Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, is not only my first World Heritage Site in South America but also the first place I have seen in this continent and that made this city secured a special spot in my heart. Since I arrived in Quito, just a few weeks after the sad earthquake, the airport was really quiet and few foreign visitors, so only 30 minutes after landing I was on taxi to the city center. The modern highway from airport really gave me a false impression of Quito, when I approached the city, I was surprised of how Ecuadorians built theirs homes everywhere on the steep hills. After putting my luggage in the hotel located in the middle of old quarter, I decided to explore the city immediately.

The whole city was built on the small valley with grid pattern and seemed to me that the city planners did not care how steep of the road will be when built over the hills. The historic city was extremely vibrant with locals who still live and work in the old historic buildings. The narrow-cobbled stone streets were unbelievably full of traffic and pedestrians. The smog and pollution were quite frustrating. Despite the chaos, the historic town is really well preserved with many beautiful churches and buildings and some areas were closed for traffic. The highlight of Quito is the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, the interior especially the gilded ceiling with local motif were truly amazing and mind-blowing. The famous plaza de San Francisco was indeed lovely, but half was closed for subway construction. I walked to see Presidential Palace and city main cathedral and its plaza, which were just fine. Another highlight and seem to be the most popular among tourist right now were Basilica del Voto Nacional, the largest gothic cathedral in the Americas. Actually, nobody seemed to care the interior, the reason to come here is to climb to the top of spire. The view was indeed very nice, and I could see the whole old town peacefully after waiting until all tourists have gone.

Quito at night was also very lovely as the atmosphere was dreamy of medieval town liked and less pollution. As there were many police at every corner so I felt very safe to explore city after sunset. I spent 3 days in this city and really enjoyed my times here even though the city suffered from electricity shortage, the result from earthquake. I also impressed with Ecuadorian food from really nice local stew, Lama spring rolls and Quito’s ice cream was a must try. For me, Quito gave me the feeling of India with Latino styled, while no world class landmark, the overall city was really nice to visit and enjoyed, a good place for South America introduction.