money – THE ONLY ERIKA IN THE VILLAGE

Itinerary: 2 days in Quito

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Quito is Ecuador’s capital. It sits high up in the mountains and has beautiful colonial architecture in a serene setting. It’s likely you will spend a day or two here if you are going anywhere else in Ecuador so take your time, enjoy it, it doesn’t feel like a big city until you see the urban jungle sprawled out from high up Vulcan Pinchincha.

GENERAL INFO

Getting there and away:

Quito has multiple connections to many other locations in Ecuador and beyond as big cities do. We arrived in Quito via Otavalo (3 hours by bus to the North Terminal) and left on a bus to Banos (4 hours by bus from the South Terminal). The distances in Ecuador are refreshingly short after Colombia.

Note: Both regional bus stations are approximately 30 minutes from Centro Historico in opposite directions. Make sure you know which one you will need to take a bus from and taxi to the correct one (The taxi should cost approximately 7 dollars). Quitumbe is the South Terminal and Carcelen is the North Terminal.

Accommodation:

I recommend Community Hostel in Quito – they have a great vibe, organise lots of activities and serve up a wonderful breakfast! You can book through booking.com.

Food:

Enjoy the great free breakfast at the hostel, look for a restaurant that does a cheap ‘Almuerzo’ set menu for lunch and then you can splash out on dinner. Calle La Rhonda has nice restaurants and bars.

Top Tips:

Despite using USD Ecuadorian coins are unique to the country and useless outside of Ecuador so try to use your coins up as tips etc.
Centro Historico (and many other parts of Quito) are not safe at night. Be careful – wander in the daytime and at night stick to lighted streets and get restaurants to call a taxi home for you.

DAY 1

If its a clear day, take a taxi to the TelerifiQuo which is the cable car up to Vulcan Pinchincha (swap your mornings around if the weather is bad as you need a nice clear day for this). The Telerifiquo opens at 8am, costs approx $9 USD and takes 10 minutes to reach the top. The cable car offers beautiful views over the city and there are a few photo opportunities – a swing looking out over the city and some tame llamas. You can also do a hike right up to the top of the volcano (be aware you will need to allow a few extra hours if you are going to do this hike and only go if the weather is very calm – the conditions can get dangerous up this high).

Spend the afternoon in the old city. Spots of interest include:

La Iglesia de Santo Domingo (a church in the distinct ‘Quito school’ architectural style)
Museo de la Ciudad which details the history of Ecuador
Plaza de San Franscisco
Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus
Plaza Grande
Basilica de Voto Nacional
La Casa de La Moneda (a money museum)
Calle La Rhonda (picturesque street)

Once you have toured all the key landmarks in the historical center head back to Calle La Rhonda for the evening as at night this street comes alive with food, artisans, games and music. The street itself is safe so you can wander up and down enjoying the atmosphere and get dinner and drinks.

DAY 2

In the morning, get up early and wander the Mercado Central to experience the morning hustle and bustle and then taxi to Capilla del Hombre Art Gallery. This gallery explores the suffering of indigenous and poor people in Ecuador and the building overlooks the city. Allow 2 hours to explore here. Entry includes a free tour in English. From here, you can have a wander around the La Floresta neighbourhood which is filled with art galleries and eateries and stop for lunch.

In the afternoon, head to Mitad del Mundo. You can get transport here from Community Hostel whether or not you are staying here – the transport will take you to both main ecuator sites. Although neither site is exactly on the ecuator its still a fun trip and photo spot. Take your passport as you can get it stamped with a souvenir stamp here.

Erika xx

Crossing the border into Ecuador from Colombia

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.

The border from Colombia to Ecuador is known as a relatively dangerous one, however it is also a convenient way to travel between the two countries for those doing a long South America journey. Many people who want to visit both Las Lajas Sanctuary and Otavalo will find that this is much more convenient than flying between the two countries despite the long journey’s involved in travelling overland.

Ipiales is a necessary stop to cross the border, but it is like any other border town – don’t hang around here there is nothing to do and its not safe. Stay overnight if you need to as the border crossing does take a while and you will likely have travelled quite a distance to get to the border. Allow plenty of time to get over the border in either direction.

Top Tip for crossing the border:

Visit Las Lajas Sanctuary (a stunning church surrounded by lush scenery) while you are here. It’s a must-see sight – see my blog post here.

Where to stay:

I don’t have any specific recommendations for places to stay in Ipiales other than I recommend you don’t if you can help it. BUT as always you should be able to find something good on Booking.com as they have a few passable options. I suggest spending a bit more to get a nicer hotel here as you won’t want to leave it while you are in Ipiales and also suggest booking something with a restaurant as there is nowhere nice to eat in Ipiales.

Getting there and away:

Ipiales is a 12 hour bus journey from Cali (the closest city in Colombia of any interest to tourists) or if you are arriving from Ecuador it’s a an approx. 3 hour journey from Otavalo in Ecuador (not including time spent crossing the border).

