Pedro and Maria Motorcycle South America!: Riobamba to Cuenca, Ecuador, 135 miles

We woke up in our lovely comfy bed, walked down to enjoy some breakfast ($2 for toast, eggs, juice and coffee) in our hotel. The man that runs the hotel was shuffling around all nervous like as usual and his kitchen helper was a hummer…which solved the mystery of the humming noises I heard while having a shower earlier.

As we packed up the bike, the owner of the hotel stated and insisted we hadn’t paid the night before; we had, but proving this became impossible and after a long conversation between him and Mike, we had to fork up another $30 bucks. What we call a trip f-you, the room costs us $60 bucks. Frustrating, but not much you can do except remember to get a receipt of payment from here on.

We hit the road, trying to forget about the morning f-you. Fortunately as soon as we headed out of town, the scenery was amazing and the road in prime condition, we quickly forgot about the mornings mishap. The countryside looked more like Ireland or Italy than South America. There were rolling hills with beautifully colored crops and small little villages tucked away. The indigenous people here like to wear those tiny little top hats and brightly colored garb. The women seem to love the bright red almost hot pink shawls. You can easily spot them on the hillside against the bright green grass. It was breathtaking. Even though the air was a bit nippy, we finally got to take advantage of our warm gear and felt quite comfortable all bundled up.

The rolling hills turned into steep mountains, the Andes, and the views along the road were outstanding. I hadn’t thought too much about Ecuador prior to this trip, but I have a whole new appreciation for the country, the ride was the best we’d had. As we climbed up and down the steep mountains the roads turned to dirt, still decently maintained. On the dirt roads came the kids who hold the ropes out, to block the road in hope of forcing you to pay a ‘toll’. The first one we hit had a few kids, they let the bus in front of us by, but as we approached they lifted it up. Adam whizzed right through, but then they raised it higher for us, Mike kept going and then last minute slammed on the breaks, but just as we started to stop, they lowered the rope and we continued on. I think they probably have had a few bad rope burns and don’t like to play chicken with a motorcyclist! I had heard about the kids with the ropes, and as we passed, was relieved that we made it though… Well, that wasn’t the end of it. For the entire stretch of the road there were at least 5 other places with the kids trying to get something off the passing tourists. Our savior for a couple of the spots was the bus directly behind us; we got a free pass. After our third, I think Mike just didn’t care anymore, rope burns or not, we weren’t even slowing down. I honestly can’t imagine that anyone would stop, pay and not just smack the kid for trying to destroy their car. First of all, I don’t think they could stop a passing vehicle without hurting themselves more, and who in their right mind is going to pay someone that is trying to jeopardize their drive? Obviously they are out there for a reason though…

We stopped at one of the breath-taking vistas and had a group of little kids, giggling and clinging on to each other slowing walk up to us and just stare. They were all giggling and checking us out in amazement. I gave them a pack of gum which I think made their day.

Adam’s KLR kicked our butt on the dirt roads, but Yoshita did quite well; she’s a champ. Just as we got back onto tarmac it started to rain. Yes, it rained, and rained, and didn’t seem to stop for quite some time. In the past when it has rained, it was almost refreshing as it has been so hot, but up here in the Andes mountains, it’s another story. Ice cold air and non-stop rain make for a very uncomfortable ride. My helmet mask was completely fogged over, as well as mike’s so he had to keep it slightly open as the icey cold rain struck his face. We were cruising at about 20 mph for at least a couple hours. We kept the hope of the rain dying down and continued truckin’ along, icy feet and hands. Our gear (jacket and pants) are GREAT in the rain, we are completely dry underneath, but our gloves and boots are another story. I need waterproof gloves!!!

After sometime, who knows how long, as when I get that uncomfortable I tend to get my mind off such things and start thinking about Candy, my home or a hot shower, we stopped to try and find some warm food. Our only option was French fries with a filleted hot dog all fancy like, but that and the little break did the trick and we hit the wet rainy road again. Soon after, sunshine! The sun was never more appreciated as we slowly dried and got to enjoy yet again the great surroundings to our drive.

We made it to Cuenca, and even though our boots were still soaked, our clothes had dried off. The outskirts of Cuenca was beautiful, one of the nicest, cleanest cities I’ve seen on this trip. There were plenty of residential track homes surrounded by parks filled with families out for their Sunday afternoon. It obvious isn’t a poor town and was refreshing after the many poverty stricken towns in Central America. The old center is even more beautiful. Cobblestone streets and old colonial buildings, beautiful churches, cafes, this city has it all. We found a nice little hotel, and even though we splurged for $25 a night, our bike is safely parked in the lobby and our bed has a real mattress and plenty of hot water.

At night, we walked the streets as the news from the new President of Ecuador was announced in which every car on the street with honking a little tune and waving a flag of Correa (Spanish for Belt) who just got elected. The honking at first was interesting, but these people go nuts, they can’t stop, they love the horn and they must love their new president!

After some pizza, we made it to an Austrian Café for cake. I guess they must not be known for their cake, a bit disappointing, I guess we should stick to Sausages when it comes to the Austrians…

Mike and I got to watch one of our $1 movies in bed, it was great! You, me and Depree; funny and entertaining. I don’t know if every movie we’ve watched is really that good, or just the comfort of enjoying a movie is great???

Tomorrow we’ll stay another night in this beautiful city to be able to see it before we’re off towards Peru.

Welcome to the high Andes