Papallacta to Vilcabamba, Ecuador (11,500 miles!!) 7-20-08 thru 8-12-08

wild poppies

Mt. Cotopoxi (2nd highest in Ecuador)Ralph climbed Cotopaxi elevation of 19,200 feet on July 28, made it to the top but was foggy, so no views!llamas along the roadsidePat on road belowLago Quilota! (formed in 1906) volcano!This page loaded 3 pictures on top each other!  So, will try to reload below here!Pat on road below me

After a relaxing day in our own private hot spring (no one else was staying at the hotel!) and two frigid nights in our room with no heat at 11,000′ (5 wool blankets and our zero degree sleeping bags made it manageable), we biked over a 13,500′ pass down to the outskirts of Quito, then up a brutal cobblestone road to Cotopaxi National Park.  We camped at chilly, windy Laguna Limpia Punga at 12,700′ at the base of snowcapped 19,470′ Volcan Cotopaxi, a truly spectacular peak that rises abruptly more than a vertical mile out of the surrounding high plains.  Even though we thought we would at some point in the night be blown off the face of the earth, we were rewarded in the morning by a commanding view of the beautiful peak. 

 

We biked west out of the park, then around the famous Quilotoa loop, which took us through incredibly steep high country.  It totally blows us away to stop at the edge of the road, look down through our spokes into a steep valley and see the road we will be biking next 3000′ below us, appearing like a long strand of spaghetti tossed haphazardly onto the landscape.  We stayed in Sugchos one night, a peaceful little village set on a mountainside with a killer view of distant Volcan Yanaurcu.  The next day after pedaling through 3” moon dust along a very dirt road, we topped out at Lago Quilotoa, a lake situated at 13,000′ in a dormant volcano crater  a totally incredible view!  We planned to camp at the crater rim, but the high winds, cold temps and total lack of flat ground drove us to a nearby hostel.  The hostel turned out to be a great choice.  We met other travelers here from France,Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Switzerland and Santa Cruz, California.  We sat around the wood stove to stay warm and drank tea, coffee and beer and exchanged travel stories!  ( We were told of a teacher and his family of 7 children that are now biking across the U.S. for their summer vacation!!! )

Lago Quilotoa (crater lake) formed in 1906!

Wrong – lake was formed after the 1797 eruption that blew the top off the volcano.  We are at 13,200 feet!

Market day at Zumbahua!

Lots of colorful indigenous people at this market!

Loading the llama with market purchases for the walk home!

We continued around the loop stopping in the village of Zumbahua for the Sunday market, full of indigenous folks in their beautiful local dress, buying and selling everything from bananas to Nike baseball caps to live pigs and sheep!  We then continued over 2 more 13,000′ passes.  Then while dropping more than 5000′ in 10 miles, were passed by our friends Thomas and Sally, whom we had met at the Hostel the night before!  Ralph rode no-handed for an impromptu back-window-of-the-car photo shoot at 30 MPH!  We dropped into Latacunga, and immediately were greeted by our friends, Luli & Gonzalo (also met the night before at the hostel!)  We  had dinner with them and found out all we could from their travels throughour upcoming countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chili and Argentina!

 

After a day in Latacunga, Ralph decided to climb 19,000′ Cotopaxi which we had camped near a few days earlier!  He rented gear and hired a guide and away we went to the refugio at 15,500′ on the flank of Cotopaxi.  Upon arrival at the refugio, to  our surprise, we were again greeted by our friends, Thomas and Sally!!!  (They promised to send us the pics of Ralph’s no-handed ride the day before!)     Pat stayed in the refugio, while Ralph and the guide climbed the mountain, equipped  with headlamps, ice axes and crampons, leaving at 1:00 AM and topping out at 6:00 AM!  Unfortunately, it was totally foggy on top, so not great photos for all the effort!!!   

smokin´ volcan Volcan TungurahuaFrom Latacunga, we headed south to Ambato, where we stored the bikes for the day, hopped a bus and dropped 3000' to Banos, a village at the base of active Volcan Tungurahua. The volcano is very active – belching huge gray plumes of ash continuously and periodically covering nearby roads with mud and lava flows! It's mind blowing that the locals just carry on with life at, and foolish tourists flock to, the base of a time bomb!!! But, what the heck – the hot springs are great and the international restaurants are a great break from the typical rice/beans/banana/chicken dinners! Of course, we couldn't resist, and had to rent 2 mountain bikes to bike the 15 miles of road downhill along the river from town with numerous waterfalls all along the way!) From Ambato, we biked west up the flanks of Volcan Chimborazo, the highest peak in Ecuador at 20,800'. We camped at a chilly 12,000' with a commanding view of the mountain. The next day we traveled around the far side of the peak, up to 13,500' then dropped like a rock down into Riobamba. We took a side trip to Aluasi and rode the train (actually a converted bus!) down the “Devil's Nose”, a hair-raising ride down numerous switchbacks to the canyon floor, in the middle of nowhere, dropped off and left for dead for several hours by the river, then picked up again and hauled back up to the top. Lunchtime??? Yes!!!(Yes, it`s real!!!)They cut the meat off the pig as you order and fry it right there!!! (good thing I grew up on a farm!!!)view of Pacific ocean from our campsite

