We just had an AMAZING Amazon trip, probably the wildest thing I have ever done. Getting there was rather difficult, we had two rides in mini-van type things where you are crammed in shoulder to shoulder; people threw up both times, once all over my foot. We were too packed in for me to clean it up. In addition to the above van rides there was a 12 hr bus ride, a 13 hr boat ride in hammocks (we were in the top section and the plastic roof blew off, thankfully later in the day when the sun was lower), and a 30 min motorcycle taxi ride to the little river where we put in.
We went in a dugout canoe with two guides; 4 people in a canoe literally dug out of a log and a few inches off the water. The river was the width of a driveway much of the time. We spent 5 days like this in the jungle, our guides paddled along, barley making any noise when their oars hit the water. They could spot animals that seemed invisible until they pointed them out, made fires to cook our breakfast and lunch, and speared fish. As in stood up in the canoe and tossed the spear... made me think of some new techniques for my Uncle Paul!
The trees were amazing, some with huge canopies, some like something in Yodas swamp. We did one walk with the older guide and he told us all about the medicinal virtues of the trees, including one that cures AIDS, one that makes love potions and several that are used by shamans here to make you ¨dream¨.. there is one where you smoke the bark and then lay down next to the tree and then the tree gives you visions that help to cure whatever ails you.
During the days we saw monkeys, sloths (one as big as me! they are like muppets), toucans and macaws, a river otter, pink river dolphins, a huge hairy anteater, an electric fish with a monster head, and one 8 foot anaconda. We went out at night spotlighting in the bogs and saw crocks; our guide caught a baby one and Steven held it. Saw a 6footer rocked the boat in a powerful way when it swam off. There are bigger ones downriver, they say up to 18 ft ,they don´t go looking for those guys in the dark!
Everything thing in the jungle looks like a snake to me, everything that is except for one tiny white snake that looked like a stick hanging off a tree. When I asked my guide what would happen if it bit you he said ¨finito¨making the sign of a finger going across his neck.
It was quite an adventure! We are a 17hr bus ride into a long journy to the mountains near the coast, more people throwng up on the bus last night didn´t fire me up so much. Eewww.We have two more bus rides and about 26 hrs left to the Huraz area where we will do some trecking, hopefully climb a peak, and do some training for Ultimate. Yep, as in frisbee. We decided to come back to play this season with our teams and to get some family time in, we will be in the states for 3 months before returning to Peru the first of Nov.
We plan on going to Machu Picchu before the rain gets too bad here and then are heading to Argentina and Chile for clearer skies, exploration of the desert and salt flats in the north, and of course to sample the wine and food in Mendoza! As always, we would love to have company!
--Tina
Saturday, 7 July 2007
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
The Final Frontier
Well we have finally landed on Peruvian soil. Not without a little drama however.....
We left Vilcabamba planning on a 2 day ride to Zumba, the border town. We were told the road was paved but were not surprised to find the pavement end 5 km into our ride. The road had a lot of climbing (of course), rain and sections of mud that made it tougher. A truck passed and the driver told us we had a bastante (bigger than grande) climb ahead of us we decided to camp for the nigh as we were already a little tired. Took us some searching to find a campsight as the cloud forest is incredibly dense and impossible to walk into, we eventually found spot that was cleared for a powerline and set up camp.
After an early start and a lot of up we arrived at a nice downhill to the town Valladolid which marked the half way point. Well not quite so easy. As we saw the town in the valley below, pisssssssssss, Tina blew a flat. The first of the trip. Tina two day prior had been braging to another couple about how we haven´t had a flat tire yet this trip. Como se dice JINX! In fact the hole side wall of her rear tire was blown out. We patched the tire and continued, only to have it blow out again one minute later. At this point it starts pouring to add to the fun. We try to give a little pump to see if we can just make it to the town. No luck it is loosing air to quickly. The gapping whole in the side wall was too large. So we tried the good ole cardboard trick and put in a new tube this time. This managed to get us the remainder of the hill and blew out again right as we were entering town. This was a small town and had no bike repair shop. We needed a new tire not to mention someone to true the bent rim as riding on a flat does wonderful things to it. So we decided to catch a bus to Zumba, our only option.
