I arrive in Quito, one of the highest cities in the world. It is sunny and warm, and because we are so close to the sun, the UV index is extremely high. Without feeling it (due to the altitude and cool wind), you can get sunburnt in the blink of an eye. The locals wear hats and long clothing. At noon, there is hardly any shade because the sun is almost directly above Quito, which is very close to the equator. On the equinox, your shadow disappears completely for three minutes. It is a strange city, a bit rough. I am advised not to walk the streets after sunset, and certainly not to withdraw money. I take a trip to the equator, where I discover through all kinds of crazy experiments how strong the attraction of the poles is, even at a distance of a few centimetres! On the second day, I take a walking tour of the city centre. The layout of the city is like a sausage: very long and narrow. My hostel has a nice rooftop bar where you can see all the lights of the city in the evening. I think this is the most breathtaking view I saw in the city, because other than than, it didn’t charm me.
Ecuador uses the USD. When the changeover took place, the population was given only five days to exchange their money for the new currency. After those five days, the bank no longer accepted any old currency. This caused major financial instability for the population and losses for many. At present, the US dollar is rather positive in Ecuador, as it allows them to trade well with the US and attract more American tourists. The rapid switch to the US dollar is not the only strange financial decision the country has made. It also requested an international loan to improve its public institutions and overall welfare, and received one from China. The catch: if Ecuador does not repay the sum on time, part of the Galapagos Islands will become Chinese territory. The repayment date is approaching and the government was at a loss as to how to raise all this money. Therefore, it was decided to exploit their greatest asset and increase the entrance fee to the Galapagos Islands from 100 USD to 200 USD. I sincerely hope they can raise the money, because although technically it is “business as usual”, it still feels wrong.
I take a bus to Baños, the place to be for adventure in Ecuador! I stay in a hostel just outside the city, surrounded by beautiful mountains and waterfalls (and with a jacuzzi!) and meet some nice new travel friends with whom I spend the rest of my time in Ecuador. We do all kinds of adventurous things such as horse riding in the mountains, ziplining, canyoning, mountain biking to a gigantic waterfall (“el diabolo”), eating guinea pig, hiking to waterfalls and paragliding. I had a fantastic time in this place and ended up staying for 7 days. When I think back on Ecuador now, I mainly think of Baños, adventure and friendship. Baños is a small village located at the foot of one of Ecuador’s major volcanoes. The volcanoes look impressive: they rise high above the other mountains and in the distance they look dark grey, with a snow-white ring around the top. Clouds dance around the volcano, which is so high that it catches everything. Ours was called the Tungurahua volcano. I find the views very impressive and realise that this is the first time I have been in the vicinity of such large, beautiful volcanoes. I hope to encounter others on my journey and have the opportunity to take beautiful photos of them.
After a gruelling night bus ride filled with chattering and screaming teenagers, people watching TikToks on their phones at full volume all night long, and uncomfortable little seats, I arrive in Cuenca feeling exhausted. I meet up with one of my travel friends and we take a long tour of the city. Quito was quite rough, Cuenca is much gentler, more romantic. It is a small city and almost everything takes place on or within a block of the central square. We visit churches, a world-famous flower market and I taste an Ecuadorian take on Belgian speciality beer for the first time. (It wasn’t very good.)
As you can probably guess, we had seen everything in a few hours. I decide to gather all my courage and brave the next night bus after one night in a local posada with the loveliest hosts and hostesses, and take the night bus to country three: Peru!
