Hola from Quito where I’ve spent the past few days walking around, taking in the city, visiting the Equator, stopping by a couple little
pueblocitos, and a lake that sits below a dormant volcano that rises 19,152 feet into the sky.
I just have a few pictures (but
Aviso Warning #1, the WIFI is slow here and my pictures may not post, so I'll try, but if they don't go up you won't see them...I'll just post them later when I can). Quito is warm and alive at night…lots of people are on the streets, dinner is served after 10, and music goes until 5 in the morning. There is a fusion of food and cultural creativity that is electric...and besides that they produce the best organic chocolate in the world.
The city sits at elevation 9,182 feet above sea level, but the altitude did not affect my health as much as a pad of butter on a pancake did.
Aviso Warning #2: Don’t eat the butter. I was three weeks into this trip, and as Tom Robbins would say, if you always do the same thing you will always get the same results. I had avoided butter up until
breakfast buffet Sunday, and somehow that pancake staring back at me on the buffet platter reminded me of the good ol’ USA, and so like Adam and the apple, I succumbed to the temptation.
I knew in twenty minutes that I should have listened to Tom Robbins and that my Sigmoid Curve was going to be working overtime. But enough of the fun details…I was down (and “out”) in less than a day.
My trip to the Equator was fun…about 15 miles outside of Quito are a couple of tourist stops located directly on the Equator. Mine had a large cigar shaped tube at ground zero rising up about 70 feet to greet the sun, with a round mirror to step on, and a couple of doors exiting north and south. The sun passes directly overhead on the June 21 and December 21st, and I think if you stepped inside that tube at precisely 12 noon on those dates you would get the full effect of the sun on your body much like a hot dog in a microwave would…I wouldn’t advise that (
Aviso Warning #3) anymore than I would advise staring at the sun…it was hot enough that day without trying any solar gamma ray experiments on your body.
My guide told me that contrary to public opinion toilets do not flush counter clockwise north of there, or clockwise south of there…that he said is a myth. But, people do weigh more at the Equator because of the gravitational pull…maybe that’s why I look a little larger than usual down here, although after my pancake and butter experiment I'm sure I weigh much less.
About 90 kilometers northeast of Quito are a couple little towns named Otavalo and Cotacachi that have thriving crafts and leather artisan markets. It all looked pretty good, hats, alpaca sweaters and scarves, jewelry, purses, etc., all quality stuff, and inexpensive.
Nearby was
Lago Guicacha, with the
Cotacachi volcano rising above it. Surprisingly, the lake was as dead as it was beautiful…no fish in it because of all the toxic sulfuric waste that the volcano had spewed into it a million years ago. I didn’t see anybody swimming there either.
Sunday in Quito they close one of the main streets (
Rio Amazonas) to pedestrian and bicycle traffic only…leading to
El Ejido Parque, which had an interesting and somewhat erotic entrance. It looked like the kind of grovel fest I'd like to go to, but inside it was family day with parents and kids playing around and having a pretty good time.
That’s it from here…I head to the coast for a few days (Atacames), then get ready to go to Lima/Cuzco/Machu Picchu before wrapping it all up.
Saludos
