We joined an 8-day tour giving us an overview of what the country had to offer. We joined this tour because of our limited time in the country and it provided good value for money taking in many highlights for the time involved. From previous experience a guide can add more to the trip providing insights and information that cannot be gained from just wandering around on your own. However, many of the sites we visited could be arranged as day trips from the hostel. We started our tour with an historic walk through the cobbled streets of the Old Town, visiting several cathedrals and churches along the way. Other important sites included Plaza Grande with the Presidential Palace where we saw the changing of the guard. The oldest church in Quito is the monastery of San Francisco from where the city gets its name. After the walking tour we were driven up to "El Panecillo" (The Little Bread Loaf), a small rounded hill with a statue of The Virgin of Quito on top with panoramic views of the city and surrounding volcanoes.

From Quito we travelled about 22km north to view Mitad Del Mundo (the official government equator monument) where we stopped for the afternoon. The monument is approximately 30m high made of stone with a brass globe on top. In 1736 a French expedition did some measurements here that showed the Earth bulged at the Equator and gave rise to the metric system. Afterwards we continued north towards the market town of Otavalo stopping off at the little indigenous village of Peguche where we visited a friendly local family that made musical instruments including various panpipes, guitars and drums, and performed for us.

After spending the night in Otavalo, the next day we visited the famous indigenous market dating back to pre-Inca times. The food market is used by locals and was an interesting experience as there was more to see than at your average British butchers!!! From there it was onto the main craft & handicrafts market for which Otavalo is best known to buy a few souvenirs and do some bargaining. After the craft market we left Otavalo stopping at the terrific little Peguche Waterfall where we received a soaking from the waterfall spray and heavy rain.

Intro / Quito | Old Town/Equator/Market | Quitsato/Cuy/Hot Springs/Jungle | Puyo/Banos | Volcanos