Quito, Quito, Ecuador

When I started researching and planning a trip to Galapagos Islands (聽here聽and聽here聽), first thing I learned was, that in order to get to the Islands, you need to fly to mainland Ecuador. One of two options was Quito,聽Ecuador鈥檚 capital. Since most flights from US arrive late at night, and flights to Galapagos leave in the morning, the trip requires an overnight stay. Of course I couldn鈥檛 pass up the opportunity to explore Ecuador鈥檚 capital and decided to聽spend 2 days in Quito.

Quito was the first city in the world to be declared a聽UNESCO World聽Heritage Site. It鈥檚 full of buildings in colonial style, cobble stone streets, beautiful churches and what I loved the most : the mountainous landscape around.

Quito is situated 2850 meters聽above sea level, which can be felt upon arrival. The altitude is no joke! The key is to slowly acclimate, which was hard to do for us, since we only had 2 days in Quito, and wanted to see as much as possible. Plenty of water definitely helps. A popular way to treat altitude sickness in places with high altitude are聽coca leaves. Tea made using the leaves, supposedly eases the symptoms. We never used it, but hanging around Plaza Grande, we were approached a couple of times by locals, trying to sell us coca leaves. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).

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Guide Name: Quito
Guide Location: Ecuador » Quito
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Article (B))
Author: Aga Goodman
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