First Night In Quito

We spent the first night at the Hilton Colon Quito which I paid for with HHonor points. I had opened a Hilton visa card with a sign up bonus. It had a low minimum spend and since we are planning a trip to Peru in August, I thought Hiilton points may come in handy. The Hilton Quito was just 20,000 points. I earned 100,000 points with my sign up bonus so I thought this was worth it. It was a very comfortable room with 2 double beds, clean and a nice bathroom.
The best though was the view of the Virgin Mary on the hill and the Basilica. See photo below
It is also very well situated next to the Parque El Ejido which has an awesome Sunday mercado with artists, musicians and craft/food vendors. See photos below. We tried the banana con queso, but we didn't care for it.
We didn't have a lot of time so we will have to go back next Sunday.
Ecuador appears to be quite inexpensive and it uses US currency making the exchange easy.
This morning we chose to eat at the Hilton and a full breakfast plus espresso and hot chocolate including tax and tip was $15.04. I'm sure we could have eaten cheaper had we walked to a bodega.
The biggest issue with Quito is the altitude. Everyone talks about it. We took altitude sickness pills 24 hours before arriving and so far, feel fine.
By the way, you need to drink bottled water in Ecuador.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about why we are here and how you travel for almost free in Ecuador.