Sunday 9 September 2012
HOTEL SIERRA MADRE
VENTIMILLA 464 Y& LUIS TAMAYO
QUITO ECUADOR
TEL (593-2) 2505687
On arrival at Quito, Greg and I were amazed by the Andes and the snow capped volcano that sits by Quito. Imagine a volcano on the equator (more or less) that's topped with snow! There are several volcanoes here and we viewed several today on our guided tour. All day. Just Greg and I and guide. The highlights were towns and villages like Calderon and Ortavalo. We had a chance to buy some things at markets, take photos of locals and enjoy good food. On the way we stopped at a cafe selling Bizcochi (biscuits) homemade in kiln ovens. Hmmmm! And fresh cheese too. We stopped at viewing points to show us the lagunas (lagoons) created in craters, the valleys and gorges along the way. The Quecheca people descended from the Incas. They are a small race and women wear embroidered blouses and odd hats. The men wear black hats and have long hair which they plait or put in pony tails.
Day 2 here was interesting for us. We travelled to the exact 0'0' latitude equator, which had changed in recent years with the use of GPS. The old explorers were 240 meters out. Only! Fascinating info was that just 3 m south of equator we saw wAter going down plug clockwise. Then just 3m north of 0'0' it went anti clockwise. We weigh 1 kg less at equator due to less gravity, and lose muscle strength! Weird!
After lunch we wandered with guide through old Quito. How many churches? Don't ask! I liked the plazas and courtyard shops. Observations today included the lorry with tray full of oranges; locals selling anything on the street including the lady carrying a bucket with hot coals with hot food to sell!