It's a beautiful city, but why are there so many cops?

Well after Cuenca, we hopped a supposedly "express" bus to Quito.  Of course, I never believed the guys trying to sell us the ticket.  The first rule about travel in Latin America is that everyone in the tourist industry lies to you.  Everyone.  You really have to shop around (and ask people who can't make money from you) to find the truth.

So Our "Express" bus took abourt 11 hours instead of 9--not the end of the world.  The real annoying part is that every time the bus stopped, 5 guys would crowd on board trying to sell junk.  Food, trinkets, whatever.  Then you have to watch your bags to make sure they aren't stealing, and you can't sleep....  Plus the drivers in Ecuador are insane.  They'll take a sharp curve at 45 miles an hour in a large bus.  We call it an Ecuadorian roller coaster.

Which leads me to the second point: there are an enormous amount of cops. Cops with sub-machine guns, shotguns, and pistols.

And then we made it to Quito at about 7 or 8 in the evening.  Quito is a large, fairly well organized city of several million.  It's located at about 7000 feet in the middle of a wide valley.  And it's dangerous.  In fact, it's the most dangerous city we'll go to in our trip (probably), and one of the most dangerous in Latin America (although Caracas and Sao Paolo are much worse, we hear).  So we immediately got a cab and took shelter in our hostal.

There we met a guy who, at noon, in a fairly populated area had gotten jumped by 3 guys.  Fortunately, after running after them for a couple minutes he found the theives surrounded by 10 cops.  Which leads me to the second point: there are an enormous amount of cops.  Cops with sub-machine guns, shotguns, and pistols.  They do foot patrols with groups of 4.  In the touristy areas, there are cops on nearly every corner.  They're everywhere.  In the span of a couple years, neighborhoods have gone from no-go zones to "just leave before 10 or 11 and you'll be fine."  Some are good up until the clubs close.

Even as dangerous as it is, nobody ever actually gets seriously hurt.  They get robbed, sure, but we've never heard of a long term kidnapping or serious assault from any traveler on this entire trip.

Quito is also a gorgeous city (in parts) thanks to its colonial heritage.  It also has some great parks, and a mediocre ride called the TeleferiQo: a cable car ride to 4100 meteres (over 13,000 feet).  At the top there's...nothing.  Windswept grass and some overpriced shops.  But the view is interesting.  You can judge for yourself from the pictures.

We spent a nice 3 day trip there just hanging around and seeing the city.  Then, to save over 30 hours in a bus, we hopped on a plane to Bogota, Colombia.  Supposedly one of the most dangerous countries in the world.  But is it?  Well, that's for the next entry.