Mindo to Otavalo

We travelled back to the edge of Quito where there are several monuments and museums marking where the equator runs through. The reason that there is more than one is because over time the equator has been measured in different spots! The biggest and most visited spot is a big monument where most people (including us) get their photo taken standing either side of the equator and so on. Just up the road is a much more intersting smaller museum that claims to be on the actual equator as measured with GPS. They do a series of equator related experiments such as watching water go down the plug hole and I must say that we were all greatly surprised at how interesting they were. For example it is extremely hard to keep your balance walking exactly on the equator line as opposed to a couple of metres off it. Tammy and I were both extremely surprised at how much moving a mere metre or two either side of the equator can have on a whole range of things and Tammy the Physics teacher is now on the case to try and determine whether it was all just tricks or not.
After Ciudad del Mundo (city at the centre of the world) we hedaed back to the North to Otavalo which is home to reputably the best markets in South America.
The countryside between Quito and Otavalo was very interesting. It was basically a series of broad valleys bordered by towering mountains and volcanoes. In the bottom of the valleys was quite a bit of agriculture with corn and flowers being the primary crops. The corn was very much what you´d descibe as subsistence agriculture with oxen drawn plows and tiny fields but the flowers were much more modern in their cultivation with huge greenhouses and cold storages dotting the landscape. Apparently flowers are equal with Bananas as Equadors biggest exports behind oil.
The landscape is extemely beautiful but it is spoiled or I should say characterised by the Equadorians penchant for living in half finished houses. Most houses are built out of cinder block and seem to added to over time as money allows. As a result almost all houses look either half finished or half fallen down and the overall effect is like driving through a war zone.
Otavalo itself however is quite different. It has a much higher percentage indigenous population who are generally a bit more wealthy than those in Quito and the as a result there is an obvious difference on the pride taken in the town and the correspdonding cleanliness and feeling of safety.