|
Quito and the EquatorSep 1, 2008
|
|
egg balancer extraodinairre at the equator
UP at 4,200 metres over Quito
| So we flew into Quito, both with bad colds = and i barely survived the walk up 3 flights of stairs to our hotel room = my lungs were burning and my legs felt like lead. Welcome to one of the higher capitals in the world = a few thousand meters and we could feel the altitude. Anyway, it took us quite a few days of lounging around to start feeling more human. Its a pretty city surrounded by very picturesque mountains. The ``old town`` is lovely = cobbled windy little streets with a few impressive churches. Everything is ridiculously cheap here = for a lunch with soup, chicken stew and rice, a drink, and a piece of fruit its US 1.50 = absolutely insane. We went and checked out the equator = there was a little museum there which was really cool = you can do all these wierd experiments to prove you are on the equator = water goes straight down the sink on the equator = either side it goes clockwise and anticlockwise. We balanced an egg on a nail, we noted difficulty in walking heel to toe = lots of cool stuff. Something else that was pretty fun was a cable car ride up to 4000m = you get a beautiful view out over Quito although it was bloody cold. We spent most of the week here looking at possible volunteer opportunities in the area = we have lined up a week on a organic farm in North Ecuador, and 4 weeks in the Galapagos Islands (me doing hospital stuff, and Ben doing mental health stuff) = hopefully there will be plenty of 3 day weekends for going and hanging out with the animals. So off to the farm we go. |
Advertisement 
|
