Visiting Quito: My Familiar Everywhere

“The modern world is full of unnatural systems imposed. Giving humanity the capacity to travel anywhere on Earth while demanding compliance with arbitrary paperwork sits poorly with me.” – Old Sean

Capital Journey

It was a long, slow bus ride from Cuenca to Quito.  Deep fog marred what were likely spectacular views of the Ecuadorian highlands. 

The lowlands surrounding Quito were only seen briefly in clear weather and golden sunsets, revealing farms of different crops plastered onto the side of hills.  It looked like nothing so much as a giant patchwork quilt of living textures, made sharper and more real by the last few minutes of downpouring sunlight. 

And then, I arrived in the grandest supercity of Ecuador: Quito. 

There is an eternal sameness to the surrounding urban area outside of the central part of a Latin American city.  Various low rectangular buildings are somehow made of mismatched material with great banners of advertisements roosting above.  The sidewalks are cracked in places, firm in others and usually further battered by thin blades of grass poking thorugh.  Many stores are shuttered, others are open to the air.  Vehicles putter past at a decent rate, following the lines of an unbeautiful urban sprawl.  Graffiti is so poorly scrawled and frequent and faded, it’s practically ignorable after a month.  Coco-Cola logos are extremely prominent and every block or so, someone has done their best to spiff up an area with artwork, only to have decay and pollution mar the work. 

This makes up the vast majority of area within Central and South America city-spaces.  A combination of ugliness and familiarity dominate the zones of most cities, with the unique and interesting districts appearing somehow as eye-catching islands amongst the unmemorable muddle. 

This is, by and large, the totality of Quito.  A cityscape too large to properly encapsulate, crammed so impressively with low concrete in every direction that traversing the entire district eats up hours of a day, regardless of the mode of transportation.

Entering Quito

I arrived in Quito via bus and was immediately swarmed by rival taxi companies trying to shout me into their vehicles.  One guy took my arm in an attempt to guide me to his yellow car, and that sealed the deal for me. 

I wasn’t going anywhere near any of those taxis.

I’m uncomfortable with hawkers in general and traveling has left me with a deep-set prejudice against taxi drivers.  I jerked my arm away and ducked inside, leaving a hoard of two dozen men shouting after me. 

Thanks to a wee sliver of Spanish, I managed to catch a few profane mutters at the end.  I stand by my decision though.  I noticed that none of the locals were taking taxis either, which set off a secondary warning light in my mind. 

So, Uber it was.  Apparently, Quito has a few of Uber drivers floating around.  It took a good half hour to get a ride, but when I finally did, I was shuttled to a tiny hotel called Hotel Luz Mar (Sea Light) just south of Parque del Arbolito.  I didn’t have an internet in my room that night, so I curled up and snoozed early. 

Chores in Quito

The following day was sort of a “layover” day for me before I went to Peru.  Traditionally, that’s a wandering day for exploration, but I was a bit hamstrung by prep-work.  My vaccination papers were basically unacceptable in Peru, and I was forced to get a negative PRC COVID test to fly.  Which naturally costed $45 dollars. 

Asinine.  I’ll be astounded if people don’t start faking those or forging them sometime in 2022.  Some people have probably tried already. 

To be fair, Peru is just operating with a fairly extreme level of due diligence at this point.  The South American nation was hit hard, their political state has been wildly unstable for some time now and the word “house of cards” comes to mind fairly frequently in short term conversations.  A wealth of precautions has probably helped stabilize a situation that frequently defies levity or balance. 

Regardless, Peru requires a negative PRC test (which average $45 USD in most places), double masking to board airplanes and a health declaration (which is uniquely stupid, as the website the government has hosted is terribly clunky and difficult to operate or input information). 

With this, passport, flight ticket, backup info, downloaded information and meals all set, I was free to spend the rest of my day touring Quito.  I caught a bus south to the area directly beside Quito’s vaunted Central Oldtown Area (around Plaza Grande).

Hailcaught

As I stepped off the bus, heaven opened fire on the awning above.  Chunks of hail came blaring down, drumming powerfully.  Unwilling to be caught in the bulk of the storm (which was marching towards us with dark clouds and truly window-shaking clashes of thunder) I tossed my hood up and started marching, relying on a thick skill to keep me safe.  (I probably over-rely on my thick skull too frequently for my personal wellbeing, but frankly, it’s gotten me this far.)

It sort of worked.  The hail that pattered down only lasted for scant moments before the heat of earth quickly melted it.  Soon, rain of the intense variety joined the plummeting  ice-cubes, and I was forced to stay close to walls to avoid most of the storm.  I hadn’t brought an umbrella, but I likely wouldn’t have used it even if I had.  No reason to risk tearing the fabric. 

Despite the storm, I found myself uplifted.  After hours of walking around Quito’s less-than-stellar urban sprawl, I was finally being treated to something different.  Central Quito in the rain is gorgeous. 

