A city tucked in a rolling valley

Quintessentially conservative Quito rocks back and forth between the culture-rich traditional Old Town and the indulgent New Town that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Or is it the other way around?

Tucked high in the Andes, surrounded by wicked and respected, some extinct and some at its prime, volcanoes. Quito welcomed me with breathtaking views- literally. Being approximately 2800 meters (1.7 miles) above sea level, my lungs were at the mercy of this city. 

Met with stares, smirks, cat calls, and "Chinita's", I was eager to start my Ecuadorian adventure. 

Quito is caught between the roots and the shoots of the generations. A memory of Pre-Colombian ghosts stay alive in Quito, along with the corporeality of poverty. These people of purely indigenous descent are visually distinguished from those of mestizo heritage post-Spanish conquest. They are seen throughout the Old Town with wagonfulls of fruit, namely tomatillas (a tree tomato) and platanos. 

I adopted a sense of standing out in the city but felt a heavy hospitality characteristic of the entire nation. 

Along the Avenue of the Volcanoes, aka the Panamericana Highway, I jumped on and off transcontinental buses, and hitchhiked in the compact cars of the warm hearts of Ecuadorians- I went north from Quito to the extraordinary cloud forests.

Stay tuned!

[I am finally blogging about my journey. 'Bout time, right?]