Ecuador Part II

Still in Ibarra...Lago Cuicocha and Volcan Cotacachi
After 2 days of testing, our mechanic #2, Bolivar, was still convinced that our problem was due to the ECU so we finally succumbed to tow #3 and took her out to see mechanic #3 Juan Carlos. Unfortunately it was Friday so we had another weekend to wait before we could get any info so we decided to go for another hike. One of the many volcanoes that had enticed us from Ibarra was Volcan Cotacachi so away we went. We took the bus back to Cotacachi and then a taxi ride to Lago Cuicocha and started hiking. After about 2 hours we reached a beautiful shelter on the crater rim and decided this would be a perfect spot for the night. We admired the lake with its two volcanic peaks in the centre while watching the fog roll in and then set up camp. This time we remembered cards to pass the time so we could stay up to a reasonable hour as it gets dark here around 6:30. Then in the middle of the night we were woken up by the sound of thunder nearby. We were a bit concerned as we were camping under a metal roof, but decided to wait it out. It was intense for awhile, but then started to fade away when all of a sudden the storm was on top of us. We scrambled out of the tent and stood there in indecision. Freeze our butts off in the rain or risk electrocution. Luckily the weather made our minds up for us and the storm moved off again, phewf! We had planned on waking up early to hit up the summit, but after our restless sleep we decided to sleep a little longer. We finally got up around 7 noticed that our metal roof was actually clay, packed up and headed off. We weren’t sure where the trail started, but there was a road that went up so up we went. 3 hours later we finally got to the trail head, but so did the fog. After a short prayer to the Virgin Mary for clear skies (see photos) we decided to see how far we could get. It was an awesome trail, but it just kept getting windier, wetter and more socked in the farther we went. After another 2 hours of hiking and scrambling we reached a camp where it was so windy we had to erect the group’s blown over tents. The weather was fowl and we still had to hike back down so reluctantly we turned around. It was a long hike out and about half way down the road, just as we were starting to think about how we could fly out the rest of the way a saviour in a jeep drove down and picked us up!! Even better he was heading all the way back to Ibarra!! It was two local hikers who had also been turned back due to snow a little higher then we’d gotten. Exhausted they dropped us off at our favourite grocery store where we stocked up and took a cab back to Graham’s. Monday morning we wanted to give the mechanic a chance to look at her so we decided to walk up to our favourite restaurant overlooking Ibarra with Oliver and Carina. We relaxed and enjoyed some awesome crepes and the beautiful views. Then Graham showed up and we went for a drive up and over the mountain. What an incredible experience. The people in these countries are so tough that they farm on nearly vertical slopes where I have no idea how the stand up let alone plant crops!! It was a beautiful journey and something that we wouldn’t have done on our own. Another benefit of being “stuck” in Ibarra. The trip ended up taking longer than we thought and by the time we were down the mechanic’s shop was closing, but he said to come tomorrow for a “test drive”. That sounded promising, but we didn’t want to get too excited. The next morning we woke up and headed out to pick up the van or at least figure out what was going on. When we got there we were handed the keys and told to take her for a spin....WHAT?!?!?! Could it really be that easy? We looked at each other and then jumped in the driver’s seat and sure enough she ran! We took her for a drive with one of the young apprentices and eventually the strange knocking stopped and we were set! He did something with the ECU and replaced all of our cracking fuel lines. Still not 100% sure what the problem was, but pretty sure something shorted out the ECU. We drove her back to Ibarra totally in shock that we were back on the road, arrived at Graham’s and started the long process of packing her back up.

