Otavalo and the Equator Games

For the past week I´ve been based in Quito, Ecuador. As far as big cities go, it's beautiful with lots of history as displayed in the architecture here.

As described by UNESCO, Quito was "Founded in the 16th century on the ruins of an Inca city and despite the 1917 earthquake, Quito has the best preserved and least modified historic centre in Latin America. The monasteries of San Francisco and Santo Domingo, and the Church and the Jesuit College of La Compania with their rich interior decorations are pure examples of the "Baroque School of Quito" which is a fusion of Spanish, Italian, Moorish, Flemish and indigenous art."

Walking through the streets in the centro histórico de Quito, it is alive with vibrant colours, music and theatre. I saw a few solo accordian players randomly placed at various places along the sidewalk and several actors outside the local theatre performing apparently very funny improv acts in Spanish for the large circle of hysterical onlookers. Also, in a large square, there was a full band playing a variety of flutes, horns and drums. There is also a more modern section of town although still less modern than many Western cities in terms of the number of high rise buildings, designer clothes or fancy cars, which also adds to Quito´s charm in my opinion.

I´ve heard there is violence here and that pick pockets and theft are common but I haven´t felt unsafe or experienced it first hand so far. Where I mentioned in my last blog post the random acts of kindness, I had another one recently.

It took place when I bought a few things to send to friends for their birthdays and was in a long dark corridor of a building where one of Quito´s post offices is located. There is a small room with the post office itself and also two little stalls set up across the hall with sundries, envelopes post cards and postage stamps for sale. I bought a few post cards and stamps from one of the stands, chatting to the local Ecuadorian lady of no less than around 60 years old who works there. We had a nice conversation in Spanish and got along well.. she immediately felt like a grandmother to me.

So, over the next few days when I needed another envelope, I went to her stand but this time she wouldn´t let me pay for it! She was so sweet and excited to see me as well that she leaned over the counter and gave me a hug. Even though it was a small gesture, it was so nice since as amazing as travelling is, I always do feel like the visitor and never feel at home. Also, while I love the newness of different surroundings, the great people I meet and the adventures I am having, it´s hard not to feel a little homesick at times without my own place or long time friends and family around. So the free envelope from the postal lady as simple as it sounds, really touched me.

Over the weekend, Itay and I took a little side trip to Otavalo for the famous Saturday market, which seemingly consumes the whole town. There were stands set up on many of the streets selling everything from food and hammocks to jewelery and clothing.

It was nice to spend the weekend there instead of just the Saturday since we hadn't realised that Sunday also had a similar market but with many less people. Not that it is a touristy town to begin with. The local flavour here is awesome with indigenous people walking amongst locals who have adapted a more modern lifestyle. There are very few Western tourists.



One evening as we walked through the streets of this little town, there was a truck parked on the side of the road playing catchy tunes. There were a number of Indigenous ladies dancing a traditional style for a small crowd that had formed. It was fun to watch.

Next to here, I tried an interesting concoction from a small cart manned by a guy in a lab coat who was mixing and selling drinks made from Aloe Vera for 50 cents.. in Ecuador the currency is the US dollar. It was kind of sweet and good although the thick, gooey texture reminded me of slime and was a little hard to get used to!

We also hiked a nearby mountain in the area of Lagunas de Mojanda, which is surrounded by lakes. At the highest point we climbed it was 4,000 meters! The altitude didn´t bother us fortunately as we´d had a chance to acclimatize in Quito.

The hostel we stayed at on the base of this mountain was called La Luna and is in a beautiful and peaceful location just outside of town. They even let me use their kitchen to bake an Australian Pavlova for Itay's birthday. It turned out to be more of a pudding than a cake since I couldn´t find corn starch and used corn flour instead! Still, it had fresh strawberries and cherries on top with whipped cream on the side and was delicious. We shared it with all the staff who we'd definately bonded with by the time we left.

Back in Quito, we visited the Museo De Sitio Intinan, where the Equator lies. As part of the tour we played very cool games at latitude 00° including balancing a fresh (not hard boiled egg on the head of a nail while directly on the Equatorial line since the gravitational pull is directly down.

Another was watching water swirl clockwise down a drain in the Southern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the North just a few feet away. On the Equatorial line, the water moved straight down!


Itay getting ready to ´walk the line´

Another interesting trick Itay and I tried was walking with your eyes closed on the equator with arms out at either side and thumbs pointing up. It´s impossible to walk in a straight line due to the gravitational pull from both the North and South poles. When walking the same way on either side of the line, it was much easier! This would be tricky if the police set up road blocks on the Equatorial line :p.

According to our guide, Quito doesn´t have any hurricanes or cyclones due to its´position on the Equator but they still get earthquakes.

This museum also exhibited animals and traditions of the Ecuadorian Andies and Amazon rain forests. These included the ancient rituals of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Shuar tribe, who are the only known tribe to have the tradition of shrinking severed heads! Depending on how affluent the enemy was, the heads were then served as trophies! The process was carried through in order to capture the spirit of enemies thus preventing them from avenging their own deaths and rather to serve the shrinker's interests! This process also served as a warning to still living enemies- 'Ya man, don't mess with me or I'll shrink your head!'. The details of how this is done are rather horrific but if you´re interested in learning more, the process is described at www.head-hunter.com/prep.html- just don´t get any ideas next time you are over for dinner!

The interesting thing about this museum is that it´s located next to the popular Mitad del Mundo or Centre of the Earth Museum. This is a touristy area with a huge 30 meter high stone monument crowned with an impressive 4.5 meter brass globe. There is even a yellow line from the monument door to the attached museum, representing the Equatorial line even though it is actually in the wrong spot!

When these monuments were constructed, the French and Ecuadorian scientists who measured the line were actually off by 200 meters! Since then, the US army used their military GPS to measure the exact coordinates in the location of the Museo De Sitio Intinan. This is a simpler area in natural surroundings of cacti, where the Shuar tribal huts are located. So the fancy pants monuments and museum that are constructed in the wrong spot are quite pointless since for one thing, there are no cool Equator games possible!

Embarrassingly, for many generations before the US army had discovered this error, the Shuar tribe of Ecuador were already celebrating their equinoxes at the correct site just 200 meters north. If anyone is travelling to this part of the world, make sure you see the real museum as while smaller and with fewer souvenir shops, it´s really interesting and you can get one of the more interesting guided museum tours I´ve had for just $3!