Alex's Asian Adventure

Time to resurrect this blog.

I'm currently in Quito, my first day in Ecuador. I'm here to do see some sights, soak some culture, and hopefully bag a few gorgeous summits on Ecuador's giant volcanoes. Also, I do realize that Quito is not in Asia and is not consistent with "Alex's Asian Adventure" - but so what? Them's the breaks.

Travel here: largely uneventful if you ignore the minor issue of the fact the first flight (to Houston) was delayed for 2 hours on the tarmac (something to do with mechanial issues relating to a fuel gauge...hmm), and had to make a fuel stop in Memphis. Instead of arriving Houston at 11am local time, we got there at 3pm. Connection was at 4pm, no problem. It just makes for a long day of travel and a lot of sardine-can action in an Embraer ERJ. I wonder if we would have been delayed if we were in a Bombardier plane....

Arrival in Quito was smooth, though somewhat delayed by the approximately 523 people landing across three flights, and all trying to clear customs at the same time. I was met at the arrivals gate by Patricio, who's a total class act.

Some background on the guy I'm visiting here in Ecuador:

• I met him in Everest Base Camp last year, when he was attempting to climb that minor and inconsequential pile of rocks.
• He's in his early thirties, and wiry like a marathon runner.
• He's attempting to be the first Ecuadorian to climb the Seven Summits - and the last mountain on his agenda is Mt. Vinson in Antarctica (to be climbed later this year, in fact he's leaving in two weeks).
• He is currently the only Ecuadorian to climb Everest solo and without oxygen (accomplished last year).
• He lives in a huge - massive - apartment near the big tourist hub fondly referred to as Gringolandia. The place is at least three times, if not five times, bigger than my place in Toronto - and costs probably a quarter as much, if that. There are two other foreigners staying there now, on a more permanent basis, but there's a spare room and I'm well-accomodated.

Quito itself has no shortage of charm. There are mountains on all sides. It has a certain old-world appeal and feels a lot different from any North American city I've been in. Of the cities I've spent time in, Quito most reminds me of Leh: an old town (not as old as Leh) with mountains on all sides and a vibrant tourism scene.

It is now my first morning in Ecuador and I ventured out to Gringolandia solo (Patricio is busy doing something in preparation for his Mt. Vinson expedition) to find some food. Observations:

• This area caters to the gringo tourist in a big way. The first restaurant I saw was... KFC. That said, there are lots of local places with some character; I went into one for a massive plate of eggs, beans, tortilla, and cheese. I think I may burst.
• Everyone is extremely friendly.
• There is security everywhere. Each restaurant has a nightstick-weilding thug standing by the door to keep out the riff-raff. Same thug typically has a smile on his face when gringos are nearby. In fact, speaking of security, I see a lot more private security, door barricades, huge numbers of locks on each door, etc. than I ever would in Toronto, which suggests that crime is a bit of a problem here, especially at night. What's even more culture-shocking is that there are private security guards around carrying sawed-off shotguns as they guard a construction site. Not used to this at all.

My plan going forward is to spend the rest of the day exploring Quito, perhaps go to the old town tonight and see what that's like. Tomorrow I may attempt an acclimatization hike up Pasochoa or some other mountain nearby, depending on how I feel (so far, A-OK). And maybe later in the week I'll be ready for something more intense, like Cotopaxi.

More later. Maybe.