To get to the border from Ipiales you just need to take a taxi or a colectivo – your hotel can call a taxi for you or let you know where to catch the colectivo from. The border crossing is called Frontera/Rumichaca so you will want one heading in this direction.

Preparation needed:

Before you head to the border spend all your Colombian money – purchase water and snacks for the bus journey into Otavalo. I recommend not buying anything at the border crossing as it is all overpriced.

Also check the exchange rate for COP to US Dollars before you leave for the border so you know what a good rate is as you will likely need to change money at the border (they can sometimes rip you off – make sure you know how much you should receive and count your bills).

What to expect:

If arriving at the Colombian side of the border, turn left to queue at the Colombian Immigration office to get your exit stamp. Take the right gate to leave the immigration office and head towards the bridge (only a short walk).

On the Ecuadorean side of the bridge turn right and head towards their immigration office. Get in this line to get an entry stamp – you will be asked to leave your big bags outside.Turn right out of the office and follow the road across to a carpark – here a collectivo will take you to Tulcan Terminal (15 min trip from the border).

Allow a few hours for this border crossing process due to queues. Also, there is no fee to enter or exit so do not pay anyone. Buses leave regularly to Otavalo from Tulcan and take 3 hours. There are great mountain views on the road. Also the buses often get stopped by police so be prepared for this.

Let me know if it all goes smoothly for you and if any of this information is out of date!

Erika xx

How to: Decide Where to travel next?

Sunset walk along the beach in Canggu, Bali

If you are anything at all like me, you look at one picture of a beautiful island or exotic wilderness and want to jump on a plane right away. This isn’t usually possible unless your a billionaire with no job – there’s only so much leave I can take from work and only so many times my savings can cover my mortgage while I am gone!

With 195 countries in this world and countless destinations within them, deciding where to travel is much much harder than ever before. I see daily images of places I would rather be – but which place would I most rather be at?

cof — Lounging next to the infinity pool on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore

I find there are a few key things to keep in mind – looking at your current priorities makes this decision easy!

1. Cost

Most people, when deciding to travel, only consider whether they can afford a trip or not. Instead, consider your finances – if you have any spare income at all you can afford a trip, its just about prioritising. My husband and I try to do one overseas trip a year but some years we have more spare cash than other years, so we chose a trip based on what we can afford.

For example: In 2015, we got married (which is SUPER expensive however strictly you keep it to just the basics!). This meant that our overseas trip for the year would be our honeymoon but we couldn’t afford a luxury trip to the Maldives (my ideal honeymoon destination) because we had just paid for a wedding. Instead, we spent a week or so in beautiful New Caledonia which is much closer to home for us (we live in New Zealand) and less known for its luxury resorts. If we went to the Maldives, we would have spent way more on flights and would have had to skip staying in one of those beautiful over the water resorts (which is really the purpose of going to the Maldives isn’t it?) Now we can save that for another time – maybe our 20 year anniversary!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here I am frolicking in the water in Noumea, New Caledonia

A holiday by the beach is what most people look for for a honeymoon – and we got to have this in a less luxurious way by choosing New Caledonia. If the style of holiday you can have is a lot more flexible, think about heading to a country where the cost of living is cheap – your money goes a lot further in many Southeast Asian, South American and African countries than it does in say most parts of Europe and the USA.

This brings me to the next thing to think about before you decide on where to go on holiday:

2. Decide what type of holiday you would like to have

What are you into? If you are like me – you like to experience almost everything so this makes the decision much more difficult. However, I still think about what I would most like to do by thinking about what I would like the holiday to achieve: Have I been stressed at work lately – I think I need a relaxing holiday in this case. Do I need to update my wardrobe – how about a trip focused on shopping? Have I been really disappointed with every restaurant I have eaten at lately? Let’s go somewhere with amazing food! Have I been feeling bored with my daily routine? Time to have an adventure.

You can always combine these things: How about heading to Italy for amazing food AND shopping? Or to Mexico for beaches AND adventure?

5514470900_547920d78e_o — I’ll admit it – I went to Carnival in Rio De Janiero, Brazil just to have the best party of my life!

Part of deciding what holiday to have includes when you can go: for example, I would avoid going anywhere in the rainy season (especially if they have monsoons). If your headed to the beach, pick summer in the country you are at – you won’t mind if it gets to 40 degrees because you will be swimming constantly. If you are sightseeing or heading to a city, pick a time that will be cooler as you don’t want to be walking around all day sightseeing in sweltering heat.

3. How long can you go for?

This should play a significant role in how you decide where to go. The distance you are planning to travel should be based on the length of time you have available for your trip – for me, getting to Europe means about 2-3 days spent travelling. For that reason, if I have a week’s holiday I am not going to go to Europe. I might pop over to Australia or one of the Pacific Islands, possibly somewhere in Southeast Asia where I can take one flight and not have to transfer. If I have three weeks or more, I am more likely to venture further afield.

