Avenue of the Volcanos

Cycling from Quito, south to Baños

Danielle on the Trip

Ecuador was a couple of days riding and then usually a rest day or two in a town.  These towns were always small, the towns most tourists pass by.  As such we were usually the only tourists and quite a novelty.  My main memory of Ecuador is of the local markets.  We went to many and they ranged from just selling western goods that had been dumped on the SA market to real markets where they haggled individually over the price of llamas and sheep, sold the felt hats that typified Ecuadorian fashion and cooked and sold the local food. They were always colourful, the people and the food and products they sold.   

Macchachi

In Macchachi we stayed in a little Hacienda by the railroad, we call Maria's because that was the name of the lady we stayed with.  We ate the most amazing food there.  It was just like staying at home.  It was also the spot we rested and visited local markets before making our way to Cotapaxi Volcano.

Cotopaxi

From Macchachi we took the back road to Cotopaxi Volcano.  What started as quaint cobbled streets became a nightmare to cycle as extremely steep roads became increasingly difficult to climb.  We then hitched a ride in the back of a pick up to the top of the hill where the roads were easier.

Up higher the scenery was stunning, we rode through sparsely populated farming areas with plenty of stray dogs to pester us along the way, including one that got a little to close to David's boot for his own good.  Even after hitching the ride, we still had quite a way to and water was running out and the chill night air was threatening and as light was fading, the reassuring sound of trickling water and the camp ground a few hundred metres  away.

The next day we rode across the lava fields closer to the base of the Volcano.  The wind was ferocious and cold.  Soft volcanic dust made cycling difficult.  However once we hit the road on the other side it was all down hill on beautifully tarmacked roads. We hitched up along the back of a biking group and did an off road decent through some forests.  A great finish to a ride.

Latacunga

A stop off point really, a place to wash laundry, the old fashioned way by hand! It makes you appreciate the price you pay for white goods.  We did a side trip to some markets. David was promising he would let me shave his head so that was our other activity.

Before

After

Black Sheep Inn

From Latacunga we caught a local bus to Black Sheep Inn. This place is run as an Eco friendly hostel, that grows it's own vegetable and recycles waste etc.  It had a great atmosphere and a communal dining area where we met up with some other travellers that we continued to meet during the rest of our trip. 

The other feature was it's proximity to lots of walks, cloud forests,  crater lakes and markets - Zambahua - the most authentic markets we visited and the most awesome. 

We recommend this place www.blacksheepinn.com

Zambahua Markets

David & I arose early around 4am to make the journey to these markets.  We went especially early to see the trade in farm animals, donkeys, llama and pigs. The markets were amazing.  A sea of ponchos and hats, a multitude of colour and sounds. 

We made our way around the markets, observing and taking an incredible amount of photos.  Animals protested against the transfer of ownership.  But they weren't the only ones.  We were touched by the sign of a farm boy cling to his "pet" donkey, there fore sale.  I think I'll let the photos speak for themselves.  

Baños

My strongest memories of Baños are papaya pancakes with maple syrup that we ate almost every morning in our hostel.  We now mock tourist that come to Thailand and think that "Banana Pancakes are the best Thai food". What can I say, we were naive.

On the way down to Baños we stop off a a village that had many weavings for sale. In this market I remember having a conversation with some of the local women who made the weavings.  They were spinning wool by hand and a small bundle of fleece (three handfuls) would take a few days to spin into yarn.  When you think of how much time it takes to clean, spin and then weave the wool I almost felt like a thief when I bought a weaving for $10.

These ladies were funny to talk to.  One was 23 and already had 3 kids.  She couldn’t understand that I was travelling with my “Novio” (Boyfriend) and we were not married.  Also the fact that I was 26 and wasn’t married with kids.  They typically dressed in a dark woollen skirt, like a piece of square material that they wrapped around themselves.

They would wear a white blouse with frilly sleaves and often with flowers embroidered on them.  Then they would wrap their upper body in beautiful and bright shawls.  They always wore their hear in long plaits and wore felt hats.  The colour choice often identified them as belonging to a town or village.  I thought the women in Ecuador were the most elegant of all of south America.

When we ended up in Baños, having previously been off the main Gringo trail, arriving in this town was a shock.  We weren't the only tourists around, but in some respects the anonymity was nice.

When we took the bus back to Quito, on some of the same roads we had cycled, passing the many places that we had passed.  It was nice rewind on the last couple of weeks.

Danielle on Cycling:

We were glad to hit the road but we were also nervous, how would we go cycling through the traffic, would we get lost.  Thank god David is an excellent navigator, it must be all the years in Scouts.  If it were up to my sense of direction I would have gotten us lost on the first day.  I know this because I always felt like we were going in the wrong direction despite the fact that we always ended up in the right spot. 

I’ll confess that the cycling was tough.  Don’t be fooled that cycling requires physical strength.  Its 90% mental strength. We did a “bit” of training before we left and a few weekend rides but it was so different when we got there.  For starters, I had never ridden with all the panniers on, the 15-20kg of stuff is an incredible drag. It makes the bike handle so differently. The environmental differences were also tough, we were cycling at altitude (around 2500m - that’s higher than Australia’s highest mountain). Being in the Andes mountain range, we were constantly facing big climbs and then declines.  So what ever training advantages I had were nullified. 

This is when the mental toughness comes in.  When you are riding and all morning has been a climb it is a real effort to mentally psyche yourself to just keep going, one more hill and then a rest.  David was such a better rider than I was (he has done it before).  I would cycle too fast to try and keep up with David and then I’d just be so puffed out and I’d have to stop to recuperate.  

It took a long time to get used to riding slow enough that I didn’t exhaust myself.  I got so frustrated that I couldn’t do it, that the whole trip was going to be a failure and that I hated it.  David was patient with me at first and then rightly gave me a kick up the ass and said we either do it or send the bikes home. From then on I tried to take my time and not loose my patience with it.  It was still hard work and David took some of my weight and that made us "almost" even.

I started to learn to read the maps so I could anticipate what the days ride was going to be like.  I stopped waiting for the crest of the hill to rescue me from the agony of the climb and then was pleasantly surprised when I reached it.  I think cycling and endurance anything that takes you out of your comfort zone teaches you a lot about yourself, some things that you’d rather not know about at first.   But it also gives you some good lessons in life

We met a few cyclist along the road.  An older couple cycling North to South in their retirement, younger couples and a solo rider. There were also a couple of motor cycle tourist.  Definitely the way to travel if you have the time.