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Ecuador 23rd May 2009
We feel that we have had a few ups and downs recently, both with the hills and also our emotional state.
After resolving our bike problems, we rode out of Loja with a little anxiety. Although the wheels and hubs on both bikes seemed fine, Dave's bike was still making strange squeaking and grinding noises. We are hoping that it isn't another weakness in the frame.
From Loja, we were keen to get back on the road and to discover more of Ecuador but Dave had succumbed to a stomach bug. By the time we had climbed up the hill out of Loja, it was obvious that he needed the afternoon off. We checked into a hostel and hoped that it was only a 24 hour bug.
The hostel was pretty grotty as we had to share our room with numerous insects so early the next day we decided to push on and try and head towards the coast. Over the next two days we began to experience the Ecuadorian hills that we had heard about and only managed to appreciate the spectacular tropical views and mountain vistas when we stopped to catch our breath.
Two days of hills and cycling in the humidity finally drained the last reserves of Dave's energy and he called for a couple of days rest to try and get over his virus. What with all the bike problems, Dave feeling ill and technical glitches in the website, we were both left feeling frustrated and began to experience our first real low point in our journey. We felt like we weren't really in the right frame of mind to fully appreciate Ecuador, it hadn't grabbed us as much as the hustle and bustle of Peru.
A couple of rest days in Camilla Ponce Enriquez seemed to do the trick. With nothing else to do in the town we just slept and ate and began to list all the things that we liked about Ecuador, such as the peace and quiet. In Peru we often found that the honking of horns was always present no matter where we went. Every single car seemed to beep us - to announce their presence, wave manically at us or more commonly, to indicate that if we didn't get out of the way then we would be run off the road.
Likewise the tranquillity of the towns and villages in Ecuador were also a nice pleasant surprise- we could sleep without the ever present barrage of noise generated from the tuc tucs, horns, music and life being played out on the streets. In Peru we got used to cycling quite aggressively, ploughing our way through the traffic. Whereas in Ecuador, both drivers and pedestrians pay attention to the rules of the road and so we have calmed our cycling tactics down which has made cycling into cities such as Guayaquil an easier experience!
After a proper rest, things began to look up for us. We met Austin, an American cyclist who was en-route to Guayaquil to finish his 15 month cycle trip. As he was going our way and like us, wasn't in a rush to get to Guayaquil we decided to cycle with each other for a few days. His enthusiasm for Ecuador rubbed off on us and we began to look forward to visiting the volcanoes, waterfalls and hot springs that he had told us so much about. Cycling with Austin who was on a recumberant bike was definitely a different experience and we giggled as we watched people's reactions to his unusual bike and array of horns that he had installed onto his bike.
After cycling past banana plantation after banana plantation (apparently 90 percent of low land forests in Ecuador have been cleared to make way for banana plantations for exportation) we stumbled upon a beautiful natural swimming pool/river where we were able to cool off as fish nibbled our toes. We had a little bit of an audience watching us, but they then told us to carry on further down the road to experience the hot springs and suggested that we might be able to camp there too.
NB for other cyclists- To find the river/natural pool - enter Jesus Maria and take the road which leads towards Cuenca. It is about 2kms from Jesus Maria on the right hand side beside the road.
The hot springs turned out to be a little village made up of a series of private hot springs complexes. We stopped at the last complex and we were granted permission to camp as long as we paid the entrance fee of one dollar. It was fantastic as we had four hot springs all to ourselves to enjoy for the night, as well as a shower, toilets, a place to cook and a safe place to camp. We couldn't have asked for better!
The hot springs are about 8km away from the pool. Carry on up the road for about another 3km and take the road on the right hand side for a further 5km or so (there is sign for the hot springs). We were allowed to camp at the very last hot springs complex across the river.
The following day we decided to have a short, leisurely ride to the village of Taura which sits on the edge of a natural reserve and once again we couldn't believe our luck with camping. We were granted permission to camp on a finca (farm) which had recently been taken over by a couple who were in the process of turning it into a tourist retreat. They were keen cyclists and took a lot of interest in our travels. They introduced us to the fruits that they were growing on their farm and showed us how chocolate was made from the seeds of the cacao plant. The following morning they had prepared a breakfast of fresh papaya and bananas for us along with hot chocolate.
