Back on the bikes

MS - Saturday December 30th. We left Quito this morning around 9AM to head to the Equator park. Google said it was about 35 min away. That was probably accurate with Saturday morning traffic. It was my first taste of international jockeying for position on the road. I believe I did OK but you'd have to ask Ken and Chip. Lines are more of a suggestion for marking lanes. You can be in one or two at the same time and it is completely acceptable. Turn signals are for suckas. They can mean, "I'm coming over" or "You can pass me on this side" or "I forgot about my indicator light". Some people just don't use them at all, EVER. Then it is a guessing game for everyone.

The park was interesting, not very crowded when we arrived. We were able to park for free right by the security guard who indicated he would watch the bikes. That made it easier so we wouldn't have to unload a bunch of gear. I tipped him $1 when I returned. Cost of the park was $3.50 each. We walked the equator and took some photos. There were a variety of hummingbird statues all decorated differently which reminded me of the cows in Chicago. Not sure if it is the same theory with different artists or not. Exceptionally cool to think you are at where the world gets sliced in half.

**Can we talk about $$$ for a minute? Ecuador uses the USD$. ATMs give you USD$. When you use a $20 bill, you will inevitably get coins as change. As much as $10 worth or even more! They have mainly US coins, lots of 50 cent pieces, but also dollar coins, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Some of the dollars & quarters are only Ecuadorian money printed here in the country. We consistently have change jingling around in our pockets. The goal is always to pay for your purchase with all coins. Today Chip was a winner paying for fuel in all small coins.

We left 0 degrees latitude a little after 11AM and headed south, back through Quito. We wanted to get to the volcano crater lake in Quilatoa. We managed to get back through most of the city before the rain started. Once it started, it lasted all day. We passed many volcanoes on the way but could not see the peaks due to the fog and rain clouds. We turned off highway 35 towards Cigchos and the road became complete two lane, except for when it was one lane. We stopped in a small village for a break from the rain and to have a snack. There was an awning where a man and woman were frying something in hot oil so it seemed like a good idea. Turned out it was fried bread. The woman had a huge bowl of dough and was taking small pieces and letting them proof and rise under some fabric. Then she would take the dough balls and stretch them and throw them in the hot oil where the man ladled hot oil over the dough and turned it with care. They were huge and came out light as a feather. Very light egg taste that reminded me of pop overs. We each had two and a bottle of water for a grand total of $3 for ALL of it - three bottles of water and six breads.

We continued on for another 2 1/2 hours on a very windy, switchback filled road. It was fun riding and not a lot of traffic but coming up on a bus on a mountain road that is a little more than one lane wide is still unnerving for me. There were rocks that had fallen on the road, standing water or rushing water across the road, and the occasional mudslide. My gloves are not waterproof and there are no grip heaters on my rental so my hands were cold. We came into Chucchilán and started to look for a place to stop.

We checked into the Cloud Forest Hostel for $15 each that includes a room, hot shower, dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning. Big beers are $2 and there are two wood stoves in the "game room" where we have hung our stuff to dry next to the rest of the guests. The rest of the travelers all seem to be backpackers from England, France, the Netherlands, and the US.

Looking forward to hitting the road tomorrow to see the volcano crater lake for some hiking and head to the Banos where there are hot springs. They will be the best if we experience another all day rain and it looks like that is a distinct possibility.

0 degrees latitude

Middle of the globe

Motley Crew



Our bread and water lunch