Any trip to Ecuador is an opportunity to get amazed by what this little country has to offer in terms of beauty, culture, nature and people.

When we first landed in Quito, I did not know what to expect. We weren't planning to spend too much time in the capital. Maybe a day or two, not more! Thus we started my trip by heading towards Mitad del Mundo, where I was anxious to fulfill my dream of staying on the Ecuador line and be in two hemispheres in the same time.

We must have paid close to $20 for the cab to get there. Initially we thought it was pricy but when we saw how far it was, we knew that we paid a good fare. One thing we learnt was that the real Equator line was located couple of hundreds of meters down the road from the Middle of the World Monument. I guess the new GPS technology was to blame for it!

Balancing the egg is a classic equator gag that we had to try. There's this theory that says that only at the equator you can balance an egg on a nail. Why not anywhere else on Earth? Because of science!

It took me about 10 minutes to have that egg stay on the nail! We also learn about the Coriolis effect and had a demonstration. We watched the water draining out of a container without creating a vortex as it would normally do.

This was my first encounter with the Andean llamas. These ones were fine to be petted and being close to the crowds.

A few hours later we decided to have a lunch in one of the restaurants there. Our table had a nice over the Mitad' s monument and the souvenir shops. The food was not as tasty as in the Otavalo area.

We were lucky to see the army's band performing in the Mitad's plaza. They sang some nice Spanish songs. The vocal had a really good voice.

On our way back to Quito, the taxi driver mentioned that one of the main attractions in Quito was the teleferico, the cable cars.

Since travelling by taxi was not that expensive, we decided to go have a look at the city from the top of the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain, in very close proximity of the cable car ticket office we discovered an entertainment park.

We must have got one of the last cable cars climbing up cause we got there close to the end of their program, in late afternoon.

The views were phenomenal. Wherever we looked, we were amazed by the magnitude of nature. Literally breathtaking views!

The altitude was 4050 meters (13287 feet) and some people were experiencing the high altitude sickness due to lower air pressure which was making it a bit more difficult to breathe as the thin air has less oxygen.

Here is a view over the city of Quito which spreads over the hills.

Quito has little over 2.5 million habitants and it is the second-highest capital in the world, after La Paz. It is located at an elevation of 2,850 metres (9,350 ft) above sea level.

You don't realize how big this city is until you actually see it from above. On the mountain, due to the high altitude (4100m) the wind was quite strong which made it perfect for flying kites.

We were able to see the forest fires burning at the outskirts of Quito.

Once the rays of sun were not touching the mountain, we hand to bundle up cause the temperature dropped quickly.

There was a trail that we would have liked to take but we couldn't since we got there late. It was a a 5 hours hike on the trail that would have taking us to the top of the mountain which had an altitude of 5100m.

Thank you for coming along this trip!

Here are other travel related posts:

PANAMA SERIES: FROM BOQUETE TO VOLCAN

PANAMA SERIES: HACIENDA LOS MOLINOS

PLACE DES ARTS, MONTREAL

OTTAWA DAY TRIP

PANAMA SERIES: PANAMA CITY’S SKYLINE AT NIGHT

PANAMA SERIES: THE GRINGO PRICE

PANAMA SERIES: STREET ART

PANAMA SERIES: TEN FACTS OR MORE ABOUT BOQUETE, PANAMA

PANAMA SERIES: BOQUETE’S FLOWERS AND COFFEE FESTIVAL

PANAMA SERIES: VISITING DAMARLI ESTATE IN BOQUETE

PANAMA SERIES: CARIBBEAN PARADISE - BOCAS DEL TORO

ECUADOR SERIES: ECUADORIAN WOMEN AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

ECUADOR SERIES: OTAVALO, THE ARTISAN MARKET MECCA

ECUADOR SERIES: COTACACHI, THE CITY BETWEN TWO VOLCANOS

ECUADOR SERIES - DUE DILIGENCE TRIP

ECUADOR SERIES: TIPS FOR TRAVELLING TO ECUADOR

HIKING IN MONT-ROYAL PARK, MONTREAL

ZUMMER FUN BUS RIDE IN CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

F-MR STATION IN MONTREAL

THE STONEHENGE OF ROMANIA: SARMIZEGETUSA REGIA

LAURENTIANS MOUNTAINS: COTTAGE TRIP AT LAKE CACHÉE

OTTAWA LIGHTS SHOW ON PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

HIKING AT DANUBE’S GORGES, ORSOVA, ROMANIA

DECEBALUS CARVED STATUE, ROMANIA

TRIP TO CALGARY, ALBERTA

BALCHIK, A BULGARIAN GEM

PIRATES TREASURE PLAYGROUND, CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

DOLPHINARIUM 2, CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

DOLPHINARIUM 1, CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

GONDOLA RIDE IN MAMAIA RESORT, ROMANIA

CONSTANTA’S MARINA, ROMANIA

BEACH DAY IN CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

BUBBLES - INDOOR PLAYGROUND IN CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

BAHIA DE PAQUERA, NICOYA GULF, COSTA RICA

EXPLORING AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

MACKINAC BRIDGE, MICHIGAN, USA

CHASED BY TORNADOS IN MINNESOTA

MINNEHAHA FALLS REGIONAL PARK, A GEM IN BETWEEN THE TWIN CITIES

BANFF, A RESORT TOWN INSIDE THE BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA, CANADA

OLD PORT OF CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

ENISALA FORTRESS, ROMANIA

MORAINE LAKE, A SURREAL BEAUTY IN ALBERTA, CANADA

TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE A LIVING WHILE TRAVELLING THE WORLD

FEELING UNINSPIRED? VISIT A WELSH RETREAT: GLADSTONE’S RESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

TURDA’S 400 FEET UNDERGROUND AMUSEMENT PARK, A HIDDEN GEM OF TRANSYLVANIA, ROMANIA

MEMORIES FROM CANCUN, MEXICO

TOURING MONTREAL CITY, CANADA

VISIT TO SAINT-JOSEPH’S ORATORY IN MONTREAL, CANADA

Unless stated otherwise, all photos used in this posts are taken and owned by myself. If you wish to use any of my images, please contact me!

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave your feedback in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts!

@2018 LaviPicu aka The Lyme Poet. All rights reserved.