↑ Machu Picchu, viewed from Huayna Picchu, can be seen shaped like a condor.

Huayna Picchu (meaning “Young Peak” in Quechua) is a mountain at the edge of the city of Machu Picchu. From here, Machu Picchu looks shaped like a condor bird. It’s a pretty impressive sight considering that architects carved this ‘lost city of the Incas‘ on top of a mountain.

Only a few visitors are allowed to hike to this site daily, so get your tickets early!

Checkout my backpacking stories and pictures from Peru.

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Walking in Quito’s tourist district

La Mariscal (also known as “Gringolandia”) is a modern neighbourhood in the newer part of Quito and is quite popular among tourists. The Ejido Park separates old and new Quito and if you are walking from the old town towards the new town, the change in scenery is quite drastic.

Parque El Ejido

After walking out of Quito’s old city and walking few blocks, I entered the trapezoidal El Ejido park which is the third-largest park in the city. Narrow polluted streets of the old city transformed into wider avenues with this park located in between, allowing people to catch a breath of fresh air. The park is well kept and has tons of space to hangout. On the northern edge of the park, there are handicraft and trinket sellers (and beggars) who surprised me by speaking English.

If the beggars speak English, it must be the tourist central of Quito.

Plaza Foch

From the middle of the northern edge of this park emerges Avenue Amazonas, the showcase street of La Mariscal neighbourhood. This neighbourhood is popular with western tourists (called “gringos” in Latin America) and has therefore earned the nickname “Gringolandia” which is kinda funny. With north American style cafes, fast food, sports bars and stores, it is easy to confuse this place with another street in north America.

I bought a croissant at a French bakery and ate it sitting on a bench in the Plaza Foch watching fellow tourists. It cost me the same as my lunch…

↑ Bike lanes!

While lacking in major tourist attractions, Mariscal is home to a number of clubs, bars and restaurants that cater to visitors. There are also many travel agents that specialize in western travel.

↑ Being Latin America, there is always a church or two around. I find this particularly useful because there is always a place to stop and relax.

Nightlife

Besides the conventional nightlife hotspots, there are places that cater to smaller groups such as gay bars, sports bars, karaoke bars etc.

↑ The place gets quite busy at night, especially Friday and Saturday night. Quiteños like to party, and tourists flock the dives in drives.

↑ Pilsener, Ecuador’s national beer, I quite like it.

↑ Margaritas, the biggest I ever had!

I don’t usually party when I am travelling because it makes my next day inefficient. Nevertheless, it was nice to have a few dinners and drinks in this neighbourhood with my friends. I think it’s good to have such places, definitely attracts a particular genre of tourists.

More pictures

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Building on the Work-Save-Travel model

This year I travelled to two new countries: Mexico and Ecuador. Besides that, I got a full time job, a house and things like that. That made it difficult to take time off work, but I will make it happen anyway since travelling is the best way to spend money, don’t you agree?

Mexico

I backpacked in Mexico at the beginning of the year, checking out Mexico city and several surrounding areas to the north, west and southern parts of central highlands. Then I travelled to Yucatan to see some spectacular Mayan ruins, returning back with a tan to a snowy Toronto.

Northern Ontario

It was late spring in Toronto but still snow season in the North. I took a bus trip to North Bay, continuing to Timmins, about 700 km away from Toronto. Later in the summer, I also visited Iron Bridge, a little community between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie on the shores of Lake Huron.

Ecuador

In autumn, I travelled to Ecuador for about a month, spending majority of my time in the mountains and hiking to my heart’s content. I was quite surprised by how geographically diverse the country was and the number of activities one could indulge in.

Life events in Toronto and travel to surrounding areas

This year I bought a house, it’s a 130-year old Victorian house, with ghosts and stuff in the attic. As you can imagine, now I am not only firmly grounded in Toronto but also fully ‘settled down’ with a partner, mortgage, job and things like that. So I was quite busy this summer putting everything together.

