This morning after breakfast we were met by Johanna for our tour to the equator and our walking tour of Quito.
First stop..... The middle of the world.
We jumped in our bus, and were driven about an a hour to the equator. Along the way Johanna talked about Quito, and explained monuments that we passed by. I can honestly say that it was quite a relief to be driven around, and not have a mini heart attack very couple of seconds by the crazy driving. The driving in Quito is a lot more civilised. Thank goodness, I don't think my heart could take much more, nor do I think that Jan could have survived another couple of days of me sitting on her lap hugging her screaming!!!
We drove through the heart of Quito, and started to drive into more rural areas. It was interesting to see the fruit stands set up on the side of the road. Massive bags of fruit and veg were on display.... Each bag costing a dollar. It was such a bargain!!! Also a bargain is the fuel, for a gallon of petrol, you are looking at around $2US, and diesel fuel was even cheaper $1US for a gallon!!!
We arrived at the equator, and were told by Johanna that we may need to walk up as they are doing some construction. She told us to wait in the bus and she would see if she could organise for our bus to drive up a little further so that we didn't have to walk.
She must have used all of the assets she had been blessed with, as next minute the guard came up to the bus driver and waved him through. The driver tried to give him some money, however the guard refused. Yep, she knows how to use her puppies that's for sure!!
We drove the short distance up to the car park. We all jumped out, and Johanna lead us down to the monument. Johanna definitely took the threat of skin cancer very serious, as she was wearing a sun visor (the size of a UFO) on her head, and then had an umbrella open above her head. You can never be too safe I guess!!
The equator was marked by a very large grey monument. On each of the monuments sides, it displayed the direction that it was facing, which made it very easy to determine that we entering from the north side. I think the big N gave it away. At the very top of the monument was a large globe of the world.
We started to walk around to the East side of the monument, and soon realised that we were pretty much the only people here. What are the chances??? This place is always busting at the seams with tourists, so you can imagine how surprised we were to find out we were the only ones there. Maybe it's because we had picked this as our first destination today, and we got in before all of the other tourists arrived.
As we approached the East side of the monument we saw the yellow line that made it official.... We were at the equator. Latitude 0.0.0.
We all started taking photos, straddling the bright yellow line. One foot in the northern hemisphere, one foot in the Southern Hemisphere. I still find that I have to pinch myself that I'm actually in these totally awesome and unique places in the world. So as always, we took photo after photo.
We then caught the elevator up to the top of the monument. We were able to get the most remarkable views from the top. It was fantastic to even just look down at the yellow equator line, and see the two garden beds beautifully decorated on each side if the equator line, one marked 'N' the other marked 'S'. The other thing we were able to see from the top, was the million people that all of a sudden turned up. Wow, were we lucky or what!! We actually managed to get photos of the equator line without anyone else in them..... this is unheard of!!
What goes up, must come down, and the only way down from the top of the monument was to walk down the stairs. We spiralled down the stair case, taking in all of the photos and exhibits that lined the walls on the way down. This was like a mini museum to Equador's history. We eventually returned to the ground floor, and walked out of the monument. Here we were greeted by those millions of tourists that had appeared, all madly jostling for a position on that big yellow line. Holly hell, we were so lucky!!
We walked towards a little cluster of shops, and I managed to find a post office that was open. So it was that time again, to buy up stamps for all of the postcards I have written along the way (well from Brazil anyway), however haven't been able to send!! It is actually quite hard to find a post office in a lot of cities, little lone one that is open. I usually find them on Sundays, and they are generally closed. So today, I bought all of my stamps and enough for my next two cities in Equador as well!!
It was then time to head back to the bus and move on to our next location on our Quito tour.
We were driven to a very large monument, that was made from aluminium. The monument was actually a statue of the Virgin Mary. However, this was a very different Virgin Mary to the ones you would normally see, as this one had wings and was stepping on a snake. This statue was located up on a hill, high above the old town of Quito. It was almost as if she was keeping a watchful eye over the town!! This location, was like a two for one offer. Not only did we get to see this beautiful statue, we also were provided with some very nice views of Quito, especially the old town.
We were given a few minutes to walk around the monument, and to take photos. It was then time to move to the next location.
This time we were driven into the heart of the old town. We were dropped off on the outskirts of the square of independence. We walked through the square, where Johanna stopped us in the middle near a large statue to explain the meaning behind its significance. Although, it was so hard to concentrate on what she was saying, when we had a classical case of mental health 101 to the left of us. A lady was laying on her stomach in the middle of the square, screaming and crying into the footpath. Anytime anyone went to help her, she just went all types of crazy on them. On the other side of the square, another man was off starting a biffo with some police officers. Is it a full moon??
