![P1230902_zps9a743bd0.JPG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUZEnGygAFwae4WEuJvHqmSknNqDz8hckv3MdTNvJUrcU/P1230902_zps9a743bd0.JPG)
<sub><sup>View of the Chimborazo volcano from the PanAmericana Highway </sub></sup> 
<h1>


After travelling through Central America for couple of months and reading more and more about  Ecuador, I decided to give it a try. Internal Living Magazine,  Tropical Daily and Viva Tropical were all praising this country. On Expat Exchange and GringosAbroad, Ecuador was listed as well as one the best places to live in the world. 

The cost of living was cheap, it had high speed Internet and in terms of safety it wasn't that dangerous. I had a long list of cities and places I wanted to see with my own eyes before deciding if I'd settle down in there. Thus I got the tickets and we were set for the due diligence trip to Ecuador.


A few weeks later we finally made it on Ecuadorian soil! There we were, just minutes after landing to Ecuador's capital Quito, and we already immersed ourselves in the new South American experience.

 

What better way to see half of the country and travel freely than renting a car? Just across the arrival exit of the Mariscal Sucre airport, I saw the flags and advertising boards of the rental companies. This was way before they opened the new airport in Tababela. 
 
Landing on the old airport was an adventure on its own! That's because it was one of the most challenging airports in Latin America for pilots to land on.  High altitude, a cramped runaway and two huge active volcanos close by to watch for while swirling down in a corkscrew approach turned it into a nerve-wrecking experience for all those aboard.

After bargaining here and there with the Alamo rental agents we opted for a small little green hornet, Chevy Spark, the cheapest model we could get:  $514 for two weeks did not seem overwhelming. But every penny counts when you travel on a budget, right?

 

We could have travelled by bus and it would have been dirt cheap comparing with what we paid for the car, but I was not ready to give up my comfort. Maybe reading so many expat blogs and their adventures in South America inspired me to take my precautions regarding my safety, comfort and open mindedness.

  ![P1240534_zpscfc3c45e.JPG](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmb4HYn7WswpvwpV5EvSiTHc9oziuL8Sr11R262AWA7Dae/P1240534_zpscfc3c45e.JPG)
<sub><sup>View of the Rucu Pinchincha volcano, one of the two active peaks of Pichincha Volcano</sub></sup>

Before leaving home I did my luggage three times. Not that I am indecisive, but I had to make sure there is nothing I really would miss or need. Like my pills or tinctures for Lyme, charger for the cellphone, rain coat, pocket Spanish-English dictionary, my army Swiss knife, Citronella oil, mosquito bed net or the water bottle. You can't go to South America and expect to have potable water everywhere!

 

I was ready to make some exceptions when it came to food. Back then I was on a strict diet: no sugar, no gluten, no yeast. I knew it would be a challenge to stay on my diet for a whole month of being on the road. Thus I agreed not to make a fuzz about it and just go with the flow. *We'll eat what we find*. That being said, we started our road adventure.


After almost of three hours of driving on the smoothly *carpeted* PanAmerican  highway and gazing in awe at the Andean scenery and its mighty volcanos, we reached our first destination: Otavalo. Due to a high number of travellers and tourists in the city, attracted by biggest South American artisan market, all hotels were fully booked. Therefore we had to search for a room and the closest one we found was in Cotacachi, a city known for its leather products and clean cobblestone streets.

[//]:# (!steemitworldmap -0.181102 lat -78.473110 long Landing in Quito, Ecuador d3scr)

https://steemitimages.com/DQmcm8oUzhnpBUPY3j36E9VEh9wVauw843pmtxKSaJf6x3d/20.png***


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https://steemitimages.com/DQmcm8oUzhnpBUPY3j36E9VEh9wVauw843pmtxKSaJf6x3d/20.png***

<center>https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmTjWg9S77jdvZQiRZSZ16bzNoUo61i5VNVCCWCW8mEurU/imageedit_9_5046179130.png</center>

Unless stated otherwise, all photos used in this posts are taken and owned by myself. If you wish to use any of my images, please contact me!


Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave your feedback in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts!

<center>**@2018 LaviPicu aka The Lyme Poet. All rights reserved.**</center>