The following morning we were able to buy a new tire but unforunately the guy who repairs bikes in town was out of town. So I had a crack at it and trued the wheel as straight as a first timer could; it actually came out pretty true. Installed the new tire and patched tube. We caught a bus back to Valladolid as we had to ride this last section leaving Ecuador, and we decided to leave most of our gear behind in Zumba to make the going a little easier.
Arrived in Valladolid and had a really enjoyable 18 km ride to the nearby town of Polanda, found a decent hostal and grabbed some dinner. We walked the town and found out there was a festival going on, why does it seem like every town we´re in is having a festival?
When we were getting ready for bed in order to get a really early start, around 8PM, the music in the square just started blaring. At first we thought it was from right downstairs but no it was these gigantic speakers set up across the street in the square. Let´s just say tough sleeping, and yup they went all night long. The next morning we couldn´t get out of there fast enough as the music was still blaring.
Nice morning mist filled the valley and the temperature was cool. We were enjoying the ride when about 8 km into the ride we came across a few huts and a church and asked the simple question,¨is this the road to Zumba?¨ Oh no the lady replies, that turn off is way back in Polanda. Crazy enough that is the town we started in. Maybe we left town a little too fast? So 8 km. back the other way. We arrived back in town and Tina needed some coffee so I decided to get a second breakfast of rice, pork, and beans (breakfast of champions). Wraped up breakfast and figured out the errors of our ways. Got on the right road out of town and right as we are leaving the town proper, pissssssssss. I blow a tire. My first!!! We patch it and replace the tire only to realize that I also have a small hole in the sidewall of my tire. OHHHH! Back to town to see if we can wake some store owner to sell me a tire. Luckily we found a friendly man who helped us track down the store owner to buy a new tire. The tire was fixed and we were finally ready to leave the original town again at 11 am. I completely blame Tina for jinxing the whole flat tire thing.
On the right road we began an enjoyable ride. Much nicer and a lot easier without 60 pounds of gear on the bikes. We had named the big climbs and downhills on the bus the day before so that made it kind of fun. It was a little course. Up Mr. Grande to the Grand Traverse, than came the Big Nasty downhill, followed by the final climb; Da Biggin´. (on prior days we had The Beast and The Dragon) We finished this section and made it back to Zumba, 6 hours and 60 km later. Took 5 days instead of the 2 we had planned. Despite the adversity the riding was amazing; huge beautiful mountains with cloud forrest, worth the effort. We collected our gear and made ready for the cross into Peru the following day.
We were planning on a couple hours of light riding in the morning and then would catch a bus from the border to get further into Peru. We learned to never believe anyone about mileage or times but this military officer added up distances to all the intermidiate towns and sounded convincing, 17km. It agreed with our map and the book only said 10 km. so we´re thinking it was not far off. We began with a nice morning downhill out of town. Than came a big up hill climb. We were approaching half way at the top so we began calling this climb El Ultimo, for what we thought was our last climb in Ecuador. Well we were greatly mistaken, this climb was followed by a huge downhill only to climb right back up a lot higher than our original height. We experienced some of our steepest climbing yet! Well we finally reached el ultimo 3rd and cruzed down the last steep downhill to the river (also the border). Easy crossing logistics as this crossing is not heavily used and we were in the middle of nowhere. Finally made it to Peru. WoooooHooo!
Two collectivos and a lot of bad bumpy roads and we arrived in Jaen the first town of any real size. Spent the night and are off to the jungle for a few days. Trade biking for boat riding. Ohh that sounds much easier.
-Steven
We left Vilcabamba planning on a 2 day ride to Zumba, the border town. We were told the road was paved but were not surprised to find the pavement end 5 km into our ride. The road had a lot of climbing (of course), rain and sections of mud that made it tougher. A truck passed and the driver told us we had a bastante (bigger than grande) climb ahead of us we decided to camp for the nigh as we were already a little tired. Took us some searching to find a campsight as the cloud forest is incredibly dense and impossible to walk into, we eventually found spot that was cleared for a powerline and set up camp.