We spent the next few days rolling through the high country south of Riobamba, camping at sites with incredible vistas all the way to the Pacific Ocean, eventually ending up in Cuenca, a city with tons of great colonial architecture.  After Cuenca, we climbed into the fog and spent the next several days biking and camping in intermittent drizzle/rain and just plain clouds.  It was the type of weather that is so hard to bike in – you spend half your time either taking off or putting on clothes to regulate your body temperature.  The traffic dropped off dramatically, a pleasant switch, for we had been mostly on the PanAm since Riobamba.

 

While eating the best burger since Alaska (a huge patty with a pork sausage on top!) in a restaurant in Loja, we met a biker from Quito.  Marlo first eyed up our bikes with great interest, then entered the restaurant and started talking with us.  He spent more than 4 months biking his own country, Ecuador. He has published a book that describes his trip and contains great photos of the Pacific coast, the Amazon region, and the central mountains! (We realized how diverse Ecuador is and how much more there is to see here and that we had only seen the central mountains!  Ecuador is truly the most diverse and scenic country on our trip thus far!)  Marlo now spends his time giving lectures on his trip, promoting his book and selling stickers, photos and postcards of his trip to raise money for his next venture – biking South America and Africa!  (buenas suerta, Marlo!) 

 

number 13 tilling with oxen

From Loja, we dropped like a rock to Vilcabamba, in a much more tropical area.  We are staying at a hostel here surrounded by tropical plants and orange trees, with a swimming pool, jacuzzi tubs, a sauna, breakfast included and even hot showers, all for $28 per night.   We’ll relax a bit before venturing on to our 11^th country, Peru! 

 

Ecuador has truly been amazing- our favorite foreign country to-date on this trip (they just keep getting better!).  The people of Columbia were the friendliest, (Ecuadorians were second), but the Ecuadorian landscape is unbelievably huge!  We will climb for 2 to 4 hours, topping out at a 13,500′ pass with a basin in front of us 5 times bigger than anything we’ve ever seen in Colorado!  Nearby will be a snowcapped volcano (or an active smoking one!) that juts up from the surrounding countryside a vertical mile! 

 

The indigenous people of Ecuador are very beautiful – typically a foot or 3 shorter than us, jet black hair in long braids, a black or green wool felt small brimmed hat (both men and women wear them), a solid dark colored wool poncho, the men with dark pants, the women with colorful blouses and dresses, and all with black leather shoes.   Most of them scratch out a meager living on tiny steep-sloped plots of land, raising corn, vegetables and a few sheep, pigs, chickens or cows.  They typically do all the work by hand – even tilling the soil with huge hoes.  The women and children usually do this back breaking work.  The women do a tremendous amount of hand labor, and if they have a baby, the baby is sitting in the field beside them or slung on their back with a sarong while they work!  It was a common scene to pass an elderly man and woman digging a ditch by hand alongside the road.  They would stop, smile and greet us.  (Just think of your grand-mother digging a ditch – then try to imagine her smiling about it!)  Most of them live in concrete or mud huts with thatched roofs at elevations up to 13,000′ – with no heat, there are no trees left here to burn!)

 

We never felt unsafe in Ecuador, even when we walked through a suburb of Quito at 9 at night.  We did feel a bit in danger on the highways though – it appears the Ecuadorians took some driving lessons from the Mexicans!  There is so much more to see in this country, that it, of course has to go on our list of “must come back to”!

 

We now have our sites set on Peru!!!

Bikin’ On,

Ralph & Pat

 

Armenia, Colombia ACROSS THE EQUATOR to Papallacta, Ecuador

 

 

 

After a brief trip back to the U.S. for Ralph’s dad’s memorial, we are back on the road in South America.  (We may have to return soon tho for some more unfinished business!)   We stayed in Armenia a day with our great hosts Pilar and Ganzalo, where we installed new drivetrains on our bikes and got a tour of Gonzalo’s finca (farm).  The next day Gonzalo rode with us through beautiful rolling hills of plantain and coffee farms, then bid us farewell as we dropped to the cane field lowlands to the south.  Gonzalo and Pilar, you were great hosts and we hope you visit us in Colorado someday!