Quito Core

Hailstones and water swept away a thin layer of foot-traffic grime and the streets were emptied of the hoards, giving me a free view of the beautiful Spanish and Ecuadorian architecture that surrounded me. 

Balconies held gracefully dipping rails with narrow, patterned awning shedding water.  Graciously shallow steams slipped around my feet, reflecting lights from cars and storefronts.  The buildings stood wide and tall, showcasing deep teals, coral pinks, somber greys, outlandish greens and white pillars and trimming to accent their excellence.  

Plaza Grande, in the center of this storm was a deep green with fountains throwing water back at the sky and great, dappled church domes pinging hail.  Inside a security building, a veritable legion of pedestrians stood watching a show of girls performing a dance show.  People in costumes clustered here, sporting Halloween attire that assisted with the ambiance. 

Above the entire scene, the Virgen Del Panecillo stands, slightly bowed, winged and serene, overlooking the city.  She drifted in and out of view as clouds waxed and waned. 

Further along, there was a startling quiet café overlooking the storm called 7 Campanarios Café de Ecuador.  Inside the arcade of the building was a greenery plaza with balconies and soft lighting looking inward as the storm continued to churn above. 

I neglected to find the name of this green gem, but the Café del Fraile exists inside it. 

Continuous Walker

Undaunted by the water and enjoying myself immensely, I just shook off water once in a while and continued my endless trek through the Central area.  It was marvelously charming.  There were painters showing off huge canvases, odd shops with Halloween and Christmas decorations inside, parents toting children around in hilariously oversized ponchos. 

On one occasion, I caught a mother bustling along a child with a rainbow-colored plastic back held over his head, keeping the plastic away from his face for, you know, breathing.  Various stalls were closed and blanketed in tarps, but the owners kept a handful of goods to wave at people still braving the weather. 

As I grow older, I’ve begun to recognize that the vast majority of the modern, urban world is a slanderous jumble of ugly, convenient and cheap buildings that clash into operable cities of parallelograms and stay standing far beyond their expiration date. 

But those few areas that are sculpted with care, morphed into tourist attractions for history and beauty make the hike worth it.  If South America was composed of the same beautiful buildings and structures that dominate culture zones and historical districts, I would fall irrevocably in love with its cities and likely never leave. 

Alas, that’s not the state of the world.

The Many Gargoyles of Quito

After starting to drip, I started walking back to my hotel.  My feet were blessedly dry thanks to boots, and I angled myself towards Basilica del Voto Nacional perched atop a cobbled hill.

Basilica del Voto Nacional is another gem of Quito, and somehow fits within a city as something entirely unique and familiar.  The structure is a pair of narrow gothic spires with thick lower walls, a steadily counting clock and impressive flying buttresses. 

It matches nothing and belongs perfectly.  The lower arcades on the outer edge of the Basilica are crammed with every type of ironic shop possible, from fruit shops to floral arrangements to computer repairs to a small hardware store.  Even more interesting are the gargoyles that ring the spires.  Many of these are, as expected, thin dragons lancing out and spitting runoff water in tiny streams.  But there are also gargoyles in the shapes of pouncing jaguars, anteaters with digging claws extended and tropical monkeys.

It has the unique effect of taking something quintessentially European and slightly changing it into a structure that’s sneakily and cheekily Ecuadorian in signature. 

Final Flight Checks

I wandered back to my hotel, cutting through Parque La Alameda, where dogs bounded around me in sheer, wet novelty.  It’s not a very nice park, however, so I wandered all the way to Parque El Ejido, which was far more interesting.  This park is a vast green space with lots of wooden and metal statues, both depicting the abstract artworks of warped wood and famous founders and influencers of Quito.  There’s a McDonald’s on the Northern edge, where the employees pulled out all the stops and dressed up for Halloween.

Back in my hotel, I repacked, dried everything I owned to the best of my ability, prepped my paperwork for tomorrow and began to snooze.

So ends my one-day vacation in Quito.  I wouldn’t consider Quito a city very worth visiting, but then, I spent remarkably little time here.  I’m glad to say that I got to pass through. 

I caught a car to the Quito Airport the following morning (which is a hike-and-a-half), traversing gorges, more urban sprawl, white-water streams and patches of dropping greenery.  I’m now at the somewhat small entrance area, waiting for my gate to open. 

I’ll be spending Halloween night in Lima in the Miraflores district.  According to various legends form around the world, this is the cusp of the Autumn solstice, where the veils between worlds is thin and permeable.  I hope to do some exploring tonight before sleeping off my jet lag.

Which is a choice of questionable wisdom, but I know my strong suites.  So once more into a supercity with a passable sense of direction.

Until then,

Best regards and excellent trails,

And happy Halloween,

Old Sean

Written October 31st, 2021

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