Mitad del Mundo
On the way back from Cuenca we had an 8 hour layover in Quito, so we decided to go to Mitad del Mundo - or the center of the earth. There are actually two tourist attractions there. The first was considered the middle of the earth for years. It has a yellow line painted through it representing the equator, and a big monument declaring itself as being 0 - 0 - 0 degrees. It also has a church with the line painted all the way through the center so people can get married standing on either side of the equator. Other than that, it's all gift shops and restaurants.
However, the Canadian Army came in with their satellites and GPS gear around 35 years ago and discovered that the real equator was about a kilometer away. The new Mitad del Mundo was more interesting with exhibits of Ecuadorian history and demonstrations. Did you know that water flows straight down the drain at the equator, but swirls clockwise to the south and counter-clockwise to the north. Watch our Youtube video at http://youtu.be/9z3HmngBnns or click on the blue Mitad del Mundo heading above.
More on the Centre of the World later.
On the way back from Cuenca we had an 8 hour layover in Quito, so we decided to go to Mitad del Mundo - or the center of the earth. There are actually two tourist attractions there. The first was considered the middle of the earth for years. It has a yellow line painted through it representing the equator, and a big monument declaring itself as being 0 - 0 - 0 degrees. It also has a church with the line painted all the way through the center so people can get married standing on either side of the equator. Other than that, it's all gift shops and restaurants.
However, the Canadian Army came in with their satellites and GPS gear around 35 years ago and discovered that the real equator was about a kilometer away. The new Mitad del Mundo was more interesting with exhibits of Ecuadorian history and demonstrations. Did you know that water flows straight down the drain at the equator, but swirls clockwise to the south and counter-clockwise to the north. Watch our Youtube video at http://youtu.be/9z3HmngBnns or click on the blue Mitad del Mundo heading above.
More on the Centre of the World later.
Interesting! Love these factoids!
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