Just before we were about to set off on our mega journey from Quito to Cusco (55 hours in total on buses over 4 & 1/2 days) we could not leave Quito before visiting the Equator or 'Mitel Del Mundo' (middle of the world). Quito is a mere 12kms from the Equator, however you may be mistaken for thinking that it is always hot there as yes that is me wearing 2 fleeces! Here we both pose at the official (according to the French) Equator line of 0-0-0 latitude.
Kenny - being Kenny!
So it turns out that the French got it wrong and the true Equator (proven recently by GPS) is actually around 400m north of the monument, just as the Incas said it was! Here I pose by the 'true' Equator line.
After an interesting bus journey back to Quito we said our goodbyes and headed off on a night bus to Cuenca.
The last time we were here we did not have time to visit the Panama Hat factory. I did not realise that Panama hats actually orgininate from Ecuador not Panama!
They still make them here, largely by hand, with only some mechanical help for shaping.
The end result is all very Cary Grant (or maybe more like Toad of Toad Hall in our case!)
Put you glasses back on Kenny!
I was so close to buying one but I feared getting it home in one piece.
One of the oddest things about S. America is the level of security, or rather the level of weaponry of the security. Where ever we went there were tonnes of police, military & security guards and all were furnished with a gun of some sort, usually casually held or slung over a shoulder. We are not talking air rifles either most held semi automatics or shot guns. We have become very de-sensitised to it as it really is everywhere, from banks to shops to cafes to main streets. This picture shows a security guard walking away from us in a bullet proof vest with a pistol attached to his chest. This picture was taken as we were having tea in an ice cream parlour! We pondered how far an ice-cream thief would get before either being shot down or for the ice cream to have melted? And which was most likely to happen first?
As we came out of the parlour we noticed something going on at the other end of the square. Probably an important meeting in one of the state buildings. Instead of taping off the area around 20 to 30 military stood around the streets with shot guns. We were able to walk right through the middle of them all - a very bizarre experience.
We left Cuenca early the next morning on our second bus which would take us across the boarder back into Peru. The road was less than appealing these dirt track roads have sheer drops on one side and only just fit 2 vehicles. (I did not look out of the window often).
All of a sudden we were dropped off on the highway at the Ecuador boarder to be 'stamped out'.
About half an hour later we were collected by another bus and driven for a further 10 mins or so to the Peru boarder (what happens in between is anyone's guess).
We arrived in Tumbes, where Kenny and all our luggage had their first ride in a 'Tuk Tuk'. We stopped at Tumbes, just over the boarder in Peru, because the Peruvian buses are way way better than the Ecuadorian ones. In Ecuador think of the worst school bus you have ever been on....................
................ in Peru think your sofa at home.
After another overnight bus we arrived back in Lima, booked into a hostel and headed out for dinner. We found a restaurant that gave us a huge pizza, 2 glasses of wine each and and jug of Sangria for 40 Soles (£10) - we were mildly intoxicated for the rest of the day.
The next day and another bus, our last one, which took us through the deserts...........
............. past crazy settlements of no more than wood shacks...........
............... to the huge rolling valleys and mountains of the Andes. This overnight bus was once again the luxury of fully reclining leather seats, the height of comfort. However, I did not sleep a wink, partly due to the long sway of the top deck as the bus made its way up and down steep valley turn-pikes but partly due to the book I was reading about the plane that crashed in the Andes in Oct 1972 where 16 survivors lived off the flesh of the dead for over 2 months. The road we were on continuously had sheer drops of 100 + meters on one side and the Peruvian drivers had no sense of slowing down for these corners of death! My mind played tricks on me all night - visions of having to find meat on Kenny to survive!
Finally we arrived in Cusco, wow, what a place and mixture of traditional Peru, Inca ruins & colonial architecture.
Mazes of wonderful cobbled streets to explore.
Surrounded by mountains. The only down side is it sits at 3400 meters so my dreaded altitude issues are back once more!
