one day we went north from quito to check out the mitad del mundo, or the “center of the world.” the colonialists identified the latitude where they believed the equator was a few hundred years ago, and remarkably they were only about 100 meters off the mark. now, a stone ediface marks the spot and the place has turned into a veritable ecuadorian disney land, with rides and various other gimmicks. i actually really liked wandering around and seeing everyone having so much fun, even though it is not really on the equator.
the main reason we left town is so we could see some of the countryside and go for a hike, which we did at the pullapaya calderon. this is a large, 24 square-kilometer crater remnant of an old volcano, now filled with small farms. you can take a taxi to the upper edge, where a guy was playing flute music with a synthesizer to stoke us for the hike ahead. we hiked into the basin and had an empanada for lunch at the hostel at the bottom, before the very sweaty hike back up.