After an early start and a lot of up we arrived at a nice downhill to the town Valladolid which marked the half way point. Well not quite so easy. As we saw the town in the valley below, pisssssssssss, Tina blew a flat. The first of the trip. Tina two day prior had been braging to another couple about how we haven´t had a flat tire yet this trip. Como se dice JINX! In fact the hole side wall of her rear tire was blown out. We patched the tire and continued, only to have it blow out again one minute later. At this point it starts pouring to add to the fun. We try to give a little pump to see if we can just make it to the town. No luck it is loosing air to quickly. The gapping whole in the side wall was too large. So we tried the good ole cardboard trick and put in a new tube this time. This managed to get us the remainder of the hill and blew out again right as we were entering town. This was a small town and had no bike repair shop. We needed a new tire not to mention someone to true the bent rim as riding on a flat does wonderful things to it. So we decided to catch a bus to Zumba, our only option.
The following morning we were able to buy a new tire but unforunately the guy who repairs bikes in town was out of town. So I had a crack at it and trued the wheel as straight as a first timer could; it actually came out pretty true. Installed the new tire and patched tube. We caught a bus back to Valladolid as we had to ride this last section leaving Ecuador, and we decided to leave most of our gear behind in Zumba to make the going a little easier.
Arrived in Valladolid and had a really enjoyable 18 km ride to the nearby town of Polanda, found a decent hostal and grabbed some dinner. We walked the town and found out there was a festival going on, why does it seem like every town we´re in is having a festival?
When we were getting ready for bed in order to get a really early start, around 8PM, the music in the square just started blaring. At first we thought it was from right downstairs but no it was these gigantic speakers set up across the street in the square. Let´s just say tough sleeping, and yup they went all night long. The next morning we couldn´t get out of there fast enough as the music was still blaring.
Nice morning mist filled the valley and the temperature was cool. We were enjoying the ride when about 8 km into the ride we came across a few huts and a church and asked the simple question,¨is this the road to Zumba?¨ Oh no the lady replies, that turn off is way back in Polanda. Crazy enough that is the town we started in. Maybe we left town a little too fast? So 8 km. back the other way. We arrived back in town and Tina needed some coffee so I decided to get a second breakfast of rice, pork, and beans (breakfast of champions). Wraped up breakfast and figured out the errors of our ways. Got on the right road out of town and right as we are leaving the town proper, pissssssssss. I blow a tire. My first!!! We patch it and replace the tire only to realize that I also have a small hole in the sidewall of my tire. OHHHH! Back to town to see if we can wake some store owner to sell me a tire. Luckily we found a friendly man who helped us track down the store owner to buy a new tire. The tire was fixed and we were finally ready to leave the original town again at 11 am. I completely blame Tina for jinxing the whole flat tire thing.
On the right road we began an enjoyable ride. Much nicer and a lot easier without 60 pounds of gear on the bikes. We had named the big climbs and downhills on the bus the day before so that made it kind of fun. It was a little course. Up Mr. Grande to the Grand Traverse, than came the Big Nasty downhill, followed by the final climb; Da Biggin´. (on prior days we had The Beast and The Dragon) We finished this section and made it back to Zumba, 6 hours and 60 km later. Took 5 days instead of the 2 we had planned. Despite the adversity the riding was amazing; huge beautiful mountains with cloud forrest, worth the effort. We collected our gear and made ready for the cross into Peru the following day.
We were planning on a couple hours of light riding in the morning and then would catch a bus from the border to get further into Peru. We learned to never believe anyone about mileage or times but this military officer added up distances to all the intermidiate towns and sounded convincing, 17km. It agreed with our map and the book only said 10 km. so we´re thinking it was not far off. We began with a nice morning downhill out of town. Than came a big up hill climb. We were approaching half way at the top so we began calling this climb El Ultimo, for what we thought was our last climb in Ecuador. Well we were greatly mistaken, this climb was followed by a huge downhill only to climb right back up a lot higher than our original height. We experienced some of our steepest climbing yet! Well we finally reached el ultimo 3rd and cruzed down the last steep downhill to the river (also the border). Easy crossing logistics as this crossing is not heavily used and we were in the middle of nowhere. Finally made it to Peru. WoooooHooo!
