I woke up on the lazy Sunday morning when the city was still asleep. Due to the fact that my hostel location was in a nightlife area I was the only one on the streets. At least the only one standing still. Some members of the lowest class of the society were laying around in many different positions and were raising their hands signaling me they need some money as I was passing by.
I was on my first exploration walk through my newly found paradise. All the problems Quito and Ecuador are going through aside - it is really a special place. As some people say Ecuador is a country easy to love, hard to understand and impossible to forget...
Not knowing much of where to go I have chosen the nearest park I could find on the map which led me to one of the safest areas in town.
Specially in the morning I assume is safe to say you can go to the most places that you might desire. Although Ecuador is going through a wave of gang violence not seen in decades so some caution is surely advised any time of the day!
I have reached El Ejido park where the sleepiness of the city finally broke. Locals were setting up their little pop up shops, others were practicing some form of power yoga. Me and bunch of others - mostly dog walkers were walking around slowly enjoying the atmosphere. I do walk slowly when trying to take photos for my stories. Sometimes it pays of and you can snap a moment unnoticed. I don't like to stick a camera into peoples faces unless they ask me to - so most of my pictures feel like from a ghost town.
When it comes to street photography I do like it that way. Sure, sometimes a person walking through an empty street can boost the overall atmosphere but sometimes I prefer photos without people at all...
Following the park I have found myself in another town district. They call it America here I guess. It is a place with government buildings and for that reason lot of security guys and no beggars laying around. I have nothing against homeless don't take me wrong - but I do think that there is work to be found for anybody and maybe they just need to look outside the city if they ran out of luck. As long as tourists or people in general will give them money for nothing they will be around begging, scamming and involving themselves in all sorts of crime.
But this article is not about junkies. Let's progress further up the hill into an area that looked like from a movie to me. With all the old cars around I definitely felt like being in a different era.
Normally I abstain from taking photos of churches. This time however I was motivated to do so by what looked like Sagrada Familia - Ecuadorian version.
Another quite noticeable thing in Quito is graffiti and street art. I am not sure but it might be legal as it is everywhere and quite nice.
Mr. Bolivar couldn't have been spared from being portrait of course, however there are many other motives. Sometimes mimicking the mystical native paintings. Let me show you some examples...
Interesting side note worth mentioning here is that in Ecuador - being it a dollarized country - nobody will accept hundred dollar bills. You actually have to go to the bank and exchange them for smaller denominations. I found that quite weird, but when you see how every vendor is checking eve a ten dollar bill for not being fake - you get to know why...
As it was Sunday I couldn't exchange my money and it prevented me from spending on some random bullshit I don't need. Well done Ecuador!
All the best,
Global Local