Backpacking in Ecuador: New Town Quito
It has forever confused me as to what people mean when they say “old town” and “new town” about the same town – almost as if they are dividing a city into two parts based solely on age. I don’t do it with football shirts or girlfriends, it feels a bit odd to do it with towns. BUT, with a city as colossal as Quito it seems like you’re time warping yourself generations as you run from Old Town to New Town within 20 minutes, feeling a different experience from each. Really? Yes!! Bank machines, trendy European bars and mopeds line the “new town”. Thieves, markets, aging colonial buildings and dingy pubs line the streets of what is the “Old Town” in Quito. There is a stark contrast.
A clean yellow taxi lines the streets here of the New Town at Victoria Square, or Plaza Foch/Reina Victoria).
Flavours of the world unite in Quito’s New Town – here a wee shop for Panny Yu. Hong Kong? But no chicken feet or Dim Sum here – it’s a fashion shop!
There are a host of trendy, spread out restaurants and swanky cafes in Quito’s New Town. Not a hint of Spanish colonialism whatsoever.
This street was bizarrely quiet – Mera, I believe.
Of course the world flavours continue, there’s also an Irish Pub there – Finn McCool’s.
Which included a Northern Ireland flag hanging from the ceiling to my surprise!
A nice view out to the mountains, which I visited at Cruz Loma.
A bank machine – few and far between in South America.
Orellana in the New Town where we caught a bus. I found the buses in Quito very good and easy.
I spent a couple of days hanging out with Norbert, a German guy staying at the hostel. There’ll be a few more posts on Quito to come, but there’s one photo of our trip up to Cruz Loma, some 4,100 metres above sea level. The lady in the middle was a local.
As I often do, I also made it to Ecuador’s National football stadium.
The local delicacy may not even have been Ecuadorian, but this food was excellent and so cheap. Beans, rice, chicken and banana.
We bought it at “the garage”, a restaurant without even a sign. Nice.
Some New Town Grafitti.
If I return to Quito, I think I might stay in the New Town, I was impressed by it and it seems a lot quieter than the Old Town where I stayed on this ocassion. After my day in the New Town I returned to the Colonial House Hostel in the Old Town to rest my head.
A WEE VIDEO FROM PLAZA FOCH IN THE NEW TOWN OF QUITO: