Teleferiqo
Yesterday, Margara, Julio, Pancho, 2 girls I don´t know, my Dad and I went to the Quito version of a tramway. It was really cool. It was just completed a couple of months ago so there are still big crowds going. Marco said that it is the new toy of Quito.
So we drove up there. At the base of the tram there are tons of stores and restaurants and an amusement park complete with rollercoasters and all kinds of rides. It was all very modern looking. I imagine it was a huge investment for the Quiteños.
We got to the line and saw that it wasn´t very long. We were all excited and though ourselves really smart and lucky. THEN...we found out that you had to buy the tickets at a seperate window AND at that time (noon) they were selling tickets for 3pm. So we bought tickets for 3pm...and waited. We had lunch at one of the food-eries there. Then walked through a few of the shops. Then we still had like an hour and a half to go. So we sat at a table and played pictionary then charades. It was actually really fun. We had a great group.
Finally, 3 o´clock rolled around and we got in line. The line moved really quickly and we were soon boarding the vessels. Each car held 6 people and we were 8 so we split into 4 and 4. The ride up was amazing. The view on one side was all of Quito and the other was the Volcano Pinchincha.
We got to the top and a sign read, "You are now at 4.3 thousand meters. Walk slowly. Don´t run. Here is the medical clinic." Yup thats about 13,000 feet. Pretty dang high. Here there were also shops and restaurants. (A little Disneyland-ish with all the overpriced things to buy and eat.) But we took a little walk then went to a bar to drink. What´cha gonna do? We had these warm coctails called Canelazos. They are naranjilla juice, liquor de caña, sugar, and cinnamon. Mine was especially strong. (cough..gasp)
After our happy hour we got back on and rode down. It was really beautiful.
We came home to enchiladas and sopa. What a perfect ending.
So we drove up there. At the base of the tram there are tons of stores and restaurants and an amusement park complete with rollercoasters and all kinds of rides. It was all very modern looking. I imagine it was a huge investment for the Quiteños.
We got to the line and saw that it wasn´t very long. We were all excited and though ourselves really smart and lucky. THEN...we found out that you had to buy the tickets at a seperate window AND at that time (noon) they were selling tickets for 3pm. So we bought tickets for 3pm...and waited. We had lunch at one of the food-eries there. Then walked through a few of the shops. Then we still had like an hour and a half to go. So we sat at a table and played pictionary then charades. It was actually really fun. We had a great group.
Finally, 3 o´clock rolled around and we got in line. The line moved really quickly and we were soon boarding the vessels. Each car held 6 people and we were 8 so we split into 4 and 4. The ride up was amazing. The view on one side was all of Quito and the other was the Volcano Pinchincha.
We got to the top and a sign read, "You are now at 4.3 thousand meters. Walk slowly. Don´t run. Here is the medical clinic." Yup thats about 13,000 feet. Pretty dang high. Here there were also shops and restaurants. (A little Disneyland-ish with all the overpriced things to buy and eat.) But we took a little walk then went to a bar to drink. What´cha gonna do? We had these warm coctails called Canelazos. They are naranjilla juice, liquor de caña, sugar, and cinnamon. Mine was especially strong. (cough..gasp)
After our happy hour we got back on and rode down. It was really beautiful.
We came home to enchiladas and sopa. What a perfect ending.