Quito

We arrived in Quito early evening and sped away in our yellow taxi, down a wide urban motorway crushed with cars and crowded buses. Shops were pretty much closed and the safety barriers locked firmly down. Upstairs lights glowed and we had glimpses of families eating, laughing and talking. The streets were deserted!

We turned down a narrow street and there was our hotel. .... Locked and barred. Mmmmm. We rang the bell .... no reply.... rang again. We then decided to ask at the next hotel which was 5 star plus with bellhops in amazing uniforms. Si, Si, Hotel Posada Colonial .... ring the bell. We hammered on the door and in the distance we heard the clatter of footsteps and the creaking and clanking of keys and metal gates. Our host greeted us unsmilingly!

We followed him up marble stairs, through two sets of metal gates which he locked meticulously and into a dark, cavernous entrance way. We signed in and he lead us to a huge double room with large windows. Geraniums filled the window boxes and we looked down onto the quaint narrow street. This will do us we thought!

Now for something to eat. Our host we realised was actually the security guard, and apart from him the whole place appeared to be deserted. He let us out through the gates and we felt unsure whether we would be able to rouse him when we returned!

There was absolutely no one around. We ventured down the hill... nothing was open. We passed a small bar which was open. Sprukers with electronic badges flashing "Bella Hermosa" invited us in.... "Comar" we said. "Si, Si" but it didn't look too impressive and so we wandered, nervously down the street, eventually asking a guy where we could eat. He sent us back to the bar saying..."Go in the restaurant, quickly, its not safe to walk here!"

And so we stumbled on one of the best restaurants in Quito. Great food, magnificent view - perfect!

Luckily our security guard was awake and we sank gratefully into bed... to sleep, that is until 2.00am when a procession of coal trucks ground to a halt at the traffic lights on the corner, revving their engines as they tackled the steep hill up and out of the town. This continued until 6.00am, when we fell into that strange dreamless sleep of the exhausted!