We bumped into Joao Da Silva from Rio Rythmics (the friendly face at the door on party nights) in Auckland International Airport, and found we were on the same flight to Santiago, Chile. Joao was on his way to Brazil with his son.
That flight – one of four which took a total of 20 hours – though long, was uneventful. I had an adorable two year old girl who lay across the two seats next to me and kicked me in her sleep for all 11 hours of that leg (not so adorable, but fortunately she was an amateur, and her kicks were not as deadly as those one might experience at RR on a crowded Saturday night.)
Our time in Quito has been much more exciting. We tried to catch a trolley bus to the Old City the day after we arrived, only to have them stop all buses as we arrived at the bus-stop. We discovered this was due to a strike over rising bus fares (from 25 cents to 35 cents), and witnessed the protests when we walked to Old City. Police armed with tear gas and shield restricted protesters to specific streets which were then closed to public access. I thought at the time that their riot gear was a little OTT, but realised the next day that I had misjudged: as we tried to catch yet another bus, the bus-stop we were headed for was abruptly closed by police, as youth in balaclavas disrupted traffic and threatened pedestrians. (If you´re reading this mom and dad, don´t worry, South America is perfectly safe ; )
We did eventually get to our destination – one of Quito´s star attractions, Mitad del Mundo (the Equator line). A cute museum allows you to experiment with balancing an egg on a nail, watch water swirling counter/clockwise on either side of the Equator. It also had some displays showing how the natives used to live, complete with instructions on how to shrink the heads of one´s enemies.
The Iglesia de La Compania de Jesus (Company of Jesus Church ), another highlight, truly deserves it´s reputation as one of the most beautiful churches in South America (I´m sure this is true even though I haven´t yet seen what the rest of South America has to offer). We weren´t allowed to take photos inside, but click on the link above where someone´s been more sneaky than I dared to have a look at a picture of the interior: the Arabic inspired plasterwork, 10 side altars, high alter, pulpits, walls and ceilings had one and a half tons of gold poured into them during its 170 years of construction between 1605 – 1775, and it´s simply spectacular.
Our tour guide, Andreas, is lovely, highly organised, and very direct. His one and a half hour briefing on the first day of our tour included such comforting words as, “You will all get diarrhoea”. Yay : (
Our group comprises:
That flight – one of four which took a total of 20 hours – though long, was uneventful. I had an adorable two year old girl who lay across the two seats next to me and kicked me in her sleep for all 11 hours of that leg (not so adorable, but fortunately she was an amateur, and her kicks were not as deadly as those one might experience at RR on a crowded Saturday night.)
Our time in Quito has been much more exciting. We tried to catch a trolley bus to the Old City the day after we arrived, only to have them stop all buses as we arrived at the bus-stop. We discovered this was due to a strike over rising bus fares (from 25 cents to 35 cents), and witnessed the protests when we walked to Old City. Police armed with tear gas and shield restricted protesters to specific streets which were then closed to public access. I thought at the time that their riot gear was a little OTT, but realised the next day that I had misjudged: as we tried to catch yet another bus, the bus-stop we were headed for was abruptly closed by police, as youth in balaclavas disrupted traffic and threatened pedestrians. (If you´re reading this mom and dad, don´t worry, South America is perfectly safe ; )
We did eventually get to our destination – one of Quito´s star attractions, Mitad del Mundo (the Equator line). A cute museum allows you to experiment with balancing an egg on a nail, watch water swirling counter/clockwise on either side of the Equator. It also had some displays showing how the natives used to live, complete with instructions on how to shrink the heads of one´s enemies.
The Iglesia de La Compania de Jesus (Company of Jesus Church ), another highlight, truly deserves it´s reputation as one of the most beautiful churches in South America (I´m sure this is true even though I haven´t yet seen what the rest of South America has to offer). We weren´t allowed to take photos inside, but click on the link above where someone´s been more sneaky than I dared to have a look at a picture of the interior: the Arabic inspired plasterwork, 10 side altars, high alter, pulpits, walls and ceilings had one and a half tons of gold poured into them during its 170 years of construction between 1605 – 1775, and it´s simply spectacular.
Our tour guide, Andreas, is lovely, highly organised, and very direct. His one and a half hour briefing on the first day of our tour included such comforting words as, “You will all get diarrhoea”. Yay : (
Our group comprises:
Tarsh (32) and Scott (38) from Melbourne who now live in England;
Fiona (38) from England
Andrew (22) from Sydney, Australia
Andreas (27) our German tour leader who´s also 6ft 4¨(just thought I´d throw this in because it seems incredibly tall to me)
We haven´t had a chance to do any dancing as yet, but Latin music is played just about everywhere, and makes me feel like we are back at a Latin Mix Party (minus the kicking ; )
We haven´t suffered any altitude sickness yet either (Quito sits at 2820m), but get puffed climbing more than three flights of stairs. Warren has also made some rather strange suggestions, but these could be due to carbon monoxide poisoning from the traffic rather than the lack of oxygen. Given the fatigue we feel now whenever some exertion is required, I think the Inca Trail is going to be rather interesting. I wonder if one of our porters could be persuaded to carry me …
2 comments:
Hey guys,
Loving reading about the beginning of your adventures. I hope that you enjoy your travels around SA, I will be living through your experiences until I get a chance to get back over there!
Safe travels
Make good use of your first aid travel kits...I am sure you are well and truely prepared!
XX Noni
Hi guys
Wow, your first riot! That's the problem with passionate people - the music, dancing, food, art etc. are all great, but they take to the streets over bus fares. The church looks awesome. Glad you found a nice organised tour operator so Cheryl can relax. Keep posting!
Nick
Post a Comment