Besides lots of cycling to places in Toronto, I also visited Guelph area and made an annual pilgrimage-like trip to Niagara falls / Buffalo, NY.

Detroit, USA

The year ends as I spend christmas holidays with my in-laws in Detroit. Detroit is a nice city but plagued by complex problems which I solely blame on the evil auto industry…haha! Nevertheless, I had a great time walking in the downtown core.

Travel blogging and social media

Besides writing a journal about my travels, I also ventured into social media this year by signing up for Twitter and Facebook and socialising with travel bloggers in general. Since travelling is not my fulltime activity (unfortunately) or a source of income, there is only so much time I could dedicate to social media.

But I’m glad that my twitter network has grown to 965 followers and facebook community has grown to 180. At the same time, I published 91 blog posts this year and my alexa rank has improved from 864k to 240k today. I think I am at equilibrium now, haha!

Oh yes, and I moved my travel blog to a new domain name: finaltransit.com, so please update your bookmarks!

So that’s the summary of my travels this year. How was 2011 for you?

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Start your tour of Quito’s old town from this historic public square and independence monument.

↑ Quito is the currently reining “Cultural capital of America” – a sign displayed in the plaza.

Plaza Grande

↑ Monument to the independence heroes of August 10, 1809, a date remembered as the First Cry of Independence of Quito from Spanish monarchy.

The Spanish started constructing a colonial district in Quito and as with typical colonial urban design, a city plaza was built at it’s centre in the 16th century. For several centuries after that, this square had nothing but a fountain and empty space around. In the 18th century, the plaza was landscaped to appear as extended gardens of the Presidential palace. Several decades ago the central plaza was reformed to it’s current state.

The square is flanked by the Carondelet Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Municipal Palace and the Archbishop’s Palace + the Plaza Grande Hotel to it’s west, south, east and north sides respectively.

In my opinion, this is a very appropriate place to start touring the UNESCO awarded colonial quarter of Quito. This plaza was among the first sites to be constructed by the colonialists and has some of Quito’s most important buildings around it. Therefore I chose it as the zero coordinate for my trip (you know, the point from which everything begins).

President’s Palace (Palacio de Carondelet)

↑ President’s palace, flanking the western edge of the plaza.

This building is the seat of government of the Republic of Ecuador and was constructed in 1801. Back in the day, it had steps descending to the plaza, but now it’s a paved street.

↑ Ecuador’s flag at the entrance and inside the banquet hall. The flag consists of horizontal bands of yellow (double width), blue and red with a coat of arms in the middle. When you enter the palace, you are expected to salute to the flag as stated on the carpet.

Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s president since 2007 and a guy that everyone adores, converted the presidential compound into a museum that was open to the public. The Carondelet Palace and its agencies were declared Ecuadoran heritages. I think the building has a neat and practical design, and it’s wonderful that the President of Ecuador lets people into his palace. Not many presidential palaces are open to the public.

↑ Inside the Presidential palace. All visitors get a souvenir with their picture inside the palace.

The Cathedral

↑ The principal cathedral of Ecuador, occupying the southern block of the plaza

The Cathedral of Quito (La Catedral de Quito) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quito, thus making it administratively the most important temple in Ecuador. After the Spanish conquered Quito and executed the Incan king Rumiñahui, they promptly established Roman Catholicism and began the construction of a stately cathedral next to the newly built central square. This church is considered to be one of the oldest cathedrals in South America.

Other buildings around the central square

↑ Eastern edge of the plaza: Quito’s Municipal palace (newly constructed, with mediocre architecture).

Hotel Plaza Grande is a five-star luxury hotel on the north side of the plaza, next to the Archbishop’s Palace. It is located in a restored Spanish colonial mansion, which formerly belonged to one of the earliest colonial inhabitants of Quito and is the only privately owned building around the main square.

↑ Hotel Plaza Grande and guard outside the president’s palace.

