We had decided today that we were going to ride the Teleferiqo. We had intended to do it yesterday but the morning was really cloudy and wet and so we waited. It was a good idea as this morning was beautiful and clear. We figured out on the map where we had to go to get on it and we thought about walking there. Thank goodness we decided to get a taxi, both Mike and I would probably have passed out long before we got to the ticket booth. Mike hailed a taxi just outside the hotel; he almost went without me as I was walking ahead of him - he had to yell at me three times. The taxis here just stop in the lanes of traffic to pick people up and since I was way down the road I can tell you we got some honks while I ran back to get in. The driver asked us where we wanted to go and when we told him he had no idea what we were talking about. He had to pull over so we could show him our map. But when he knew where we were headed, the pedal hit the metal and we were of. Seriously, the cab drivers are insane, even more so than the regular drivers, but it's a toss up who uses their horns the most. The drive wasn't too long but it was all up hill, or more correctly up mountain. There were a few times when I wasn't sure the car was going to make it, but he stuck it in first and it struggled on. Most of the cars here seem to be manuals and the drivers clutch control is not the best. We made it there in one piece though and it was the best $5.00 we have spent so far.
The books all suggested we get there early to avoid the crowds but it was fairly quiet when we arrived a little after 10. Mike bought our tickets and we waited for about 5 minutes for a car to come. The Teleferiqo is a sky tram, basically an over sized ski lift that takes you up the side of Volcan Pichincha, to the top of Cruz Loma. The ride up took about 10 minutes and Mike and I were in a car with 4 other people. The Ecuadorians were all really friendly (the Scandinavian not so much) and were asking us questions about where we were from and whether we liked it here. They were from Ecuador but not Quito and it was there first time on the ride too. The views from the car were spectacular, and since the day was so clear we could see the whole of Quito. It is vast, I took some pictures but you cannot see the scale of the city from the photos, it just goes on forever in all directions. As we ascended the flora changed and the high we got the fewer trees we saw, and they were replaced by grasses and wild flowers. There were some farms that we passed over on the way up but none as we got towards the top. When we got out of the car we were at over 13,000 feet (4100m). The air up there was thin but the views were amazing, we could see right over Quito to the mountains rising on the opposite side of the valley. It was possible to go even higher to 4680m which is the summit of Rucu Pichincha, the hike would have taken about 3-4 hours (or 10-12 if Mike and I had done it). We decided not to especially as we started walking up the trail and found it hard to breath at that altitude.
We spent a while taking in the views from all directions, and having coffee. Then we headed back down the mountain in a car all by ourselves. The ride down was a little scarier than going up as it was a bit windy in spots but we made it down. It was definitely an experience and something worth doing in this city.
This afternoon after getting another crazy taxi ride down the mountain we found a cute little restaurant called Kallari which is a coop owned by 900 indigenous families from Tena. They grow coffee and chocolate and make really good Yucca fries. The guy was really sweet and they have some gorgeous handmade crafts in the cafe. We sat for quite a while and ate yucca with guacamole and hot sauce, and brownies with ice cream - what better way to spend an afternoon in Ecuador.
When we got back to the room there was a banging noise that went on for hours. Mike went outside to investigate and found the guy who might own the hotel (he's always here anyway) and was told that the building behind us was renovating. A little while later there was a knock on our door and the lady from the desk came and offered us a different room. Since the banging was still going on close to 9 o'clock we ended up packing everything up and moving into the hotel proper. We now have a balcony, wifi, and no giant hole in the bathroom ceiling, we've been upgraded!

Mike: They say Teleferiqo is the highest most people will go without being in an airplane. I believe it I could hardly breathe.