So, we finally left Colombia with heavy hearts. We´d had a blast and met some wonderful people. And along came Equador. Not fast enough though. It took a good 3 days of bus travelling to finally make it to the border. And it´s always the way that the last hour of the journey seems interminable. Especially when being blasted with Children of the Corn III on the overhead blurry TV, after having endured Children of the Corn I and II. Why they ever thought there was more story in there for TWO sequels I can´t fathom.
Quito was our first stop. We stayed at a rundown hotel in the historic city that is an example of the way Lonely Planet can make and break a place. Once highly recommended this family-run place has now slipped out of the guidebooks and as a result is empty. The owners, a fantastic couple who must be in their late seventies, have high hopes they´ll get back in once they re-do the facade. We hope they are right. We had a fantastic room overlooking the rooftops of the city. My favourite place to be.
Quito was a wonderful city to explore. Crowded streets full of delicious food, skilled metalworkers and enthusiastic market traders. And a fantastic homage by the painter Guayasamín to the suffering of the indigenous poor in Latin America. http://www.guayasamin.com/pages_ing/index.html The Capello del Hombre is a chapel filled with his works high up in the quiet hills overlooking Quito. It faces the Pinchancha mountain range that he loved, with its distinctive volcano driven shape. Hummingbirds hover near the tree where his ashes are scattered and a light breeze blows past the many bronze church bells he had made a part of his house. It was both a tranquil and arresting place. Art driven by pain and suffering, yet creating a place that felt so full of peace.
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