pretty high, even for a swiss guy
November 8, 2006
woke up in the middle of the night again, clouds everywhere, cold
nevertheless, after a healthy breakfast i decided to do the teleferiqo, a cable car going up one of quito's 'hills' - my plan didnt get many followers though, so i got into the taxi by myself and enjoyed the long ride through the most dodgy looking areas.
some minutes later i arrived at the teleferiqo entrance which is part of a huge building / entertainment center / amusement park - feels quito alien in the rather old fashioned town. i met some other travellers and we formed a hiking group on the way to the top. we shared our cabin with 3 lovely ladies from a columbian senior citizen group, they were even less tall than the quito-standard-size of women, unbelievable... i didnt understand one single word though, whereas in quito-spanish i get the most basic things out of a conversation
the top was at 4100m already and after no problems in quito i began to feel the higher than usual altitude, every step was pretty tough after the first 30 minutes or so. after a couple of hundred meters higher i gave in to the pulsating pain in the head & ears and walked back. i'm still a bit dizzy but the view was great even though a bit misty (see flickr)
very nice hike, though - and on the way we met people from germany, austria, columbia, venezuela, quito and other undefined travellers
nevertheless, after a healthy breakfast i decided to do the teleferiqo, a cable car going up one of quito's 'hills' - my plan didnt get many followers though, so i got into the taxi by myself and enjoyed the long ride through the most dodgy looking areas.
some minutes later i arrived at the teleferiqo entrance which is part of a huge building / entertainment center / amusement park - feels quito alien in the rather old fashioned town. i met some other travellers and we formed a hiking group on the way to the top. we shared our cabin with 3 lovely ladies from a columbian senior citizen group, they were even less tall than the quito-standard-size of women, unbelievable... i didnt understand one single word though, whereas in quito-spanish i get the most basic things out of a conversation
the top was at 4100m already and after no problems in quito i began to feel the higher than usual altitude, every step was pretty tough after the first 30 minutes or so. after a couple of hundred meters higher i gave in to the pulsating pain in the head & ears and walked back. i'm still a bit dizzy but the view was great even though a bit misty (see flickr)
very nice hike, though - and on the way we met people from germany, austria, columbia, venezuela, quito and other undefined travellers
