Getting around Quito is really quite easy. These little yellow cabs are my favorite. Rumor has it there are 9,000 of them in the city and most are driven by the great-great offspring of the Lost Tribe of Jehu that intermarried with the Incas.... :) They will pick you up at the store and drive you most anywhere for a dollar or two. I think this cab is delivering a major appliance. The more of these drivers I see with gray hair, the better I feel that my chances are of surviving the ride. If there is no exchange of paint, you aren't too close. If there aren't enough lanes, make a third out of two. When you are bright yellow, surely everybody can see you. If not, honk, swerve, and honk. There are also big buses like you see in the picture and even trolleys, but I love the little yellow guys. Only once has one started to drive off before I got both feet in the door. They don't mind at all stopping traffic to let you off, or turning on a dime to go in the direction you want. I usually carry the gold colored dollar coins that you get as change in a US post office stamp machine, and they do the magic of getting me to where I need to go. You just haven't lived until you take a yellow taxi in Quito.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Getting around Quito
Getting around Quito is really quite easy. These little yellow cabs are my favorite. Rumor has it there are 9,000 of them in the city and most are driven by the great-great offspring of the Lost Tribe of Jehu that intermarried with the Incas.... :) They will pick you up at the store and drive you most anywhere for a dollar or two. I think this cab is delivering a major appliance. The more of these drivers I see with gray hair, the better I feel that my chances are of surviving the ride. If there is no exchange of paint, you aren't too close. If there aren't enough lanes, make a third out of two. When you are bright yellow, surely everybody can see you. If not, honk, swerve, and honk. There are also big buses like you see in the picture and even trolleys, but I love the little yellow guys. Only once has one started to drive off before I got both feet in the door. They don't mind at all stopping traffic to let you off, or turning on a dime to go in the direction you want. I usually carry the gold colored dollar coins that you get as change in a US post office stamp machine, and they do the magic of getting me to where I need to go. You just haven't lived until you take a yellow taxi in Quito.
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I would so love to come visit you and take a ride in one of those yellow cabs.
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