9. Deep Valleys, New Tires and City of Cuenca
Day 115
I have only 160 km to cover to Cuenca today so there is no need to panic in the morning. A leisurely breakfast and easy packing. My bike is right in front of my hotel rooms door. A rock star parking.
Looking at the map I knew that there will be many stops along the way if the weather is good. And I wasn’t disappointed. It took me 30’ to cover the first 10km. I stopped every few hundred meters. From the other side of the valley I could clearly see the landslide that took part of the town. Oy is like an ugly scar on the side of the mountain.
The weather is perfect, mid to to high teens. I keep climbing only to descend into the next valley. Most of the time I am above 3,000m. Spectacular views, I am way above the clouds. I take way to many pictures, there is a Kodak moment at every corner. I am slowly making may way to Cuenca, the regional capital and of the biggest cities in southern Ecuador. I need to make a stop in BMW shop. I need a rear tire. Technically I don’t need it, but the next chance I will have is Lima, Peru. But I want to play in the mountains and I’d like to have a new tire for that. So I swap the rear early rather then risking running out of rubber. There are two BMW shops in town. The first one is very convenient right on my approach to the city. I stop there and then have a very nice shop. They do not have the tire I’d like to get but they have similar one. Boy are they expensive here. Almost twice as much as back home. But the beggars can’t be chooser so you take what is available. It is Saturday past noon but they change the tire on the spot. 1,5 hrs and I am on my way again. Great service at Autocorp BMW! Thanks guys, I appreciate it.
No problem to find my hotel right in the heart of the old town. My bike is only half of the block away locked inside another building. I will be here for 3 nights as I didn’t know how long I will need to get my tires. But it looks like this town is easy to get entertained.
Also, I have few friends here whom I’ve met at the border crossing. And they teamed up with two other guys so there is a gaggle of adventurers here. I meet the Kiwi girl, Kathleen for coffee in the afternoon and I meet the rest of the gang for dinner. There is Jacques from Victoria whom I’ve met with Kathleen earlier. Unfortunately, he is heading back home as his shoulders bugs him more then he can take. Too bad. Then there is Jesse a young American on Teneré 700. He lives actually in Ecuador. And then there is Michael, a Chilean American. There is an inspiration for you. He is 74! He’s been on the road for 10 months already! So it is a great mix of people. We all go the same direction, south to Ushuaia. We pick a nice restaurant in the heart of the old city and start talking shop. It is quickly obvious they we all have the same philosophy. No time frame, no firm plans and open for anything. I like that. Right off the bat we have lots in common. It is late so we after the dinner we had to our hotels.
I meet Kathleen the next day and she showed me around. We went to a private museum. It was 3 generations of collections of artifacts from ancient indigent people of Ecuador. Amazing pieces and presentation. Then we went to the state museum. Far lest exhibits but there was one which caught my attention. I’ve read about head hunters before. Not the HR people, the real hunters. They killed their enemies and miniaturized and mummified their heads. Scary and amazing at the same time.
We all met again for the dinner. We found a rooftop restaurant with a great view if the local cathedral. Great food as well. And I got nice pics from there as well. We didn’t stay too long as the rest of the gang was leaving the next morning towards Peru.
And I am finally in the present time, today. The gang met at the main square. I went there as well to say goodbye. I will be one day behind. I need to catch up on paperwork and need to get an insurance for Peru. I will catch up with them in Peru and hoping to do some riding together in the Andes.
They left and I hopped on the sightseeing bus. A great way to explore the city. We stopped at the Panama Hat factory. It was more interesting then I expected. They showed us the whole process of making the hats. It is complicated. They make about 200 hats per day. All hadn’t made. One fun fact: The Panama Hat has originated in Ecuador early 1900s. The local workers took them when they went to Panama while building the canal. They became popular and quickly spread around the world. But the main company is still here in Cuenca. They have a show room where you can try a different type of hats. They have a “hall of fame” with pictures of many celebrities with their hats from Bruce Willis to Princess Dianna. I must admit, they are actually very cool looking. I’d get one if I wasn’t on my bike. The price starts at $36 and goes up to thousands. Anyway, it was a nice tour of the city.
I had a great lunch and right after I started to write my blog. I was hopelessly behind and finally I am catching up with my blog. I will finish the pictures tomorrow.
It was great stop at Cuenca but the world need more discoveries. I’ll pack tomorrow and head south following in the footsteps or rather tire tracks of my buddies and head south. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
Cheers.