[Kumar R]

or In which I travel to the Equator and back

The day I reached Quito started off in a miserable fashion. I had finally completed a 36 hour bus journey from Peru (not counting a 3 hour break), my knees were hurting and inflamed from hiking and it was a few minutes before 5 in the morning -- meaning I would have to wait in the bus terminal for some time till after sunrise and resumption of public transport. I was wretchedly hungry but the food courts were closed. I was also yet to understand the fickle nature of the weather in Quito and the light rain and overcast sky outside served to make the start of this leg of my trip a gloomy one.

The Quito morning as viewed from Quito's new Quitumbe Bus Terminal (all west / south-bound buses terminate here). The volcano Pichincha which borders the city is visible in the background.



Like the other big terminals I had seen, Quitumbe Terminal is multi-tiered, clean, spacious and a hub for travelers. Polished marble floors, LED lighting and a surfeit of LCD screens with ads, movies and other information make it seem more like a scene from Arthur C. Clarke's City and the Stars rather than a bus terminal in a developing country. There are long arrays of ticketing booths for different bus operators, grouped into zones.

This row is for buses going to the centre and the south.



The bus terminal is adjacent to another terminal housing the mass rapid transit system of Quito. Generally called 'trolleybuses' these are articulated buses which have their own lane and platforms in the middle of the road. They have overhead electricity lines and draw DC current using an overhead pole.

Entrance to the trolleybus terminal. There are 3 lines, all running in a N-S direction.



Like the long-distance buses these platforms are also clean and well maintained. I had no trouble finding the one I had to take. Fares (25 cents) are paid to a human attendant operating the turnstile though machines are also used.



The interior of these trolleybuses are comfortable and the fittings seem to show lots of use though no vandalism (torn seat overs, graffiti, etc.). At 7 in the morning there were quite a few people (later I would learn the day begins early and 0700 to 0930 is officially rush hour).



Using this I reached my small hotel, 20 km away in the neighbourhood of La Colon, at 8.

[Kumar R]

After breakfast and a bit of rest I decided, at 10 am, to use the day to go and see the Mitad del Mundo - a location to the north of Quito supposedly through which the equatorial line passes and which has been promoted as a tourist destination.

The equator passes within a hair's breadth to the north of Quito (officially located at 0.234° S) and as such the city boasts of being the capital closest to the equator (a fairly noncompetitive market, seeing as there are only about 7 countries through which it passes significantly [11 in all]).



A young American whom I met during breakfast got chatting with me about the place and since company is always good on trips like this, I resolved to draft him into my expedition - an offer he agreed to readily.

Our route was 30 km to the north of Quito.



Unwilling to take an expensive taxi (USD 25 each way) we used first the trolleybus that took us to the northern-most end of the line - the Ofelia Terminal.



From here it was a normal bus -- these are like our own. Conductors keep change neatly stacked in trays that are mounted permanently at the front of the bus. In all, 70 cents per head.



Signs are easy to decipher though this pictogram was a first!



45 minutes of travel took us outside the city onto a higher altitude where the air was cooler, the sun hotter and the sight of the volcano Pululahu in the background.



Disembarked we made our way to a sprawling concrete plaza with a busy ticketing booth where The Most Inefficient Ticketing Clerk On Earth (or his close cousin) took an unbelievable 25 minutes to clear the 15-20 people ahead in line. Ticketing options were 'half' for USD 3.50 and 'full' for USD 7.00. We avoided the 'full' - having been forewarned by my hotel proprietor.

[Kumar R]

Once inside, an architectural monstrosity looms in the distance, more appropriate as the backdrop of a neo-noir film.



The 'middle of the world' tag is only a half-truth at best as potentially any location on the equator can lay claim to that title. Up close the layout of the place is more clear. Built around a large (3-4 acre) lawn, the monument is of recent (1982) origin and purposefully built as a tourist attraction - perhaps to attract the many who cannot or do not want to travel to view the real beauties of this country - the volcanoes, the jungle and the coast.



features a range of attractions like busts of physicists, cartographers and geologists, small museums, art galleries and food stalls, even a small planetarium -- to keep folks and kids busy - after all, how long can you peer at an abstract line? Overall a nice picnic destination where Ecuadorian families brought their kids for a safe, easy and fun outing.





On closer inspection, each side of the monument has a direction marker and the east and west sides have a solid yellow line, literally a divider , that separates the hemispheres.



