September 15
Ahh. Back in the saddle. Ernesto y Tara. Feliz y tranquilo. AND, new hemisphere, new winter moto jacket! We were both so much more comfortable in the elements today, but honestly they felt a bit awkward. Our summer jackets were almost soft and we kind of slimed into them every day; the kevlar is deeply embedded with dirt/dust/biological elements as well as exhaust/oil/automotive elements… Our winter coats are crisp and shiny. Almost formal (they have been in sealed dry bags since June 28th). For a little while today I kind of felt like someone else on my bike.
After a good rest back at our hotel outside of Quito, we got up and repacked the bikes. I’m pretty sure we wrote about him, but when we first got to the hotel pre-Galapagos and were packing the bikes to store under the shed, there was an Aussie who came over and chatted with us. He was very friendly, had been in Ecuador for nine years, and that night he was leaving to go home with Percy, the dog that had found him and his wife and were taking back with them to Australia. During our chat we asked him about roads in Ecuador and if he had any suggestions, and he said “Aw yeah, I could come up with a few ideas, I’ll put on my thinking cap.” We continued to have a nice chat, but after our conversation came to a natural close, we didn’t see him again after that. When we got back to our bikes this morning (five days later), there was a map set under a helmet. And it is not just some crappy map. He spent some time on it. It was not only mostly to scale, but it included tidbits about what we could see if we went that way. To Percy's owner - thank you! It was much appreciated and we hope a random stranger repays you a kindness soon.
We had a great and interesting day, and it was punctuated into three parts. The first part of our ride was the climb east of Quito through Papallacta Pass, which is about 4100 meters (or almost 13,500 feet). There were no trees, and lots and lots of signs to watch for wildlife we didn’t see (including bears, and we had no idea Ecuador had bears). We pulled over twice: once to put on our final warm layer and then again to put on our rain pants. It wasn’t raining, but we were so high we were in the cloud cover we were getting moisture directly (and constantly) from the clouds (which is what rain is, I know… but you know what we mean). The cold and the darkness made it all very ominous, and at least for me, the extra bit of anxiety made for a more tense ride. The second part was lower in elevation, but still around 2000 meters high. We followed an above ground oil pipeline (interesting), and there were too many waterfalls to count. Parts of the road were washed out, and at points we had to go slow due to visibility, but there were still pretty good road conditions compared to what we have experienced. The river below, as well as all the rivers rushing into the main river, were loud and fast. The rivers looked like waterfalls and the waterfalls looked like rivers. At a few places it felt really desolate, and just when Ernie and I were really thinking we were in the middle of nowhere, we approached a small town whose “Bienvenidos” sign and entrance included a 10 meter tall statue/sculpture thing of a white dude rock climbing. Gringo white, not pale-South American white. Huh? We learned later this was Cuyuja Crag, and let us down a funny interweb path of young gringos and selfies. And the third part of our ride today was by far the fastest stretch of road we have done since leaving California (where we were forced to drive fast and didn’t like it). It was about 75 km of smooth, trustworthy tarmac. No traffic. Giant sweepers, no hairpins - all the turns were Good. We may or may not have done some speeding...
Our critter of the day was the oropendola - we saw 11. Every tail just as sexy as the last. Our individual critter of the day was the sexy chicken at our snack break. White, brown, and green.
And now we are in Puyo, a non-tourist town east of the Andes. We are sitting on the third floor patio. I am typing and Ernie is playing guitar. Before it got dark we walked the streets and malecon, didn’t blend in, got honked at by taxis, and all was just as it should be. We ate some cheap and good food in a side street open-aired restaurant. There was a salsa I wanted to drink from the cup it was served in (and I told the Senora as much when we were paying and leaving, and she laughed at the gringo). Best we can figure it is cilantro, purple onion, vinegar, mustard, garlic, lime, salt, and heat - and then maybe some celery or another type of onion (Tonya can help me figure it out!). We aren’t seeing the shoe selection here compared to other towns; most of the shopping in Puyo is clothes. My plan was to sulk and pout over my lost sweatshirt for a least a few weeks, maybe even until the end of the trip. But my three options to clothe my upper body right now are one of two short-sleeved quick dry shirts, my long underwear, or an 800 fill puffy coat - i.e., I have nothing to wear when it's warmer than 60 but cooler than 80. Given the fashion that lines most Central and South American women’s clothing stores, I took notice of a non-offensive long sleeve “thing” that had a hood and felt soft. There was only one, size “M”. “Cuanto questa?” I asked. $35. Yikes - I walked away. We found said clothing while we were on the hunt for ice, and via a bit of asking around we eventually found a cafeteria that sold ice. We asked for a bag of ice. And yep. It was a two gallon sized plastic bag, filled with water, frozen, and sold as a bag of ice. Nothing I can use to ice my foot with, but since we asked and she went and got it and it was only $.75, we bought it anyway. On our way back with the ice we walked by the store again, the normal long sleeve thing stared at me… I asked Ernesto if he would judge me for buying a $35 shirt. He laughed, said no, and we bought it.
