Arrived late on Monday night / early hours of Tuesday morning after a 16 hour flight from London via Miami.  American Airlines efficient if not memorable although the mini deep-pan and can of Bud went down well. Painful experience through US immigration at Miami airport (long queues, finger-printing, interrogation...)

Adjusted to Quito's 2850m altitude soon enough but managed to both get an unfortunate bright red glow after a few hours visiting El Panecillo - not really surprising on a sunny day 3km closer to the Sun than normal and 30km south of the Equator :(

The city is divided into the delightful historic 'Old Town,' a Unesco World Heritage Site from the 17th-century and La Mariscal or 'New Town' or 'gringolandia,' a horrendous collection of uber expensive bars and restaurants together with an aggressive atmosphere .

The highlight of our seemingly endless wanderings around the Old Town was a visit to the Basilica del Voto Nacional. High on a hill, we crossed a precarious wooden plank inside the main Basilica roof which gave us access to the towers where we found a few very steep ladders to make the final ascent. From the top we were able to get a great view south to El Panecillo and north to modern Quito - the views were worth the sometimes nervy effort!

Had a morning visit to TeleforiQo - a cable car that takes a 2.5km ride up the flanks of Volcan Pichincha to the top of Cruz Loma (4100m) We were treated to spectacular views across Quito but the clouds were rolling in by the time we were leaving around lunchtime.

Had a trip out to Mitad del Mundo, the equatorial line which is represented by a monstrosity of a concrete monument but felt a bit cheated as more recent studies have found this key line of latitude to be 300m further north!

Food included a visit to Mercado Central and Corvina Don 'Jimmy' for a typical dish of cerviche (raw fish and seafood marinated in lemon and served with popcorn and sliced onions) and corvina (fried seabass) with a huge jugo... very good and cheap!
Took a stroll down La Ronda, a narrow lane lined with colourful colonial buildings, and had an empanada with beers and live music.

Onward journey by bus 3hours to Banos.