Day 2:February 15, Mitad Del Mundo

A little over 50 years ago I was on a bus from Pekan Baru to Bukittingi, which is in Sumatra. We crossed the equator at roughly 100 E, and Quito is at 78 W, which means Quito and Bukittingi are roughly antipodes. PKU and UIO are the two furthest comercial airports from each other. Since I crossed the equator in both places, and the earth bulges at the equator, I think that might be as far as two places can be from each other. Mitad Del Mundo is the big monument that was built on the equator, until they discovered that they missed it by about 450. The true equator is at the Intinan Museum about a 200 meters from the monument. Off the attractions in Quito, the equator was the top of my list. I booked a tour, and boarded a double decker (although the tourist all sat on the top level). We started at their main terminal, which is in the north part of the city, which meant I got to try the Quito Metro. It’s the a new pride for the city, and one of the few subways in South America. Aside from the exorbitant price of 45 cents (sarcasm mode), the subway is quite nice. It is clean, and the one line runs every 8 minutes, which makes it very convenient. The only drawback is that it’s underground, and you don’t get to see the city. I then boarded my bus to Mitad Del Mundo, which is about 40 minute ride north of Quito. The ride is spectacular because Quito has about 80 valleys around the metro area. That might be an under estimate. Mitad Del Mundo is 1,000 feet lower than Quito, and in those 45 minute we went up and down 4 different grades. It is amazing to see the terrain around Quito. It’s built on top of the mountain, and there isn’t a water source that I have seen. I’ve seen terrain like this before, but it is in wilderness, and not in a major city. I have to wonder how so many people ended settling her since there isn’t a navigable river anywhere near the city. I don’t think anyone would want to make a living selling boats in Quito. The first stop was the Internan Museum, which is where the equator runs through. From what I’ve read, it open in 1989, which is before they discovered that the equator wasn’t were they thought it was. When they opened, they primarily were a cultural museum, and a majority of the time on the tour was spent discussing Amazon and Andean people. I think they did a wonderful job with the cultural exhibits. I’ve heard criticisms of their dubious scientific claims, and one of those claims was about the penis fish. It’s a fish that supposedly could swim up a urine stream, which I’ve heard isn’t possible. However, one of the exhibits showed an native Amazonian wearing what they traditionally ‘wore’. It’s basically a nicklace, and a rope cord wrapped around the penis, with the penis up. Apparently the natives believed the penis fish was true, so I have no problem with the way they presented it. I guess native Amazonians didn’t have issues with their prostrate. The museum gets a bad rap with some of its unscientific claims that they do once you spend time on the equator. One of the is the myth that sinks drain according to the correliolis effect (the Simpsons did an episode on that one). Another is balancing an egg on a nail, and a third is walking a straight line on the equator. There was a fourth one that I truly don’t understand, but I participated. The guide, who wasn’t a large person told us to hold our hands up and resist her pulling them down. We stood a yard from the line the first time, and she couldn’t move them. We stepped on the equator, and I lost my balance when she pulled down. She then explained why it’s called the middle of the earth. It is the spot on the equator that is the furthest from the center of the earth, and I think it might be near the spot that is the furthest from the center of the earth. The next stop was Mitad Del Mundo, which is the actual monument. This is a 4-day weekend in Ecuador (Carnival), so maybe it’s not always that crowded, but that place was crazy. You have a walk through a ton of shops to get to the famous monument, which I found under whelming, It’s globe, and looks cool from a distance, but it looks smaller than expected up close. Maybe I was on social overload, since I don’t do well in super crowded places. I spent most of my time walking with a ‘get me out of here’ mindset. However, there were some highlights. First was trying cocoa wine, which is made from the cocoa bean. I’ve had lots of wine made from fruits other than grapes, and there is a reason that grapes dominate. However, the cocoa wine tasted pretty good. It was fruity, and had a sharpness to it; and absolutely nothing like chocolate. This was not a chocolate wine. The second part was the craft beer museum, which I had to visit. FTR- it’s one room, showing how beer is brewed. The highlight came when I bought a flight, and told the server to choose for me. All four beers were very good, and nothing like I usually order. Mind you, all I usually drink is IPA. They have IPAs here, but I think that’s for the IPA snobs who only drink IPA. FTW, that’s what I am as well. I didn’t realize that Ecuador has a true beer culture that dates back to the Francisan Monks. It’s a bit closer to Belgium beer culture than you see in other places, and is definitely part of the native culture. Ecuadorean flavors are muted, so I don’t think you’ll see see them exported, but they are all very good quality beers. Of the two, I preferred the museum. The monument was just too overwhelming with the crowds, and not my thing. You really can’t go to one without the other (although a lot of locals just went to the museum), so think of it as one thing. The last stop of the day was at Casa Agave. To be honest, I didn’t know that I booked that part of the tour. I thought I was just getting the first two, which was the most common choice on the bus. I somehow chose the third one as well. The guide promised that I would like it, and I did. It’s a museum dedicated to the agave, and showing it’s many uses. The guide was very knowledgeable, and the place is dedicated to the agave, and it’s importance to the region. We tried the raw juice, called chawarmishke, and then the distilled version call miske. Miske is similar to tequila, but not as harsh. At the end, I had a nice lunch with a lovely lady Colombia, and we both tried the miskalada (beer made from chawarmishke). That was one of those things that I tried, so I don’t need to try it again. I’m noticing two take-aways from Ecuador. First of all, the prices are absurdly low. I had a bar-b-que sampler for dinner that had five cuts of meet (not the greatest cuts), a pile of potatoes, a salad and a glass of wine. I got change back from a $20 bill. Secondly is how friendly people are. Every tour guide calls us ‘my friend,’ and i think that’s how they generally feel. It’s a different niceness than you get in Japan, because they aren’t reserved. If you interact with someone in Ecuador, you’re interacting with a friend.