Ecuador

Thursday 8th October
Popayan to Otovalo

A border crossing, long run to get there nice twisty roads though took some time, got to the boarder 2.30pm then had a very long wait till got through as the computer was very slow. In the last group we didn’t get out of the boarder till 6.45 pm. Rode in the dark in Ecuador, border town did not have any petrol stations open due to petrol smuggling the next station 60 miles away, put my spare in jims bike, Julia and Mac running on reserve just as they were about to run out we found an open station, had dinner (rice and meat balls) then on to the hotel. As we had rode at night I didn’t get any impression of Ecuador.

Miles
Today :301
Total : 12771
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Friday 9th October
Otovalo to Quito
Cross the Equator

Very short day, we took a relaxed ride to the Equator where of course we stopped to take pictures, we were allowed to take the bikes right on to the area around the monument marker. Although the roads seem to be good at the moment the short ride still has not allowed me to get any real impression of the country.

Miles
Today :69
Total : 12840
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Saturday 10th October
Quito to Cuenca

Negotiating our way out of this large bustling city was not easy, it’s a complex maze of busy streets and traffic. The ride took us into the mountains past small villages and farms. Although the scenery was impressive there was an impression that life here high up is very hard, with people ploughing the fields using oxen and hand guided ploughs. A number of times I saw people carrying large loads of wood on their backs, most of whom were wearing traditional clothes associated with Peru. Riding along the plateau I came across a development in the middle of nowhere, incredibly the sign said it was a Golf course, and I could not believe that money was being spent on this and not to improve the infrastructure for the people here. Later in the ride we hit fog and rain with badly potholed roads this slowed us to a crawl, after coming out of the fog stopped at a petrol station and found the top hose on my bike about to come off. I spent some time resetting the hose and the stainless steel jubilee clip even though the system was still very hot, using a socket to tighten it this time. Hopefully this will sort this issue that has been plaguing me for some time.

Miles
Today : 288
Total : 13128
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Sunday 11th October
Cuenca to Macara

Today we ride to the border town of Macara in preparation to cross into Peru. Again we rode through the mountains of Ecuador with its twisty potholed roads and great views of the mountains. Riding high we hit some substantial rain and put the wet weather gear on, as the road was difficult and twisty the ride continued into the dark, when we descended the temperature rose but wanting to get there, kept the wet weather gear on slowly boiling, but eventually reaching the small boarder town of Macara. This town is very basic with little facilities basically a stop over point for the boarder crossing, it was when we arrived that we found out there had been two bad crashes, one required the bike transported to the hotel on the back of a pick-up, Nigel had been going around a bend when a pickup had appeared, hitting the brakes he fell hard, the bike suffered damage to the screen and top end and he had severe bruising to his shoulder. The other accident occurred to Simon (he joined us in Bogotá) he had a flat tyre at 50 mph and could not control the bike. Luckily he had little damage to the bike or himself, the luggage (metal mules) simply had scratches on them, and a broken clutch lever mount. It was lucky both bikes were patched up and rideable the next day as we did not have our support van it was still in customs.

Miles
Today : 269
Total : 13397
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