Advertisement
Published: January 13th 2008
Mitad del Mundo
The Monument..which you shall look at and photograph!Hello all,
So our third day and final full day in Quito have been filled with exciting bus adventures that have had us nervous at times, but we are still safe and are here to tell you all the stories.
On our third day here we went to the famous equator by bus. We walked to the metro bus stop and took it all the way to the end of the line and got on a bus for the Mitad del Mundo which took us away from the New Town and gave us an opportunity to see a different view of Quito. It took us about an hour to get there and we were dropped off in the middle of the road. In front of us was the huge monument which we paid 2 dollars to go and stand in front of and take pictures. However, for those of you who do not know that is not really the true equator.....the true equator is a 200 metre walk on the side of the road to an outdoor museaum where we not only got to see the true line but we also got to take part in demonstrations and learn
Us and the Equator
Jack and Jackie on the almost equator about indigenous life, which included seeing a real shrunken head. There was a demonstration where an egg can be balanced on a head of nail and visitors are challenged to try and balance it, and Jack was the only one in our group to succeed!!!!
After the tour we got on a bus back to Quito after a few minutes of trying to figure out which one to take. On the walk down from the bus stop I am pleased to announce that Jack no longer has smelly feet.....phew...we passed a Payless Shoes (?) and he was able to pick up some of those charcoal lifesaving inserts.
We have also been able to book our Galapagos Tour through an agency called Happy Gringo. We are schedule to depart on February 10...not a shabby birthday gift for moi...We will be on the Encantada for five days. Blog entries will surely follow....
On our fourth and final full day here in bustling Quito we woke up early and took a bus to Otavalo to walk around the market. I must say that that bus trip will stay with me for a long time. You get on the bus with
The Real Equator
The the Inti Nan Museau...which is on the real equator as calculated by GPS. Take that Mitad del Mundo! your ticket and think just like in Toronto that the bus will just leave......however, I think we spent at least 30 minutes picking people up at the side of the road as a guy hung out the door screaming Otavalo, Otavalo!.....After a fast and curvy 2 hour ride we arrived in Otavalo where we spent the afternoon going through stalls and taking in all the beautiful crafts and art. I came away with a nice scarf....which protected my already burnt neck from the sun and Jack got a t-shirt.....and we got some nice braclets....so now we are braclet buddies....awwwwwwww.....
Upon our arrival back in Quito we walked to our hostel....first stopping in a very posh grocery store where we bought fruit for lunch tomorrow.....As for tomorrow we are off to Nanegal to start our month of volunteering at Santa Lucia, a community run eco-tourism conservation and poverty reduction project. We are very excited to leave the city....as nice and comfortable as it is, we will not miss the gas fumes, loud music and streets that suddenly change direction....
We will be out of touch for the rest of the month at least, unless there is internet access in
Nanegal....if not you will hear from us on here in February with tons of stories and fun adventures that we have had.
Jackie and Jack
Advertisement
Tot: 0.101s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0714s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
