Quito, Mitad del Mundo

Equator monument

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After markets, indigenous people, and festivals in Otavalo, I headed for gringos, parties and tour agencies in Quito.  The ride from Otavalo to Quito is the first time I crossed the equator... a whole other half of the world to discover.  

My first day in Quito was spend searching for a guide for climbing Cotopaxi (an amazingly cool looking snow covered inactive volcano outside of Quito) and a tour to the Galapagos.  I seriously spent the whole day looking, and talking to all the different agencies.  In the end it was all a waste, I chose the first 2 places I had gone to.  $190 for a 2 day trip to Cotopaxi, and $790 for an 8 day tour of the Galapagos (that doesn't include the $336 flight, and $100 entrance fee).  

That night I met up with Alejandro, a Ecuadorian friend of a friend who showed me a little of the nightlife.  Quito is 2800m above sea level, and I learned that this effects how much you can drink. 

Me on the equator

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The next day, after a slow start, I headed for Mitad Del Mundo.  A photo-op monument at equator.  I am not sure what the deal is, but this huge monument might not actually be on the equator, because there is another museum 200m away where they say is the real equator measured by GPS.  I have no idea.  

The GPS equator was a bit more entertaining than the monument.  They try to show how water spins in different directions as it goes down a drain depending on which hemisphere you are in.  It was a bit of a hoax, you could see the guy help the water in a direction with his hand.  So I don't know what the truth is.  They also talked about the different indigenous cultures in Ecuador... and had a shrunken monkey head on display.  hahaha.