Middle Earth

To be truthful, [aren't I always?] I actually spent one day in Quito before I headed to the Black Sheep Inn so this entry is really acting as the bookends for my time in Chugchilian... shoot me for being out of sequence. 

On that first day, I am glad to report, I came across more brilliant grafitti close to the hostel and the Basillica which has gargoyles of animals from the amazon and gallapagos like the ant eater below... weird


 







 I had heard only negative feedback from travellers about this capital city and it made me fearful to even walk down the street alone let alone really investigate the bus system or city sights. It felt strange to have this outlook after spending four months traveling South America solo but the volume of stories really had me on edge. One girl I bunked with on my first night in town told me earlier that day she was walking down the street and a guy came up and grabbed the thin gold necklace off her throat. While this is probably what most people who haven't travelled to South America would envision of the continent as a whole I can honestly say no other place I have been has given off this vibe.

Here is a photo of the city from the hostel rooftop bar... where I did feel safe.

The two Quito "must do's" for me were to spend a day at Papallacia thermal baths and then have one foot on either side of the equator at the Middle of the Earth monument. With both in my back pocket, I would be ready to leave without regret. 

Papallacia is located 2hrs away from Quito in yet more cloud forest. There are about 15-20 thermal baths of varying temperatures throughout the spa and I had no trouble knocking off three hours "soaking" in the views and hopping from the cold river back into the steaming baths. I figured I needed that kind of soak time to come close to cleaning off so many weeks in shared dorms and coed shower stalls. As much as I appreciate that it can be part of the adventure I often fantasize about being at home in my own clean digs...soon enough. 

Most people visit the thermal spas in Banos, five hours to the south, but with murky waters, filled with 50% of the town's population and made to look like three cinder block pools, I am happy to have made the choice I did.   

The Middle of the Earth aka "Mital del Mundo", if you can believe it, is an underwhelming place. Thinking back I can't tell you what it was I expected... Thunderbolts and zero gravity? A circus? Wildlife with multiple heads? Whatever it was I had hoped for, the yellow painted line on a path outside a stone monument didn't captivate. Especially when you are told that since the invention of GPS they realized the actual equator is about 250 meters away. Wwwwaaannn Wwhhaannn.

A museum has been set up on the "real" equator and in true developing country form has super random activities and exhibits set up side by side. You first learn about tribes who practiced shrinking heads to ensure that their knowledge was never lost and then do your best to balance an egg on the head of a nail? Rrrriiiiggghht. Reminded me of the time I applied to work at a fake haunted house near Lennoxville, Quebec. I have to stifle a laugh when I recall considering a summer pretending, in french, to believe in ghosts. I wonder what these guides think when they leave for these jobs each morning. 

Now that I have checked off my two Quito activities I am happy to leave tomorrow morning for five days in the Amazon. Meeting back up with Avisa, who I met in the Galapagos, we plan to watch each other's back for tarantulas and then head to Colombia. That should make you all feel comfortable with my safety!
xox
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