Thursday we went to “La mitaddelmundo” so to the equator, the half of the world! There was no one there which was kind of nice, but then some of the museums were closed. It was really far to get to becauseQuitois huge! From the northern bus terminal to the southern one it takes about 1h20minutes (the highway route!!).
So we finally met Luis, a friend of a friend and stayed with him for the remaining time we had in the capital. We met him on Thursday and he had to work early so we chatted and drank some mate.
On Friday, Cosima and I went to a Oswaldo Guayasamin’s museum and also to a monument/museum he dedicated to the people ofLatin Americacalled “Capilla del Hombre”. This master work was only completed in 2002, three years after his death. It is a 40m by 40m building in which there is a contemporary section of his artwork.
The painter/sculptor, who was a Quechua native, recreates the suffering and violence of people inLatin Americaand the world. His works can be recognized by very skinny figures, with long noses but he devoted much more importance to the hands. The uses of colour vary according to subjects (blacks, indigenous and “mestizos”, he also plays with the contrasts between hot and cold colours very much. In his various paintings ofQuitoand the mountains, he paints a blackQuito, a redQuito“depending on his emotions”.
After that, we had lunch at the central market. Lunches here are huge and cheap! For 1.50 you normally get a juice, soup, main meal which normally includes rice a salad and a meat or egg, and even sometimes a dessert! The market was really big and we went crazy and bought some weird fruits we had never seen before!
That night, I cooked a syrio-lebanese stew and we had a fruit salad! Then, we were meant to meet some of Luis’s friends, but finally they decided to stay in and we went out. We went to his friend’s club which was really fun and well, there was quite a lot of drinking involved ahaha. They have this drink, which is absolutely horrible called Zhumir, so anyone going toEcuador, even if you are told it is good, it really isn’t.
Saturday we slept in, and in the afternoon walked around the “centro historico” of Quito, which is really beautiful.Quito has the biggest, less restored and best preserved historical center on the continent. We did not visit the basilica’s or cathedrals but simply wandered around the nice streets and had some food. Our Saturday night was much quieter we stayed in and watched movies ahaha
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Today we sent off for Banos, which is literally translated to toilets. It is a town surrounded by mountains, renown for its Volcano, the thermal baths and waterfalls. Our hostel has a terrace looking onto one of the waterfalls and there are also many trekking paths around!
Thank’s all for now!
La chola 