Journey to the Centre of the World

Leaving Tokyo we set off east following the sun to Mexico City on what turned out to be a Monday that lasted nearly 40 hours as we crossed the date line on our route across the Pacific.  Landing in Mexico City (D.F) after a 12 hour flight but still technically two hours before we had set off from Tokyo was very strange and it marked a landmark on our trip.  We had now travelled around the globe having left our home in D.F 10 months before!  With our body clocks having no idea what had happened we set off in separate directions to stay with friends in the city for a ‘few beers’ and a catch up.  Despite Hannah’s concerns and against all the odds I made it to the airport the following evening at 1am after a traditional cultural bar crawl to catch our connection on to Ecuador.

Plaza Indepenencia

The Changing of the Guards

Having last been to Quito (the world’s highest official capital) nine years ago I was very excited to come back to what is surely the setting for one of the world’s most dramatic cities.  Set at nearly 3000m in a narrow valley where steep slopes rise up seemingly into the heavens, the city lies just south of the equator and as such is known as Ciudad Mitad Del Mundo by the locals (Although apparently it is 2000m further from the centre of the earth than the top of Mount Everest!).   By the time we had landed following a sleepless flight severe jet lag and exhaustion really kicked in and our first two days were spent sleeping at very strange times, despite our best attempts to stay awake.  We were at least able to start investigating a possible Galapagos trip during this time but only because this could be done in bed with a lot of emails.  On our third morning we finally mustered enough energy to move hostels closer to the town centre where we were able to organise a flight and last minute deal for a dream trip to one of the world’s most iconic destinations.  Climbing up the steep steps to Parque Itchimbia, panting from the altitude, we were afforded spectacular views across the old town that is set below a peculiar winged aluminium angel (a gift from the Spanish for their previous endeavours on the continent). With renewed enthusiasm but only slightly more energy (we were now sleeping until 3am, a comparative luxury after the previous four nights!) we started to explore the beautiful old town, the world’s first UNESCO Heritage Site along with Krakow in Poland. 

The old town is a maze of white washed Spanish colonial buildings and undulating cobbled streets with ornate Catholic Churches hidden behind wooden doors.  Just outside of the old town is the Basilica, a giant Gothic Cathedral that towers above the old town due to its size and location on one of the many small hills in the city.  The new stain-glass windows gave the church a strange pink light across its columns and the standard gory images of death that seem to dominate Catholic Churches, a far cry from the Buddhist Temples we had gotten used to.  Outside of the church one of many fundraising events was taking place for the devastating earthquake that struck the northern coast of Ecuador just before we arrived.  Along with small dance performances and people collecting we saw huge lorry’s being filled by volunteers piled high with water and tinned food.  One morning we were lucky enough to see the spectacular changing of the guards in the main plaza in Quito which happens every week and is attended by the President.  After the procession of soldiers whose uniform was modelled on the tin soldiers from the nutcracker a small protest against the President took place against the handling of the crisis and the high levels of corruption that sadly seem to plague every Latin American nation. 

La Ronda

By far the most interesting look around the city came when we fortunately stumbled across a free walking tour we thought we had missed. Our guide was very informative and spent a lot of time passionately explaining about the economic crisis of 1999 and how the corrupt President Mahuad (a former Harvard graduate who now has political asylum in the USA despite Ecuador’s annual request for extradition) ended up leading the nation into hyperinflation. Stood outside of the Ecuador's old Central Bank he added that it was now a museum as President Mahuad installed the US Dollar as Ecuador’s currency before he was removed from office after major demonstrations.  As the sun grew more intense in the early afternoon we were told about Quito being conquered by the Incas from Cusco (Peru) who thought it was a better place to worship their Sun God.  As my face grew more and more burnt it seemed they had got it about right!  Our final stop was a walk around La Ronda, Quito’s bohemian cultural centre with colourful buildings lining its narrow streets.  A 4.30 am start for the airport proved easy the next morning with our still malfunctioning body clocks and we left Quito behind very excited for a once in a lifetime trip to the Galapagos Islands!!!