After many hours of but rubbing on numerous buses, we’ve finally crossed 8th country border and reached Quito.
From what looked like a 4hour journey from frontera to Quito, turned out to be 6 hours on a curvy roads around Andes mountains. Should also mention, that bus broke twice and we needed to change into a different one, which was already full with people. Exhausted, hungry and angry at God knows who, we arrived to north terminal just to find that it doesn’t have an ATM and is in the middle of nowhere. Walked with backpacks a bit and problem was sorted- ATM found, we can take the bus and get out of here!
Public transport in Quito is cheap, bus ride cost $0.25.
In my opinion, Quito has it all; a charming historical centre in the south and the modern part of the town in the north, where you can find shopping malls, huge parks and many restaurants. And at the end of a day remember where you are- the middle of the world!
El Mitat del Mundo
Second day in Quito, we visited the middle of the world. Take the bus from north terminal and about 20min later, driver will tell you to get off, as it is very likely you will be the only gringos on board:) Again, bus costs $0.25 and annoyingly stops every 100m. Entrance fee to see the monument is $3.50 and double that if you want to visit museum as well. We chose just a monument, as I’m not a big fan of museums anyway. However, real latitude of zeros, calculated with GPS is 200m further away north from the park and should cost $4 to enter, which is a total rip off. When you come out of the park turn left and walk for 5min, you will see the sign turning left again. When we came, there was no one at the ticket office, so we just entered to take a quick picture of the famous spot and ran away:) Call me a thief, but I’ve just saved $4!
Before crossing the border, we went on a quick sightseeing trip to visit Las Lajas Sanctuary, which is 10km outside Ipiales. It is very impressive and doesn’t require much time, can be easily done in a few hours if you arrive to Ipiales early in the morning like we did.
Where, when and how much?
Popayan- Ipiales night bus (8h) leaving at 9PM but there are more times available, cost C$25,000 ($9).
Ipiales- Las Lajas Sanctuary, $2 return
Ipiales- border, collective from bus station $0.50
Ecuador border- Tulcan $0.75
Tulcan- Quito 4-5h $6.10
Let the Ecuadorian adventures begin! Next stop- Banos.
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