Mitad del Mundo (the Equator), Ecuador

Any visit to Quito would not be complete without a quick trip to Mitad del Mundo – the Equator line. Mitad del Mundo, for those of you that don’t know, translates as ‘Half the world’ in Spanish.

Located 23 kilometers North of Quito, getting there is as simple as jumping in a cab and paying $25 for a round trip with a one hour wait, whilst you jump out for photos. We however spent the best part of five hours fannying around on public transport and paid about $1 each.

Mitad del Mundo (the Equator), Ecuador

There’s not a whole lot to do there, except take photos like the one above of me – “one testicle in each hemisphere”. There are also a couple of tacky exhibitions, a planetarium and a big monument – shown behind me in the photo. What’s more, in one of the museums you reputedly get a prize if you balance an egg on a nail, and you can be thrilled by the sight of water flowing straight down a plug hole instead of it spinning clockwise or anti-clockwise (depending on whether you are in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere). Something, incidentally, that Wikipedia informed me was a load of rubbish when I checked afterwards. The Coriolis effect is far too weak for such displays.

A day at Huay Tung Thao lake, Chiang Mai

Huay Tung Thao lake, Chiang MaiWe often head out to Huay Tung Thao lake, about 12km outside Chiang Mai, to escape the heat of the city, have a swim and relax in a hammock. The lake is set at the foot of a mountain, and has some beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.

There are quite a few simple restaurants set around the lake, with huts on stilts in the water that you can sit in if you prefer some shade.

To get there, you head North along Canal road about 10KM, and take a left. After a further 2kms you will arrive at a ‘toll booth’ where you pay an entry fee of 20 Baht per person.

For those of you into more adventurous activities than swinging in a hammock or swimming, around the other side of the lake is a small painballing (that was not a deliberate spelling error but it seemed appropriate so I left it) range (why anyone would want to go paintballing in the Thai heat utterly escapes me), and some Kayaks for hire. There are also ‘cute’ little pedalo (pedal-powered) boats that look like swans if you like that kind of thing…

Mike, Huay Tung Thao lake, Chiang MaiIt is rumoured that there is some off-road back route up to Doi Suthep from here, but we haven’t explored this rumour further at this time!



Google Map of how to get there


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