Paranoid in Quito, Ecuador

The bus trip to Quito, Ecuador was a but nerve wrecking, what with the near mugging. The Ecuadorian boarders also have a reputation for being particularly dodgy, and, on top of that, Quito is known to be particularly notorious for tourist attacks, muggings and pickpockets. I met one girl who warned me never to carry ANYTHING on the streets in Quito, just money in socks or bra, and also to keep health insurance information on you at all times, because if anything happens to you, they´ll just let you die unless they see you have insurance to cover the costs...


Bare in mind, I´ve been hearing stories like these all around South America, but for some reason, the Quito ones stuck with me and made an impression, which I found more irritating than helpful.

Realistically, the bus trip was perfectly fine, but my paranoid mind made things a little uncomfortable. I was the only Gringo on the bus, but was sitting beside a very cute old ecuadorian lady who helped me out with crossings and so forth. I didn´t sleep much, partly from paranoia and partly from the numerous stops by the army, who´d get on, inspect luggage, question people, then get off. Two kids opposite me would cry every time this happened and try to hide something that their mother was keeping under their seats...

The plan when I arrived to Quito had been to catch the first bus to Cali in Columbia. However, I soon learned that there was no bus to Cali, that I´d have to catch a bus to the boarder, cross, catch another bus, and then another. After being on a bus all night, this didn´t sound ideal. I didn´t know what to do, and decided to book a hostel in Quito for one night while I figured it out.

I had arrived on a Sunday, which I hadn´t realised was the most dangerous day in Quito city because everything is closed and the streets are empty. My first impressions of Quito were a little warped as a result. Other travellers kept telling me how much they loved it there, but I was yet to see its charm.

Out of frustation I started to look into flights to Columbia. To be honest, long bus trips, after 3 months, were finally starting to grate on me. I was desperate to get to Columbia, and with only two and a half weeks left, I needed to get my beach time in the Carribean in before returning to rainy Ireland. Luckily I found cheap return flights to Cartagena, in the North on the Carribean. I would be missing the capital, Bogota and Medillan, which I´d heard amazing things about, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make at this point for the beaches. Flights were booked for Tuesday morning so now all I had to do was wait and find a way to pass the time in Quito.

To people that don´t really know South America, it might sound strange that I felt I´d be safer in Columbia than Ecuador, but that is the case. I´m happy to say that most of the scare stories I heard when at home, from people that have never actually been to the continent I might add, were exadurated. Of course travelling always comes with added risks, I have never felt that for a second that it hasn´t been worth it, even when strange men are jumping into your taxi.

The next day I woke to find out that electricity in Ecuador gets cut for two hours, every day. Despite having masses of gas, they run the county of hydro-electricity, not to be eco friendly, they just make more money by selling the gas to america than using it. Because rain session has been fairly poor this year, theres not enough water, and to save energy, they cut the power for two hours.

I wanted to pass the day by visiting musuems, but unluckily, Mondays are the only day they shut. So instead I mostly just walked around the city, wrote in my journey and read. The city was certainly more enjoyable now that there were people in it.

The next morning I made my way to Quito airport, and couldn´t help but realise that in 2 and half weeks I´d be flying home from there... Finally it was my turn to freak out about being the backpacker who´s trips ending!