No Fixed Plans

When I first got to the hotel, we were told we had to pay $10USD each to get into our rooms, but after I paid they let us both in, Millie (the other tour member) on an IOU. We put our stuff away and then went out to look at some of the shops (most were closed as they tend to open at 10am and it was 9:30am) and to get Millie some USD. We gave up with the shopping (and were both desperate for a shower) so we decided to go back to the hotel and try again later. 

However, after the shower Millie felt like sleeping so I decided to go out by myself. I took some photos and saw some of the food options, which is where I realised I hadn’t eaten for 18 hours. I settled on this cafe, where I got an iced coffee and vegetarian sandwich (which was stuffed) for USD$7.80. 

I went back to the hotel and ended up crashing for 13 hours. 

Now, it was the offical start of the G adventures tour, however we weren’t actually doing anything with the group until 6pm that night. 

When I woke up at 3am, I called my mum and after started to look up some tours to do for that day, as I didn’t want to stay at the hotel for the whole day. 

I found this one that was a private tour that started by going up the cable cars to the top of the mountains. The tour guide explained that the mountains are often given male and female personalities (some are considered children too) and that their people often see them as protecting them. 

After coming down, we saw this neo gothic church, which was the first in Quito. There was a massive Spanish influence within the design. There’s 24 provinces in Quito so they had 24 different stained glasses to represent each province. They also put in a lot hearts, to represent being welcomed into gods heart. If you stood towards the front of the church and looked through the heart, you could see a Virgin Mary statue that stood on a hill through the window. 

We then went to this chocolate shop where I got a demonstration of exactly how chocolates made, from the fruit to the shelf. He let me taste the fruit and crack one of the beans. He explained that the shells get made into these energy tea shots and let me try it. He then showed me the machines they use to make it into the liquid chocolate and let me taste it at different stages. He then started showing me all of the different chocolates that he sold and let me try each, as well as this blueberry praline he had in a different cabinet. 

We then trekked through some of the streets, where I realised they let people walk on top of roofs to take photos with no safety equipment. 

Then it was time for the equator line. They went through the process of chocolate making again (however in no where near as much detail), showed us some native animals to the Amazon as well as hunting tools, and then took us to the main event. We did an egg balancing challenge (no one in my group did it but two people in the group before us did) and then we had to walk in a straight line with our eyes closed across the equator line. I was the only person in my group able to this. 

After this, I went back the hotel where I was planning on just relaxing in my hotel (it was about 2pm) but then a couple people in my group were planning to go to the shops so I decided to go with them. We went looking for a different atm and ended up back at the hotel at 5:30pm, which gave us just enough time to get organised for the group meeting/ dinner. We all meet, introduced ourselves and got informed about how the first two weeks were going to go. We then got taxis to dinner (and Ubers back) where we all started getting to know each other a little better before all of us wanted to go to bed and get ready for our early morning the next day.