La Mitad del Mundo y La Capilla del Hombre

We returned to Quito for one more day before heading to Colombia. We got up early and took a series of trolleys and buses out to the Mitad del Mundo, the must see tourist trap on the equator. According to the guide book, GPS technology has shown it to be a couple hundred yards off, but where else can you shake hands across hemispheres or jump back and forth over a line shouting, "Summer! Winter! Summer! Winter!"





Next we went back up into the hills to see Guayasamín's Capilla del Hombre, a chapel dedicated to the greatness and brutality of humanity. The chapel is filled with striking artwork, much of it full of sadness and horror, which I suppose is not all that surprising given the history of Latin America. Also displayed was a series of 82 terrifying etchings by Goya entitled, Los Desastres de la Guerra. Despite the harshness of some of the artwork, the whole was strangely tranquil and tender. As a monument of love, Guaysamín's chapel appeared passionate and deep. Of course his friendship with and admiration for Fidel Castro complicated matters in our minds.
























The grounds of the chapel and Guayasamín's house above it were beautiful and tranquil as well. We were shown around by a couple of very friendly security guards who had known the artist and spoke of him as a friend. The sun was low in the mountains across Quito as we caught a bus back down to the old city to pack for the following day's bus to the Colombian border.

Riobamba

Another long day of bus travel took us from coastal Puerto Lopez to Riobamba, a small city in the sierra. We wanted to take a ride on the Nariz del Diablo, a remnant of a railway that once served all the major cities in Ecuador. The outcropping known as the Devil's Nose was so difficult to build the track around that it acquired it's infernal nickname. The train is a converted bus on tracks and makes it's roundtrip journey from the little town of Alausí, curving through a pretty river valley and along steep green hillsides. For part of the way the train has to run downhill and backward, a point at which I was glad to learn that our driver Jorge had been doing his job for 20 years.






Back in Riobamba we looked in at the little Museum of Mouldering Taxidermy and wandered through the colonial streets. And, though I don't have her photo, we found the only woman in Ecuador who cares about good coffee. (I hope this is a gross exaggeration but when you assiduously ask for real coffee everywhere and receive instant with assurances that it is real, you become bitter.) For any coffee lovers in Riobamba, Señora Pilar makes (and loves to discuss) great coffee, as well as incredible hot chocolate and delicious juices at La Quinta Dorada, Garcia Moreno y 10 de Agosto.
















Leaving Alausí we got a lift to the Panamericana and hitched a ride on the first bus to come by headed for Quito.