Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We had a good time in this quaint and interesting city. The horses enjoyed themselves in an
alfalfa field some three miles out of town, while I stayed in an excellent hotel and made the
best of every minute.
Many of Quito's houses date back to the early colonial times, and some of the churches
are of great architectural merit. Wonderful gold ornaments and remarkable paintings are to be
seen in some of them, but, as all churches built by the early Spaniards, their interiors are dark
and gloomy. Living in Quito is the cheapest I have ever experienced, but maybe this was due
to the very low exchange of Ecuadorian money at the time. Considering the ideal climate and
thebeautifulscenery,nottomentionthehistoricbuildingsandgeneralquaintnessofthetown,
it is surprising how relatively few tourists make the trip up to the capital.
He who looks for the pleasures of a modern city does well to stay away from Quito, for
after nine o'clock the town is fast asleep, except for a few miserable barefooted prostitutes
who solicit in dark corners and in the shadows of the ancient arcades around the principal
plaza. Early in the morning one is awakened by the clattering of many church bells calling the
flock to mass.
I could not help noticing the number of huge padlocks which make the doors of some of
the shops secure. An Ecuadorian friend of mine said there was an old joke about these pad-
locks. Supposing a shop is run by three partners, each one of them had his own lock. When
the store is to be opened all the three have to be present to make this possible; in other words,
their slogan is: Safety first!
Ecuador has an army of five thousand men, and I am told that about half of them are musi-
cians. Nowhere have I heard so many military bands, bugles and drums as in Quito, in fact, I
sometimes thought I was living in an army training-camp.
Antiques, real and imitation, are offered to visitors at very cheap prices. Even the illegal
traffic in reduced human heads, previously mentioned, is carried on. Longhaired Indians,
in wide white trousers, and usually wearing gaily coloured ponchos, do the work of street
cleaners. Indian women work as road menders and brick carriers. They carry their loads on
their backs, supporting the weight with a strap across their foreheads, and I have seen some
carry loads very few white men would care to tackle. The markets are full of life, and I of-
ten wandered among the bartering, quarrelling, and chattering crowd that both interested and
amused me. From Saturday noon until Monday a 'dry law' comes in force. Strange as it may
seem, although I never thought about drinking in the ordinary course of events, the very idea
of it being prohibited filled me with a desire to have a cocktail on these 'dry' days.
Our delightful stay had to come to an end, for I was timing my journey to reach Panama
in January when the dry season, which only lasts three months, sets in, as for the remaining