After saying goodbye to the couple and their beautiful parrots that fly freely around their farm, we headed towards Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil. The city is famous for the huge iguanas that roam around the parks and plazas and the Malecon-a new waterfront development and promenade. Dave and I are looking forward to soaking up the city, visiting the anthropological museum and checking out their art house cinema.
On Monday, our friends Deborah and Jack will be arriving to join us for two weeks which we are really excited about. Together we plan to head inland to escape the humidity and visit the Andean markets, volcanoes and waterfalls that we have head so much about.
P.S. With six months on the road we have now found that our inbox is now a little quiet, we would love to hear how everyone is back home!
13th May 2009
After having spent two weeks with Lucho and his family in the Casa de Ciclistas, waiting for our parcel of spares to arrive, we had found ourselves in a comfortable routine in Trujillo.
Our days would start out with a visit to the nearby market, enjoying a jug of fresh papaya juice and followed by a slice of sponge cake. From there, we would buy ingredients for our second breakfast-fresh bread, avocado and tomato and more tropical fruit which we would take back to eat on the Casa de Ciclistas terrace, chatting over coffee with the other cyclists.
After breakfast, Dave would help Lucho with laying the roof on one of the bedrooms, whilst I would go over to meet with his wife, Selly who would spend the morning teaching me how to cook cakes and Peruvian food.
Once Selly's empanadas were ready, I would volunteer to look after her two year old son, Lance, so that she could take the empanadas to the market.
Later in the afternoon, I would head back to the house and help Dave paint the room and then spend the evening on the terrace chatting and making dinner.
After two weeks and being made "godparents" of the newly decorated room, it was finally time to say our goodbyes and finally pick up our spares. We were a little worried that we would have to pay huge tax fees on our parcel, but Dave managed to switch on his charm and sweet talked the customs people into turning a blind eye to our tax fees!
From Chiclayo, we headed back towards Jaen and met up with quite a few of the Peruvian cyclists who had participated in the Chiclayo road races.
Miguel the owner of the bike shop, El Ciclista kindly changed our chain and cassette for us and then sent us onwards to Perico. We stayed the night with another cyclist; Milton Flores (he also hosts passing cyclists, just ask in Perico for directions to his house) who has been the Peruvian National Mountain Biker champion for a number of years. We spent a nice evening chatting to Milton and his wife and although we were invited to stay a few more days we were keen to head onwards towards Ecuador.
Although we knew the area we were cycling through sat on the edges of the jungle, we hadn't quite prepared ourselves for the intensity of the humidly and a couple of times when we were climbing up gentle hills we had to stop before we were sick from the heat!
We thought that as we cycled towards the small town of San Ignacio, which is nestled further up in the mountains, that the temperature would drop. This was not the case, the humidity and heat lingered making our 20km climb up to San Ignacio very slow. The problem was that there was no respite, every time we stopped to catch our breath we would be eaten alive by tiny black flies who feasted up any exposed part of our bodies, leaving us with a huge number of itchy bites. We couldn't decide which was worse, the humidity or the flies.
We were very pleased to be finally back on the road again. It still amazes me how quickly we can pass through different landscapes and climates. From Jaen we cycled past paddy fields and banana plantations. On the climb towards San Ignacio, the landscape gave way to coffee plantations, tropical trees and the beginnings of cloud forest. Many of the villages had coffee beans which were spread out by the roadside to dry.
After spending the night in San Ignacio, we looked forward to crossing over into our fifth country, Ecuador. Signs were good, we had a cooler day with cloud cover and were in good spirits, but things suddenly began to take a turn for the worse.
First of all, Dave spent the morning cycling somewhat drunk, as a group of guys had offered him some fruit juice to cool down, after taking a few big glugs, Dave began to turn red and spluttered, much to the amusement of the men. The juice turned out to be pure alcohol with a dash of juice for colour. Then, about 20km from the border I could no longer propel myself forward on my bike, as there was no tension on the pedals. After further investigation, we found that my rear cassette holder wasn't engaging properly. Dave informed me that it was something to do with the hub.
