tummies we walked for a while before taking a seat at the boating lake in Parque La Alameda where we watched the world go by. After walking a little further we did the same again and took a seat in Parque El Ejido where lots of families enjoyed playing all around us. We enjoyed looking at the small market here before moving onto Mercado Artisan where we purchased an Ecuador football shirt for Neil and a scarf for me. We saw lots of nice things we wanted to buy but are very cautious to stick to our budget! Maybe we can go back another time and buy some more (but don't tell Neil!).

After a long day we walked back to the hostal where we updated the blog, made some tea and watched some TV - a great day had by the both of us.

21/10/12 - We were awake fairly early again this morning thanks to the barking dogs so we showered and headed out towards the equator happy to be away from the noise!! We walked to Avenue Americas near Neil's Spanish class as we need to catch the bus here. We paid 25 cents the attendant and waited on the platform.

The busy bus soon turned up and we packed ourselves into the small space. It was a rather long hot journey and by the tie we disembarked at Ofelia Station I was feeling sick, woozy, light headed and felt very much like I was going to faint. After sitting on the floors for 5 minutes and taking an ibuprofen I felt a lot better so we walked over to get our next bus. As we walked over to the next bus a lady who had been on the city bus with us pointed us in the right direction saying 'Mitad Del Mundo' - this confirmed that we look like proper tourists!! We managed to get a seat on the bus which was lovely as it was a fairly long journey. I got some cash out for the conductor and as I did the local man standing next to me told me it was 15 cents each - another kind gesture from a local.

When we got to Mitad Del Mundo I was surprised to see locals getting off as well as a number of tourists. We paid our $2 each entrance fee and made our way towards the monument marking the equator. There are loads of random things here like a planetarium, an insect house and model Quito. We decided to skip all of this and concentrate on the main monument. We wandered around and took some photos before grabbing some lunch at a cheap place near the main show area. After lunch we browsed the shops buying a few post cards and people watched for a while. We then returned to the show are to watch a band play while local people danced to the music. It was nice to watch but with neither of us feeling 100% (we think due to the heavy weather) we said our goodbyes to the equator and went to get the bus back to the city.

We managed to get on the second bus that turned up and enjoyed the ride back to Ofelia station, where we got on the next bus which we happily got a seat on, and we watched Quito pass by with interest before we got off at Avenue Americas. Off the bus we headed down to La Mariscal where we treated ourselves to a nice tea at a nice café. We had a really nice meal and got excited planning more of our onward travels before dragging our full tummies back to the hostal. We spent the evening relaxing and uploading the blog - I can't believe how fast our time is going now!

22/10/12 - It was a pretty busy morning for me doing some travel preparation before I got ready and walked to meet Neil out of Spanish class. We did the usual Monday thing of lunch at the friendly local café before going on to do the weekly shop. We got a few bits from Mercado Santa Monica before carrying on through La Mariscal to Supermaxi. We filled our trolley, paid for everything and carried it back to the hostal. After unpacking we spent the afternoon relaxing, reading and watching TV. After a delicious dinner of tomato spaghetti we watched some more TV before heading to bed.

23/10/12 - I had a thoroughly productive morning sending e-mails and typing up the blog before showering and walking to meet Neil. After a 10 minute chat about our mornings we walked towards the old town for some lunch. We ate at a delicious local place - chips, sausage and eggs - yum!! After this we climbed the steep hill and staircase to Parque Itchimbia. It was a really hard climb past all the school children going the other way but it was worth it at the top as the views were stunning.

We wandered around the park for a while taking in the amazing views of the city before we sat on a bench and had a long chat with Quito at our feet. We saw a couple walking hand in hand, and a girl doing her homework - no one taking any notice of the beautiful views that they see daily! We had been at the park about an hour when the winds picked up and it started to cloud over so we decided it was time to go. Neil had picked out a different route back to the hostal so we saw some interesting back streets. We were only a few minutes from the hostal when it started to really rain but we were still pretty wet when we got back!

The rest of the afternoon was spent choosing a jungle tour, updating the blog, planning our next few places to go and relaxing. We made some dinner a little later on and before some more of what we had done earlier.

