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Mitad del Mundo
Standing between North & South Quito I had two whole days before the start of my intrepid tour to explore Quito. I stayed at the same hostel that my tour was booked for to save me the hassle of moving location and met up with another couple from my tour who had also arrived early.
This being Quito - our first visit was to the ‘Mitad del Mundo’ or the Equator Monument about an hour away from Quito by metro. For whatever reason, a small part of my brain started to function and I was actually able to remember my Spanish lessons, thereby permitting me to converse in Spanish with those around me - I didn’t do too badly as I was able to get us there & back without any problems. I turned out to be so good in fact, that I managed to have a lovely conversation with an elderly lady named ‘Laura’ on the metro, who kindly offered me her home when I next decide to visit Ecuador.
The ‘Mitad del Mundo’ complex on the other hand was as expected full of tourist shops filled with cheap nick nacky stuff that have absolutely nothing to do with being on the Equator
line. The Musuems themselves were, in my opinion somewhat average & I completely bypassed the planetarium & insectarium that was attached to the complex. I stupidly could not find the “real” Equator Line Museum - where apparently all the fun stuff happens, like the balancing of the egg, the water exhibition, and others along the same line. As it turned out it was in a complex further down the road and not associated with the one that we were in - but, nevertheless we were still able to stand between North & South of the Equator and I had never done that before!
Cuidad Viejo Together with the other couple & another English girl from my tour - we then spent the rest of the two days visiting some of the other sights in and around the centre of the old city of Quito (‘Cuidad Viejo’). According to my guide book - there are over 30 churches in the Old Town and while we spent the next few days looking inside some of them, we certainly didn’t cover all. The two most re-memorable for me were ‘La Compania de Jesus’ - the inside of which was made almost entirely
Views of Quito
Views from the Basilica del Voto Nacional of 23 carat gold leaf and ‘The Basilica del Voto Nacional’, which had great views of the Old Town from the top of the steeples (Made even better by the lift that takes you to the top without having to climb all the way up via stairs! Yeah!)
I’d heard from previous travellers about the dangers of travelling in Quito - one particular story being called ‘The Mustard Story’, so I wasn’t to surprised to find that it was real. As we walked down the road - I looked down and found that the back of my trousers & fleece were covered in what looked & smelled like ketchup. As it I stopped to wipe it down, I was swarmed with people trying to lead me into a bathroom or stopping to help wipe it down for me. Sadly, in this day & age - you don’t know who is there to actually help you and who is there to try and snatch your bag away from you - so after a frightened yelp of “leave me alone” I went to corner to wipe it off myself.
Other than that experience - My wanderings around Quito were wonderfull.
All the locals were very friendly, the buildings ornate & colourful and the publics squares and plazas filled with people milling about their business. I spent the last of my afternoon moments sitting in front of Plaza San Fransisco sipping a hot 'Canelazo' (like mulled wine but with sugarcane alcohol) and watching the world go by.
Otavalo Market After two days of exploring - It was time to meet the rest of the Intrepid Group. I was desperately hoping that they were all going to be a good group given that I would be spending the next 83 days with most, if not all of them. I met up with & got to know the rest of them over a very traditional Ecuadorian meal of ‘Chicken Korma’ in an Indian restaurant - 3 guys & 8 girls should make for a very lopsided mix!. As it turns out only 4 of the group (including myself) continue all the way to Rio for the 83 days - so we will eventually pick up a few newbies along the way for a bit of variety along the way. Perfect!
I’d heard some mixed reviews about the Otavalo Markets,
so I wanted to find out for myself, hoping it wasn’t going to be another cheap touristy draw card, with no real value. Unfortunately, it turned out to be true! Nothing but rows and rows of tourist souvenirs and not much else! In my opinion, the four hour bus journey there and back certainly didn’t make the 2 hour visit a worthwhile experience. In fact - the whole experience was made even worse, but the attempted pickpocket on the bus on some of the people in our group. As we boarded the almost empty bus - we didn’t question it when a man from the back bounded over to us to tell us that the seats we were sitting where preoccupied. Some of our group eventually moved to the back and we thought nothing of it until three quarters of the journey back. One couple, who had wedged their backpacks between their legs found that they were slashed from behind with one of their cameras missing. Luckily for them - they caught the guy before he got of the bus & were able to save their camera before it ended miserably. That would not have been great beginning for their
Views of Quito
From the top of the teleferiQo cable car. Altitude 4100 meters - It killed me... tour otherwise!
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