So we sat forlorn in a tiny village not knowing whether to turn back to Jaen or carry on to Ecuador, to laugh at the situation or cry. I certainly couldn't pedal and Dave was unable to fix the bike. We had chosen this route to cross into Ecuador, as it is a very quiet crossing, as such there was absolutely no traffic on the roads except the occasional motorbike or collectivo car. The villagers informed us that a few of them had been waiting for seven hours trying to get lifts.
We waited a couple of hours in the village without any joy and eventually found out that one man in the village owned a car. Dave went to investigate and found that it was an estate. For 20 dollars the owner agreed to take us to the border and we just about managed to fit both our bikes and bags into the car. Dave and I sat squashed in the front with the driver, looking out of his smashed windscreen whilst holding onto each other for dear life, as he took the hairpin bends at speed. We felt bad that there was no room to take the man who had been waiting seven hours for a lift.
The border crossing at La Balsa was probably one of the most relaxed that we have ever been through. The police looked like they were preparing for a fiesta and demanded that we buy them a large bottle of cola from the Ecuadorian side of the border (it was cheaper to buy it in Ecuador!) and once we had returned with the cola, they would then let us out of Peru "officially."
After delivering them their drink, we found the customs man chasing chickens in the garden and he quickly stamped our passports. We pushed our bikes across the border, very disappointed that we were not able to cycle this part of the journey and wondered what new adventures Ecuador would bring.
Once on the Ecuadorian side, we were immediately given medicals in case we were carrying the swine flu virus. After being poked and prodded, we were given the all clear to pass through immigration and informed that a bus/truck would be arriving at 5.30pm which would be able to take us to Zumba and then from there they recommended that we get to Loja, a town which would more than likely have bike repair shops.
The bus-come-truck surprisingly turned up on time, it was a rickety old wooden bus without any windows or side panels but we managed to fit the bikes and bags into the back. The hour and a half journey was through spectacular cloud forest, which just about managed to divert our attention from the steep and terribly bumpy road. We held on for dear life, to each other and our bikes as the bus took the gravel roads and bends like a racing car driver.
After spending two days in Loja, my bike is finally fixed (fingers crossed it will hold). One bike shop dismantled my wheel and hub and then proclaimed they couldn't fix it. They took the wheel, in pieces, to another nearby mechanic, but lost a ring in the process.
The new mechanic proclaimed the wheel was fixed, however when we went to put it back on the bike the chain sagged every time I came to a standstill. So today we returned to the mechanic who once again took my wheel and hub apart. Mystified as to why it wasn't working, he then asked Dave if he could see inside the cassette and hub of his back wheel. Reluctantly Dave agreed and within two minutes, we ended up having two bike wheels that didn't work. Our worst nightmare.
At this point I nearly cried, but the mechanic perserved, and all credit to him, he made new springs for my hub and figured out how to put the hub and cassette back together again so that the chains didn't sag. Relief! Both the mechanic and Dave agreed that they had learnt something new about putting bikes together!
We are hoping that the bikes will now get us to Guayaquil (via the coastal route) where Debs and Jack will be bringing over spares for us and we hope that the bikes hold up for the foreseeable future.
It is only now, that we have had time to reflect upon our journey through Peru. We found visiting Peru for the second time round was very rewarding. We loved getting off the beaten track, up into the mountains and chatting with a huge variety of people that we met along the way.
For me, I loved the hustle and bustle of Peru, especially the colourful markets where we would try and sample foods we had never seen before. I love the fact that there always seemed to be people selling food along the streets and we often found ourselves grazing along the way, indulging in mazzamora, stuffed potatoes or chocho. We still don't feel that we have seen half the country and would like to come back a third time at some point to visit the jungle and areas such as Chachapoyas, trek in the Cordillera Blanca, as well as revisiting friends we have made along the way.