For those who prefer precision and numbers, the base has the coordinates and declination (unfortunately the latter is not a nice memorable integer).


As expected the divider allows for plenty of imaginative photography and poses.



While the monument has a staircase and viewing balcony this is allowed only for the 'full' ticket holders. Nonetheless half or full everyone is entitled to petition the attendant to stamp their passports (or anything else) with a cool Midad del Mundo stamp.



For all the fuss, contemporary news stories suggest this is not the precise location of the equator - that's a couple of hundred metres further to the north at privately owned park - but it serves the purpose well enough.

A goodbye from the park while leaving - just in case someone forgot the theme.



Two hours spent in the middle of the world, we had a quick lunch and were back in our hotel rooms by 1500. Overall, not a stupendous attraction but well worth a visit if you've taken the trouble to get to Quito - there are not many places in the world where you can straddle the equator safely!

A few days later the significance of the location comes to mind when viewing this map on the entertainment screen on my flight while out of Ecuador.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[avisidhu]

Nice one, thanks for sharing.

Northern America, Europe,(even middle east going by the oil rig travelogue), South East Asia and now South America as well. Is ours the only nation that's so filthy and dirty almost everywhere? We always notice this in all travelogues, and I guess it's something others don't, unless they land in India and are taken aback by the opposite scenes. Truly depressing thought :(

Please keep sharing such stuff, so good to see places many of us may never get a chance to visit.

[rangan]

Very interesting indeed!
But, i thought the middle of the world would be 0 0 co ordinates, which lie in an ocean.

[MSMILES]

Originally Posted by rangan

Very interesting indeed!
But, i thought the middle of the world would be 0 0 co ordinates, which lie in an ocean.

You are right Ranjan. "The open ocean lies at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude, marked by a a weather observation buoy, part of the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Atlantic, also known as PIRATA". Source: www.geolounge.com

My apologies for mispronouncing your name

[Simhi]

Thanks for Sharing. Even before reading completely the article, I started using Google maps to figure out the country - Ecuador. I had not heard a lot about this country.

Originally Posted by avisidhu

Northern America, Europe,(even middle east going by the oil rig travelogue), South East Asia and now South America as well. Is ours the only nation that's so filthy and dirty almost everywhere?

You captured exactly what I was thinking when going through the article.

[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

Is ours the only nation that's so filthy and dirty almost everywhere? We always notice this in all travelogues, and I guess it's something others don't, unless they land in India and are taken aback by the opposite scenes. Truly depressing thought :(

It is indeed depressing. What makes it more astonishing is that generally latin american people and culture is quite similar to our own -- with a laid back approach to life, an indulgent laziness, warmth, eagerness to chat and no subject that is taboo (income, rent, job, parents, wife, girlfriend - like us they seem to have no hesitation in asking (or answering) such 'personal' details. But in the matter of cleanliness there is massive difference in attitude. Unlike european (or singapore / HK) rule-bound anti-littering environment, these people are tidy by their own volition without the need for fearsome laws, signs or fines to force them.

Some photos of the streets of Quito:

[Zed]

Originally Posted by Kumar R

. Unlike european (or singapore / HK) rule-bound anti-littering environment, these people are tidy by their own volition without the need for fearsome laws, signs or fines to force them.

Interesting thread and pics Kumar - Thanks for sharing. But I have to add that cleanliness and civic sense is taught (drilled down might be a more appropriate term) at home, be it Europe or Far eastern countries. Youngsters learn from their parents, neighbours and teachers. And folks dont just pay lip-service regarding social responsibilities but lead by example. I really doubt that its the fear of fines that motivates folks in these countries to not litter and drive sensibly. Sure laws do act as an additional deterrant.

[Bh.P]

Originally Posted by Zed

...I have to add that cleanliness and civic sense is taught (drilled down might be a more appropriate term) at home, be it Europe or Far eastern countries. Youngsters learn from their parents, neighbours and teachers....

+1 to this. Unfortunately though, looks like we will have to bank on extreme enforcement of this via law in our country (may be for a few generations) till people make it a habit, and then start relaxing the law.

[xs2mayank]

Very interesting and informative blog. Never thought that there are just handful of countries from which Equator passes. Had only heard of Ecuador before. Nice to see it in pictures. Very well maintained, clean and beautiful country as seen from the pics. This travelogue reminded me of my trip to Greenwich. Thanks for Sharing !!!