During what Mark Twain coined the Gilded Age, well-heeled globetrotters packed gorgeous gowns and tailored tuxedos in steamer trunks stowed aboard luxurious ocean liners. In such exotic destinations as South America, they were secluded in elegant enclaves only sallying forth on carefully choreographed excursions.
Attitudes have changed. Today, many avid travelers want to immerse themselves in the locale and meet the people who live there. They want to consort with craftsmen in their workshops instead of buying their wares from the hotel gift shop. In Quito, Ecuador, my wife Maria and I accomplished both, staying at Illa Experience Hotel and taking a Voyagers Travel tour of the city’s Old Town—the largest and best-preserved colonial center in Latin America.
