The weather on Monday was beautiful and we got back on the bus for the hour long trip to Mitad del Mundu again. This time we started with a trip to nearby ruins called Rumicucho.
Built around 500 BC by the Quitu-Cara culture and used principally as a ceremonial site during equinoxes, this site has been pilfered by Ecuadoreans over the years. The ruins themselves are not extremely impressive but the views around them certainly are.
Next we went into the city and saw some native performances as well as a mock bull fight on stilts.
Around 1pm we went on a small tour to a volcano and hiked a bit around the top. Our guide took us to a great lookout point where you can see into the volcanic
crater of the extint Pululahua (although it is now considered active based on the gases that it has been emitting for the past 2 years). The top of the
volcano collapsed in ancient times and left a huge crater about 4km wide. Here about 40 families / 150 people have lived and farmed the extremely fertile land for the past 150 years. Yes getting the produce out is difficult but the mules help out.
As we stood at our lookout point, we could see the clouds coming in. Within 2 minutes we went from a perfectly clear view to absolute fog. We were standing in a cloud again.
We returned to the city and avoided a huge espuma (cream) fight by sitting on an upstairs balcony and eating empanadas and drinking cerveza (beer).
On the way out of town, we took a picture of a blue heart on the road. These are painted throughout Ecuador when an Ecuadorean dies in an accident on the road.
The weather on Monday was beautiful and we got back on the bus for the hour long trip to Mitad del Mundu again. This time we started with a trip to nearby ruins called Rumicucho. 
Built around 500 BC by the Quitu-Cara culture and used principally as a ceremonial site during equinoxes, this site has been pilfered by Ecuadoreans over the years. The ruins themselves are not extremely impressive but the views around them certainly are.
Next we went into the city and saw some native performances as well as a mock bull fight on stilts.
Around 1pm we went on a small tour to a volcano and hiked a bit around the top. Our guide took us to a great lookout point where you can see into the volcanic
crater of the extint Pululahua (although it is now considered active based on the gases that it has been emitting for the past 2 years). The top of the 
volcano collapsed in ancient times and left a huge crater about 4km wide. Here about 40 families / 150 people have lived and farmed the extremely fertile land for the past 150 years. Yes getting the produce out is difficult but the mules help out.
As we stood at our lookout point, we could see the clouds coming in. Within 2 minutes we went from a perfectly clear view to absolute fog. We were standing in a cloud again.
We returned to the city and avoided a huge espuma (cream) fight by sitting on an upstairs balcony and eating empanadas and drinking cerveza (beer).
On the way out of town, we took a picture of a blue heart on the road. These are painted throughout Ecuador when an Ecuadorean dies in an accident on the road.
Beautiful picture of you and Britton, but you look really close to the edge there!! :-) Audrey
ReplyDelete