 

We pedaled through the flatlands, by-passing Cali, then climbed skyward to Popayan, known as  “The White City”, where all the buildings of the old town are white-washed!  There we met up with Christian, a Swiss biker who we met last December by Copper Canyon who is also riding from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego.  We are riding with Christian from here to the equator.

 

 

 

From Popayan we traveled south through rolling mountains and low-lands, the combination gave us 4000′ to 7500′ vertical climbs every day.  Before the town of Pasto we climbed relentlessly toward the sky as the mountains got  larger and the road became a narrow shelf chiseled into the side of the steep grass covered slopes.  We had to battle the smoke-belching cargo trucks for the ever decreasing oxygen supply as we climbed to a 7500′ day, our biggest vertical yet on this trip!  We continued through Pasto, then did a scarrreeeaaming 5000′ descent in just 15 miles to the town of El Pedrigal, where we met Tyson, a biker heading north from Patagonia.  We had a great evening with him sharing stories and valuable trip information.  Good luck Tyson, was great to cross paths with you!  The next day brought another big climb through more beautiful patchwork-quilt-like mountains with waterfalls  cascadiing down the canyon walls and on to the town of Ipiales at the Ecuadorian border.  We visited the famous Santuario De Las Lajas, a church built hanging on a canyon wall.  An image of the Virgin Mary was believed to appear here in the 1800’s, which inspired the building of the church. 

 

At that point we bid farewell to Colombia, a country full of the friendliest people we have met to date on this trip, a country with incredibly lush beautiful green mountain terrain, a country that is not at all like the media portrays it, a country we thoroughly enjoyed and a country we highly recommend you visit.

 

We then crossed the border into Ecuador.  The border crossing was a breeze.  There were no fees, just a small amount of paperwork.  After entering Ecuador, we opted to avoid the PanAm highway and took the old PanAm, which is now a dirt road, through a gorgeous national reserve called El Angel Ecological Reserve!  The reserve was high desert-like country with cactus and plants/trees that look like a yucca plant on top of a tall cactus trunk  (they only grow ¼ inch per year, so they are very, very old!).  The high country here reminded us of the high country around Gunnison, Colorado, absolutely spectacular! 

 

After the reserve we dropped about 6000′ (in 15 miles!) back down to the river bottom, only to climb back up again through cane fields, past makeshift sugar cane factories and into the high mountains to the city of Ibarra, perched at 9000′.

 

 

 

From Ibarra we climbed past the snowcapped Volcan Cayambe, the third highest peak in Ecuador (19,100′), into the town of Cayambe and finally to the MIDDLE OF THE EARTH, 0 DEGREES LATITUDE, THE EQUATOR on July 18th!!  We were fortunate to have a beautiful clear day.  It was warm at  9000′ in elevation!  Here we took many photos, called family to announce our arrival of half way around the world and said good-bye to Christian, as he heads off on a different path than us from here!  We hope we will meet up again for more miles down the road.

 

 

From here we headed south, again on the “road-less-traveled”, into yet another totally amazing section of high country, “Reserva Ecologica Cayambe-Coca”, with jaw-dropping views all around us.  We passed through the biggest high mountain basins we have ever seen!!  We seemed to find ourselves slamming on the breaks at every corner to take another picture!!!!  We were able to camp one night high up in the mountains, where the only neighbor was a lost bull in the middle of the night that sounded like he was going to run right over our tent. From here, yes we got to climb some more,  to above 13,000 ‘ in elevation, then plummet down a steep sided valley, past gorgeous high-mountain lakes and into the small village of Papallacta where we immediately checked into a hotel with hot thermal pools out back.  There is unlimited hot mineral water and many hot springs lodges in this small town.  We are staying here for a day or two to soak our tired biking muscles.  Just what the doctor ordered!!  If you are trying to find Papallacta on a map, it is about 50 miles due east of Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

 

As an aside:  A typical day here starts with a breakfast of granola and fruit in our room while we pack the bikes, then biking up and down through mountains (they make ‘em big here!) and valleys, stopping for lunch of popcorn, chicken soup (chicken feet included), chicken, rice, salad, and a fruit milk shake for about $2.00 per person (they use U.S. dollars in Ecuador – easy!), then more climbing and dropping, typically racking up 4000′ to 6000′ of vertical per day, then dinner for $2 or $3 and crashing into bed early only to get up and do it all over again!   Care to join us?!?