Logistics of getting here

The Trole-bus rapid transit line passes through the heart of the colonial district. Four stations – Hermano Miguel, Teatro Sucre, Plaza Grande and Santo Domingo – serve this part of town but the one closest to the Grand plaza is the aptly named Plaza Grande station. If you are coming from the north or central part of Quito, get off at this station, turn to your right and walk one block to reach the plaza.

Evenings are great for relaxing here and the plaza is very safe. Lots of people, meaning lots of photo opportunities, hang out here with their friends and families while random hawkers walk around carrying their wares. I love Latin American city squares.

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Pyramid of the Sun (Pirámide del Sol) the third largest pyramid in the world is located at Teotihuacan, an hour north of Mexico city. The view of the surrounding ruins is quite spectacular; I can only imagine how the place would have looked during its golden age. The top of the pyramid was believed to house a temple but now it only has tourists that are thirsty for water and for taking pictures…

Checkout my backpacking stories and pictures from Mexico.

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How to use public transportation to visit tourist sights in Quito

↑ A bus stop in Quito’s tourist district

Since I am completely committed to sustainable modes of public transit as opposed to taxis or cars, I was delighted to find that most, if not all, principal sights of tourist importance in Quito can be accessed by public transport. For a mere $0.25, one can navigate a vast network of efficient public transit system to get to different parts of Quito. It might seem slow, crowded and chaotic, but what’s the point of travelling if one doesn’t mingle with the common man and experience all that?

Part 1: Getting oriented

The city of Quito is uniquely shaped due to its location between two mountain ranges. The city is long and narrow – 35km North to South and only 7km East to West – with the main tourist attractions and business district located more or less centrally.

Tip: Since I am such a geek, I’ll attempt to relate Quito’s transportation system to a diagram of magnetic flux as shown in the adjoining picture. Feeder bus lines connect to three main transit lines.

Main public transportation lines

There are three main mass transit lines that run in a north-south direction, shuffling a massive volume of commuters from outer districts to the central parts of the city. These are electric powered rapid transit buses with dedicated lanes and stations, almost like how a subway or light rail system would operate. Cars or other vehicles are not allowed in these lanes.

Trolebus (green line) – Ecovia (red line) – Metrobus (blue line)

The fare for each trip is 25 cents and you can transfer for free at certain stations. City buses zip through neighbourhoods, picking up and dropping passengers off at major transfer points on these lines.

The lines can get crowded, which automatically results in people being aggressive, but compared to, say, Mumbai, it’s a breeze to travel here. There are standard advisories about pickpocketing but nothing to be paranoid about.

Tip: No matter how much you research or prepare, there are chances of unexpected changes in routes or stops or general confusion when you arrive at a bus station. No worries, Quiteños are very helpful, just ask!

↑ Trole-bus (green line) station in central Quito. Most tourist sights, both in old and modern part of the city can be accessed by this line.

Part 2: Checking out tourist attractions in Quito

Tourist sights in Quito can be grouped into two major buckets: old city and the modern city.

Colonial charms of old Quito

Most of colonial Quito, with its neatly preserved, UNESCO world heritage awarded old churches, can be conveniently explored on foot. The Trole-bus runs through the heart of the old town, making stops at 4 stations – Hermano Miguel, Teatro Sucre, Plaza Grande and Santo Domingo – if you are coming from the north. The Plaza Grande station is merely a block away from Quito’s historic central plaza. Get off here and dive right into the old quarter.

The Ecovia line, coming from north, terminates at La Martin station on the eastern edge of old Quito.

La Mariscal in newer Quito

Two worlds meet at the Hermano Miguel intersection; colonial architecture switches to huge glass and concrete buildings, signalling the beginning of Quito’s modern business district. Key attractions here include lush parks for people-watching (El Ejido, Alameda and Carolina), lavish museums (Guayasamin, Chapel of Man, House of culture, and Banco Central) and ofcourse the nightlife and touristic core of La Mariscal, also known as the Gringo-land. Being Latin America, there are always neat churches and chapels sprinkled around.

