Quito-city of the straight sun

Yesterday we went to see the equator- which you can´t leave equador without doing. So we caught two buses in the morning to get out there, its about 45km out of town so took just over an hour. We went into this park which felt very tacky and touristy. There was a big statue which apparently marks the equator but its not accurate. So we took a few photos of the statue then were about to leave when a woman asked us if we would like to go on a tour to Pululahua- the worlds largest inhabited active volcano. So we decided it was worth a look but as we were driving up to the volcano we saw cloud coming over very fast which meant our views would be obscurred.
Claire and Anthea went to the viewing platform and Katrina and I did the hiking tour with a guide. Our guide really knew his stuff and he showed us plants used as antiseptics, for coughs, relaxion and even a berry that helped the indigenous people speak with the gods, i.e a hallucinagenic, and then he asked if we would like to try one. We both ate one but it had no affect as i assume you´d need alot of it before you feel anything. We walked up the hill a bit and i was relieved we didn´t go too far up cos the altitude causes me to get breathless so fast. We sat on a small ledge on the crater wall and looked down into the crater floor. It was very green and lush. The clouds were still moving very fast and it meant one minute we could see the whole crater the next minute everything was white. Apparently 40 families, or 100 people live in the volcano and they live up to 120 years old. they have electricity as well as spa and sauna down there so they´re not doing too badly for themselves. Every day they get the same weather, in the morning they get warm winds from the pacific and in the evenings it gets cold usually down to 0 deg. They have one road but they dont use it, instead opting to walk up a steep path which takes them 45mins. They grow all their own food and usually just leave the area to sell goods at the markets. If the volcano erupted they would have about 30-60mins to get out. They have a plan for such an event though, which is to pray.

While we were sitting on the ledge our guide played us song from a traditional instrument of his people (i don´t remember what its called) It was very peaceful.

We walked back down and he showed us another plant which was a hybrid of mint and lavander plants, we could see the mint plant and the lavender plant and this plant sat in between and smelt really good. We met the others and went back to the park where we had lunch and saw hummingbirds at the window, they are such amazing little birds.
Next we went to a museum next door where we found the real equator. We can´t understand how the first park is soo popular when its not the real equator, all it has is a statue and a bunch of tacky stores and restaurants. The museum was fantastic, we were given a guide who showed us around and taught us about how the Andean cultures live. We learnt that men only are allowed to sleep in hammocks woman and children sleep on the ground, which apparently is beacuse it means the man can get up quickly to defend his family which i found questionable. In the main room of a house they kept guinea pigs because they believed they had great energy and can recognise bad energy on others so if the guinea pigs start squealing the person would be asked to leave. The houses are built with low roofs so that people have to bow to come in. To get married woman need to make a meal in which the mother in law has to approve. whereas men have to build a boat from one tree approx 12 metres long that can float and fit 8 men (i think) Chiefs have multiple wives and when they die they believe they will be reborn so they are buried in a round tomb (which represents the womb) they have food buried with them and their favourite wife must drink a cactus juice which cuases them to fall asleep and they are put in the tomb where they suffocate to death. Some chiefs are buried with all their wives and servants.

Our guide then demonstrated that water on the equator will drain straight down, he showed us the same experiment 1 metre into the northern hemisphere and it went anticlockwise, and then 1 metre into the southern hemisphere and it went clockwise. Katrina and i both managed to balance an egg on a nail head which apparently is only possible on the equator and we also did balance tests by trying to walk in a straight line with our eyes shut on the equator line-its much harder than anywhere else. It was a very interesting museum and our guide was very informative. After this we went back to our hotel and we met our tour group and guide. Our guide seems cool and he has a hilarious laugh. It always makes us laugh cos its so bizarre.

This morning we met with our tour guide again and we explored Old Quito, we had already been briefly but we thought it would be good to go agfain with a guide. We went up to a statue of the virgin mary that overlooks the city and then we walked down into the town. We tried some sweetened coconut from a stall and it was delicious. We then went into a beautiful cathedral called La Compañía de Jesús. It had baroque style decorations which put simply means leave no space undecorated. It was incerdible, we weren´t allowed to take photos but every inch of the church was decorated, mainly in gold, painted with gold leaf. It was great having a guide cos it meant we were learning about the places we were going not just looking at how pretty they are. Of course i have a bad memory so i can´t relay anything i learnt from that church so i´m thinking of carrying a notebook with me so i can jot down interesting facts.
Here´s a link to a picture i found of the church http://www.travel-images.com/ecuador10.jpg

So we carried on from there down to the presidential palace to watch the changing of the guards. It apparently occurs every monday at midday and its a very elaborate ceremony. There are marching bands and guards on horses and the presidents family stands on the balcony of the palace and there are guards it bright blue everywhere.

Then we found a really cheap. delicious and traditional ecuadarian food for lunch. it was chicken, lentils and rice and we also had a roasted corn cob with cheese on top and a pepsi (not so tradtional) and all of that cost 2.50!! it was awesome.

Then we left our tour guide because they were going to see the equator which we had already done so we went to see the Teleferico which is a gondola ride up a hill overlooking all of Quito. It was a great view and we were lucky because clouds were coming over but they didn´t block our view. The city looks absolutely massive but apparently it is only 5m wide, and 45m in length with a population of 2.5 million. which seems much smaller than how it looks. We´ve just arrived back from there and we´re having a quick internet catchup before getting a salsa lesson and then going out for dinner at our favourite restaurant with some of the people from our tour. And then in the morning we leave at 7am to go to the Amazon jungle and on the way were going to some natural thermal pools which our guide reckons are the best in all of South America so i can´t wait!!!! But i don´t know when i´ll next have internet so could be a while before my next blog, but hopefully it´ll be a good one!!

Adios!