Insatiable greed, shrunken heads, and the hobbitt at middle earth

A walk through colonial old town delivers numerous pictures of 500 year old colonial buildings, churches, cobbled street, museums, and soul of this metropolis. Independence square reveals the ubiqitous street vendors, political rallies and protests, museums, and many a citizen enjoying the sun. A feature in the museum of art celebrated the life of Andy Warhol with thousands of photos, sculptures, videos, and music. The man, who only ever wore green underpants, was truly amazing.

Although many beautifull churches were built over the conquered Inca templtes, one of note is is brimming with over two tonnes of gold. The doors, walls, ornaments and scultpures are all covered. The opulence is inconceivable. Given the suffering in the streets and countryside and the incalcable suffering of the incas at the hands of the spanish colonials and the church, you can not help but feel disgusted at its decadence. Thousands upon thousands died either in the conquest or the hellish mines to fill churches, palaces, and coffers of the coloniasts and kings of Spain.

On a lighter note, we travelled 16kms north of Quito with a troupe of backpackers to see the City of the Middle Earth aka the equator. Although shared with numerous contries, the backgrop of the Andes is unique, where all other countires provide rain forrests. A pre incan civilisation, 1000 years ago, determined not only were they at the centre of the earth, but also the precise tilt of the earths axis, 23.5 degrees and the precise position of the equator. Quito literally translates to Middle Earth. Considering a 19th century French surveyor calculated the equator as 300 metres to the South, which houses a giant, plastic, and celbrarted monument, only disproved by G.P.S, it is truly amazing. In addition, a series of monuments were built hundreds of kilometres apart marking the equinox, soltices, and equator with precision.

The real middle of the earth housed a rustic, dust covered museum that was truly both informative and entertaining. A display of indigenous housing demonstrated how each tribe adapted to their unqiue landscape, jungle, mountains, beaches, desert, or lowlands. One in particular historically burried the wife with a dead husband. Several tribes, reportedly only historicaly shrunk the heads of the fallen enemies. After deboning, a recipe produces a head the size of the original owners fist. At the equator, several interesting feats are demonstrated. Water drains clockwise and anti clockwise on the southern and northern hemispheres respectively, but straight down on the equator; I balanced an egg on the head of a nail; and gravity is slightly and noticeably weaker, and yes, you do way less ladies.

The weather outside is miserably whilst Beth tries her luck at a local hairdresser.