Mitad del Mundo

Mitad del Mundo ehk Maailma keskpunkt peaks oma nime järgi asuma ekvaatoril, ehkki tegelik ekvaator asub väidetavalt 240 meetrit Põhjas. Lisaks Mitad del  Mundo’le on seega veel mitmeid nö täpselt ekvaatoril asuvaid vaatamisväärsusi. Meie otsustasime aga selle kõige kuulsama kasuks, mille ümber on ehitatud küla ja kus on mitmeid muuseume. Teadsime, et  nädalavahetustel toimuvad seal mitmed kontserdid ja muud üritused,  seega mõtlesime terve pärastlõuna Mitad del Mundo’s veeta. Ilmnes aga, et sel nädalavahetusel algas päikesekalendri järgi ka uus aasta, seega olid pärismaalased oma rituaale läbi viimas, tantsimas ja muud moodi pidutsemas.

Küla ise oli võrdlemisi igav  – aiaga ümbritsetud ala, kus leidus hulganisti suveniiripoode, restorane ja ka mõned muuseumid.  Vaatasime kuidas kohalikud toitu ohverdasid, käisime mõnes muuseumis, kuulasime kontsertti ning otsustasime lahkuda. Kuna kellegi kohalik ema oli kuulnud, et lähedal asuvas päikese muuseumis toimub tähtsa päeva puhul samuti midagi, siis otsustasime ka sinna minna. Öeldi, et tuleb esmalt bussiga lähemale sõita ning siis 30 meetrit kõndida... aga nagu me siin olles juba mitmeid kordi kogenud oleme, pidime hoopis 500 meetrit mäkke ronima J Vihma hakkas sadama ja kogu maad kattis paks udu. Või õigemini olid need pilved, millest läbi kõndisime.

Lõpuks muuseumini jõudes olid kohalikud juba lõpetamas, ent muuseum endiselt avatud. Üks huvitavamaid vaatamisväärsusi siin. Muuseum, või õigemini päikese tempel, oli lihtsalt nii teistsugune. Mõnusa aura ja viiruki lõhnaga täidetud kolmekordse hoone keskel oli ümmargune avatud osa, kust üles vaadates nägi välja. Esimesel korrusel olid antiiksed esemed, järgmisel korrusel hulganisti pärismaalaste kujusid ning viimasel korrusel maalid ja muu kunst. Viimaselt korruselt sai ka katusele minna, kust avanes võrratu vaade...pilvedel. Midagi muud ei näinudki J Hoolimata vihmast oli meil väga vahva. Ei ühtki teist turisti, üksnes pidutsevad kohalikud!

PS: väidetavalt on gravitatsioonijõu tõttu kõik ekvaatoril kergem ja muna on lihtsam naelale asetada.

L.

Monument ekvaatoril/ A monument on the equator

Ekvaator/ The equator

Ekvaatoril/ On the equator

Pidustused/ The celebrations

Mitad del Mundo

Teel päikese templisse/ On our way to the temple of the sun

Päikese tempel/ The temple of the sun

Kunstinäitus/ Art exhibition

Inkade kujud/ Inca statues

Katus ja vaade pilvedele :)/ The roof and the view on the clouds :)

Päikese tempel/ The temple of the sun

Mitad del Mundo (which means the middle of the World) should according to its name be located on the equator, but the real equator is in reality 240 meters more to the North. Thus there are many more such places that claim to be on the real equator, but we decided to go to the most famous one. Besides the statue for the middle of the World there was also a small town around it. We knew that there are usually various events at the weekends, thus we planned to spend the whole afternoon there. It turned out that it was also a special day for the indigenous people – they were celebrating the solar New year. Thus they were dressed in their traditional costumes, they danced, carried out some rituals and celebrated in various other ways.

The village itself was rather dull – there were lots of souvenir shops, restaurants and a few museums and it was all surrounded by a fence. We saw how the locals sacrificed some food, had a look into some museums, listened to the concert and then decided to leave. We decided to go to the sun temple close to  Mitad del Mundo as someones hostmother had heard that there is also a festival for the new solar year. We were told that we have to take a bus and then walk 30 meters from the last stop to get there... but as always, it turned out that we had to walk 500 meters up the hill J It started raining and it was very foggy. Well the ground was probably covered by clouds and not the fog though. J

Sadly, the festival had already finished by the time we got there, but the museum was still opened. It is one of the most interesting things to see here, because it is just so different. It had a nice atmosphere and the rooms were filled with the smell of incense. The temple had 3 floors and the middle part was opened. First floor was full of antique, there were inca sculptures on the next floor and an art exhibition on the last floor. We could also goon the roof from where there was a nice view on the...clouds, we couldn’t see anything else J Overall, we had a great time despite the rain. There were no other tourists, just the locals who were celebrating the special day!

PS: Everything is apparently a bit lighter on the equator due to gravity and it’s also easier to place an egg on a nail.

L.