Johanna did her best to compete with all of the excitement that was going on in the square. She then led us on foot to an old building which is now a library, and finally we visited a couple of cathedrals. Again, both cathedrals were so opulent, and completely covered in gold. The biggest waste, is the fact that these cathedrals are built so close to each other, not even a block apart. What a waste of resources!!!
Outside of the church we waited for everyone to come out. Whilst we were there a couple of local girls came up selling some beautiful scarves. I actually really liked the colours that they had, so I agreed to buy 2. I received the 2 scarves, and handed over the money. I started to look at them, and I realised that they were actually a lot shorter than what I anticipated. These weren't scarves, I've been duped!! The girl who sold the scarves to me, then called me back..... argh ha, she has seen that I was on to her, and wants to make amends. But no.... she just wanted to point out how much of a moron I was. I hadn't completely unfolded the scarf. It was still folded in half. Once she unfolded it completely it was the proper length of a scarf. She just laughed at me... Probably thinking... What a stupid tourist!!
After we had finished looking at the two churches, Johanna gave us the option, to stay in old town and enjoy some lunch, or alternately hitch a ride back to the hotel on the bus. We all decided to stay in the old town to enjoy the atmosphere and head to one of the lunch spots recommended by Johanna.
All bar 2 of the gang decided to go and eat at this fairly fancy hotel. It was fancy, however also reasonably priced. It is easy to say that we may have brought down the patronage at this restaurant. Here we are, tourists dressed up in shorts and singlets, accompanied by a number of other patrons, all wearing suits. Yep.... Nothing quite like a bunch of loud tourists, who don't meet the dress code, to interrupt your business lunch.
Most of the table enjoyed a local dish called Fritada, which is made up of pork, and a selection of local accompaniments including maize, potatoes and salad. I on the other hand ordered the roasted suckling pig..... Boy oh boy this was delicious!! We really enjoyed our lunch together.
It came time, where we were full as malley bulls and Rob, Jan, Kathy and I decided to head back to the hotel. We had been warned that this was about a 20min trip by cab. The hardest part was catching a taxi. We tried for a while to catch one from outside of the hotel where we had lunch, however the taxis either had someone in them, or they just didn't stop. Frustrated, I asked one of the concierge guys at the hotel if they could please point me in the direction of a taxi rank. He showed us where to walk, which was pretty much around the corner and across the square. Here we found the place that all the taxis had been driving to. It was an entire lane dedicated to taxis. We approached one of the drivers (and in addition it would appear another guy who was most likely the taxi equivalent of a pimp), and he gave us a quote. For the 20min taxi ride back to the hotel, it was going to cost a unbelievable amount. $2. Yep, you heard right, $2. We couldn't even put a leg in a taxi back home for $2. I did check about 3 times that I heard right, and then without any further questions we all jumped in.
The taxi driver did a great job driving us home, and was following in the great Latin American footsteps of honking his horn the entire way there. Honk away, this taxi trip only cost $2. We ended up giving the driver a bit extra as a tip. It just seems so unfair to only pay $2 for that trip.
Back at the hotel, we had decided that the glamazon girls would meet up in 30mins for a trip to the local artisan market, located not too far from the hotel.
Although, within that half-an-hour my room all of a sudden became Burke street mall. First Rob called by, he wanted to borrow my nail clippers. 5 mins after Rob left, another knock at the door. This time it was a lady from the hotel... Not that either one of us could understand each other, it would appear that my hot water, between this morning when I had a shower to this afternoon was no longer working. Then a maintenance man appeared at my door. They seemed to clunk around in the shower for a short while, only to leave and say that it was all fixed. Cool, even better considering I didn't even know it was broken in the first place. Here's hoping for a hot shower tomorrow!!!
By this stage, the 30mins had elapsed and Jan was knocking on my door. I grabbed my last couple of things and then left my room behind.
We walked the short distance to the market. We slowly weaved our way through the market, looking at all of the arts and crafts that the local people had to offer. I ended up buying a painting that was composed by a man using the seed of a tree as the paint. So creative, and super talented. Jan managed to find herself a nice leather handbag, and Kathy ended up leaving empty handed.
We returned to the hotel, where I had some time to just relax and chill in my room. I started to sort out my luggage ready for roll out tomorrow. At least if I start now, it will hopefully reduce the pain of packing later on tonight.
I soon received a phone call from the girls notifying me that it was dinner time. We had all eaten so much at lunch, that we all decided to have a very light dinner. It was a salad for me!!
Soon after dinner, we again returned the our rooms. I wanted to finish my packing, and hopefully get a good nights sleep.
These beds are just so heavenly!!!