Cycling through Peru was certainly tough due to the altitude and monster climbs, and at times the weather and roads were incredibly difficult, as probably were my moods during our mammoth climbs! It was definitely a challenge and I never thought that I would be able to cycle up to 4700m.
1st May 2009 and celebrating 6 months on the road.
We left Trujillo with our sights set on heading to Jaen and back up into the cooler mountains before crossing into Ecuador, however things didn't quite turn out the way that we had planned.
We had heard from Lucho, the owner of a Casa de Ciclistas (a house that has received over 1000 touring cyclists from all over the globe) that a town called Paijan (50km north of Trujillo) had a history of muggings, especially foreign cyclists and so he decided to accompany us for the two day cycle ride to Chiclayo, as he is well known in the local area.
We wondered if the stories of muggings etc had been somewhat exaggerated until just before we entered Paijan, when we were stopped by the national police and told not to linger around the town. As we sped off they followed us, giving us an escort until we were well out of the town and safely in the desert.
Lucho is a fantastic road cyclist and racer and I think that he and Dave secretly decided to see how fast they could cycle over the two days through the somewhat boring but flat stretch of desert to Chiclayo. For me, it meant two days of being pushed well beyond what I thought my limits were. Lucho wouldnt allow me to drop below 25kmph and if ever I did he would come up behind me and either push or pull me to increase my average speed. I couldn't help thinking that it reminded me of running with Dave Northern and Mike Leonard for the Thursday night training runs with Lytchett Manor Striders in Poole. Although I was quietly complaining to myself under my breath, I was amazed to find that we covered about 110km in just over 4 hours. Unfortunately, now that I have proved that I can cycle at a quicker pace, Dave has commented that it might be quite nice if I put a bit more effort into my cycling when we are on our own, instead of plodding along in my own thoughts!
In Chiclayo, we stayed at another Casa de Ciclistas, a friend of Lucho?s and the owner gave us a fantastic room in his hotel. We are constantly amazed at people's kindness to open their arms to host us and we quite amused to discover that the rest of the paying guests seemed to be paying for their room by the hour and the cliental seemed to change with quite rapid speed. I wonder why?
We accompanied Lucho to watch a road bike race that was being held in the centre of Chiclayo, a very busy town with chaotic traffic. The race, 40 laps of the main plaza turned out to be an absolute shambles which was a real shame for the riders, some of whom had travelled quite a few miles to attend the event.
Problems started with a two and a half hour delay. Once the races began, it was quite evident that there were hardly any marshals and few roads were blocked off in the centre, it was an accident waiting to happen. People were walking out in front of the speeding cyclists completely unaware of the race and so it was left to the supporters to shout at the pedestrians on the street. Dave dived like a hero to save two little children from being knocked over by the main peloton.
After that, a man thought it was fun to run in and out of the cyclists. Rather than restraining him, a supporting spectator decided to give chase and once he had caught up with the man, he decided to batter him with the rim of a wheel. Sickeningly, two other men joined in to beat the man up whilst a crowd raced in front of the peloton to get a better look. He was eventually carried off on a stretcher looking very limp.
All of us, the supporters and cyclists were outraged at how the event had been organized and how the man was treated. The organizers of the race hadn't followed any standard protocol and as such it is chaotic events such as these that give certain sports a bad name.
We said our goodbyes to Lucho and after a bit of sightseeing (to see the jewels and artifacts of Sipan) we got back on our bikes again, looking forward to the mountains. We had a great morning speeding out of Chiclayo and by 11 o'clock we had already covered 80kms. Unfortunately, Dave's bike started to make awful sounds and he began wobbling all over the hard shoulder. We assumed that his bottom bracket had gone and so managed to phone a few bike shops ahead to see if we could get a replacement-we couldn't. We called Lucho who told us to jump on a bus and back track the 300 odd kms or so to Trujillo where he had the right spare parts. So five hours later, we were back saying hello to the other cyclists and got our old room back. It turns out that the problem was a little more serious than the bottom bracket...
In the meantime, Dave is helping Lucho do a bit of labouring, laying a roof and I have been learning to cook empanadas (like Cornish pastries), lemon pie and mazzamora with Lucho's wife.
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