Quito

A holy moment in Quito´s old town!
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Leaving behind Peru I entered the fifth country of my Journey so far, Ecuador. Not really knowing much about the South and in need of a decent night out, myself and Sarah headed straight for the capital, Quito.

We spent our first few days in Quito staying up in centro histórico which was one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Sites. The place is packed with history, from Churches and Cathedrals built years ago (everyone back home must be in the best form ever the amount of candles I have been lighting for you all!) as well as plazas, monuments and the impressive Virgen del Panecillo which overlooks the city.

Probably one of the friendliest places I've been in so far

Quiz night in Finn McCools
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After having our fill of historical tourist attractions we headed straight for the centre of Quito's new town which, due to the ridiculous number of tourists, is know to the locals as Gringo central. This has been our base for just over two weeks now and its been good to actually settle in one place for a while after constantly being on the road. It also gave us a chance to sample all the nightlife that Quito has to offer (which included some freaky clubs with giant half naked dancing women!) as well as getting to know a lot more locals and fellow travellers.

Standing on the middle of the world
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The highlight had to be Finn McCools, an Irish bar run by a girl from Crumlin, where everyone is well up for the craic and probably one of the friendliest places I've been in so far. Loads of good memories from the place, not least dancing on a table with the Mexican ambassador (see the pictures!) and more worrying watching Ireland's poor start to the rugby word cup!

On our last few days in Quito we also visited some thermal springs located near the amazon which was a welcome relaxing experience as well as heading for the middle of the world - the equator. It was quite an interesting trip and a chance to take a few cool photos on the equator line though picked up a few dodgy looking spider bites along the way!

Some great nights out and a few sore heads later we managed to get ourselves booked onto a tour of the Galapagos Islands, supposedly one of the most amazing places on earth to see wildlife so hopefully some great pictures and memories from the place in the next blog.

More pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com /hughes.niall/Quito