Mitad del Mundo

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Current Location: Quito, Ecuador

Yesterday, I and several friends that I met here in Quito, made the hour trip to La Mitad del Mundo, the middle of the world. It´s been said that everyone who comes to Ecuador makes the trip to the equator, and I believe it. I haven´t seen so many gringos in one place since stepping onto the plance in Houston. It is a complete tourist trap, an entire town devoted completely to tourism. Outrageous prices galore! And on top of that, it isn´t even located on the real equator. Lonely Planet calls it one of Ecuadors biggest secrets. Several years ago when the French designated the site to be where the equator cuts through Ecuador, they some how made a mistake and the entire site ended up being North of the equator by nearly 200m. (typical of the french) All of this was made quite comical by the fact that the employes of the village refused to acknowledge this fact even when faced with my gps, off by several seconds from the real location.

But I can´t complain to much, it was still an awesome experience. Something I have always wanted to do. And the cherry on top was a local guy who took us to the real equator line. It was almost sad, the real thing is marked by a small brass disk which sits in the middle of a busy road, covered by several layers of grime. We took the classic pictures, jumped from hemisphere to hemisphere, walked along the line, and even ate lunch on the middle of the Earth. In the end it was a great way to spend a day, and became another check-mark on my list of thing to do.

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Photos

Brendan From the Middle
It isn´t the correct line, but I couldn´t resist.

Mitad del Mundo
Standing on top of the monument, 200m to far North.

Equator
I wonder how many of the people who drive along this road every day, realize that they are cruising the middle of the world.