Two collectivos and a lot of bad bumpy roads and we arrived in Jaen the first town of any real size. Spent the night and are off to the jungle for a few days. Trade biking for boat riding. Ohh that sounds much easier.
-Steven
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
On the road again....
We left Puerto Lopez about three weeks ago, returning to our bikes and to the Andes. We biked for about 10 days with stops in the cool colonial city of Cuenca and now we are in Vilcabamba, a small pueblo surrounded by huge green mountains.
Some reflections on a day in the life on the bikes:
The Andes- They are big. I mean real big. And green. And not so flat. We have had screaming downhills, Steven´s trailer catches air on the bumbs. We climb a lot, usually going over more than one pass a day. The views are spectacular and always keep us going! Its just awesome to be out in it all.
The people- In the mountains they are mostly indegenous and maintain their culture of farming and hearding. Their farms dot the mountainsides, even on very steep slopes. We will think we are in the middle of nowwhere only to round a corner and run into a kid with his sheep or to encounter a guy with a machete coming out of the forrest. The women wear vibrant skirts and shawls, even while they are working the fields, and both sexes wear hats. The style of hat changes with the region. They are reserved but friendly folks, not the first to say hello but respond with a smile and sometimes a welcome.
Dogs- Dogs chase us every day. As some of you know I am somewhat afraid of dogs, especially the ones that want to bite me which is most all of them. Most of the ones down here like to make a lot of scary noise and run along the bikes, Steven says they aren´t trying to get me. Just to make sure I use Steven as a human shield between me and the doggies on the climbs. Sometimes dogs let us go by and then mount a sneak attack, one boxer actually bit Stevens trailer after he passed!
Trucks and busses- There isn´t much traffic where we are, but when their is they all honk at us. Some just to let us know they are coming, many offer a thumbs up or a ¨vamos!¨¨, and a few honk to say ¨get out of my way¨. They usually give us plenty of room, to the point of going in the other lane of oncoming traffic to give us space.
Camping- We haven´t camped to much as people are encountered in the most surprising places (see above). We have had some awesome campsights up near passes where we can tuck in and get out of sight. Hostals here are cheap and can be found even in the small mountain towns. The towns are often also in unlikely places, they are not on the valley floor but are sometims perched on a smaller mountain somewhere between the peaks and the bottom.
It feels good to be traveling again! Villcabamba has been a great place to get some R and R, its the ¨valley of longevity¨where locals are rumored to live over 100, the water is drinkable, and the scene is tranquillo. We are staying at this incredible nature reserve with trails and a river in a cool little cabin.
We should be heading out tomorrow or the next day on our bikes, we should make the border crossing near Zumba in a couple of days and move on into Peru!
Some reflections on a day in the life on the bikes:
The Andes- They are big. I mean real big. And green. And not so flat. We have had screaming downhills, Steven´s trailer catches air on the bumbs. We climb a lot, usually going over more than one pass a day. The views are spectacular and always keep us going! Its just awesome to be out in it all.
The people- In the mountains they are mostly indegenous and maintain their culture of farming and hearding. Their farms dot the mountainsides, even on very steep slopes. We will think we are in the middle of nowwhere only to round a corner and run into a kid with his sheep or to encounter a guy with a machete coming out of the forrest. The women wear vibrant skirts and shawls, even while they are working the fields, and both sexes wear hats. The style of hat changes with the region. They are reserved but friendly folks, not the first to say hello but respond with a smile and sometimes a welcome.
