Quito is another city the guide book warned about, especially at night time. And we did see first-hand the after effects of a mugging and the poor young Aussie bloke who was the victim could barely open one of his eyes or move his jaw. This put a damper on our night time escapades and instead we made the most of the days, exploring "Old town" with its many churches, museums and the Presidential palace. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa seems to be quite popular with the people who rave about the reforms he has driven since taking office at the start of 2007, including rewriting the Constitution. On the tour we learnt that he has declared that all gifts he receives are the property of the Ecuadorian people and are put on display in the palace, which is accessible to the public (although it seems this access is limited to these 30 minute guided tours). We almost missed our tour because when we booked in, we had a bit of time to kill so Brent decided to get a hair cut and shave at the oldest barber in Quito. An hour later, the barber was still trimming and shaping with the flick razor, massaging Brent's face with hot towels and splashing after shave. It was the best cut and shave I have ever seen Brent with and what a treatment, all for the equivalent of $10!
We also jumped on a day trip to Otavalo, a town about 2 hours north of Quito which is famous for its weekly open-air market. On a stop along the way because of a flat tire on our bus we stood on the equator line which is marked by a monument and museum with "experiments" proving the location was correct. Our tour guide was pretty chatty offering his view of the world which included that Ecuador was the best country in the world and that since Correa had come into office Ecuador was thriving, corruption had significantly reduced and the economy had refocused on agriculture. He also took us to a number of "special" places which by about the third or fourth became a bit of a running joke because they were also places with handicrafts and textiles for sale (kickbacks were involved, for sure!) In the end we made a few too many purchases (including presies) and had to buy an extra bag at the airport to fit everything!