December 15, 2002
Quito Ecuadore to Puerto Chicama Peru
We ended up spending a week in Quito mostly waiting to get our bikes out
of Aduana jail and having them serviced. While we where in Quito we stayed
at the Crossroads Hostal which was recommended to us by Ricardo Rocco who
helps a lot of bikers who come through Quito. The
Crossroads
was a real nice place and while we where there we got the chance to meet
a few other bikers who where riding around South America. Our motorcycles
where supposed to be shipped directly to Quito on Thursday so we took a flight
out of Panama City on Thursday night hoping to get the bikes on Friday morning.
When we showed up at the shippers on Friday morning we learned that our bikes
had not arrived yet and should be showing up in the afternoon. When we returned
to the shippers we learned that our bikes where in Bogota Colombia.and wouldn't
be arriving till late that evening and we wouldn't be a ble to get them until
Monday morning. We where also told to expect to pay $40 - $60 each for customs
on Monday. We spent that weekend checking out the old section of Quito. Our
time in
Quito
also coincided with the Center of the World festival which is a week long
celebration of the founding of Quito. As part of the fiesta we got invited
to a
moto party
by friends of Ricardos which was very cool. On Monday we went to pick up
our bikes and we shocked to learn that our $45 to $60 dollar fee had risen
to $200!! We had only $300 between us but the theiving bastards reluctantly
took it. When we went to pick up our bikes they had drained the gas tanks
so we left the Aduana jail riding on reserve with no money on us. Then
Todd and I got seperated in traffic and I got lost trying to find our hostal.
When I finally found a gas station that would take credit cards I put 5.4
gallons of fuel into my 4.9 gallon tank! The following day Todd and I put
our bikes in a local shop for some preventive maintenance and for some new
tires. While our bikes where being worked on Todd and I decided to go see
some bull fights that where going on all week long as part of the fiesta
but when we got there all the tickets where sold out so we hung around the
street party that was going on outside of the
bull
ring
.
After gettng our bikes out of the shop we headed
north
for a bit to check out the ecuator and the large native market in the town
of Otovala. We got drenched along the way. The following day we headed south
to the city of Riobamba which is centrally located in the Ecuadorian Andes.
We got drenched along the way.
Riobamba
is a nice little city and we stayed at a great little hostal called the
Oasis. Planning on staying for two nights we spent the intervening day attempting
to go through a large national park but got lost along the way and had a
great time anyway. We got drenched on the way back. The following day we
left Riobamba by heading through the Avenue of the Volcanoes. While we where
heading through the mountains the roads got progressively worse as did the
weather. After being hailed on and drenched again we tucked our tails between
our legs and headed back to the Oasis in Riobamaba. The next day we headed
south for 120+ miles along some incredible Andean roads to see the ruins
at Ingapirca. The views where so beautiful that I decided to ride along them
again back to Riobamba. Actually when we got to Ingapirca I realized for
the umpteenth time that I'm a chowder head and had left some important documents
in our hostal so I had no choice but go go back and get them. I got drenched
along the way. When I got back to the Oasis our host ran to open the doors
so I could park the bike in the courtyard but I explained to them that as
much as I loved their fair city I had had enough and headed back to
Ingapirca
in the dark. In all I rode over over 370 miles of twisty and occasionally
treacherous Andean roads and was still only about 125 miles away from Riobamaba.
From Ingapirca we wound our way to Loja through more beautiful Andean countryside.
From Loja we made our way to the
frontier
with Peru.We got drenched along the way. The border crossing to Peru was
the best yet and after spending 2 weeks in the mountains we headed to the
coast for a little sunshine and hopefully a little less rain. Which turned
out to be the case. The people in Peru are very friendly and people are constantly
coming up to us to ask about our travels. We spent our first night in
Peru
in the city of Chiclayo and the following day we visited the ruins of Tucume
before making our way to the nearby beach town of Nuevo Pimantel the follwing
day wanting more sun we headed about a hundred miles south to the beach town
of Chicama along the way we met two Australian riders on a Harley-Davidson
who have been riding around the world off and on for the last six and a half
years.
Tomorrow Todd and I will be splitting up for a bit while I head towards
Buenos Aires to meet my brothers family and Todd continues more directly
south through Chili.
Off to look for big juicy steaks.