Jun 2008

We'd heard about a lot of security risks in Quito and read the advice on the handouts we were given before arriving at our hotel. This Dragoman leg finishes in Quito and the Drago hotel was damp and smelly and didn't have cable TV, so we moved to a nicer one just round the corner. Our Galapagos trip started in a few days so we didn't want to spend much money. However, it was the last night of this leg and a lot of people we had been with since Rio were leaving. It was also the last time we would be with our driver and co-driver, Vernon and Mac, as they leave to go back to Santiago. We ate at a Mexican restaurant and went to a crap westernised bar before following a badly written map to a bar called 'No Bar'. We were lead down some dodgy side streets with gangs hanging about on the corners shouting at us to try and sell us drugs. Many shops and hotels have armed security guards standing on the street, so the main roads are quite safe - until midnight when the guards and police finish for the day. Then the gangs move into the city centre. We were scared back to the main street to get better directions to the club and eventually found it 1 street further down. The club was good and we thanked Vernon for all his hard work, which he was really chuffed to hear because some people had sent complaints about him to the Dragoman head office back in the UK. We had a dance and everyone left the club when it finished at 3am. We tried to get into another club but it was closed so about 14 of us were hanging about outside trying to figure out where to go next. There was already one gang (the one from earlier) hanging about on the opposite corner to us and a few minutes later another gang appeared on another corner. I saw 3 guys walking down the street and 1 was carrying a baseball bat. The atmosphere was not friendly. Me and Dee warned everyone not to walk back and then got in a taxi ourselves back to our hotel.

The next day we heard that the people that did walk back (despite our warning) did get mugged. One group was 4 large guys that had been rushed from behind and Ricky had his phone and wallet taken from his pockets. Vernon tried to play the hero again and run after the thieves but one of them smashed a bottle and threatened him so he backed off. The other group consisted of 2 guys and a girl; one of the guys was rushed and had his wallet taken. Apparently Quito a few months ago was a really safe city, God knows what has happened since then.

The next couple of days we spent catching up on the internet and watching movies on cable TV and also paying for the Galapagos trip on Dees credit card.

On the way to Otavalo we had to cross the equator for a quick photo stop. We had a talk from a guide about how the giant calendar we were standing on works. Then the guide tried to sell us a single page paper pamphlet for US$10. We laughed in her face.

Otavalo is a famous market town in South America. Unfortunately, it wasn't market day, so we looked around the few touristy stalls that were there and I went for a cheap chinese meal with Carl and Simon, who leave Dragoman in a couple of days.

We return to Otavalo on the next leg, hopefully on a weekend.