chasingsummerp.023
Chasing Summer p.023
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Dec 31st - Banos to Cuenca
Interactive Track : http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1607
Today was an awesome riding day that would have been even better if it hadn’t rained a good third of the time . I think it rained everyday since I’ve set foot in SA, except along the coast. And it’s not even the 'wet season' Remi suggested to take the road east of Banos to get closer to the jungle and go through interesting dirt roads.
I start with a breakfast that decidedly looks like lunch or dinner in those countries. I see that the pork skin stands are already open, but early morning… no thanks!
Oh, here is another tradition: people build those representations of either bad events (often political) or people that will be burned on New Year's eve at midnight. A way to 'clean' the bad of the past and start fresh for the new year. I see them everywhere, on the curbs or on cars...
Then it’s ‘La ruta de las Cascadas’ (waterfalls hwy) that follows the Rio Pastaza canyon with a dozen waterfalls on the way. There are several tunnels but I choose the dirt detours that go along the cliff instead.
It offers great views on the canyon
First stop at the Pailon del Diablo (Devil’s cauldron), the most famous waterfall in Ecuador.
It’s about 20 mn walk to go down but it’s really worth it!
If you're ready for a 'shower' you can see it loud and close
Soon after that, at Machay, the rain starts and severely limits the visibility. According to the LP I should see bromeliads, giant tree ferns and orchids but I can’t see anything. We’ll have to take their world for it.
When the rain slows down I notice however that the vegetation became more tropical. When reaching Rio Negro it feels like being in a jungle. Here is one of the typical houses I saw there.
Puyo is the only real ‘town’ on that road and again the atmosphere is quite different from what I’ve seen so far. After that the road becomes dirt and if there are a few village names on the map I can’t see much more than a few houses here or there. I don’t see cars in any of them either! Just a couple of small bikes... and of course a few road blocks
!
After a while the road goes closer again to the Rio Pastaza and in Chuitayo a pretty impressive (for being in a middle of nowhere) bridge takes me on the west side of the rio. View from the bridge:
The road is mostly paved to Macas but from there to Cuenca it alternates between narrow twisty pavement and dirt. It’s challenging and fun and also beautiful when the weather lets me see something.
Pretty awesome road!
If I like to see the clouds from a distance it's really hell when you go through them...
One of the water crossing on the way...
Finally the sun came back soon before to arrive in Cuenca
I kept an excellent souvenir of Cuenca from my previous visit and I’m looking forward to spend time there again. It’s just as beautiful as I remember it!
It’s pretty active too at the end of the afternoon in preparation of New Year eve.
But strangely enough it turns rather quiet later that evening. I had picked Cuenca as a good place for this special night but either we haven’t found where it ‘all happens’ or it was just a wrong pick.
With a group from the hostel we have a few drink but have a hard time finding anything else that a fast-food equivalent for dinner. It looks like all the better places are closed for the evening. Well, it’s not a gastronomic New Year’s eve but it’s still fun with the streets illuminated by the ‘paper statues’ burning and the individual fireworks.
Jan 1st - Cuenca & Cajas NP
The advantage of a quiet last night is that I can be up and ready early this morning. I heard that the Cajas NP is gorgeous and huge and so I want to be able to spend some time there. The guides recommend warm and waterproof gear because the park is between 4000 and 4500m and is usually cold/windy/rainy. On the bike I feel a bit lazy: the weather and temperature is fine in Cuenca and the idea of freezing up there is not appealing. As soon as I get closer to the park this feeling disappears though because it’s spectacular!
The park his huge (28,500 hectares), has 235 lakes identified and beautiful rock formations.
I stop at the pass (2,150m) and start to hike, without looking much at a map. I follow what barely looks like a trail for half hour...
... before to join a larger trail used apparently by mules. I continue my ascension, often in mud (mules really mess up trails) and rocks, pausing once in a while to get used to the altitude.
I was amazed to see so many flowers and with such a variety.
It's like there was 2 dimensions here: the huge scale of the scenery and, when looking down, a different world, minuscule and delicate. Both just as beautiful though.
Although larger the 'mule trail' was not necessary easier
But the scenery is still as beautiful
After a couple of hours, seeing that the trail was apparently not ‘looping’ back I decide to go on my own. I have food and water, what could happen to me? Except of course if I break my bones!
In fact it’s relatively easy here to make your own path in this park, although way slower. I verify that my steps are not marking the ground and I then walk on a spongy moss in a beautiful ground and scenery.
Water is everywhere. In this one you can see (barely) the plants growing even completely under water
While here is an example of that 'moss'. At the beginning I thought it was a rock covered by it but the whole 'ball' is vegetal and soft.
Sometimes it’s more arduous with tall herbs and rock ‘climbing’ but it’s really fun. What’s really impressive here is the silence. It’s only troubled once in a while by the sound of the wind, of the water or a couple of birds but often times I hear nothing at all.