Dogs- Dogs chase us every day. As some of you know I am somewhat afraid of dogs, especially the ones that want to bite me which is most all of them. Most of the ones down here like to make a lot of scary noise and run along the bikes, Steven says they aren´t trying to get me. Just to make sure I use Steven as a human shield between me and the doggies on the climbs. Sometimes dogs let us go by and then mount a sneak attack, one boxer actually bit Stevens trailer after he passed!
Trucks and busses- There isn´t much traffic where we are, but when their is they all honk at us. Some just to let us know they are coming, many offer a thumbs up or a ¨vamos!¨¨, and a few honk to say ¨get out of my way¨. They usually give us plenty of room, to the point of going in the other lane of oncoming traffic to give us space.
Camping- We haven´t camped to much as people are encountered in the most surprising places (see above). We have had some awesome campsights up near passes where we can tuck in and get out of sight. Hostals here are cheap and can be found even in the small mountain towns. The towns are often also in unlikely places, they are not on the valley floor but are sometims perched on a smaller mountain somewhere between the peaks and the bottom.
It feels good to be traveling again! Villcabamba has been a great place to get some R and R, its the ¨valley of longevity¨where locals are rumored to live over 100, the water is drinkable, and the scene is tranquillo. We are staying at this incredible nature reserve with trails and a river in a cool little cabin.
We should be heading out tomorrow or the next day on our bikes, we should make the border crossing near Zumba in a couple of days and move on into Peru!
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Puerto Lopez
So we are still catching the blog up to where we actaully are right now; the previous Chimborazo post happened BEFORE we went to the beach for those that were confused. And now we are back biking in the mountains, but here are some Puerto Lopez pictures and scoop on our time there.
Sippin´fruity rum drinks!
The first and last time I looked like I knew what I was doing with the surf board but damn I look good!
We spent the 5 weeks taking Spanish lessons, studying, working at the hostal and also working in our fields; I did some therapy and Steven worked a little carpentry. They are not big fans of power tools, try ripping a board with a hand saw, fun stuff. Sure didn´t hurt that all my patients were restaurant owners, free food, yum. We got to know some folks and it was really cool to feel like we were a part of a community for a while. We learned more about what the day to day life is like for the locals in the fishing village. Like everywhere else in Ecuador there is plenty of poverty, but the fishing trade and the 3 month ¨temporada¨(high season when tourists come to see the whales) keep the local economy going. It seems that when people or buisnesses bring money in, it immediately goes out again, either to buy a needed item, pay a debt, or in the case of some of the fishermen to spend it on booze. So, it is hard for folks to get ahead of the game in terms of bettering their situtation.
It also means it is very difficult to get change anywhere.... resturants and stores often don´t have change for a 5 or a 10$ bill, much less a 20! They sometimes turn business away because they don´t have change for the customers. We would run into this working at the hostal as well; we would have money in the house bank from the weekly tourists and the family would come on the weekend and spend all of it on things for the hostal. Come monday when they left there wouldn´t be money in the hostal bank to pay for the water or laundry. This is typical buisness down here, and it was interesting to be on the other side of the counter!
We went snorkeling twice, the first time we got hooked up with some ex-pat locals and went out on a boat with just 5 people to this great little coral area in a cove with beaches and cliffs around, it was sweet! Sadly, Stevens waterproof camera turned out to be oh, not so waterproof.
The next time we went out on a tour with a Canadian family with two kids aged 4 and 6 that we met at our hostal. They provided some excitment, the 4 year old is shy about his bathroom habits and refused to pee off the edge of the boat; this eventually resulted in an emergency beach landing so the little guy could go. We also did some fishing with hand lines and the captain made ceviche from our catches, tasty stuff! We saw some blue footed boobies and other ocean birds.
We went snorkeling twice, the first time we got hooked up with some ex-pat locals and went out on a boat with just 5 people to this great little coral area in a cove with beaches and cliffs around, it was sweet! Sadly, Stevens waterproof camera turned out to be oh, not so waterproof.
The next time we went out on a tour with a Canadian family with two kids aged 4 and 6 that we met at our hostal. They provided some excitment, the 4 year old is shy about his bathroom habits and refused to pee off the edge of the boat; this eventually resulted in an emergency beach landing so the little guy could go. We also did some fishing with hand lines and the captain made ceviche from our catches, tasty stuff! We saw some blue footed boobies and other ocean birds.