Ernesto, would you like to say anything about today?
“It is good to be back riding our motorcycles. And it seems like there is noticable difference between tourist towns and real/non-tourist towns that has been consistent on our entire trip.”
September 16
Brrr! Accuweather said it was between 1-5 1 degrees C on our ride through Banos, but we think it was at least a bit warmer than that. And raining… One of the biggest reasons we took this detour off the PanAmerican is for the scenery, especially the stretch we did today. There are volcanoes and cliffs and according to Lonely Planet lots for us to wow at and we saw nothing. At one point visibility was probably 30-40 meters. We saw the river below a few times, which was cool because this area is the local start of the Amazon Basin. We did see some good waterfalls, including one giant waterfall to the south that fell off a plateau. Although I think some of the “waterfalls” were just areas where water was falling due to the unseasonable heavy rains of the past few days. Yes, I make a point of this as September is a dry season in high elevation ecuador and it is robbing us of our scenery ha! We only had ~100 km from Puyo to Ambato, so our plan was to park in Banos for a bit and check it out. Ernie had heard of this town from outdoor enthusiast friends, and it is indeed a mecca for biking, hiking, climbing, rafting, etc. There were many gringos in crappy rain gear with truly miserable and stressful faces biking from Banos to Puyo (i.e., the opposite direction of us, which is downhill, and then they take a bus back uphill, as it is a 1000 meter elevation change). I guess it is one of the bucket-list activities for tourists while they are here, so good for them and their shorts and t-shirts (brr!) and making it happen. But we were so cold and wet and Banos was cold and wet; we feared if we got off the bikes in Banos we would get a chill and then the ride to Ambato would be miserable. So we pushed on and by noon we were checked into our hotel, and by 12:30 we had warmed up with hot showers and had our gear hanging to dry (please dry by tomorrow!).
Ambato is hardly a tourist town, so we took a cab into centro and walked around. It has the appearance of a big city but the tempo and decibel level of a small town. Bueno. The main square was very ornate, and we were disappointed the museums we wanted to go to are closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Yesterday and today we have seen a lot of my most and least favorite things about Ecuador.
My least favorite thing about Ecuador the garbage cans. I guess they are trying to make garbage fun??? The basic city street-can here has a colorful metal base and then a giant head with a big open mouth. It is normally the head of a clown but also sometimes a duck, bunny, dog, cat, etc., and the mouth of course is where you toss the trash into. These may have been fun and charming when they were made, but now with their faded colors and peeled paint they are dismal and creepy. Broken ears on the rabbits, ten year old gum stuck to the eyeballs of the kitty, and holes that look like bullet holes in the clowns upper lip. Say nothing of the overflowing garbage out the clown’s mouth… it's right out of a horror movie. This is no place for coulrophobics (thanks spell check!). I posted a picture of the nicest one we saw, and you are all very welcome I did not post the alternative.
My favorite thing about Ecuador is the traditional Ecuadorian women's dress. The style, the colors… the hats. In my opinion Ecuador has the best indigenous styles. I haven’t taken any pictures out of respect, but there are many individual women that I will not forget. Especially the woman today in the deep blue skirt and pitch black hat. Her smile was disproportionately large to her small frame. Her pace was something I strive for. She wore a tattered maroon shawl and it was tied around her shoulders with a rope that was almost like jewelry… as an attempt to translate its beauty, that piece of rope could have easily fetched $50 at a boutique antique store.
During our evening planning of the days ahead, we quickly learned it is supposed to be cold with steady rain for the next three days. Our options are 1) ride through scenic mountains we can’t see in cold, steady rain, 2) wait it out and then ride through scenic mountains we can see in sun, or 3) head west to the coast and head for Peru. We choose #3. Tomorrow will still be a cold, rainy ride for at least 100-150 km, and we have lots of fingers crossed we get to see Volcan Chimborazo. This volcano is actually the highest land mass on our planet; Earth bulges a bit at the equator so it is actually farther away from Earth’s center and closer to the stars than Mt. Everest. Holy crap!