Also, the food in Colombia was really good, but Ecuador’s food is even better – less fried food and better pastries!  One day we biked past a small house high up in the mountains with wonderful fresh baked bread smells in the air, and look over to see Mamma sending 2 small boys off on the next bus with a large wicker basket of bread to sell in the next town!  (Colombia still has the best coffee though!) 

 

In both Colombia and Ecuador we noticed a thriving middle class, and with  many modern conveniences that we didn’t see in other Latin American countries so far on this trip.  We expected to be roughing it in these countries, but to our surprise we’ve had more conveniences than in Central America.  Both countries seem to have a strong culture unique to their country and strong national pride.  The two countries each seem to be able to stand alone as a country, unique to themselves.

 

From here we plan to head west over a 13,400′ pass (try that with a 100 lb bike – a truly breathtaking experience!!) then south on more dirt back roads in search of more killer high country adventures!!! 

 

Ralph topping out above 13,000`!!!!

 

 

 

 

Bikin’ on (mostly out of breath though!!!),

Pat and Ralph  

Cartigena, Colombia — to half way thru Colombia! (10,200 miles now)

FRUIT FOR SALE! FORT IN CARTAGENA                                                            COLORFUL BUILDINGS IN CARTAGENA

VIEW FROM TOWN AT TOP OF MOUNTAIN                 BOTERO -ARTIST FROM COLOMBIA

After swimming and snorkeling in the warm waters near the San Blas Islands, we embarked on a 36 hour non-stop sailboat ride across the open waters of the Caribbean toward Colombia. We had a great boat and captain and we highly recommend them over the other charter boats. We hear horror stories from other travelers of having to sail the boat themselves after their drunk captain passed out!! But Ralph says the boat trip saved him lots of $ because he’ll never have to buy a sailboat – it’s just not as romantic as it sounds – no room to get out and run around!Cartagena, Colombia, a modern port city with a look similar to cities in the US, high rise buildings and all, but also with a quaint and beautiful old town section. Dating back to the days of pirates and Spanish gold, Cartagena was the principle port in South America the Spanish used to store plundered Inca gold before shipping it back to Spain, so the old town was very well fortified. It had 2 forts at the mouth of the port and an under water wall with only a narrow opening. Pirate ships weren’t aware of this hidden wall and would usually be destroyed by running into it and subsequently being bombarded by canons that were permanently aimed at the wall. The town was surrounded by a 50 foot thick stone wall and a huge fortified castle at the edge of it. The Spanish were serious about their gold! All these relics remain except for the underwater wall, making it a great sightseeing city.

We spent 4 days in Cartagena before catching a bus (yes, a bus – can you believe it!?) to Medellin i the highlands of Central Colombia. We decided on the bus after reports from friends of biking in 112 degree temperatures through humid lowlands for a week – YAHOO!! By the looks of the countryside it was a good choice!
When we arrived in Medellin at 2:30 AM, the bus driver asked us where we were staying. When we told him we didn’t know, he motioned for us to ride our bikes ahead of him He escorted us with the bus slowly driving behind us to a nearby hotel and helped us get a room and proceeded to carry our bags and bikes inside. That was just a preview of th high country Colombian hospitality we were in store for! Medellin used to be the “cocaine capital” of the world, but today is safe, clean, modern city full of warm, friendly, helpful people. It is a beautiful modern city in a high mountain valley. Most of the buildings are built of red brick, which contrasts beautifully with the verdant green mountains rising steeply on all sides!

MULE ON ROAD  

Late the next morning we headed southeast out of town up the Valle Las Palmas, a steep climbing mountain road that clings to the mountainside with numerous vistas of beautiful Medellin below. After rolling through high country mountain valleys full of the most picturesque fincas (farms) and haciendas (country estates) we’ve ever seen, we dropped into the red tile roofed town of La Ceja just minutes before a late afternoon monsoon-like rainstorm!

The next day we hit the hills (let me change that to mountains, why would we take the easy way! ) taking a dirt road up a steep mountainside, then plunging into a deep canyon that rivaled Copper Canyon in Mexico in size, then back up the other side to Montebello, a picturesque village perched just below a mountain summit!! When we first spotted it from across the deep canyon, we thought, “What an incredible and unique spot to build a town — right on the top of the mountain, so unlike the U.S. mountain towns that are typically tucked in a valley”. As we were soon to find out, this is the typical Colombian highland setting; deep, deep, deep (did we mention deep!) valleys with towns perched o the mountain tops surrounding them. The slopes are completely covered with sugarcane, coffee, banana, papaya and mango fields along with pastures. dirt roads snake down the steep sub-ridges and are peppered with brightly painted, red tile roofed farm houses. It would be hard to even dream up a picture this stunningly beautiful!