We spent our weekends exploring other small beaches out of town, drinking tasty drinks, swimming, and in Steven´s case trying to surf. The waves here were too huge for me to try; Steven has a little experience and he still got pounded! He managed to break the fin off his board the first time he went out. I guess your not supposed to ride the waves all the way in, duhh!
So we learned a lot and had some fun in Puerto Lopez, but after 5 weeks we were ready to get on the move again! Our last week at the hostal things were starting to pick up. Tourist season on the horizon, the perfect time to escape. About a week ago we returned to the Andes and to our bikes and resumed our ride south towards Peru. We were surprised that sitting on the beach for 5 weeks didn´t help our biking shape. Tough first couple days back in the Andes. Time to get back in shape, Uhhhhhh!
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
How close can you go?
Volcan Chimborazo 6310M (20,702ft)
We began our first trek of the trip, a 4 day hike around the mountain of Chimborazo. As it turned out only one day of the trip had a recognizable trail, but I managed to navigate with the topo and not get us lost. It proved to be tough walking within the high paramo grass and uneven terrain, a great ankle workout. We spent 5 days in the shadow of this grand volcano. Clouds were constantly moving over the summit and we would get glimpses of the peak, but still it tried to remain mysterous. We did get a few clear views and could begin to comprehend it´s size and what might be ahead when we attempted to climb it. We crossed a wide variety of terrain including desert, lush swampy valleys, and dense grass and shrubby stuff. We encountered wild vincunas, got and snowed on 2 different nights, but overall the weather during the days was fine and we managed to dry our tent out every day before packing camp. This meant leaving camp at 10 but who was in a hurry?
Sunset after the hail storm cleared (Day 1)
The next morning proved beautiful and gave us our first clear vista of Chimborazo
Tina with a heard of llama
I think we might be lost this looks odd?
Last day high on the eastern slopes of Chimborazo
And I thought I might be hairier for a second, well not quit!
What is that pile of.........Oh a cool grass hut
We began our first trek of the trip, a 4 day hike around the mountain of Chimborazo. As it turned out only one day of the trip had a recognizable trail, but I managed to navigate with the topo and not get us lost. It proved to be tough walking within the high paramo grass and uneven terrain, a great ankle workout. We spent 5 days in the shadow of this grand volcano. Clouds were constantly moving over the summit and we would get glimpses of the peak, but still it tried to remain mysterous. We did get a few clear views and could begin to comprehend it´s size and what might be ahead when we attempted to climb it. We crossed a wide variety of terrain including desert, lush swampy valleys, and dense grass and shrubby stuff. We encountered wild vincunas, got and snowed on 2 different nights, but overall the weather during the days was fine and we managed to dry our tent out every day before packing camp. This meant leaving camp at 10 but who was in a hurry?
Sunset after the hail storm cleared (Day 1)
The next morning proved beautiful and gave us our first clear vista of Chimborazo
Tina with a heard of llama
I think we might be lost this looks odd?
Last day high on the eastern slopes of Chimborazo
And I thought I might be hairier for a second, well not quit!
Say hello to my little friend Billy!
And his chocolate dipped brother
Poor little Bambi lost her heard of Vincuna (similar family to alpaca or llama)
What is that pile of.........Oh a cool grass hut
On our final day we ended up at the climbers refugio at 5,000 M (16,404ft) after a long day of hiking. Our climbing guide was planning on meeting us at the refugio the following day to climb, but after talking with the guardarias we decided that the weather had been too bad and we probably would not be able to climb it. After much debate we returned to Riobamba to discuss options with our guide. We decided to wait one day there and would head up the following day if the weather held. Weather held and so we returned to the refugio.
Sunrise halo over the mountain (Refugio´s orange roof lower right)
We decided that we were going to camp 800 M above the refugio to give us a better chance at the summit if the weather cooperated. This way we could make a break for it when we got some clear weather.