Coming from the old town, La Alameda, Ejido, Mariscal, Santa Clara and Colon stations on Trole-bus line serve this neighborhood. The Ecovia line passes right through this area, stopping at Casa de la Cultura, Galo Plaza, Manuel Cañizares and Baca Ortiz stations.

Tip: If you want to feel as if you are travelling through time, from 16th century to 20th century, I recommend walking from the old city to the new city, which was one of the most enjoyable things I did in Ecuador.

↑ Traffic jams are common. Honking is your exit pass.

Part 3: Connections to the world outside

Quito is well connected to the rest of the country, and even to neighbouring countries, predominantly by a bus network. Quito has two long-distance bus terminals – the north terminal and the south terminal. Both terminals are connected to public transportation lines to form a very integrated network.

Airport: Old and New

Quito’s current airport is located in the middle of the city, and about 8km north of La Mariscal district. Once you exit the airport, you’ll be on Avenue Amazonas – to your left is south (where most attractions are) and to your right is north (nothing touristically important there). Flag down any bus going south, it will lead you to La Y, a terminal for Metrobus (blue) and Trolebus (green) lines. There are other ways to get into the city but going to La Y is the easiest and fastest. Once in La Y, you can transfer to the old town or the new town through the Trole-bus line – see the section above – all for a mere 25 cents.

↑ A chic new Ecovia bus (red line)

North bus terminal: For travelling to places north of Quito

Terminal Carcelén (Terminal Terrestre Norte) is used by buses that go to northern parts of Ecuador such as Otavalo, Ibarra and all the way to Colombia. Regardless, it is integrated with a city bus terminal with direct buses to La Y (Trole bus / green line terminal), Rio Coca (Ecovia / red line terminal) or La Ofelia (Metrobus / blue line terminal). You can literally get to anywhere in central Quito from this inter-state bus station.

South bus terminal: For traveling to places south of Quito

Terminal Quitumbe is the southern gateway and buses going to various cities south of Quito (e.g. Latacunga, Baños, Cuenca, Guayaquil, etc.) depart from here. The terminal is integrated with the Trole-bus station, so getting there is straightforward. Travel all the way south on the Trole bus line (green line) to reach this inter-state bus terminal.

Tip: If you are reading an old source, it might refer you to Terminal Terrestre Cumandá for inter-province and inter-city buses. This terminal is now closed and has been replaced by two terminals described above. Cumanda bus terminal is being converted to a bigass shopping mall.

Railway

Rail lines are being revived in Ecuador but there are mammoth construction challenges due to a hilly terrain. There is a railbus that runs from Quito to Latacunga through the picturesque Cotopaxi national park with stunning views of the volcano, but it’s not a train in the traditional sense. This tourist train is actually a modified bus that runs on a rail track. The Chimbacalle station on Trole-bus line is right next to the railway terminal Terminal de Ferricarriles‎.

↑ Trole-bus station

- – -
So that was an overview of various public transportation options available in Quito. Several cities all over the world are constructing a BRTS (Bus rapid transit system) for mass transport rather than building more roads for cars. I find it encouraging.

If you have comments or corrections, please let me know!

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You can smell mysticism in the air as you navigate the narrow lanes of Safed, a little town in northern Israel and one of the four holy cities of Judaism. I came here on a day trip from Tiberias, another holy city, looking for architecture that was unique to the various Jewish tribes that made this town their home. I stopped outside a building, what appeared to be an aashram (spiritual hermitage), taking pictures, when a man emerged from the house (it was an information centre), inviting me to have a cup of tea. He talked about Kabbalah, a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious creator and the mortal and finite universe, and explained to me what his life as a Kabbalist was all about.

The interesting part was that this person had spent three years in India, studying Hinduism (perhaps that explained the aashram-like appearance of his house), where while sleeping one night, he heard a divine revelation that ordered him back to Israel… or something of that sort.

