December 06 - 08, 2002: Riobamba to... Riobamba!

Odometer: 16,700

We travelled from Otavala through Quito to get to Riobamba. We had intended to go around the big city but the directions we were given didn't quite work out as planned. Nonetheless, like most of the cities in Ecuador, confusion is not an issue while navigating. Basically, we took one of the faster outer calleteras and just kept heading south. Worked ok.

Ambato lies just north of Riobamba and due to the fact that there is major construction going on the Panamerican highway here, we did get turned around for a bit. No biggy. We finally made it into Riobamba with daylight and hunger. So first, some chinese food (with real chinese staff!) and then iso of a hotel.

While we were having dinner, someone attached fliers to the bikes advertising their hostel. Well we had already seen a hotel close by that had parking so we started their. Asking price was $8 for a night but after I took a look I said, "uh-uh". So we went to find the Hotel Oasis that was advertised on the flier.

From the outside it looks like nothing, but for $6/night it was a great little hostal. The rooms were cozy and just outside of them was a common area with a nice little fireplace. Vincente, our host, was very pleased we took him up on his offer (the flier) and was very accommodating, opening his doors to let us ride the bikes into the back yard (four steps from our room). Highly recommended accommodations for fellow travellers. Some rooms with kitchen even.

Anyway, we chose Riobamba (or it chose us) because we thought of it as a central location to do some exploring. The first day we decided to try and cross the Sangay National Park. The Footprint guide offers that there is a road just outside of Guamote that runs through the park all the way to Macas, about 50 miles. I seem to recall that the book said it was a paved road but no, it wasn't. No big deal as we are now riding on roughly 60/40 on/off road tires and we left most of our baggage back at the Oasis.

We did find the road, but once on it you are pretty much on your own (no signs) to navigate to Macas. And there are a lot of forks in the road! Hugh had his GPS and started tracking our progress but the combination of time (around 2pm), mean looking skies, Hugh with no protective gear at all and we didn't bring the camping gear (just in case) made us decide to turn around and go back.

This, as it turned out, was the correct decision. As we approached one of the small towns we had passed through before it began to rain and hail. We ducked for cover under a gasoline station roof for a while and traded bikes for the ride back to Riobamba (mine has a windscreen and Hugh was cold and wet).

Thus ended our first trek out of town.

We decided to load up and head north and west through the Volcan Quitola circuit, only we were going to get on Highway 25 after visiting Laguna Quitola. This was going to be the highlight scenary of Ecuador. It is an Emerald lake that fills the caldera of the volcano Quitola.

The trip up was fantastic. The road was paved with the ubiquitous pothole system in effect for about 7miles out of Pujili and then it turned to gravel and dirt. Hugh reported later in the day that we climbed just passed the 12,000 foot mark, so you can imagine it was a little cold. And the pictures will reveal that as the day progressed, the weather regressed. Just before reaching Zumbahau I had stopped to take a couple of pictures and Hugh continued. Immediately after beginning again I hit a rain cloud and was beginning to get a little wet.

Through Zumbahau I saw the sign for Laguna Quitola but Hugh was nowhere to be seen. So I figured, damn, he missed it. And worse, the weather was really starting to get bad. So, it was chase time! I knew Hugh would just keep riding hoping to get through the rain because that's what I would do. And why not, he didn't know he missed the turn.

After about 4miles I finally caught him, but at great peril to my ownself. Nothing like blazing up a wet incline and seeing nothing but wet fog in front of you and at the edges of the road. Yikes. A couple of times I thought I caught up with Hugh just to realize it was and indigenous person wearing a poncho walking along the road.

That began what could easily be classified as the worst end of a day we've had so far. We turned around and headed back to Zumbahau, me fully intending to proceed as planned but by the time we got there it was pooring down rain and roads were turning to mud. So, we decided to haul-ass back to the Panam highway and hope we could beat the storm (with lightening and everything!) enough to get a room somewhere.

And hual-ass we did. It rained constantly, with some hail mixed in for good measure, until we got back to Pujili. My hands were wet and at 42 degrees in the rain that means painful cold. Hugh got ahead of me once we touched pavement and I just had to stop and change gloves, but where? I'm in the middle of nowhere and it's just raining like hell. Finally there was a break and I shivered my wet gloves off and put some dry ones on, spending an additional 5 minutes with my hands in the engine bay. Brrrrr. Nobody told me it was this cold at the equator!

We finally got back to the Panam Hwy and decided to park it at a restaraunt for some hot drinks and food. What a friggin' day. The weather was so nice and then, poof, it was crap.

While eating we decided to try for Riobamba and the Oasis again. The name of that hotel was sublime. It really was our oasis. Vincente was surprised and pleased to see us again. I just had to laugh. What a trip.

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