Guess what the country Ecuador is named for? You got it: the equator! Of course I had to visit it, rather than just pass over it on my way to Colombia. So today I took a few local buses to the north, direction 'Mitad del Mundo' - middle of the world - as it is called here.
To remove all possible sources of confusion as to its exact location, Ecuador erected an equator monument - not along the equator's entire length, but at the part that is closest to Quito - how convenient!
From the viewing platform on the top, you could see the yellow equator line along with two labels for the northern and southern hemispheres - just to make life easier for those who don't carry a compass ;-)
As you can see, the eastern side was rather crowded, with a brand-new yellow line and signs and all. That's the side everybody arrives from, and it's also where the entrance to the viewing platform is. The western side was quite the opposite: no people, no signs, and a fading yellow line. Interesting, isn't it?
Just as everybody else, I also had to take the typical and slightly dumb 'look, I'm at the equator' pictures. So, here goes:
After hopping back and forth between the two hemispheres a couple of times, I headed back to Quito - a trip that took almost two hours. So for now, I'm back in the southern hemisphere, but just for a few days. Very soon I'll have to say goodbye to it for good (at least for now).
To remove all possible sources of confusion as to its exact location, Ecuador erected an equator monument - not along the equator's entire length, but at the part that is closest to Quito - how convenient!
From the viewing platform on the top, you could see the yellow equator line along with two labels for the northern and southern hemispheres - just to make life easier for those who don't carry a compass ;-)
As you can see, the eastern side was rather crowded, with a brand-new yellow line and signs and all. That's the side everybody arrives from, and it's also where the entrance to the viewing platform is. The western side was quite the opposite: no people, no signs, and a fading yellow line. Interesting, isn't it?
Just as everybody else, I also had to take the typical and slightly dumb 'look, I'm at the equator' pictures. So, here goes:
After hopping back and forth between the two hemispheres a couple of times, I headed back to Quito - a trip that took almost two hours. So for now, I'm back in the southern hemisphere, but just for a few days. Very soon I'll have to say goodbye to it for good (at least for now).
