Quito - Part II

Day 1 – El Presidente!

Getting up and having breakfast we discovered that the hostel’s internet wasn’t working so we headed across the road to a café to get a coffee and use their Wifi.  Once we had discovered where the Quito walking tour started from we dropped off our damp jungle clothes at a nearby launderette before jumping in a taxi across town.

As we had been a bit under the weather when we were first in Quito we were going to do the walking tour today and after driving around the houses for a bit the taxi eventually found the hostel where the walk went from.

After a quick meet and greet the tour guide was very keen for us to get to the main plaza as he told us that changing of the guard at the presidential palace took place on Mondays.  So we were quickly walked up a few blocks where we entered a pretty nice main square.

 

Finding a good place to stand, we waited until the changing of the guard started and it was pretty colourful. During the procession, there were flag bearers in traditional costumes, marching bands, drummers, trumpeters and colourful horse back riders that rode through the crowds.  It was just as good as the changing of the guard in London I recon, if not better.

 

The guide also told us to wait as either the vice president or president of the country would address the crowds from the balcony.  As the elections were coming it was actually the president that came out, apparently, he is very popular in the country (especially with the ladies as he’s considered a looker).

Once we had watched all the pomp and ceremony we were taken past a couple of churches and then we all sat down outside the national bank (which is now a museum).  The guide then told us about when Ecuador lost its currency and replaced it eventually with the US dollar.  Once again it was down to a corrupt president in league with dodgy bankers, for some reason he transferred all of the countries money into foreign banks/investments, leaving no cash available for its citizens. He went on TV around this time explaining to his citizens that the money in the bank was doing well and not to touch it.  The banks then failed and there was super inflation which left their currency valueless.  It was then gradually replaced by the US dollar (which Ecuador has to buy from the US as they are not allowed to print it). 

 

The president was deposed by angry mobs, he ordered the military against all the protestors that had gathered in Quito from all over the country.  The head of the military went on national TV and stated that he would not give orders to fire on its own citizens.  The military laid down their weapons and these were then decorated by the protestors with flowers (including the tanks).  The angry mobs then entered the presidential palace to get their man, only to be foiled by his helicopter escape.  He now resides in exile in the US where unbelievably he now works at Harvard university as a lecturer in economics!!

We were also told why the country was named Ecuador, although the equator runs through about 5 different continents, Ecuador has the mountains as well which makes it the closest point to the sun.  Another interesting fact, in Ecuador during a summer solstice at midday a sun-dial will cast absolutely no shadow.

Also, we learned that a foreigner entering Ecuador has exactly the same rights of employment, land ownership and free medical care, which was quite surprising. But the guide also told us Quito was extremely safe despite what the guide books told us (negative propaganda he said) and the very high police presence we noticed, so we are not exactly sure if he told us the whole truths on this tour.

From the bank, we made our way to our refreshment stop which was good timing as it had just started to rain (don’t forgot we lost our rain jackets the previous day).  As we had a drink the rain started lashing it down and all the tour party took cover in the restaurant and waited for it to stop.  Apparently, Quito is famously re-nouned for having four season’s in one day, therefore according to our guide there is no such things as local weather forecasts on the TV.

 

 

About 20 minutes later and the rain was still coming down so the guide said we had to move on, at which point he seemed to lose about 30% of  the group.  He took us to a few more sites including a monastery that had been converted into a museum, a view of the Angel on the Hill which overlooks Quito and then to a traditional road where it is good to eat and party at night.

The tour ended at the main plaza so Shell and I then went on a shopping trip to see if we could replace our rain jackets and toiletries that we lost.  After trying various stores, briefly stopping for a coffee and trying some more shops we had only managed to source some toiletries, so we decided to give up.

We caught a cheap taxi back to our hostel area and collected our laundry which we then took back to our room.  Next, we thought we would return to Mike at the English bookshop to swap our South America travel guide for one just on Columbia.

On entering the bookshop Mike was again very accommodating, swapping the book for us and then inviting us to sit down for a cup of Yorkshire Tea.  We chin wagged with him for around an hour about Ecuador and Blighty and he also recommended some other good books that we should try and read in the future.

Leaving the bookshop around 6.30 we walked down the road for a bit and found a bar that was playing some OK rock music so we decided to pop in for a drink.  The beer happened to be the cheapest we had found in Ecuador, although it was a bit disconcerting to be asked by the bargirl for passport ID before she would let us order (I’m sure it wasn’t for age ID issues!!).

Anyway, as we were enjoying the music and people watching, one beer turned into a few and we ended up remaining there all evening until we returned to the hostel for the night.