Finally the serious business of cycling South started. We headed along the Pan-am highway staying in the towns/villages of Latacunga, Guamote, Riobamba, Incapirca and then the city of Cuenca in the Southern Equadorian Andes.
The Pan am varies between being a perfect 3 lane motorway near Cuenca to little more than a dirt track in the mountains - yet it is the lifeblood of the Andes. It winds like an economic artery through the centre of Equador. A few miles away from the road is like a step back in time - the people rely on small scale agriculture to survive. Living conditions are much as I imagine they would have been in country villages in Ireland in the early part of the 20th century.
The towns along the roadway are all involved in servicing the trucking (and tourist) trade that passes along the highway. And the attitude and perspective of the people in the road towns is quite different to the people of the country villages. In Guamote, the locals were very friendly and genuinely interested in finding out what we were about whereas the 'road people' were more interested in sizing us up to see if they could scam a few $.
Anyway, photos tell the best story of the week to date...
Firstly a country bus fills up at the gas station... I counted 25 on board and they seemed happy to pose for the photo...
The ride from Latacunga to Riobamba took us over a high mountain pass on the shoulder of Cotopaxi volcano. It was 6 deg C and we were not expecting a wet wintery Irish day. The climb took us up to just over 4,000 Meters for the first time.
But the next day, we were back in the sunshine. This is where we stopped for lunch just off the Pan am on the way to Guamote.
Benedicte prefers the sunshine!
These 2 little kids wandered over the hill with a couple of pigs in tow. They were more than happy to share lunch with us and we were able to send them on their way with a bag of goodies.
Below is the Temple of the Sun at Incapirca. This is the most important Inca settlement in Ecuador built in the late fifteenth century when the Inca expanded their empire into present day Ecuador.
Trust the Paddies to find the local pub in the village of Incapirca... we shared a bottle of Zhumir with the locals - its a bit like peach schnapps mixed with Poteen. Nice though.
Below is the magnificent cathedral of Cuenca.
4 comments:
Hey Darlin,
Lovely to see all the bits and pieces...rainy cold cold day, beautiful nomadic children, Sun goddess, cathedral, temple and of course the ever constant local pub...well done all of you..such an adventure. Congrats on a great 1st week you know there is so much more to come.
Love to all,
Chel
Seanie,
It's official. We're starting a 'blog-off' between Micko and yourself. Extra marks for quality 'people' photos with explanations! You can tell Mick Week 1 is yours by a majority Mark & Bronagh vote!!
Looks quality. Glad you're having a ball. You know I wouldn't want to be there!! Keep 'er lit hi
Great words and pics Sean. Keep it up. Ed
Guess I'll need to partake in the 'blog- off' as well then Sean! Glad to see its going fantastic so far. That photo of ye in the local 'bar' is a cracker! Keep er lit sir!
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