Hasta Luego, Ecuador
February 20 - We awoke later today, still a little tired from our trip up Cotopaxi, we again enjoyed a full breakfast at the hostel. Then, after packing up our bags and leaving them to be kept with the hostel's owners, we headed off to ascend the Teleforico (or TeleforiQo as they put it).
Taking an Uber, we arrived at the lift without issue. The exterior of the ticket building displayed a large and beautiful mural and the ride up to the top of the mountain was serine. The top of the mountain offered an astounding view of the sprawling city of Quito which is separated in places by steep mountains and deep valleys. We milled about looking for empanadas for T who had been told there were $0.75 empanadas. Alas, we did not find them and so descended back down the mountain via the cable car. At the bottom of the mountain again, T continued her rigid search for empanadas but without success. We instead resolved to venture to the historic center of Quito.
Once more we called upon Uber. The experience this time was a mixed bag. We were picked up by an older man who requested we also pay the $2.50 toll to exit the Teleforico park. While our previous driver had paid the toll himself, we could see the reason in his request so we opted to give him the $2.50. The toll paid we continued on our way. After chatting pleasantly enough with us, he pulled over on a hilltop stating it was a good view and offering to take photos. We snapped a few photos and were off again. Then our experience took a turn.
The old man offered to take us to a hilltop with a large angel sculpture for an extra $10.00 (this was an excessive amount for the distance) which we declined. Then rather than taking us to our actual requested destination, the man dropped us off on a side street and told us that we simply needed to walk two blocks to the right to reach our destination. In the man's defense it was a very congested area and truthfully was significantly easier for us to reach on foot. That stated, it was not what we had paid him for, given all potential outcomes it was a minor concern to us and we contented ourselves with wandering around the historic district, T still in search of empanadas.
After a half-hour or so we decided to rely upon the Quito airport lounge to satisfy T's driving desire for empanadas and so returned to claim our bags from the hostel. It was now early in the afternoon, and though our flight was not until 12:15 AM we thought it would be easier to simply wait in comfort at the airport lounge rather than be in a mad scramble to get to the airport later in the day during Quito's rush hour. A 45-minute drive later and we had arrived at the Quito airport.
Upon preparing to enter the international terminal (boarding passes and passports in hand) we hit an obstacle in the shape of a security guard who disallowed our entry due to the amount of time remaining before our flight and that we would not be able to enter until 7 pm, it was currently 3 pm. So, since starting a mutiny to overthrow the authority of the security guard was not an option, we sat down on a mildly comfortable wooden bench in the waiting area and waited...for three hours.
It was at this time that the guards changed. Our obstacle was replaced by another security guard who at our second attempt to enter, did not even raise his eyes to give us second glace. So it was that after passing through security and finding the lounge, T was allowed to fully satiate her appetite (as much as it can ever be truly satisfied) at the large buffet within the Quito international lounge. It is worth noting that this lounge was voted the number one lounge in the world in 2019. They earned every vote. It was wonderful. However, T still did not get to enjoy empanadas. As of the writing of this entry, she is still searching for them.
We spent the evening writing and relaxing until the lounge was quite empty aside from ourselves and the staff around 10 pm. Then, as luck would have it, two familiar figures appeared in the doorway of the lounge. The tall lanky frame and the shorter but still slight frame of the American couple we had shared breakfast with before ascending Cotopaxi. The two entered and recognizing each other we cheerfully greeted one another. Happy to see familiar faces in unsuspecting places. Glad of the company, we spent the remaining hour or so before our flight swapping stories and laughing perhaps a little too loud for what is common in an airport lounge. Wishing well in our inevitable parting, we went our separate ways and boarded our flight to Rio de Janeiro.
- G