Mitad del Mundo and Quito
As if in a dream 3 weeks, 3 tows and 3 mechanics later and we were finally saying our farewells. We were so lucky to have met Graham and had the opportunity to stay at his place. He is incredibly welcoming and has such a big heart. We learned a lot about the community and met a lot of the single mothers that he helps out. What a guy!! Karen’s brother Dan only had one request from this trip and it was that we take a picture of the equator for him so off we went on a detour. After asking a million people for directions we finally ended up on the right road to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the world). The first place we came to was the giant monument set up by gringos in 1979, but they were off by about 240m. Then we went to the Intiñan Solar Museum built on the GPS calculated equator and enjoyed an amazing tour of not only cheap equator tricks like balancing an egg, walking a straight line, water going down the drain (straight down, counter and clock-wise), and strength tests but also a great tour of the different cultures in Ecuador. Our tour guide was an archeologist and loved his country so was super informative. We were also introduced to the art of head shrinking. An ancient practice no longer allowed on human heads, but still done on sloths and other animals. It was fascinating!! Although we were 2 days early for the big equinox celebration, bummer.

After a few hours we finally left the Equator and entered the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE!! We got on an amazing highway passing through Quito and thought all was going to go smoothly until we hit a detour and were taken right into the heart of old Quito with it’s windy streets and one way streets that run into each other. We finally made our way out of the old part and were trying to find our way out of the city when the van started running rough and then died!! Luckily we were right beside a parking spot under an overpass and were able to coast in. CRAP!! Not only did it seem to be the same problem, but we were in the worst part of Quito a city we had no desire to visit and the sun was setting. Pete went to phone our helpful mechanic and Karen went to talk to a police officer about getting a tow. The police officer told Karen that because we were in a bad part of town no tow truck would come, what?? Luckily we then went to talk to a transit cop and he called for a police tow to come to our rescue. 15 minutes later our 4th tow arrived and we were driven around searching for an open mechanic shop. We drove around forever and then finally found an open door and were delivered into what would be our oily home for the next 2 nights. The owner kindly said that we could sleep in the lot, but told us not to go outside the gates at night because it was too dangerous. Our mechanic from Ibarra had told Pete that he was going to come and help us out on Saturday so we fended off the local mechanics and went to sleep. The next day our mechanic decided that he wouldn’t come until Sunday so we went to explore Quito. We wandered around for awhile and then ended up in a pub in mall land. Here we met Drew from Calgary who ordered us a pitcher and was great to chat with for the next couple of hours. So nice to take our minds off things. Back to our slum for another surprisingly good night sleep despite it also being a truck and bus parking lot for an early wake up to wait for our mechanic. After a bit of a communication problem he finally arrived at 9:30 with his entire family and got to work. After a short investigation he discovered it was our ignition coil that we’d just replaced before the trip with a cheap Chinese imitation part. He sent his family off to find us a real German part and we waited. They returned, he popped in the part and we were off and running again. We couldn’t believe it wasn’t the same problem, but were relieved it wasn’t. It was still early so we decided to get out of our grease pit and hit the road.

Quilotoa
Our original destination when we left Ibarra was Quilotoa so we got back on track. The route from Latacunga to Quilotoa was one of the most breathtaking drives we’ve done so far. Full of beautiful farmland, people and rolling green hills. We even picked up a local and he told us all about the different crops planted in the area. Then we arrived in the tiny town of Quilotoa and were greeted by all the friendly indigenous people there (who wanted us to buy their stuff) and went to look at the Crater Lake. You can’t see anything until you are right at the crater rim, but when you get there the view is breathtaking. We’ve seen a lot of crater lakes, but this one is stunning!! We wandered around taking pictures of the setting sun and fog and then met two other couples staying at one of the hostels. They invited us over for a drink and we all cozied up by the fire and chatted about travelling before heading back to the van for a peaceful night’s sleep. The next morning we met pack up with the rest of the group and took off for a 5 hour hike around the crater. It was a beautiful hike up and down ridges, through sand and farmer’s fields. By the time we got back it was starting to rain and we were all starving so we popped in for a bite to eat and then scammed the hostel’s shower before playing a rousing game of dice and enjoying an awesome meal. The next morning 8 of us piled in the van and headed back to the Panamerican. It was our first time with this many passengers, but Patience did awesome.

Banos
Next stop, the small town of Banos for a healing soak in the thermal waters. They were hot, awesome and very much needed. The next day we decided to rent bikes and go for a 30km waterfall tour. We passed tons of waterfalls, rode through and by 1km long tunnels and enjoyed some scenic detours. It was a beautiful ride, but way too long for Karen’s poor butt, hehehe. That night we treated ourselves to one too many amazing margaritas and had some mouth watering fajitas at the cutest Mexican restaurant.

Banos #2 and Cuenca
Just when we were raving about the roads in Ecuador we hit the road to Cuenca, yikes! Detours, construction and potholes. It took us 10 hours before we finally found a place to stay in Banos #2. It was a little more expensive then we were used to at $10 a person, but we got to use their hot pools, steam bath and hot showers so in the long run we got our money’s worth and more!! We’d originally been searching for a place we’d heard about near Cuenca so the next morning we resumed the search. Thank goodness we’d given up looking the night before because it took us forever to find! We eventually pulled into the unmarked driveway and headed in to explore Cuenca. It was a beautiful city, but everything seemed to be closed. We’d heard about some amazing climbing in the area so as always we went in search of the nearest climbing store where we always seem to encounter the friendliest people. This time was no different and at Monodedo we met Xavier, a fellow climber who offered us a ride home, a cheap canyoning tour the next day, a place to park and a chance to go climbing on Sunday...WOW!!! The next morning we got up early and went to meet the crew. It turned out we were going with the producer and star of an Ecuadorian adventure show who’d done the tour while filming and were coming back to take their American friend Chris on the trip. Since we were all experienced Xavier and his brother decided we should do the entire canyon instead of the normal route. Perfect! We drove and hiked up and to the start of the canyon and jumped in, literally. We were both starting to wonder what we’d gotten ourselves into especially since this was the coldest water we’d ever been in, but went with it. It was amazing!! We rappelled down 140ft waterfalls, jumped off rocks, slid down rock slides and shivered our way through 1km of beautiful Ecuadorian canyon. It was brutally cold and by the time we crawled out we were all shaking and turning blue, but were happy. We were all starving so Xavier took us to a steak house for the cheapest and best steak of the trip! Then we followed him back to his house where we met his family, bouldered around on his homemade wall and played board games with his son Amaru. Such a wonderful family and a dream home! The next morning we had a slow start and then met up with the gang to do some climbing. As always we were a bit sandbagged, but we struggled our way up a few amazing climbs and then went back to Xavier’s house for another night. The people that we have met on this trip have truly blown us away with their kindness and this was no exception. We have a lot of pay back to give when we finally get a house!

Vilcabamba
It was a hard decision to leave Cuenca, but fortunately the weather made it easy for us and we woke up to grey skies to push us on our way. Though not before we enjoyed a leisurely morning and big breakfast made in a real kitchen. The next destination was Vilcabamba and luckily the road was much easier to get there although we were now experiencing squeaky brakes. We hope that this isn’t due to the dodgy tow. Only time will tell. We arrived at the beautiful hostel Ishcayluma where they welcome overlanders into their parking lot with power, hot showers, a pool, beautiful views and awesome restaurant. We cooked up an amazing meal, had a glass of wine and unwound. The next day we scammed the awesome free breakfast and took off for a hike up to Mandango (the protective sleeping Inca) mountain for a little exercise and some amazing views of the valley. We managed to dodge the bulls on the trail and route find our way back to the hostel for a swim and a steaming hot shower. After an involuntary nap we went to the hostel bar and met up with three fellow travellers for a Caiprinia and a chat. The next day Pete went for a run and Karen enjoyed a super cheap 75 minute massage. That night we had an awesome German meal and then hung around soaking in the atmosphere. So nice!! We were going to leave the next day, but the facilities were so nice and it was time to get caught up on the blog so here we are hanging out one more day in paradise before another border crossing and our 11th country...Peru!!

Click on a photo to enlarge and see the captions.