The Cable Car (TelefériQo)

Early in the morning, we headed out to the city's tram with a group of our friends. Foreigners have to pay $8.50 to ride, while locals only pay $4. A lot of tourist sites in Ecuador have a local discount (or foreigner surcharge). Several Ecuadorians have talked about this with me from the standpoint of it being wrong, racist even. I don't see this; I figure, people coming from better economies can afford to pay a little extra. Whats more, foreigners who have more than just a tourist visa can by an I.D. card ($4.00) which entitles them to these discounts.

So we paid our fare and rode up the eastern slopes of the Pichincha Volcano. It was a really cool view of the city and of the changing flora as we gained altitude. At the top, the lower oxygen levels made everything sparkle, at least in my eyes. There was an oxygen bar at the top, but we skipped it and went straight to the hiking trail.

After walking up the trail for a bit, we came across some locals selling fresh, delicious Ecuadorian food: meat, plantains, potatoes...the usual. It really hit the spot, as we hadn't eaten breakfast.

Some of our crew headed to the lodge for coffee and beer (and oxygen), while four of us headed up the mountainside. Bert turned back early, apparently to rent a horse and go galloping through the mountains on his own. He said it was awesome. As for me and the other two hikers, we continued on until we were atop a steep peak, taking in the sights and laughing profusely at how poorly our speech facilities were working at such heights.

Eventually, we all met up and made our way back down to the amusement park which sits at the base of the tram. It's pretty surreal to see people being entertained by clowns and roller-coasters at the base of these breathtaking mountains. Our buddies were into the rides, and the beer.... and Bert decided to show the locals how to play the sledgehammer game. He was the only guy to get the top prize in all the time we were watching, and the attendant looked shocked at his score. I was proud to be the chica with the biggest stuffed animal. Now we have a lovely stuffed vulture (or condor??) whom we named Condorito, after my favourite Spanish comic strip.