Quito’s Equatorial position meant that sunrise was at 5:56 a.m. and a sunset expected at 6:05 p.m.
From the hotel room and the tour bus the geographical and morphological characteristics of the city were visible. The whole region near the city is one of mountains and canyons with the altiplano (plateau) in between. This restricts outward growth. meaning the city has a linear pattern with suburbs extending upwards along wide and not very steep sided valleys.
We explored the streets of the old town with its basilicas and squares presently with little tourism. Out of town is La Mitad del Mundo which commemorates the Equator. Modern GPS shows that the monument is 200m off, whereas the pre-Inca mountain top monument nearby is actually ‘bang on’.