The Equator

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A couple of days ago I went on a trip to Mitad Del Mundo ("Middle of the World") which is on the Equator, just north of Quito. It´s a bit of a tourist trap (with corny photo opportunities as you can see) but I had an entertaining afternoon there with some of the other people from the Spanish school. The precise location of the line of the Equator has been measured with GPS and they´ve set up a few experiments that prove it. We watched water going down a plug hole of a sink anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern hemisphere and straight down on the Equator. I balanced an egg on the head of a nail on the Equator - apparently the only place where it´s easy to do that.

Last night we went to Papallacta where they have volcanic thermal springs and pools. It was very cold there as it´s high in the mountains so it was great to get into the steaming pools and relax in the dark. They also have an icy cold pool which we jumped into for a few seconds, screamed, ran out and jumped back into the hot pools, which felt fantastic.

Tomorrow I leave Quito and fly to Lima to join a 24 day tour of Peru.

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Comments

[Simon]

2-0
Looks like your last night in Equador should be one of celebration with Equador beating Poland! They are top of the group! Have a good trip to Peru. Good to see some Physics in action at the Equator.