TOWN AT TOP OF MOUNTAIN           FRUIT STAND                            

Montebello was full of wonderful, warm, helpful people who pointed us in the right direction the next morning, since our pathetic maps weren’t helping much. So we started what would be a typical day’s ride in Colombia. We’d start the day early (to beat the inevitable afternoon rainstorm) fueled by great pastries and put-Starbucks-to-shame wicked good local grown coffee. We’d leave town and immediately rocket down a narrow winding paved road, switchbacking to the river 2000′ to 4000′ below, then slowly climb back out to a pretty village perched on a ridge line on the opposite side of the valley. We would do at least two of these climbs per day, knocking off 4000′ to 8000′ vertical per day! Now that’s a vacation!

VIEW FROM OUR BIKES EVERY DAY! SOUTH AMERICAN EGGPLANT!

Our route was off the beaten bike tour path, was slow and lots of work,but it took us through the most unusual and some of the most spectacularly picturesque country of our trip to date. We traveled through Santa Barbara, La Pintail (in a valley – how unusual!), and on to Arma where we were abducted and robbed – abducted by thirty friendly, curious villagers that robbed us of our time – two hours in the afternoon and another two hours in the evening – at the town plaza, asking us all sorts of questions ranging from “How do you find Colombian people – friendly?” to “How often do you have to change your drive train?” to “What kind of music do you like – Rolling Stones or Guns ‘n Roses?” We talked in our broken Spanish until our throats were hoarse. One town elder had to continually tell the crowd to step back so as not to suffocate us. The little schoolgirls surrounded Pat and all wanted to know what their names sounded like in English.

From Arma we biked on thru several mountain towns and valleys toward Salamina.. 10 kilometers before town we came across a friendly man resting beside the road with a backpack full of quart-size pop bottles re-filled with fresh leche (milk) from his farm where he had just gotten done milking his cows by hand out on the hillside. He asked us about our trip and where we were going and asked if we wanted to stay at his finca nearby. We said we really wanted to get to Salimina for the night, so he said “then you will stay a my house there!” He caught a ride into town and when we rolled into town a few minut6es later,, he was waiting at the edge of town He walked us to his house, where we met his wife, son, daughter and brand new baby granddaughter. We got a town tour – full of beautiful colonial buildings and fresh trout at a great restaurant. What warm, wonderful and generous people!

COLOMBIAN CHICKEN BUS!                                       RALPH BIKING ACROSS BRIDGE

The next day we rode in one rainstorm after another into the mountaintop city of Harmonizes, where we spent a couple days sightseeing and catching up on internet. Ralph managed to find time for another one of those Latin American weight loss programs = a nasty flu bug! We toured the city Cathedral, the largest all-concrete cathedral in Latin America, which looks like something out or Batman’s Gotham city. The tour took us up some 500 plus step (narrow spiral staircase included) to the st4eeple for a bird’s-eye view of the city below. YOWZA!!!!

We also rode a jeep up to and hiked the flanks of a 1700′ active volcano in the Nevada de Ruez National Park. ( it’s the highest altitude either of us have ever been and they kept stopping to help us acclimatize slowly but we still ended up getting a headache and feeling very sick!)

Our host, Gonzales and his lovely wife invited us into their home. We got a tour of a nearby picturesque village, Allentown, and a valley above it where the unique wax palms grow. They are ch only high-altitude cloud forest palms, grow up to 230′ tall, towering far above the surrounding trees, looking very mystical and almost Dr. Seuss-like.

HI — FROM 1700 FEET                                      ONE OF 3 OF THE 1700′ VOLCANOES

We stored our bikes with Gonzales while we fly back to the U.S. for Ralph’s dad’ memorial, who passed away recently. We’ll be back biking in a couple weeks, so the next update may be a month out. We’re looking forward to a good sole’ American hamburger and fries after the past 7 months of eating mostly RICE AND BEANS!!

We would also like you to know that we have found Colombia to be full of very, very friendly and helpful people, (unlike what the US media leads you to believe). We actually vote it as the friendliest place we have been since our trip began 1 year ago in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska more than 10,200 miles ago and in close competition to Costa Rica in beauty!                                                                     WAX  PALMS (THIS ONE IS ABOUT 230′  HIGH)

Bikin On’,

Hope you are too!Ralph & Pat