In a week or two’s holiday, I wouldn’t try to fit in more than one country – If I have more than two weeks, I may try to see parts of two countries: such as make the trip over from Spain into Morocco. If you have months (lucky you!) It’s best to base yourself in one part of the world so you can experience more of those places that are difficult to get to on their own. For example, I spent six months in Central America which was a good amount of time. I would discourage purchasing one of those ‘Round the World’ flights advertised by travel agents as you end up only going to those places that the airline flies to all the time. These are easy to see on a stopover or a much shorter trip.

5696847842_7b0559ae08_o — To get to Havana, Cuba I had to fly via Mexico – as I was already in Mexico it was easy and so so worth it!

There is one final thing that I would recommend when choosing where to travel, it is the one most often overlooked but really important when choosing where to go.

4. What stage of your life are you in?

Where you are at in your life should play a big role in making travel plans – especially if like me you want to fit so much into your life. For me, I try to organise things so that I don’t miss out later on. I did 6 months of travelling when I was young and carefree and nothing was holding me back -do it while you can as your life won’t be that way for ever! Now, I have a husband and a mortgage and a career – my wanderings need to be more carefully structured and fit into my 4 weeks holiday a year.

Another thing to think about is children. If you want to have children they will severely limit your ability to travel – its not impossible of course! But you will have less funds available and more people to pay for on your trips! You also need to decide more carefully where you will travel – not only once you have children in your life but beforehand too. For example, if you travel to South America the risk of Zika virus means, you need to wait 6 weeks (women) or 6 months (men) before you conceive a child! Best do this a while before you want to have a child then! Or at least don’t take your partner along ladies!

To show how these factors have shaped my decisions, here’s an example. I would love so much to visit Disneyland in the USA. However, I plan to have children so why not wait until I can take them? They would love Disneyland even more than I would and its the perfect trip to take children on. I also really wanted to visit India but India is a terrible place to take young children because they touch everything and put it in their mouths and India is SO DIRTY! So, I went there in Jan/Feb this year while I still had the chance!

Exploring the intricate carvings at the City Palace in Jaipur, India

Think of these 4 things next time you are considering a holiday and the decision should be easy – or at least easier than it was before! If worst comes to worst just throw a dart at a world map and see where it lands!

Let me know in the comments how you choose where to travel or where you have decided to go next after using my guide. I love hearing about all the exciting places you are going and it might help me decide where to travel next!

Erika xx

Somewhere over South America

When the time came to leave Brazil, it was also time for Peter to head back home to New Zealand. Unfortunately we had different departure areas at the airport and were forced to say goodbye much earlier than we expected. I found myself wondering whether I would be able to cope without him for the next six months.

My flight stopped over in Panama on my way to Mexico. I bought some food here while I waited to board my next plane, charging my purchases to my credit card before realizing that I could have used some of the American dollars I was carrying, as American dollars are the local currency in Panama. Oops!

As I boarded my next flight and sat down, I was handed a rose made out of a napkin by the man in the seat next to me. He proclaimed that it was ‘A Rose for a rose’. I would soon learn that this was a common occurrence in Mexico, overly extravagant proclamations of attraction. However, I quite liked the attention and we had an interesting conversation throughout the flight about how he used to live in the United States as an illegal immigrant and finished high school there before being deported back to Mexico.

Next stop, Ciudad de Mexico (or DF as it is often called).

Until Next Time,
Erika xx

Overwhelming Rio

After a long sleep in, we woke up just in time for dinner: tonight, we tried a ‘per-kilo’ buffet – an entirely new experience for me! The meal was charged at whatever the weight of your plate was once piled with food. I of course took this as a challenge to figure out which types of food would be the lightest, and to eat mostly these foods…

The next morning, we were entertained by the cat before we had even left the hostel. It went absolutely crazy, its eyes were rolling into the back of its head and it was running into tables and everything. I think It has been drinking the spa water – poor thing. Other than the crazy cat show, our morning was incredibly unsuccessful. We attempted to find a pretty neighbourhood called Sant Theresa to walk around and have lunch at, but unfortunately got a little lost and ended up walking right into the outskirts of a favela (a brazilian slum). In case you did not know this, going anywhere near a slum in Brazil is probably not a good idea. After realising we had no idea how to walk around the favela, we headed into the center of town to visit the museum and art gallery – both of which were closed. At least we got the hang of the transport systems, had a great time seeing the city, and met a very friendly brazilian in a Robin Hood costume!

We spent the afternoon in Ipanema with some friends from the hostel. We visited the gorgeous beach, purchased souvineirs from the hippie market and gawked at the crazy costumed people walking around and the street party going on. I would recommend the neighbourhood of Ipanema to EVERYONE. After having a bit of a boogie and using up the last of our money, we were starving and needed to find an ATM. Unfortunately, this was more difficult than we thought it would be. Luckily, we found one when I was about to faint with starvation, and sat down to eat meat on a stick at a street stall, washed down with a cold beer. Trying to get home was a nightmare due to the street party, there was no way we were getting a taxi or a bus! So we walked home around the lake, which was a gorgeous walk but took us a bit over an hour. Oh well, what did we expect?? ITS CARNIVALE!! (can you tell I’m a tiny bit excited?).

Until next time,
Erika xx

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