Ecuador is a great place to visit if you're careful. Quito is 10,000 feet altitude, so prepare for acclimation time. Stay downtown--there are some very shady operators around (e.g., "Eco Lodge"), and transportation can be very time-consuming. The tourist trips to market cities, center of the earth museum, and such were a waste of time for us, but a day trip to the "cloud forest" was amazingly great, with giant butterflies, walking trees, waterfalls with swimming pools, rivers.... just wonderful. There is a great flea market downtown too, with excellent quality and good prices. Another "interesting" part of Ecuador is the Galapagos Islands, but you knew that.