|  New
Town Quito is modern and does not possess the beauty of the colonial
section. It's home to a large selection of hotels, restaurants,
money-exchange houses and upscale souvenir shops. Also in the
New Town is the Casa de la Cultura, a must-see attraction. It
contains the Banco Central archaeological museum, an attached
art museum, a vast musical-instrument museum, an indigenous-clothing
museum and a modern-art museum. It has an amazing display of works
produced by Inca goldsmiths, as well as lots of ancient pottery
and detailed dioramas of life in Ecuador's pre-Columbian civilizations.
Tourists keep this part of Quito in business, supporting dozens
of hotels and restaurants for every budget, along with enough
souvenir shops, tour companies, and banks for two cities.
Please
note that additional info (prices, activities, etc) are found
to the right of this pages. 
Avenida Amazonas
If you're going to bump into
anyone you know in Quito, it'll be along New Town's wide commercial
artery. Banks, shops, offices, travel agencies, and restaurants
cluster like grapes on a vine, and the sidewalk cafes are the
place to be seen with a cold beer and a pizza. Andean bands play
occasionally in the plaza at Jorge Washington.
Abya Yala
This small complex, contains
a bookstore with the city's best selection of works on the indigenous
groups of Ecuador. Shops downstairs sell snacks, crafts, and natural
medicines. The 2nd floor is taken up by the excellent
Museo Amazonico. The obligatory guided tour will take you
past stuffed jungle animals, stunning Cofan feather head dresses,
and real Shuar tsantsas (shrunken heads). The pottery depicting
Lowland Quechua gods, each with its accompanying myth, are particularly
interesting, as are photos of oil exploration and its environmental
costs.
Museo Arte Arqueologia
Although seldom visited, this
collection of pre-Columbian ceramics is excellent and worth a
stop. Hundreds of items on display include many rare works from
the Oriente. Upstairs are changing art displays.
Centro de Exposiciones
y Ferias Artesanales (CEFA)
Even without explanations
to accompany the pieces, the collection of this small artisan
museum merits a quick visit. Weavings, ceremonial costumes and
masks, and musical instruments (including a marimba) are all original.
Vivarium/Serpentarium
Fans of creepy-crawlies will
get their fill with more than 100 live reptiles and amphibians
kept here. The collection includes poisonous and constrictor snakes
from the Orient.
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