The Best Way to Beat Quito's Traffic

Quito's traffic -- particularly between the airport and the city -- is rather infamous.  The journey can easily take 90 minutes.  It's a brand new airport, but they built it a fair distance from the city (probably where they could find some flat land) and, given the terrain, it will take a major effort to build an expressway (and I have no idea if they're planning on it).  Part of the journey now is on a simple two-lane road winding its way through the canyons and around the mountains surrounding the city.

Anyway, it so happened that I was not the only person going to the airport this morning.  So was the president of Ecuador.  His motorcade consisted of 5 Landcruisers, with one police vehicle in front and one in back.  There were several policemen on motorcycles surrounding the motorcade and also directing traffic.  While traffic going the opposite direction was stopped, my driver had the benefit of being able to follow the motorcade (and go through red lights) on the drive to the airport.  For a fair bit of time, we were the first vehicle trailing the motorcade.  I felt muy importante.

I'm now off to the Amazon Basin and likely won't have internet access until at least Friday.