5 Best Sights in The Northern Highlands, Ecuador

Just beyond Mitad del Mundo lies Intiñan, the site that the Geodesic Expedition meant to find but didn't. The highlight here is a small museum with some basic science exhibits illustrating the effects of physics at 0° latitude. In particular, everyone oohs over the demonstrations of an egg balancing on the tip of a nail without falling, and of the north and south drains with clockwise or counterclockwise swirling water. Your admission ticket includes a guided tour in English or Spanish.

West of town, a milewide, oblong lake cradles itself in the lower flanks of Volcán Cotacachi. A well-marked hiking trail heads up the crater's rim into an ecological reserve that affords fantastic views of the distant Imbabura and Cayambe volcanoes. Within the lake are islands that can be visited on inexpensive boat tours.

Ecuador's famous Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) monument does not sit exactly on the equator. It marks the spot that in 1736 the French Geodesic Mission determined was the latitudinal center of the earth. But GPS satellite technology has demonstrated that the true equator runs about 300 meters (980 feet) north. Visitors today enjoy having their photographs taken as they straddle the painted line here, but, alas, they are really standing entirely in the southern hemisphere. Nonetheless, the site makes an interesting visit. The monument itself is a 30-meter-tall (98-foot-tall) stone obelisk topped by a 2½-ton metal globe. Inside is an Ethnographic Museum with exhibits of the people, clothing, and dwellings of Ecuador's diverse ethnic groups; bilingual guided tours are included in your admission price. The nearby planetarium's show is in Spanish only, and is put on only if at least 15 people are in attendance. The rest of the site is constructed to resemble a colonial village, with most buildings housing souvenir shops.

Otavalo's premier sight, and one of which you'll be a part, is its Saturday market. This gathering of stalls was once called the Silent Market because there was no loud bargaining or shouting to entice you to buy. Though it's still quiet compared to other markets, times have changed. Today you negotiate your way through a noisy and overwhelming conglomeration of stands crowded with tourists. Once inside the hurly-burly, you deal with the dignified and astute Otavaleños, who speak slowly and softly as they negotiate. For sale are hand-knit sweaters made from sheep or alpaca wool, colorful ponchos, patterned scarves, and Panama hats. You'll also find strings of gold-washed glass beads, worn in multiple strands by Otavalo women, lots of silver, and jewelry embedded with Andean jade. You can usually get discounts of 20% to 30% by bargaining. (Don't bargain too hard though. Prices are already reasonable, and that extra couple of dollars will mean a lot more to the vendor than to you.) A produce market is held simultaneously at the Plaza 24 de Mayo; there's also an animal market at the Plaza San Juan. People from the surrounding countryside—many dressed in traditional clothing—come here to bargain for cows, pigs, and other livestock. The animal market begins at 5:30 am, and most sellers are packing up by 11 am. The Plaza de Ponchos market doesn't really begin until 7 or 8 and lasts until about 2 or 3. Although Saturday is the busiest market day, Wednesday runs a close second, and these days something goes on every day of the week.

If Intiñan approximates high-school science experiments, Quitsato, where the equator crosses the Pan-American Highway on the way to Otavalo, offers the subject's most academic treatment of the three sites, with ongoing research into the astronomy, history, and archaeology of equatorial observation. Quitsato's highlight is the enormous, 54-meter (177-foot) walk-on sundial, which, of course, casts no shadow at noon. The Solar Culture Museum here has an informative bilingual talk about peoples' use of the sun in measurements during the pre-Columbian epoch. The site is a standard stop on many of the day tours out of Quito to Otavalo.