24/10/12 - After a rubbish night's sleep I got up when Neil went out and spent the morning typing up a blog entry before going out to meet him. We walked to the old town and spent a while searching out a place we had previously had lunch. We wanted to go back as the man had been really friendly and the food was super tasty. I was so pleased when we eventually found it and we were welcomed in just like last time.

We ate a yummy lunch before setting off to the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. This is a stunning church in the centre of Quito's old town. There are a lot of churches and old buildings in this area, but the external stone work on this church is simply stunning. We paid our entrance fee and went inside. I was disappointed that we couldn't take photos as it was exquisite. The whole place is shiny and gold as a lot of the carvings are covered in 23 carat gold leaf. The statues and paintings are intricate and delicate - the whole place is a work of art. It is all symmetrical and at the entrance there is a spiral staircase to one side so to keep it symmetrical another staircase was painted on the opposite side to make it match! We sat in here for a while just looking around and taking it all in before leaving and heading to the Plaza Grande for a drink each.

I am not sure if it is the altitude or all the walking but I am constantly thirsty here! After a nice cool drink in the shopping arcade area we walked over to the Basilica del Voto Nacional to climb the towers. It was hard work climbing the steps to the first floor but the views of the inside of the church as well as the huge round stained glass window was worth it. We took some photos and continued to climb up. We eventually got to an open air area just below the clock which gave fantastic views of Quito. We carried on climbing until we were in the belfry - literally inside the clock (Neil's dad would have loved it!). I then carried on climbing the spiral stair case to the open air area above the clock. Again the views were magnificent and I took some photos to show Neil who had stayed a little further down due to his fear of heights.

Once back down on the ground we mooched along one of the shopping streets and had a pit stop drink and ice-cream at McDonalds on the way back to the hostal. Once back the usual evening routine of dinner and TV went on until we went to bed.

25/10/12 - After a better night's sleep I woke up, sent off a job application and enjoyed a lovely long hot shower. Once ready I headed out to meet Neil so we could go to the post office. I was really impressed with Neil's Spanish skills in asking about the post and prices. It is really expensive to send anything home here - $2.50 just for a postcard and a 3kg package would cost almost $70. I think I just have to continue carrying my stuff.

We walked to the Irish bar where I had a BLT and Neil had fish and chips whilst we watched some football (Neil's idea not mine!!). We had planned to watch the Liverpool game here, but the heat (and lack of dessert) sent us packing. We nipped into Supermaxi on the way back to the hostal for some snacks and pudding. At the hostal we spent the rest of the day in front of the TV - Neil particularly enjoying the 1-0 Liverpool win. It was a nice relaxed day.

26/10/12 - Yet another lazy morning for me until Neil returned from class. After a quick drink we headed out getting some lunch at a local place - it was yum! After this we kept walking to the bus stop, but realised it was the wrong bus stop when we got there, so carried on walking a little further to the right one. We paid our fare and waited for the right bus to take us to the main bus station where we could buy our onward tickets to Tena for next week. The bus was really busy, I was lucky to get a seat but Neil had to stand. It was made busier when a group of buskers got on trying to sell their CD and collect change. Thankfully they weren't pushy so it was quite a cool experience.

As we got further out of town I started to panic - surely the bus station wasn't this far out?? So I was relieved when it came into view. We got off the bus and aimed for the ticket offices. There are basically rows and rows of bus company booths selling tickets to lots of different places, so you pick your company and buy your ticket. The first booth we went to (recommended in guide books) pointed us to another booth, but we instead chose the lady who was waving at us and looking friendly.

Neil did a great job of of purchasing two tickets to Tena for 3rd November - I was very proud! Tickets in hand we walked over to get the bus back into town, so paid our fare and waited in line. Again it was very busy but as we were at the front of the queue we both shared a seat. It seemed like a much shorter journey going back into town and I enjoyed seeing some new streets of Quito. We also saw El Panecillo from the bus from the back - we must have been in the poor area. After getting off the bus we walked back to the hostal where we spent another evening cooking, chilling, eating and watching TV before going to bed.

Lots of love!! xx