Going to Middle Earth was amazing and the trip there and back an adventure. We took the blue line, which was a first for us. The blue line is independently operated and runs differently than the trolleys and the yellow line. For starters you do not buy a .25 cent ticket prior to getting on, which was strange and also there is a worker other than the driver that I will call a porter for lack of a better term. The porter collects the money from you when you get off inside the Quito city limits (.25 cents) or walks through the bus and collects (.40 cents) from each passenger when the bus passes the city limits. The porter is busy the entire trip, collecting money, making change and announcing (yelling) the next bus stop destination or “parada de autobus”.  In the afternoon it is so busy I do not know how he keeps track of who he has collected from and who still owes. It seems like an organized mess to me.

Getting on and off is a challenge, not only because the first step is so high, but also the driver does not always come to a full stop or wait for everyone to get on or off before closing the doors. If only younger men are at the upcoming stop, the driver merely does a rolling stop and the men getting on have to run jump on and off a slow moving bus, it’s crazy. Consideration is given for women, children and old people, once we learned the rules we realized it is best for Tod to get on and off first because the driver will wait for me, however he has had the doors close on him. One really sweet thing (well at first I thought it was sweet) is that Men get up for pregnant women, moms with babies, the handicapped and old people. One gentleman got up and gave me his seat. The nerve! I almost slapped him in the face, I may never ride the blue line again!

Our final destination, The Equator, Mitad del Mundo, and is one of Ecuador’s must see attractions. It’s located approximately 26 km (16 m) north of the center of Quito and took about 30 minutes by bus.

When you enter the grounds of Mitad del Mundo there is a path to the monument (shown below) that takes you to the center of the earth or latitude 0’0’0”. The path is adorned with artwork including busts of scientists and engineers involved in the identifying and measuring where the exact center exists.

Approaching the monument you see a yellow line painted down the center of the east-facing entrance where you can stand to have your photo taken straddling the line, one foot on the northern and one foot on the southern hemisphere. The monument is about 100 feet high and the globe on the top is 4.5 meters (14.75’) and weighs 5 tons.

Inside the monument is a 3 story museum that depicts the indigenous culture/people of Ecuador. There are also interactive experiment stations proving you are at the Equator.

The Equator was originally mapped and discovered by a French expedition team in 1736 although in recent times with the GPS the exact location is in question. Were the early geographers really 231 – 250 meters (700 – 820 feet) off the mark? This “new” location is advertised to be the “real” Equator and has several “scientific experiments” again proving that now you are at the “real” Equator. We need to go back with a tour guide and investigate this for ourselves, but for now, we were at Middle Earth!