I had two days in Quito before flying to Lima on Friday 7th in the evening. It was pretty quiet as everyone from the tour had left, and I actually felt a bit too lazy to do anything, but I decided that I had better so on the first day I went to the other Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world) that I´d previously mentioned! It was about a 40 minute drive away (I was lazy and got a taxi!) and I visited the monument which is one the equator line and also the next door musue, wich was really interesting. Again, it was on the equator, at 0 0 0 with GPS according to them (not sure how they could all be at 0 0 0!) and they had some interesting demonstrations, including water going down a plug hole on the equator and then on either side if it. On the equator the water just went straight down the hole, thenm on either side of it the water either swirled clockwise or anticlockwise. You could also attempt to balance an egg on a nail, two people managed it! There was an experiment which demonstrated resistance and force, where off the equator I was able to resist him trying to pry open my closed fingers, but on it I could not, no resistance at all, wierd! Then you were supposed to attempt walking in a straightline on the equator line with your eyes closed. Most people got ´pulled´ to one side of the line or other, I was way off the line, but I think partly due to the balance problem I seem to have due to a problem with my ears! Anyway, they were interesting demonstrations and now I can say I´ve been to the middle of the world, three times! It´s just a quetion of which is the real, real, real one?! :-)

After I needed to find a new battery for my watch and a new earring as I lost one of my studs on the islands so I chose a mall out of the Lonely Planet and went in search of both things, once successfully found, I decided to go to the cinema, which was also in the mall, I saw "He´´s just not that into you" which was a cheesy chick flick, but quite good and made a nice change. I then treated myself to pizza before heading back to the hotel.

The next day was my last in Quito (Friday 7th) and once packed up and checked out I took a taxi to the Teleferico, which is a cable car which goes up a volcano just on the outskirts of the city. It goes up to 4100m and had great views of the city from the top. Next I went to the centro historico which is the old town. It´s a old colonial town, easy enough to wander round, though with my sense of direction I was constantly having to look in the Lonely Planet for the map! There were lots pf old, brightly coloured buidlings and churches. I basically just wandered around and had a bargainous lunch, 2 dollars (1.20) for asparagus soup, rice and fish stew, a drink and a tiny slither of cake! I was a little worried about security in the old town as one of the girls from the Ecuador had had problems there, but fortunately I didn´t have any hassle. As I still had time to spare I took a taxi up into the hills to visit the ´Capilla del hombre´ (Chapel of man) which was built by a famous Ecuadorian artist called Guayasamin, and some of his work was displayed there too, it was an interesting place to have a look around. I was not so impressed by the taxi driver who took me to the Guayasamin museum instead, which was the wrong place, and whilst only about 5 blocks from the other place, it was 5 blocks or so (very) uphill!

Anyway, my time in Ecuador had come to an end and I had to get to the airport for my flight to Lima. The 3 weeks seemed to pass very quickly! I have really enjoyed it, saw some great places in Ecuador and met some lovely people too. Hope the tour of Peru will be as good!