Quito - Day 1 - My first taste of the joy that is the Secret Garden hostel
After a marathon day and a half of travel, with occassional hour of sleep on the airport bench or the plane, I was happy to be ringing the bell of the Secret Garden hostel in the late afternoon. I didn't have too much trouble with taxis from the airport (about $6 to the old city of Quito), they have the system set up pretty well so that you can pay inside the terminal and then hand a registered taxi driver a receipt so there isn't anything to worry about with haggling/tipping etc.
I dumped my bag in the dorm and had a much anticipated shower, before getting to see the magnificent view from the roof terrace of the hostel. It is just such a good location, really communal too so you meet a lot of fellow gringos, and they do a great dinner every night (which is especially good when your last two meals have been on a plane :) ), so I just settled in with a beer on this first night and swapped travel tales. It was so good to have a bed finally....
