Sydney to Quito. Ecuador.

Finally we've reached the city of Quito in Ecuador. The journey started with a 12 hour and 50 minute flight to Santiago, Chile and then a 5 hour layover. If there's one thing I hate and that's sitting around doing nothing. The next flight was to Quito which took another 5 hours and 45 minutes. When we arrived at the airport we were greeted by our driver and taken to the Hotel Plaza International which was another 1 hour of travel. Both Barry and I were stuffed.

Once at the hotel we unloaded the vehicle with all our bags and bike boxes, brought them inside, got our room, and after a quick shower it was time to sleep. And everybody knows how much I love my bed so I decided to sleep till 9.15am. I know my last 2 riding companions Peter and Len would be saying that lazy little Aussie ass, but as I told them both, I need my sleep more than others.

Although we left Sydney at 12.30 pm on Monday we still arrived in Santiago at 11.30 am same day. I'll lose the day or two on the return journey.

So after a great sleep it was down for breakfast. Our table was set with knife and fork, and I was expecting something very special.  Breakfast was 2 bread rolls, 2 slices of cheese and a cup of tea and a glass of juice. Not much if you were going to do any riding. Now for today.

After breakfast we went downstairs and opened the bike boxes to check out if they suffered any damage during the flight. My bike was perfect and went together in no time. Barry's bike suffered a bent brake disc on the front wheel, so we had to go and find shop to sort out the problem. I took over the negotiation skills and got the guy to fix the wheel for 3 dollars.  Now that's a bargain. He couldn't get the complete buckle out so we might have to find a better shop tomorrow. The photo below is Barry and Buck from America standing out the front of the bike shop.

The photo below is the mechanic trying to fix the wheel with a shifting spanner. Not a great mechanic with those tools.

After the bike shop it was time to try and find a shop to buy a sim card. I had spoken to Graham Rutter back home and he advised me to check out Movistar for a telephone and data packages. This will have to wait till tomorrow.

After walking around the city we decided to catch a taxi up to the Teleferico which is a cable car that climbs the mountain overlooking Quito.

The TelefériQo or TelefériQo Cruz Loma, is agondola lift in Quito, Ecuador, running from the edge of the city centre up the east side of Pichincha Volcano to lookout Cruz Loma. It is one of the highest aerial lifts in the world, rising from 3,117 m (10,226 ft) to 3,945 m (12,943 ft).^[1] The ascent takes about eight minutes, traveling 2237 linear metres.

Once at the top the views looking down over the city are just spectacular. 

The photo above is Barry on the left and Buck on the right. Walking at over 4000 metres really takes your breath away. I'll need to get use to it pretty quickly as we start our serious riding on Friday.

There is a good walkway along the rim of the mountain so we took a path get a better view over the city and seriously I was walking like an old man. I was dragging the chain so to speak. Out of breath and doing it real tough. 

We caught the cable car back down the mountain and made our way back to the hotel to clean up. We had a long day out walking around at 2850 metres which Quito is situated, and also up the mountain. Tomorrow is a short ride and getting to meet some of the other 40 riders who will be riding to the end of the world. So I'm not the only mad cyclist on this planet.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.