As the airplain prepared for landing, we dove into the clouds and before us the mountain surrounded valley was it up, you could see this strip of a city from above and just not believe how long but how narrow it is.

I got off the plain and thought altitude is a myth, but as minutes went by in the inmigration line a slight headache moved in to my head.

After picking up my luggage, I walked out into the crowd of people waiting for someone. I thought now how am I supposed to find my guide among so many signs, faces, flowers... overwhelming already.... to my surprise there he was with a Latin Trails sign and my name. He greeted me and assisted with luggage on the way to his vehicle. Jorge, was his name and he was very friendly.

My trip was off to a good start, the soroche (altitude sickness started to move in), I wanted some rest so we headed for the hotel in the downtown area of town.

After a 30 min. drive we reached the Patio Andaluz, a beautiful colonial building with an indoor patio-restaurant. The staff was friendly and the room to my relief was very nice. I had to get some rest... Jorge would be there to pick me up next morning to join the rest of my group for our first tour, the city of Quito...