Ahh. Back in the saddle. Ernesto y Tara. Feliz y tranquilo. AND, new hemisphere, new winter moto jacket! We were both so much more comfortable in the elements today, but honestly they felt a bit awkward. Our summer jackets were almost soft and we kind of slimed into them every day; the kevlar is deeply embedded with dirt/dust/biological elements as well as exhaust/oil/automotive elements… Our winter coats are crisp and shiny. Almost formal (they have been in sealed dry bags since June 28th). For a little while today I kind of felt like someone else on my bike.
After a good rest back at our hotel outside of Quito, we got up and repacked the bikes. I’m pretty sure we wrote about him, but when we first got to the hotel pre-Galapagos and were packing the bikes to store under the shed, there was an Aussie who came over and chatted with us. He was very friendly, had been in Ecuador for nine years, and that night he was leaving to go home with Percy, the dog that had found him and his wife and were taking back with them to Australia. During our chat we asked him about roads in Ecuador and if he had any suggestions, and he said “Aw yeah, I could come up with a few ideas, I’ll put on my thinking cap.” We continued to have a nice chat, but after our conversation came to a natural close, we didn’t see him again after that. When we got back to our bikes this morning (five days later), there was a map set under a helmet. And it is not just some crappy map. He spent some time on it. It was not only mostly to scale, but it included tidbits about what we could see if we went that way. To Percy's owner - thank you! It was much appreciated and we hope a random stranger repays you a kindness soon.
We had a great and interesting day, and it was punctuated into three parts. The first part of our ride was the climb east of Quito through Papallacta Pass, which is about 4100 meters (or almost 13,500 feet). There were no trees, and lots and lots of signs to watch for wildlife we didn’t see (including bears, and we had no idea Ecuador had bears). We pulled over twice: once to put on our final warm layer and then again to put on our rain pants. It wasn’t raining, but we were so high we were in the cloud cover we were getting moisture directly (and constantly) from the clouds (which is what rain is, I know… but you know what we mean). The cold and the darkness made it all very ominous, and at least for me, the extra bit of anxiety made for a more tense ride. The second part was lower in elevation, but still around 2000 meters high. We followed an above ground oil pipeline (interesting), and there were too many waterfalls to count. Parts of the road were washed out, and at points we had to go slow due to visibility, but there were still pretty good road conditions compared to what we have experienced. The river below, as well as all the rivers rushing into the main river, were loud and fast. The rivers looked like waterfalls and the waterfalls looked like rivers. At a few places it felt really desolate, and just when Ernie and I were really thinking we were in the middle of nowhere, we approached a small town whose “Bienvenidos” sign and entrance included a 10 meter tall statue/sculpture thing of a white dude rock climbing. Gringo white, not pale-South American white. Huh? We learned later this was Cuyuja Crag, and let us down a funny interweb path of young gringos and selfies. And the third part of our ride today was by far the fastest stretch of road we have done since leaving California (where we were forced to drive fast and didn’t like it). It was about 75 km of smooth, trustworthy tarmac. No traffic. Giant sweepers, no hairpins - all the turns were Good. We may or may not have done some speeding...
Our critter of the day was the oropendola - we saw 11. Every tail just as sexy as the last. Our individual critter of the day was the sexy chicken at our snack break. White, brown, and green.
And now we are in Puyo, a non-tourist town east of the Andes. We are sitting on the third floor patio. I am typing and Ernie is playing guitar. Before it got dark we walked the streets and malecon, didn’t blend in, got honked at by taxis, and all was just as it should be. We ate some cheap and good food in a side street open-aired restaurant. There was a salsa I wanted to drink from the cup it was served in (and I told the Senora as much when we were paying and leaving, and she laughed at the gringo). Best we can figure it is cilantro, purple onion, vinegar, mustard, garlic, lime, salt, and heat - and then maybe some celery or another type of onion (Tonya can help me figure it out!). We aren’t seeing the shoe selection here compared to other towns; most of the shopping in Puyo is clothes. My plan was to sulk and pout over my lost sweatshirt for a least a few weeks, maybe even until the end of the trip. But my three options to clothe my upper body right now are one of two short-sleeved quick dry shirts, my long underwear, or an 800 fill puffy coat - i.e., I have nothing to wear when it's warmer than 60 but cooler than 80. Given the fashion that lines most Central and South American women’s clothing stores, I took notice of a non-offensive long sleeve “thing” that had a hood and felt soft. There was only one, size “M”. “Cuanto questa?” I asked. $35. Yikes - I walked away. We found said clothing while we were on the hunt for ice, and via a bit of asking around we eventually found a cafeteria that sold ice. We asked for a bag of ice. And yep. It was a two gallon sized plastic bag, filled with water, frozen, and sold as a bag of ice. Nothing I can use to ice my foot with, but since we asked and she went and got it and it was only $.75, we bought it anyway. On our way back with the ice we walked by the store again, the normal long sleeve thing stared at me… I asked Ernesto if he would judge me for buying a $35 shirt. He laughed, said no, and we bought it.