Hiking up to our Base camp fully loaded with gear
Base camp 5,800 M (19,028Ft)
Sunset above the clouds
It was really intersting and neat digging out a flat spot in the side of this hill in order to set the tent. We enjoyed a nice pasta dinner and sunset above the clouds which was pretty spectacular. Than after melting snow for water for the next day we went to bed around 6. The weather held and we began the climb just after 2 AM. A really clear yet brisk morning.
Sunrise with Cotopaxi & Antisana in the background
Sunrise with Cotopaxi & Antisana in the background
Our guide approaching the summit and sun
Looking back at the false summit
After climbing steady for five and a half hours we approached the summit. Our guide was not a big fan of breaks, slow and steady he would say, although at times it seemed like we were moving pretty fast. We finally reached the summit around 7:30. We were fully frosted at this point as there was a stiff wind blowing across the summit ridge. Despite being cold we still managed to get a couple of throws in with the frisbee at 6,310M. Pretty sick! We had done it, we had arrived at the closest point to the sun. So I guess that´s as close as you can go. I jumped off the highest thing I could find so maybe got up to 6310.6M.
The decent proved to be quite epic. It started after we had gone down about 30 minutes and our guide relized he had lost his cell phone. He went back up to look for it well we waited and froze. We than decided to help him and ended up summiting again for the second time that day. But to no avail. It was gone, lost in the snow at least for another 10 years until all the glaciers melt. This was our means of calling our return transportation. Ughhhh! So he than decided he wanted to catch another party that was about 45 minutes ahead of us and try to hitch a ride. We pretty much sprinted down the mountain but all for not as they had no room for us. We packed the camp and finished the decent back to the refugio. My legs were exshausted. And although I´m the one with the glacier experience I ended up hitting a crampon tip wrong and slipped down the snow slope. Tina caught me with the rope right as I was regaining my grip in the snow. Heart was pumping but never in real danger as we were lower down on mellower slopes. But Tina likes to talk about how she saved my life. We finally made it back to the refugio and after waiting an hour caught a ride with some German tourists and their guide. The only caviot was that we had to go to this place and wait for them to eat lunch on the way down. Back at the hostel we ate a bunch of food and then went to bed for about 14 hours. And that next day we decided a little beach, warmth, and sunshine might be in order.
Finally reached the summit. An interesting place to run into John Lennon I thought.
Ahhhh! Warm sunny beach. (slight contrast in climate between these photos)
Spent the next five weeks just chilling on the beach, studying spanish, sipping fruity drinks, and working at a hostal.
-Steven
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Tranquilo!
After such a hard but amazing hike and climb of Chimborazo (this post was supposed to be first but will follow later) we decided that we had enough of the cold wet conditions we had been exposed to the last week. Time for a vacation to get some rest and relaxation. We made a last minute decision to go off to the beach to get a few days of sun! Well, little did we know that only two days into our beach trip we would be handed the keys to a hostal and left to manage it. I guess the saying about being in the right place at the right time is appropriate here.
Mysterious Gringo Hostal Managers
So yep, we are in the second week of managing a 7 room hostel on the beach in the small fishing village of Puerto Lopez. We will likely be staying here for 3-4 more weeks as it is a pretty sweet set up. Being the low season there are not a lot of guests (1-2 per night average), so there is a little bit of cleaning and an occasional Rouisse gourmet breakfast if the guests so desire, and a whole lot of chill time to read, study and contemplate. Tina started Spanish classes last week and I will begin this week as I caught the local gripe (pronounced gri-PEAY) last week and was out for 3 days.
Fresh Mahi
Marlin
Small boats used to bring the fish ashore from the larger vessels
Local Fishing boats unloading the daily catch
So who´s coming down for a last minute beach trip?? All types of fish are available(Mahi, tuna, marlin, grouper, snapper, corvina, and tons I have no clue the name of) and it has been great. You are able to buy it directly off of the boats as they come to shore(pretty fresh). We are going to go out tomorrow and do some fishing of our own and a little snorkeling. Gotta love free living on the beach. Room and board included with our managment job. 
