Today was to be our last full day in Ecuador and we were scheduled to take a tour to the equator. Luis was our guide for today and he picked us up at 10:00 am and we headed north.
Interestingly enough we found out that there are really two equator sites in Ecuador. The first is La Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world), which is the location calculated by the French in 1736 as the equatorial line and which is also the basis for the metric system. There is a huge monument here to mark the spot. About 2 miles east is a museum called Museo Solar Inti Nan which houses the true equator line as calculated by a GPS. In this museum there are exhibits such as seeing water drain clockwise in the south but counter clockwise in the north, balancing an egg on a nail head on the equator line and trying to walk a straight line on the equator while feeling the forces of the north and south converge on you. It was all quite interesting and informative and we enjoyed our visit here.
Upon leaving the museum, Luis took us to a nearby town that specializes in fritadas which is fried pork. So we stopped at this little hole in the wall family business that had a whole pig hanging in the back where they cut pieces of pork from it and then they deep fry it in this wok style pan out front. They serve it with two kinds of corn, plantains and potatoes and it was all very tasty. The three of us had a full lunch with soft drinks for a total of $8.30. I am still amazed as to how much food you can get in the local cafeteria style places for such little money.
After lunch, Luis dropped us off near our hotel and we walked up the street, got some ice cream and headed over to Plaza Grande. We sat and did some people watching for a while and man do I mean people watching. I am still amazed as to how many people there are in such a small area such as Quito, and why are they all walking around all day long? Don't they have to work? From about 6:00am to 6:00 pm the streets are bustling, then it settles down a bit only to start up again the next morning.
After a while we headed back to the hotel and finished packing and chilled out for the rest of the day. We had some sandwiches at the hotel for dinner and then off to bed early some we have to get up early for a long travel day tomorrow.
Interestingly enough we found out that there are really two equator sites in Ecuador. The first is La Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world), which is the location calculated by the French in 1736 as the equatorial line and which is also the basis for the metric system. There is a huge monument here to mark the spot. About 2 miles east is a museum called Museo Solar Inti Nan which houses the true equator line as calculated by a GPS. In this museum there are exhibits such as seeing water drain clockwise in the south but counter clockwise in the north, balancing an egg on a nail head on the equator line and trying to walk a straight line on the equator while feeling the forces of the north and south converge on you. It was all quite interesting and informative and we enjoyed our visit here.
Upon leaving the museum, Luis took us to a nearby town that specializes in fritadas which is fried pork. So we stopped at this little hole in the wall family business that had a whole pig hanging in the back where they cut pieces of pork from it and then they deep fry it in this wok style pan out front. They serve it with two kinds of corn, plantains and potatoes and it was all very tasty. The three of us had a full lunch with soft drinks for a total of $8.30. I am still amazed as to how much food you can get in the local cafeteria style places for such little money.
After lunch, Luis dropped us off near our hotel and we walked up the street, got some ice cream and headed over to Plaza Grande. We sat and did some people watching for a while and man do I mean people watching. I am still amazed as to how many people there are in such a small area such as Quito, and why are they all walking around all day long? Don't they have to work? From about 6:00am to 6:00 pm the streets are bustling, then it settles down a bit only to start up again the next morning.
After a while we headed back to the hotel and finished packing and chilled out for the rest of the day. We had some sandwiches at the hotel for dinner and then off to bed early some we have to get up early for a long travel day tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment