Wednesday, 10 December 2008
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We have managed to nothing for a whole day! Lovely and lazy day.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
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Acclimatizing at Casa del Condor in the stunning village San Pablo. The vulcano Chimborazo is majastetic.
Monday, 8 December 2008
Riobamba
After a terrible long ride uphill yesterday, we camped well hidden from the Panamericana highway. As the pasta gently spread lovely smell around the tent, the fog tightened around us and it was time to eat and sleep (after 6 more chapters in the very exciting books....). The water filter proved its efficiency, turning diaper marinated water into lovely drinking water.
We were brutally awoken by a squeaking duck (a dog toy) and a group of locals around our tent. They were fascinated by our presence, while we were tired and annoyed. They left us awake, and a new day had started. The cycles brought us down to Cañar where we had lunch, and then Tambos where we realized that we were tired of bicycling. We took the first bus to Riobamba, and here we are!
Tomorrow, we will check what possibilities Riobamba can offer, and also check out trips to Baños and Chimborazo. There will also be a possibility of new pictures on the blog. The place we are now has asked us nicely not to upload any pictures with a large poster right in front of us.
We were brutally awoken by a squeaking duck (a dog toy) and a group of locals around our tent. They were fascinated by our presence, while we were tired and annoyed. They left us awake, and a new day had started. The cycles brought us down to Cañar where we had lunch, and then Tambos where we realized that we were tired of bicycling. We took the first bus to Riobamba, and here we are!
Tomorrow, we will check what possibilities Riobamba can offer, and also check out trips to Baños and Chimborazo. There will also be a possibility of new pictures on the blog. The place we are now has asked us nicely not to upload any pictures with a large poster right in front of us.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
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Tenting after wine for breakfast and an exhausting bicycle day. Surrounded by pedestrian crossing sounding birds.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Cuenca - Azogues
We planned to leave Cuenca early today but had to delay the departure after staying up until 2 in the night yesterday (probably our record on this trip). The reason was a very nice Austrian/Bolivian couple we met in our hostel and with whom we cooked, ate, drank and chated the whole evening away. We even got a "Krampussackerl" from them (thank you!) and lit our adventcandle.
Nevertheless, at 1430 we said good bye to wonderful Cuenca and started biking the Panamerica up north. Describing the surrounding just needs one word: green. Green gras, bushes and trees everywhere. The Panamerica in Ecuador is far bigger than the one in Peru (at least as the part we biked), having two or even three lanes on each side and more traffick as well. Even though we just biked for two and a half hours we reached Azogues, 35 km away. Hip hip hurray for asphalt!
In Azogues we found a hostel right at the main plaza, which we can overview from our own balcony.
Nevertheless, at 1430 we said good bye to wonderful Cuenca and started biking the Panamerica up north. Describing the surrounding just needs one word: green. Green gras, bushes and trees everywhere. The Panamerica in Ecuador is far bigger than the one in Peru (at least as the part we biked), having two or even three lanes on each side and more traffick as well. Even though we just biked for two and a half hours we reached Azogues, 35 km away. Hip hip hurray for asphalt!
In Azogues we found a hostel right at the main plaza, which we can overview from our own balcony.
Friday, 5 December 2008
A walk in the park
We have finally used our feet and backpacks again after some long stretches with bicycle and bus. It was wonderful. The bus dropped us off at a 4000m altitude after a short hour, and we followed an unmarked path southwards into the park. At 1300 we stumbeled upon one of the nicest camp spots we have seen so far, and could not leave it unused. We rolled out the carry mats and sleeping bags outside in the sun, and read/slept until it darkened. We were a couple of hours behind schedule, and had to catch up the lost time the two next days.
Several orchids and several rare flowers are growing at this altitude, along with trees growing in cloud forests. The foggy and cloudy climate ensures enough humidity, and the soil would give any gardener wet dreams. The flowers really look happy with their life.
We passed two passed at mere 4100 meters the second day, and crossed the landscape from one path to another. The highland landscape reminds us a bit of Norway (around Lysefjorden), and the lowlands could be taken right out from Austria. The second tent spot was near a large lake, and we woke up with fresh footprints outside the tent, probably from a fox (not the 200kg spectacle bear we wanted). The park is absolutely stunningly beautiful. However, walking on a schedule stresses us a bit, compared to the walks we had in the south of Peru without any sense of time at all.
The third, and last, day of our treks was also the hardest, climbing down 1000m. We had to pass a difficult stretch of cloud forest. We were ducking under stems and climbing over roots, all in a muddy paradise. After decending to 3200 meters, we met the first people, greeting us with "Berg heil". Who else than a group of Austrians? As the thunder rolled behind us, we managed to get dry and still smiling to the road where we took the bus back to Cuenca.
Eirik had a haircut at the most old fasioned and dodgy looking barber we could find. After placing Eirik in one of the old fashion barber chairs (that are made for people <170cm) he presented us a poster of 20 different haircuts to find our how the cut should be. The poster was from the late 80´s, and Eirik (trying not to laugh) tried to make up a half decent combination of MacGyver, Rocky and Samantha Fox.
We will cook with a very nice Austian couple we met at our hostal today (why do they suddenly appear now??), and head north with our bicycles tomorrow morning.
Several orchids and several rare flowers are growing at this altitude, along with trees growing in cloud forests. The foggy and cloudy climate ensures enough humidity, and the soil would give any gardener wet dreams. The flowers really look happy with their life.
We passed two passed at mere 4100 meters the second day, and crossed the landscape from one path to another. The highland landscape reminds us a bit of Norway (around Lysefjorden), and the lowlands could be taken right out from Austria. The second tent spot was near a large lake, and we woke up with fresh footprints outside the tent, probably from a fox (not the 200kg spectacle bear we wanted). The park is absolutely stunningly beautiful. However, walking on a schedule stresses us a bit, compared to the walks we had in the south of Peru without any sense of time at all.
The third, and last, day of our treks was also the hardest, climbing down 1000m. We had to pass a difficult stretch of cloud forest. We were ducking under stems and climbing over roots, all in a muddy paradise. After decending to 3200 meters, we met the first people, greeting us with "Berg heil". Who else than a group of Austrians? As the thunder rolled behind us, we managed to get dry and still smiling to the road where we took the bus back to Cuenca.
This is where we walked down
Eirik had a haircut at the most old fasioned and dodgy looking barber we could find. After placing Eirik in one of the old fashion barber chairs (that are made for people <170cm) he presented us a poster of 20 different haircuts to find our how the cut should be. The poster was from the late 80´s, and Eirik (trying not to laugh) tried to make up a half decent combination of MacGyver, Rocky and Samantha Fox.
Eirik getting a haircut, and is VERY sceptical
We will cook with a very nice Austian couple we met at our hostal today (why do they suddenly appear now??), and head north with our bicycles tomorrow morning.
Some more photos:
Our beloved llama (still nameless) has gotten her own Panama hat (Cuenca is famous for making them)
The result.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
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Beautiful area for hiking and camping. We are keeping our eyes open for spectacle bears and rare flowers. Feeling the hight agai
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