Why do I do it? We partied like it was 1999. Sleep? Well not really. There is plenty of time to sleep when your dead. Right? I set the alarm on my cell phone to let me know when to leave to catch bus to the middle of the world rather than when to wake up. That's not bad is it? Most of us took a private bus up to the middle of the world. To see the equator. We were a little early so we continued on to a parking area up the mountain a ways. The view of the valley was very nice. It turns out its really just the crater of a volcano. I would hate to be one of the many people whom live in it. It would be a really crappy way to wake up to an eruption. We headed back down the hill to an equator museum and education center. The experiments to prove you really are on the equator were really simple and very cool. Yes, draining water vortex does spin the opposite direction in the other hemisphere. You might also be interested to know it doesn't spin at all on the equator. Can you balance a raw egg on the head of a nail at home? I can do it on the equator fairly easily. The museum here had a shrunken head as well. They wouldn't sell me one. They told me if I wanted to have a shrunken head I would have to use my own head and shrink it. What does that mean???? Just kidding. Were off once again. Back to the hotel to catch another bus to Cayambe. So, a cat nap on the bus ride to Cayambe ends me up at a 400 year old hacienda. Thankfully Carlos wakes us up to let us know when we need to get off of the bus. Or who knows where I would have ended up. At the Hacienda the rooms are divided up and bags tossed in. We are given a quick tour of the grounds and a brief lesson on the hacienda's history. With the 99% of the group well rested it's time for a leisurely hike up the hill to get the view of the valley. Oh sh**, that's not a hill. It's a freaking mountain and it's straight up. Ok, so living at 5500 feet gives me a little a little help with the 8000 foot elevation we are at. But a 1000 feet up this hill just ain´t going to happen. Not today it's not. Maybe next year I will climb this hill. Then again mabye not. So plan B is formed. I decide to hike with Harvey and Carol (Canada) through out the woods on the flat grounds. I figure I will go take some pictures and then go buy beer. Yahoo that's a winner. I kept an eye on the others on their assent and decent of the non hill. It was actually easier than it looked. So I am told I still didn't believe them I saw the mountain with my own eyes. Boy I tell you that cold beer tastes really good on a hot day and I didn't have to break a sweat open the bottle. Well dinner time rolls around and look what's on the menu. Cuy (Guinea Pig) apparently a local delicacy. I have tried Cuy on a number of different occasion and really enjoy the flavor. We did manage to find it on the street in Banos but we were already on the way to a restaurant for lunch and there was none left by the time I got back. Pia was really interested in seeing me eat Cuy. She didn't believe I had eaten it before and she didn't think I would try it. So, with it being a special order item I placed an order for the next day. Peit and Mickel ordered one to share as did Liz and steen. I know there isn't much meat on a guinea pig so I order a whole one for myself. After a nice long dinner we made our way to the billiards room slash old church now entertainment room. With nothing to do anywhere else and the beer supply once totally remove for the local stores the games were on. The ping pong table didn't last long and some how the ball got lost half way through a game. Who knows where it went. It was probably carried of by a rat or one of the dogs. Who knows...
