Mitad del Mundo!
February 17 - If you plan to travel long term, it's important to schedule in some free days so you can do absolutely nothing if you want. We spent the day sleeping in, planning future trips, reviewing logistics, and tried a nearby restaurant.
- T
The yellow line that separates North and South.
February 18 - We awoke just past eight o'clock in the morning to a bright sunny day. It was my birthday and we planned to venture forth and stand in both hemispheres at once!
We moved slow and easy out of our room to catch breakfast in the hostel house. It was a breakfast of eggs, fruit plate, yogurt, and bread. Finishing it off with a cup of coffee was the candle on my cake. We then spent the morning around the hostel enjoying the sunshine.
Once we had satisfactorily passed much of the morning, we set off to find Mitad del Mundo! (the middle of the world, equator for short). At this point, Quito was becoming a bit more navigable and Carlos had provided us with instructions on which public bus would take us to Mitad del Mundo. So, off we went to find a blue bus on the corner.
We found the bus, its breaks trumpeted (not unlike the sound of an elephant's trumpet) to a halt before us and we dashed on board. A moment or two later the bus driver's assistant (it is common in other parts of the world) came by to collect the $0.25 cents each for the bus fare. Tricia had asked the bus driver to let us know when we needed to switch buses which turned out to be in our favor.
We bumped along on the bus through the streets of Quito, taking in the city. It's many stone walls topped with metal spikes or capped with broken bottles and glass shards concreted in place seemed to blend with the various graffiti murals which were occasionally broken up by stupendously beautiful European styled buildings. While lulled into a drowsy state, the bus stopped atop a hill on a busy street, the bus driver's call for us to get off woke us from our daze and without any further instruction, aside from our current driver pointing to the bus directly behind us, we hopped off the bus and proceeded directly to the bus the driver had pointed to. It is at this point, you may recall that we had been given instructions from Carlos. This was nowhere in the instructions.
Naturally, we boarded the bus anyway and were off again a moment later. After a few minutes more, the driver's assistant came by to collect $0.40 cents each. Once again Tricia inquired with the driver regarding our destination which was replied to with a knowing nod from the driver and 30 minutes later our new bus driver shooed us off the bus directly in front of the entrance to Mitad del Mundo. Upon reviewing the instructions from Carlos we found that we had been fortunate enough to somehow skill an entire bus terminal. Well, happy accidents as Bob Ross would say.
We purchased our tickets for $5.00 each (which felt pretty steep after our bus fare) and entered into the area surrounding the Mitad del Mundo monument. It was an interesting network of shops and restaurants with a church towards the top of the hill facing the monument. It was here that we first noticed the yellow line which indicated the placement of the equator. Following the line up a flight of stairs, we found a large round platform marked with an E to indicate the cardinal direction.
We paused here to take photos and circle the monument. Among the more impressive aspects of our little expedition was the courtesy with which the visitors treated each other. When traveling, sometimes it's the way people treat each other that hits you more than all the sights and sounds.
Jetstar the Hemispheres!
After our photos were taken we set off in search of the Chocolate shop. Fortunately, it wasn't far and we enjoyed some of the locally grown and crafted passion fruit filled chocolate along with some fizzy water. After a brief rest, we began to make our way back towards the bus stop.
The ride back was a bit more of an adventure than our way to Mitad del Mundo. Without many reference points, we ended up at two separate bus terminals and on three buses along the way. The ride was not unpleasant though and if nothing else we were able to see more of the city returning to our hostel right around dinner time. We ate dinner once again at the eclectic Indian restaurant just across from our hostel. Of all the ways I have spent my birthdays, never have I before been so fortunate as to spend one in both hemispheres at once. It was a wonderful way to spend the first day of my thirty-first year.
- G