By this Author: Rhondalee

Well, the week of December 19th to 24th was somewhat stressful. You know, Murphy's law. So, for beginners, Tom has a history of dental problems, sensitive teeth and gums that are prone to infection. On Tuesday, December 20th Tom called me at work to let me know he had to use the car as he had an emergency dental appointment because his gums were bothering him....FLASHBACK to December 2016 in Samara, Costa Rica. Less than a week into our vacation, Tom's right side of his mouth, on the cheek looked like a golf ball. Luckily, just up the street was a medical clinic, which is where we met Dr. Freddy who spoke English fluently, and his certificates in the waiting room told us that he had interned in Miami, breath of relief for 2 reasons: first, language would not be a barrier, and secondly, he was well trained. Long and short of it was that Tom had a staff infection, which started in his mouth....the same side he was currently experiencing problems..oh no! So, ends up he has an abscess which they drain, and since the office is closed on Friday December, 23rd, (Due to Christmas), an appointment was made for Tom to see a specialist on December 22nd. The end result of that visit was that Tom needed a root canal and if he were to have it on the 23rd, he would need to stay close by as there was a high risk of reinfection. In other words, he would not be able to go to Ecuador on December 24th. This problem with his tooth was several years old and was because that tooth needed a root canal several years ago. Another option was to continue with his current antibiotics and a prescription was made and filled in the event the tooth started to bother him while in Ecuador. Needless to say, he's here with me and a root canal has been booked a couple of days after we get back from our vacation. Truly I did not know until the day of our trip if Tom was coming, regardless, we had decided that I should go without him and he would join me later on (FYI don't believe he would have joined me, cause he is a very nervous flyer)

Pearson Airport, Toronto

A slight incline to get to our room

Tom and I booked our flight to Ecuador in February 2016. We realized we could use our Aeroplan miles for business/first class on Avianca Airlines. .....what a treat that was. Our flight left at 3:15 p.m. On December 24th from Toronto's Pearson Airport. Because we were booked into business class/first class we had access to the Maple Leaf lounge at Pearson for free beverages and food. We went to our boarding gate about 20-30 minutes before the time listed on our tickets. I decided to hit the washroom one more time before boarding, and when I came back Tom said that he was going to go for a walk. Well, in the past, I always held onto both of our passports, but about our second time travelling together, I told Tom that from now on he would carry his own passport as I didn't want to have that responsibility in the event he was late in getting back to the boarding gate. So, just around 300 p.m. I hear the last call for boarding for our flight. I asked staff when they had started boarding and I was told that they started the boarding call at 2:50 p.m. The best that I can figure is when I was in the washroom, they started calling our flight for boarding and Tom did not hear it......as I had been sitting in the wait area for over 20 minutes and had not heard the initial boarding call. Anyways, the airline did a last call for Tom ..luckily he was heading back. Tom's comment was something along the line of "geez, I never had that happen before, I always wondered what it was like"and to me he said. " I suppose that was a good rule you made about the passport". "Yep" I replied. Tom says "you would have left without me". "Yep" was my reply.

The flight was smooth with a half hour layover in San Salvador. The extra room in the seats was great especially for Tom who has long legs. The food was great. Breaded fish, shrimp cocktail and I really appreciated the Bailey's on ice.

We arrived at 11:59 p.m...only one minute away from Christmas Day. The airport was hot and we waited another hour to pass through immigration. Our drive to the airport was waiting and it took another hour to get to our accommodations at Colonial House, just on the edge of the Old Town of Quito , a UNESCO world heritage site. So, at 2:00 a.m, on Christmas Day we crashed after being on the go for 18 hours.

No matter how long the flight lasts or what time of the day you start the journey, for us anyways, it makes for a very long day. Makes us wonder how did we ever manage to do he 14 hour non-stop to Hong Kong and then another 7 or 8 hours to Bangkok? At the end of the day, you do what you have to do...and it is so worth it!

During our ride into Quito which was about an hour long, we could see many buildings with lights on them nestled into the hills. It looked different but at the same time quaint. Later on we would see in the daylight how hilly Quito is. By the way, transportation is very reasonable. Our hour long ride from the airport cost us $30.00.

We stayed at the Colonial House Hostel just on the outskirts of the old town. We had a double bed and our own room. We did not need air conditioning in Quito. The room was very basic, no TV, and really for the price who could complain about $25 US a night (well, actually did have a complaint, but more about that later). We also paid $3.50 each for breakfast which was a good deal. We had granola, yogurt, fresh rolls, coffee, juice and eggs every morning. We think the jam was homemade. Regardless, it was delicious. Every morning we could hear the blender start up, and we knew it was freshly made juice being prepared. I opted out of the eggs for the last 3 days of our stay. We also had access to filtered water for which there was no charge.

For the entire time we were in Quito we did tons of walking and believe me when I say the streets were up and down, they were! On average, 3x a day we headed out from the hostel to go into town and especially the first day it was a challenge for me to make it back to our hotel without having to stop to get my breathe. Tom, wasn't having as much trouble as I was because he loves to walk. I think I did pretty good though, especially considering we were adjusting to the altitude. In fact, as soon as I disembarked off the plane I experienced shortness of breathe and Tom felt nauseated. Overall the side effects were minimal and within 24 hours we were fine.

On the first day, Christmas Day we walked around the old town just to get our bearings straight. We saw many landmarks but did not know their history, and initially we did not know what some of the landmarks were. We just knew the architecture and woodworking was so intricate and beautiful. Many of the stores were closed due to it being Christmas. We could not find any restaurants open so we took a taxi to the more modern and touristy area called the Mariscal. The Plaza Foch is the focal point where there are several bars/restaurants. Tom had a burger and a pint for $5.00 and I had a traditional Ecuadorian soup in a cream sauce with avacodo which was around $6.00. The total cost by taxi there and back was $8.00. Needless to say, when our heads hit the pillow that night, we slept well.

Colonial House Quito, Ecuador

View of Quito from outside our hostel

Basilica in Quito

Quito landscape

Lady of Quito

Lady of Quito from a distance

One of the two backyard bunnies

Backyard brew

On the morning of the 28th Tom and I decided that we would visit the Basilica and try to climb the clock tower. The entrance fee was $2.00 p/p. It was beautiful. We walked up to the 2nd level and visited the 2 souvenir shops. Wow! I wanted to buy ton of stuff. The alpaca capes were very reasonably priced - around $20 -$45. Hats and mittens were less, and beautiful scarfs were like $5.00. I picked up a scarf and we decided that when we were back in Quito we would purchase some gifts for ourselves and others.....can't wait! After visiting the gift shop we walked up to the 3rd floor. From that floor you walked over a rickety bridge, then you had to climb up a flight of metal steps on somewhat of an incline. Once you did that, you were outside and very high. There were 2 more flights of stairs to take but the difference was that you were outside doing this, like as in, you could see how high up you were. I chose not to look. When we made it up to the top of the tower, we were at eye level with the two clocks. I videoed some of this expedition and we also took lots of pictures. Once we arrived back on ground zero we went into the church which was another $2.00 p/p. It was stunning. But there is a part of me that says with all this wealth, why isn't the Church doing more to help the poor. We had planned to go back to our room and take a break then do some more walking but when we arrived back we were told that it was tough to find tickets and our best bet was to go to the bus terminal ASAP. So that became our priority.

We had originally booked our accommodations in Quito with a check out date of December 29th, however we inquired about transportation a couple of days before we left and found out our best option was to take the bus the evening of December 28th to Puerto Lopez. It was an 8 hour non-stop ride to Puerto Lopez, meaning that we would arrive at our destination at 5:00 a.m. We hoped that we could leave our luggage at the hotel until our check in time of 2:00 p.m.. In order to get our bus ticket we had to take a 30 minute ride via cab to the bus station. It was huge and very modern. Our taxi driver came in with us and do all the talking. We found out later on, that we were very lucky to have gotten our seats as there were only 4 left.

Getting to the clock tower

Clock tower of the Basilica, Quito

View top of the Basilica, Quito

A view of Quito from the top of the Basilica Quito

View of cathedral - Quito

Some of the stained glass work

Stained glass Cathedral Quito

Cathedral - Quito

Cathedral Quito

Accommodations at Colonial House including breakfast and the odd beer. $150.00. U.S Taxi Ride from airport to Colonial House 30.00. U.S. Dinner for 4 nights including beer. 60.00. U.S. Admission into church and Basilica tower 8.00. U.S. Taxi ride to get bus tickets. $10 each way. 20.00. U.S. Taxi ride to bus terminal. 10.00 U.S. Bus ride to Puerto Lopez $14 X 2 28.00. U.S. Laundry. 5.00. U.S. TOTAL $311.00 .U.S.

http://colonialhousequito.com/booking.html

Colonial House, Quito Ecuador