It takes me 4 hours to continue the visit and get back to my bike. Looking at the map I’ve must have seen no more than a 1/100th of the park! But before to go back I have one last great surprise...
Jan 2nd – Cuenca
I spend more time this morning in the city's cobblestone streets, and marble and whitewashed buildings.
This is the new cathedral, finished just 40 years ago (after 80 years of construction)
I realize that, although I love to wonder around in Cuenca's old streets, very few stand out as photographic subjects. It's more about atmosphere and global charm here...
One of the reasons I’m staying one more day here is to change my chain and sprockets. I still have a bit of life in them but I’d rather not get stranded later since I don’t have the tools to do it myself.
I call the KTM dealer and he’s OK for me to come by. I’m about ready to go when I notice a KTM 450 in the hostal owner’s office. I introduce myself and ask him for directions but he advises me instead to go to the same small shop that he goes because it’s much cheaper. And he can takes me there too
.
We discuss quite a bit. I show Juan this report while he shows me his pictures of his dirt rides around. Cuenca is famous in Ecuador for enduro and many people ride dirt bikes here. Just 30 minutes out of the city and you have plenty of hills and mountains where you’re pretty much free to go anywhere. Not a terrain for the 950 though as it’s very muddy.
Juan then takes me to the shop and then for lunch and a tour of the city. As usual having a local perspective and knowledge changes everything on the way to discovering a city. Too bad I have often too little time to establish this kind of connection.
Here is the lunch place in the new town. The meat was absolutely fantastic! The side order was Motte again but a different kind, with eggs, a specialty of Cuenca.
View from above of Cuenca (located at 2500m - 8200 ft) and its 4 rivers!
The shop is awesome! They changed the chain and both sprockets and spent 2 hours doing a thorough cleaning of the bike for only $10!
I had not cleaned the bike since San Francisco, partly because some people recommend it to minimize the attraction for thieves. It makes sense but in the same time this bike really stands out, dirty or not, amongst the local ones. So for the new year I thought she deserved a treat!
In the shop too an interesting 'Suz-Harley'
And my beauty, as shiny as the first day
Jan 3rd - Cuenca to Pilalo
Interactive Track : http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1605
Pretty bad day today, mostly because it rained most of the time. I’m tired of it. It’s started well though with an OK weather in Cuenca and through the still beautiful NP El Cajas. I’m heading North to Quito but I didn’t want to take the Panamerican that I will use going South when returning from Quito to Peru. So I will be on the hwy 25, the first parallel road west of the Andes. The goal is also to sleep in the Laguna Quilotoa to visit it the next morning.
The rain starts right after the pass in El Cajas when I enter the clouds. That rain is nasty
It’s like myriads of small droplets and I can’t see anything! I cannot go fast enough for the wind to chase the water on my visor and when I open the visor it hurts my eyes pretty bad.
The downhill lasts one hour but between the rain and the very bad road it seemed like it lasted forever. It’s only at the bottom that the rain stops.
It’s like another word here! There is definitely more African influence in the people and it’s all about fruits culture: bananas, mangos, papayas, coconuts…
I was expecting foothills but it’s rather flat. Without the GPS I can’t check the elevation but it seems that it’s already the coastal plain. The main city on my way is Milagro and is not particularly attractive.
You may think that my mood influenced the choice of my pics, but no, it was really like that!
The road is okay, with lot of plantations and many people selling fruits alongside the road. It rains again then pauses for a while. There is a lot of water everywhere (no kidding
) and many houses are built on 'pillars'.
What's nice though is that there are fruit vendors all along the road, making nice color spots on a rather grey environment
In Ventanas I stop for eating and let pass the heaviest of the rain. It’s 2:30 PM when I’m back on the road and there are still about 3 hours to the accommodations close to the Laguna. I try to increase the pace but it’s difficult with the rain.
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Yep, soon after La Mana I get yet another puncture! Just last night I had posted that punctures were not such a big deal, even with tubes and I guess I just jinxed myself. Luckily I bought a heavy duty spare front tube yesterday at the shop so I can repair it more easily.
Of course that doesn’t put me ahead of schedule but I continue anyway. Soon after a pueblo called Esperanza the road climbs and turns to dirt. The rain increases, it gets darker and my clothes are wet. It’s really starting to look bad and I’m pondering my options while continuing on my way.
It’s after 5 PM now and I stop on a small pueblo (I learned later that it was Pilalo) to ask them where the next hostel is. The answer is that I should go back to La Esperanza because the next one on the other way is at one hour from here. Damn, I hate to backtrack! But a 3rd person comes by and says that the restaurant owner can rent a room. Yeah!
I check at the restaurant and then follow the lady for half a mile to their house. I have to go through the garage and the courtyard (inhabited by chickens) to access the room
As you can see it's quite opened to the elements: no windows on the left and no door on the room besides a shower curtain. With no heater it’s going to be cold tonight. But it’s dry and it has a bed so considering the circumstances it’s perfect for me!
BTW the bike is now as dirty as it was yesterday morning
