When you go to Quito, big mountains are all around you. So much so, that I tend to lose sight of how big they really are. A cable car called teleferiQo goes to the Cruz Loma, on a hill beside the flank of Volcan Pichincha.
I went up with mixed expectations, after the previous day's views, but this place absolutely blew my mind.
What starts off as a great view over the city...
... the valleys adjoining it...
... and highlights the contrast between the mountains at different altitudes as well as the city...
... quickly becomes something much more physical...
... as we climbed on past the 4100m high lift terminal toward the clouds.
The weather was great once at the top of the lift - well when I say great, I mean it made for some great pictures, because of the interplay of light and shadows.
Every so often, a new valley would open up below us for a plunging view over Quito.
Past this point, the warning sign on the barbed-wire fence stated, the operators declined all responsibility for the safety of visitors, and people have been known to be robbed, kidnapped for short periods etc. But apparently most people come far enough to throw rubbish down the side
Just past the fence, horses awaited for a potential horseback ride up the mountain; well not all the way up, since the top of the mountain is a 3-hour hike from the cable car station.
At this point the weather became more interesting and the cops who kept a bit of an eye out beyond the fence decided they'd had enough and went down to the cable car station...
... though that didn´t deter us...
... from going a bit farther, until the last people above us (that we could see) were other tourists on horseback...
...and their five dogs (of which this is a representative sample :-) ).
That seemed as good a time as any to head back down...
...because some of us were dressed a little too lightly for 4300m AND clouds.
All in all, very worth it, though I doubt very much that I did the atmosphere justice with my pics.
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