Ernesto, would you like to say anything about today?
“It is good to be back riding our motorcycles. And it seems like there is noticable difference between tourist towns and real/non-tourist towns that has been consistent on our entire trip.”
September 16
Brrr! Accuweather said it was between 1-5 1 degrees C on our ride through Banos, but we think it was at least a bit warmer than that. And raining… One of the biggest reasons we took this detour off the PanAmerican is for the scenery, especially the stretch we did today. There are volcanoes and cliffs and according to Lonely Planet lots for us to wow at and we saw nothing. At one point visibility was probably 30-40 meters. We saw the river below a few times, which was cool because this area is the local start of the Amazon Basin. We did see some good waterfalls, including one giant waterfall to the south that fell off a plateau. Although I think some of the “waterfalls” were just areas where water was falling due to the unseasonable heavy rains of the past few days. Yes, I make a point of this as September is a dry season in high elevation ecuador and it is robbing us of our scenery ha! We only had ~100 km from Puyo to Ambato, so our plan was to park in Banos for a bit and check it out. Ernie had heard of this town from outdoor enthusiast friends, and it is indeed a mecca for biking, hiking, climbing, rafting, etc. There were many gringos in crappy rain gear with truly miserable and stressful faces biking from Banos to Puyo (i.e., the opposite direction of us, which is downhill, and then they take a bus back uphill, as it is a 1000 meter elevation change). I guess it is one of the bucket-list activities for tourists while they are here, so good for them and their shorts and t-shirts (brr!) and making it happen. But we were so cold and wet and Banos was cold and wet; we feared if we got off the bikes in Banos we would get a chill and then the ride to Ambato would be miserable. So we pushed on and by noon we were checked into our hotel, and by 12:30 we had warmed up with hot showers and had our gear hanging to dry (please dry by tomorrow!).
Ambato is hardly a tourist town, so we took a cab into centro and walked around. It has the appearance of a big city but the tempo and decibel level of a small town. Bueno. The main square was very ornate, and we were disappointed the museums we wanted to go to are closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Yesterday and today we have seen a lot of my most and least favorite things about Ecuador.
My least favorite thing about Ecuador the garbage cans. I guess they are trying to make garbage fun??? The basic city street-can here has a colorful metal base and then a giant head with a big open mouth. It is normally the head of a clown but also sometimes a duck, bunny, dog, cat, etc., and the mouth of course is where you toss the trash into. These may have been fun and charming when they were made, but now with their faded colors and peeled paint they are dismal and creepy. Broken ears on the rabbits, ten year old gum stuck to the eyeballs of the kitty, and holes that look like bullet holes in the clowns upper lip. Say nothing of the overflowing garbage out the clown’s mouth… it's right out of a horror movie. This is no place for coulrophobics (thanks spell check!). I posted a picture of the nicest one we saw, and you are all very welcome I did not post the alternative.
My favorite thing about Ecuador is the traditional Ecuadorian women's dress. The style, the colors… the hats. In my opinion Ecuador has the best indigenous styles. I haven’t taken any pictures out of respect, but there are many individual women that I will not forget. Especially the woman today in the deep blue skirt and pitch black hat. Her smile was disproportionately large to her small frame. Her pace was something I strive for. She wore a tattered maroon shawl and it was tied around her shoulders with a rope that was almost like jewelry… as an attempt to translate its beauty, that piece of rope could have easily fetched $50 at a boutique antique store.
During our evening planning of the days ahead, we quickly learned it is supposed to be cold with steady rain for the next three days. Our options are 1) ride through scenic mountains we can’t see in cold, steady rain, 2) wait it out and then ride through scenic mountains we can see in sun, or 3) head west to the coast and head for Peru. We choose #3. Tomorrow will still be a cold, rainy ride for at least 100-150 km, and we have lots of fingers crossed we get to see Volcan Chimborazo. This volcano is actually the highest land mass on our planet; Earth bulges a bit at the equator so it is actually farther away from Earth’s center and closer to the stars than Mt. Everest. Holy crap!