Quito was surprisingly charming, being the capital of Ecuador we were expecting another big, dirty city and although this does exist in Quito we didn't experience it as we stayed in the old historic part in the north of the city. Our hostel was an old colonial building that had been converted and it had a really nice garden to relax in.

On our 2nd day we joined a walking tour that was extremely interesting and we learnt the sad reason as to why Ecuador uses the US dollar. This tour included a visit to the old bank of Ecuador which is now redundant. We also visited the 'La Ronda' street, which in the evenings turns into a lively pedestrianised street full of buskers, bars and over priced restaurants. The street once used to be full of drug dealers and crime but has now become a tourist attraction due to its bohemian reputation and Spanish architecture. We visited La Ronda later on in the evening and after some liquid courage we joined the locals on the dance floor to attempt to salsa.

Quito is also famous for its close proximity to the equator and we couldn't visit Ecuador without going there. For 25 cents each we set off on an hour long bus ride across the city to see what the fuss was all about. Apparently the actual equator line is about 150 metres north but I'm not going to let facts get in the way of a good photo.
As Mark was so patient with me taking 100 photos on the equator I thought it was only fair to watch the Northern Ireland v Austria game with him in an Irish pub, I also didn't mind as it meant I got to eat 'normal' food and enjoy a delicious strawberry daiquiri.