Throwing on the Beach, getting in the Nationals mindset
-Steven
Thursday, 26 April 2007
neat ladies
We had an amazing bike ride between the cities of Guaranda and Riobamba on the antigua road....the old dirt road that isn´t used much now, we think becuase the busses can´t make it up the steep sections.
Its was a beautiful, green, very steep valley and the road winded along the side of the hills. Some rural farmers but not to many folks along the way.
Slowly pedaling up one section we saw a lady on a donkey and two little kids walking alongside her. As we got closer we saw the kids were boys, around 4 and 5 I would guess. The lady had two slings on her back and we realized that she had not one but two kids strapped on, double decker style! The boys kept looking back, pointing, checking our progress. We eventually caught up and then passed them on a flatter section; the boys were less shy than many kids we passed, laughing and waving. Then it got steeper, and all the sudden the donkey was running past us on the road, the lady showing just a glimse of a smirk as she passed, urging the donkey along, with the boys running beside! This was a surprise, usually the indegenous people are quiet and don´t really engage us, sometimes not even looking directly at us when we pass. Here this lady was, giving us a challenge with her donkey!
She slowed down and when we caught up we all rode together for a while and chatted with the lady and the boys as our languages allowed. (they speak a mixture of Quechwa and Spanish and the accent can be hard to understand). The boys would get the courage up to run up and touch Steven's trailer and then run back to mom laughing their heads off. She had four kids and was in her early 20´s I would guess, she was surprised I didn´t have any.
We said goodbye on the switchback where the trail was to their house and pedaled off to the pass.
Later that day, still climbing, we were a good mile or so past any huts or houses when I saw a little old lady walking down the road with two walking sticks. She was tiny, (smaller than my beloved grandmother Tutu!) and ancient, with deep lines in her face and blue-grey cataracts. She came right up to me and when I stopped pulled me close to her face, speaking loudly in the way one does when they can´t hear well. She said hello, asked how I was doing, asked if I liked her country. After answering, she said something I didn´t get...she repeated herself and when I told her I didn´t understand she cackled an said So you don´t speak Quechwa? and she contined on her journey.
It was a good day!
Its was a beautiful, green, very steep valley and the road winded along the side of the hills. Some rural farmers but not to many folks along the way.
Slowly pedaling up one section we saw a lady on a donkey and two little kids walking alongside her. As we got closer we saw the kids were boys, around 4 and 5 I would guess. The lady had two slings on her back and we realized that she had not one but two kids strapped on, double decker style! The boys kept looking back, pointing, checking our progress. We eventually caught up and then passed them on a flatter section; the boys were less shy than many kids we passed, laughing and waving. Then it got steeper, and all the sudden the donkey was running past us on the road, the lady showing just a glimse of a smirk as she passed, urging the donkey along, with the boys running beside! This was a surprise, usually the indegenous people are quiet and don´t really engage us, sometimes not even looking directly at us when we pass. Here this lady was, giving us a challenge with her donkey!
She slowed down and when we caught up we all rode together for a while and chatted with the lady and the boys as our languages allowed. (they speak a mixture of Quechwa and Spanish and the accent can be hard to understand). The boys would get the courage up to run up and touch Steven's trailer and then run back to mom laughing their heads off. She had four kids and was in her early 20´s I would guess, she was surprised I didn´t have any.
We said goodbye on the switchback where the trail was to their house and pedaled off to the pass.
Later that day, still climbing, we were a good mile or so past any huts or houses when I saw a little old lady walking down the road with two walking sticks. She was tiny, (smaller than my beloved grandmother Tutu!) and ancient, with deep lines in her face and blue-grey cataracts. She came right up to me and when I stopped pulled me close to her face, speaking loudly in the way one does when they can´t hear well. She said hello, asked how I was doing, asked if I liked her country. After answering, she said something I didn´t get...she repeated herself and when I told her I didn´t understand she cackled an said So you don´t speak Quechwa? and she contined on her journey.
It was a good day!
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