Following a week being at one with nature in the Galapagos, I flew into Quito, which has quite a different vibe and climate to my previous destination. After La Paz, Quito is the highest capital city in South America (in terms of altitude) and was completely cloud-covered when I arrived, it also gave me an unnerving sense that I was in a very dangerous city - a feeling I've not had for quite a while. If it hadn't been for the fact that I got to meet up with Mayra who I know from London, I don't think I would've stayed very long at all.

I spent my first night staying in a hostel which had been recommended to me (Secret Garden), but it was not that great and rather more pricey than I had expected, plus it was in a very dodgy area in which neither Mayra nor I felt comfortable. Fortunately after this night I went to stay with Mayra in her flat and got to do all the exciting things I've not been able to do for ages such as washing my clothes, and even ironing them! This was the first time in a very long time (or even ever for some of them) that my clothes have seen an iron. It was so nice to be doing something normal like that, but I think Mayra thought I had gone slightly crazy.

Since she moved back to Ecuador, Mayra has bought a shop which I spent some time in whilst I was in Quito, and even got to help out a little when she got really busy. I met her grandmother and aunty in their restaurant where I sampled empanadas de morocho and canelazo with Mayra and her cousin. The next day the three of us went for a typical "hangover cure" breakfast here in Ecuador called encebollada - a fish soup into which you squeeze lime and add popcorn - rather bizarre! With our stomachs filled we were ready for a day at Cuidad Mitad Del Mundo (Middle of the World City), where you can go and see the equator painted on the floor.

When we arrived there was a sacred ceremony of the sun that was just beginning, and we were invited to enter the small plaza where it was taking place. The ceremony consisted of burning a fire for ages whilst smothering it in various scented oils, as an elderly woman chanted, and smoked a sacred cigar before spraying us all with sacred water from her mouth. The whole process lasted for about an hour, and we were not allowed to leave until it was complete. Fortunately the ceremony seemed to be working and the sun was blazing down on us as a group of dancers encircled the plaza to finalise the proceedings.

Once we were allowed out, we headed to the planetarium which was pretty disappointing and filled with screaming kids who were scared out of their wits from the darkness, loud bangs and the occasional flash of light. I would not recommend visiting the planetarium when you come here! I would however definitely recommend the following, even though it is not something I knew about until it was too late and I had already left: take a nail and an egg, as on the equator you can apparently balance the egg on the nail. That sounds like a lot of fun to me, and I only wish I had been educated in advance and gone prepared! By the time we exited the planetarium, the sun had gone away and the rain I knew so well from Quito had returned. So we got the essential touristic photos to prove that we went to the equator before making a speedy exit to try and keep ourselves dry.

After spending some quality time catching up with Mayra, I went to visit Baños and Otavalo for a week or so, before returning to Quito with Jacky whom I had met in Galapagos. It was the end of Jacky's adventures in South America, so I promised to make the sight seeing around the old town of Quito as fun as possible in order to give her good lasting memories. As I could not arrange for a group of clowns with a stretcher to catch me as I jumped from the top of the Basilica, I had to improvise en-route.

When we reached the Gothic Basilica of Quito I was very impressed, it was much more interesting than I had anticipated. I really enjoyed exploring around the inside of it as well as admiring the building from the outside. Once we were in the clock tower I started to look for ways for us to alter the time showing on the clock face... each clock showed a different incorrect time, so it wasn't that naughty! After squeezing through the railings to try and adjust it using the mechanical system we failed, so we resorted to using a broom to reach up inside the clock face and force the hands around... Jacky told me that was way more fun than any clown/stretcher entertainment so I was happy.

A little further up in the same tower we found the bells of the Basilica, and I bet each and every one of you can tell what was running through my mind, despite the fact that they were tied up so that people couldn't ring them. In the name of entertaining my dear Jacky, I felt it was my duty to climb up on the railings that were in place in order too stop everyone from falling to their deaths, and reached as far as I possibly could in order to give those bells a good ringing. There were three different bells in total and I managed to ding them all - I was so pleased! At the top of the tower you have a great view of the city, and of the surrounding towers of the same building, which is where we headed to next. For once the weather was great in Quito and it looked really pretty.

The other towers were not quite so exciting as there were no clocks or bells to play with, but they did offer better views and the opportunity to walk along a bridge that ran over the ceiling of the actual church part of the Basilica. It was lots of fun clambering around the slightly sketchy ladders and steps, and I was glad not to be there on a rainy day from a health and safety point of view, not just because it would not be so pretty!

On our way back down to the ground floor we came across an old abandoned lift, and I managed to squeeze myself through the door, fortunately stepping onto a secure lift floor rather than plummeting down the shaft! We also had a random encounter with a huge church organ, which sadly did not omit any sound no matter how hard we tried.

Once we were satisfied that we had explored every inch of the Basilica, and messed with anything in our paths, we headed to the Cathedral and to San Francisco Church - both of which were closed, so we just admired them from the outside. Jacky went into another church, which is absolutely covered in gold and is famed for being the most gaudy church in all of South America. Just seeing the pillars at the entrance was enough for me, so I waited on the street and got some good people watching in whilst she went to confirm that it does indeed deserve its title.

Sightseeing over and we had time for one last night out together before Jacky departed this magical continent. The following day was my last with Mayra before leaving Quito and Ecuador behind me with some very fond memories.