A Freeflowing Conversation Which Occasionally Touches on Mature Subjects

So much to share, I'm just gonna jump right into it:

I landed in Quito around 7:30 on Wednesday night expecting someone to pick me up at the airport. Didn't happen. Like an idiot, I waited at the airport for a good two hours waiting for this mysterious person who never showed before giving up and taking my own cab. I got to the hostel and really liked it. It's in a great spot in old town Quito and has a really cool balcony overlooking the entire city. Just before bed I met a group of Canadian kids who invited me to tag along with them the next day, which I did. First we went to Teleferico, the world's highest cable car, ascending to an astonishing 4100 meters. Quito itself, by the way, lies at a cool 2850 meters. Anyone with experience with altitude would tell you to take it easy the first day or two in high altitude. Not I - the cable car was the first thing I did here and I was definitely feeling the effects (shortness of breath, lack of energy). Either way, the views were incredible and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Next we went to the 'Center of the World', an overly-touristy area which houses the supposed equator line. Apparently it isn't the true equator line, but we can forgive that. Anyways, it was really nice to spend the day with these guys but it did make me realize why I'm very happy to be traveling alone. Being able to do what I want without regard for anyone else's whims is going to be really nice!

The next day I spent walking around old town Quito and then hanging out at night with more people at the hostel. The city is really quite beautiful and interesting too. The hostel is in old town, which has tons of great churches and squares and old narrow streets, but the new town, not 20 minutes on foot from here, is completely modern and has some very trendy places to walk around. I think I've learned my way around pretty well and I'm pretty excited about that. I also visited a great museum of an artist named Oswaldo Guayasamin (cool guy - check him out) whose stuff was pretty haunting and interesting. He was, apparently, very sympathetic to the plight of the Latin American indigenous and his pieces reflected not just different aspects of their story but also human suffering at large. Finally, last night I went out to dinner with the Canadian kids to this great Indian restaurant (of course) before saying goodbye to them since they left this morning. A couple of the day trips I tried to plan didn't quite work out and I have spent the whole time in Quito, but I'm nevertheless pleased with the experience and happy I got to see at least some of Ecuador. I'm flying to Cuzco, Peru tomorrow and I'm really excited to see a new country and have a recent experience with which to compare it.

Traveling alone has been pretty good so far. What they say is true: it's extremely easy to meet people and have a good time. It could be that I simply chose a great hostel, but I haven't ever really been alone (except when I chose to be - exploring a new city alone on foot is actually pretty awesome) and/or bored. I've met a ton of other travelers who either have done what I'm about to do or soon will, which is extremely helpful for planning. I definitely get the sense that I'm sort of cheating by flying to Cuzco, but whatever - I don't want to spend my entire trip on a bus!

Keep the emails coming and I'll check in from Cuzco!