A dream since 4 years, a lot of babbling the last 2 years, and now it`s reality: I`m in South America! And my trip begins in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Although Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in South America, it has to offer one of the largest varieties of nature. The flight to Quito from Guayaquil was somewhat spectacular, leaving from sea level, passing the 6000m high volcano Cotopaxi and flying in through the Andes to land on 3000m above sea level. Remembering how sick I felt climbing 4000m high Mt. Fuji in Japan last year, it is surreal to imaging that this is the height where most hikes in the Andes start!
Secret Garden, the hostel I am staying in, is located in an UNESCO world heritage building in the old colonial town of Quito and is led my Australians. Not surprisingly, the hostel is packed with Australians. It`s cute and build like a maze, easy to get lost but something interesting to find in every corner. Surprisingly though, during my first wonder through the old town, I didn`t see a single tourist. Expecting that Ecuador is a backpacking center of South America because of all it has to offer, and thinking this would make this an easy start off point for me until I speak the language a bit better, I had to realize that this might not be the case. Instead, wild stories about robberies appeared from every corner and got me a bit worried.
So for today, I cannot tell much as I have not seen much, but I did meet interesting people and am confident that this trip will be great, if only I will be spared the robbery!
No comments:
Post a Comment