Day Trip In Quito

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It was a long week working in Quito.  It was non-stop.  I arrived last Saturday after a 12-hour journey from Monterrey to Panama to Quito.  I woke up at 2 a.m., had some coffee, showered and headed for the airport.  The flight left at 5:30 sharp to Panama and was uneventful.  After breakfast, they shut everything down and people went to sleep.  Arriving in Panama I had a five-hour layover.  It's all duty-free shopping but I don't shop.  Thirty minutes of walking around and that was enough.  I found a place for lunch and then read a book, Nurture Shock.  

Off we went to Quito where the driver was waiting with my name on a sign.  I slept for an hour and then ordered room service, a hot bowl of locro, a cream of potato soup with chunks of cheese, avocado and butter.  Sunday I was whacked out all day.  I had a couple of calls, one of which was my brother from Hawaii.  We talked for over an hour and a half.  

During the week we worked in Quito, Riobamba, Ambato, and Ibarra, all of which were between 2.5 to 3.5 hours away.  

As I've said before, you will love Ecuador.  A clean country, wonderful people, mountains, beaches, and volcanos.   The highways are of high quality and if there are tolls they are only $1, and the poverty level is less than half of Mexico at 21%.  The minimum wage is $380 U.S. and the U.S. dollar is their currency.  Food and supermarkets are very reasonable with small local restaurants and eateries from $2.85 on up.  Today I flew to Cuenca (World Heritage Site similar to SMA) and the same, lots of restaurants with full meals for under $5.  Their socialist driven president is in exile in Paris and the vice president is in prison.  They were headed down the road of Venezuela and the people stopped it.

Yesterday, I was free to head out and that I did.   My goal was to visit the Museo de Carmen Alto which is a working convent dating back to 1610.  All original and the sisters practice self-flagellation and are without shoes some of the time.  They live on one side of the convent a come out after the museum closes and use all the parts of the convent just as before.  It is truly amazing but you're not allowed to take pictures.  These are from the internet.

The central patio of the convent.

The halls are covered with original murals.

This is the library and it is filled with original texts dating back over 300 years.  They are available in digital form and are still read by the Carmelites.   Truly fascinating history.

In this room there are two rows of chairs back to back where the hierarchy of the order meet to discuss business.  There are niches around the walls that are the same as over 350 years ago.  The sisters still hold meetings here.

I had a private guide, no charge for the hour tour.  She was truly well-versed and was able to easily answer any questions I had.  The tour was in Spanish.   I want to go back and do it all over again after reading up on it.   Just too much to digest in such a short period.  The murals and painting are of religious origin but also reflect the history of Quito and Ecuador over the centuries.  

I hope tomorrow I can post about an amazing climb I made in the city of Quito.  Also, our trips in the countryside were incredible, very green, volcanos, national parks and lots of camping areas in altitudes over 9,000 feet although there were climbs to 12,000 ft.