10. The Last Blog from Ecuador
I left Cuenca bright & early today. The sun is shining and the temp is perfect. I quickly get through the city traffic and I am on my way south. Cuenca is at 2,500m and I start to climb on a nice road. All around are hills as far as you can see. And there are houses all the way to the top. No idea what people do there. I’d hate to come home there from shopping only to realize that I forgot the milk …
The day is shaping up perfectly. Nice road, partly couldy skies and temperature between 15-20˚C. Ideal. I climb on the ridge only to start a steep descend on the other side. Repeat. Many times. I love riding here, it is never boring. Except my excursion to the coast. I never expect this landscape. But I don’t what did I expect. Sure the cold temperatures and snow on the mountain was a big surprise. But I deal much better with cold then with the heat and humidity. I can live without it.
There are nice views at every turn. The road is good until it isn’t. All of sudden the road changes into a narrow dirt road. You can’t drop your guard for a second. There are almost no cars on the road until you get to the bigger cities. The most of the day today I ride above 3,000m. But you are never riding straight. You are either climbing or descending and you are constantly turning. I’ll be se bored when I will be riding back home. 250 km goes by very quickly today. I missed my turnoff to my destination because I was daydreaming. I need to backtrack few km. That was the most exciting thing that happened today. I found my village, Vilcabamba. I stay in a small hostel but I have a swimming pool there. Life is good.
I need an insurance for my bike for the rest of South America. I bought it online via lady who was recommended by many riders before me. It is dead easy. Here is the kicker, the insurance for six countries for 6 months cost less then ONE month insurance back home. I’ll have great difficulties when I return home. Insurance papers came through and managed to print them out in the convenience store around the corner. SO I am set for the rest of the continent, insurance wise.
Not all was good today, however. My friends I met in Cuenca are one day ahead of me. The road I will be taking tomorrow to the boarder is a dirt road. And one of the guys dropped his bike twice. He is banged up but otherwise OK. But his bike needs some TLC so he will stay behind to lick his wounds and to take care of his bike. The other two will go and ride ahead. I’ll catch them in few days.
Anyway, the plan is to cross the border to Peru tomorrow. I am heading for a very small crossing so I hope it won’t take long and without any drama. I am looking so much forward to riding in Peru. It should be epic.
See you on the other side of the border in Peru.