Chintanaigal: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Being in Ecuador one needs to go and see the Equator and that is what we did a couple of weeks ago. It is about 20 Kilometers North of the City of Quito. So off we went at about 9:00 in the morning which was fresh and drenched in sun. It turned out be an ideal day for the outing.
The Pululahua Crater
We crossed over from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere and stopped first at the Crater Pululahua. It is one of the two Craters that has human habitation. The additional uniqueness of this Crater is that the people also cultivate land in this crater.
Here are some snaps of the Crater:


The Panoramic view of the Pululahua Crater

See the cultivation in the crater and the clouds trying to crown the peaks.

The Sun Temple
There is also a Sun Temple in the vicinity where a couple dressed up in the local traditional dresses perform the traditional arts.


The Sun Temple

Here are some statues at the Sun Temple

The backside of a statue at the Sun Temple

A face sculpture at the Sun Temple


Another statue at the Sun Temple

Here are a couple of snaps of the people in the traditional Indian dress.

The Indian in his traditional outfit

The American Indian greeting the Asian Indians with closed palms (Namaste)

The Design on the back of the American Indian's dress

The American Indian Lady

The Indian Dwelling
We moved on to the Center of the Earth. At this place is a museum and demonstration site, where they demonstrate the flow of fluids across the two hemispheres. Very interesting experiments.
There is also a collection of American Indian dwellings in this museum and a sampling of the flora and fauna of the region.
The American Indian dwellings.

One section of the the inside of an American Indian dwelling.

Typically multiple families share the same room. They sleep in the hammock (one per family) that can be seen behind in the dwelling. Other items of use can also be seen, e.g. a fishing net, baskets for storing fruits and vegetables etc.


Another view of the dwelling.

What one needs to note is the blow gun that is hanging from the roof. Must be at least 5 feet in length. This was used to shoot and kill the monkeys for food.

The Fishing Net

The roof built to withstand the regular and heavy rains that occur in this region.

A drum

A view of the kitchen in the American Indian dwelling.

Edibles hung in the kitchen

The Head of a goat in the kitchen

Guinea pigs which formed a staple diet of the American Indians.

The Fauna
Some fauna of this region

A Spider found in this region

A Boa Constrictor

The skin of an anaconda in two halves. This is the first half, for the next half see the next photograph

The second half of the Anaconda

The Flora
Some flora from the area

The Burial Chamber
There is also a depiction of the American Indian burial site. Typically the wife was buried with the husband and so one sees two pots here. The body was twisted into a fetal position and inserted into the pot. One can also see a pumpkin hanging. It was meant to be eaten on the way to the other world. Also one can see the skull of a wild cat.

The burial site

The pumpkin hanging from the roof of the burial chamber

The two pots into which the bodies would be put in a fetal position

The skull of the wild cat

Some shells. Not sure what purpose they served.


Some shells. Not sure what purpose they served.

Preserving the Enemy's head
This is how a defeated enemy's head would be preserved.

The head of the enemy would be cut and then boiled in a liquid


And then would be coated with a preserving liquid to keep it for long. The head would shrink over a period of time.

See this photograph of a shrunken head

A shrunken head of an American Indian

Balancing a raw Egg
One the experiments at the Equator involved balancing an egg at the Equator on a nail head. This is apparently possible only at the equator as the yolk inside remains steady because of the balance of speed on either side of the egg. In the rest of the Earth the rotation of the Earth is uneven causing the yolk and albumen to be unsteady. This is due the Coriolis effect.
The Wind Vanes
Cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere whirl counter clockwise and the ones in the Southern Hemisphere whirl clockwise. This can be seen in the wind vanes on both sides of the Equator here in this short video.

The Water Vortex

In the same way as the wind one can see the same Coriolis effect in water. One can see a demonstration of this in the following videos. The first is a video when the basin was at the Equator. The second is one where the basin was in the Southern Hemisphere and the third is the one where the basin was in the Northern Hemisphere.

Notice how the water goes down the drain without any vortex in the first, in a clockwise direction in the second and in the counter clockwise direction in the third.

This happens because of the effect of the rotation of the earth on the fluid.

At the Equator

In the Southern Hemisphere

In the Northern Hemisphere

The Monument

After this the last stop was at the Monument erected to honour the pioneers who traced the Equator. This is an Obelisk with a world on top of it. Here are some photos of the Obelisk.