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Besides being the best place to buy leather in Ecuador, Cotacachi is also a nice town to unwind.

This always happens to me when I am travelling. I go to a place determined to buy some local goods that the town is famous for, but I am terrible at determining what’s good and what’s bad or what should be a respectful price. I knew I wanted to buy some leather goods from this village called Cotacachi, and so I spent two days hanging out here with the hope of uncovering the secret. At the end of my second day, after having scouted around, I bought some jackets, some organic coffee and other stuff for what I think was a fair price, not cheap for sure.

↑ Cotacachi under the watchful gaze of Volcano Cotacachi.

Located about 20 minutes (15km) from Otavalo and a gateway to Laguna Cuicocha and the Cotacachi Cayapas natural reserve, Cotacachi is worth a stop for its famous leather goods. There are some interesting places to see around the town. Museums, churches and plazas aside, walk to the outskirts of the town to get some nice views of the countryside with farms, forests and a couple of volcanoes too – Cayambe and Cotacachi (maybe Imbabura too!).

↑ Main cathedral, located at the heart of the town.

Cotacachi’s central street Avenida 10 de Aogosto or 10th of August is lined with rows after rows of little stores that sell leather goods. There are some specialty stores that focus on women’s garments, or footwear or smaller items like wallets and belts, but most stores carry a variety of everything. Quality varies widely but if you search patiently without succumbing to the sales tactics, you might find something. I am bad at this, so after checking prices in three stores, I just entered the fourth and bought everything I wanted. Pay by cash, that will knock 10% of the price right away, then offer a 20% lower price.

↑ Several streets and walls are covered with murals and graffiti. Some of these are quite funky.

Here’s what I typically do on such shopping trips:

• Enter store #1 and announce that you are there merely to check things out and that you may not buy anything. That’s takes the pressure off and the sales staff are not as pushy.
• Linger around an item and casually ask the price. Don’t react, just nod and move on. Mentally register the price and quality of the material, you’ll be comparing it in the next store
• Enter store #2, 3, 4 and repeat the sequence above till you have a solid understanding of price and the quality of goods you can expect. Most of the time these shopping lanes or markets will have more-or-less the same items and prices that are at equilibrium.
• Decide what you are willing to pay (without being cheap) and then offer 20% below that. Bargaining happens from both sides, so as long as the final price is in your range, buy it, otherwise express your sadness and leave. I always had shopkeepers call me back and give a better deal. It usually works out better with some humour involved since bargaining is not a competition, but part of the conversation.

What tactics do you deploy?

↑ Volcano Cotacachi at sunset.

Logistics

There are frequent buses that shuttle between Cotacachi and Otavalo, sometimes in a circular loop that passes through a nearby village called Quiroga. There are few hotels around the main plaza and a small strip of restaurants. Most people I met travelled here on a day trip either from Otavalo on on their way to the Guinea Pig (Cuicocha) lake trek.

Overall, a great place to visit because it’s on the way!

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It was peak winter in Dombivli, my hometown on the outskirts of Mumbai, India. It was a particularly cold winter, I remember vividly, with temperatures falling to 7ºC at night. In Mumbai, this was unheard of and people were falling sick because nobody is prepared for such weather. I had to wear a sweater, hahaha.

I write this as I look at the snowfall from my bedroom window in Toronto.

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Niagara on the lake, a little town on the southern shores of Lake Ontario, close to Niagara Falls, is very colourful. Besides the fact that it’s fall (I visited this place earlier this year) and nature is at its colorful best, it’s the variety of stores and brightly painted storefronts that are making the town cheerful. I see a little girl, a toddler really, picking up a red maple leaf from the ground and showing it to her mommy. The mother, while expressing her admiration, is lifting the baby in her arms and wiping her hands clean. The child is wanting the leaf back, but it’s already gone, flying in the wind to, perhaps, another child’s attention.

Well, it did catch my attention… LOL

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