Over the equator

Ecuador has been beautiful. The mountains are tall, the valleys steep and deep, snow capped volcanoes climb out of the clouds and the people are as friendly as can be. A few days after entering Ecuador I crossed the equator. There was no sign on the road I was on. I crossed it three times before I realized I was south of it. After 9 months and 19000 kilometers biking down from the Arctic Circle I decided I wanted some ceremony for the occasion. The next day I biked North to the monument in Quito. I straddled the line and took photos only to learn later that the monument is not actually placed on the equator. Well, I was there for the ceremony anyways and I got that. 

The next day I crossed the fifty kilometers of Quito north to south. The city was nice and through that Sunday morning I felt like I had the place to myself. I passed through the sprawl on both edges if the city, visited downtown and the historic old town, ate lunch in a very nice park. On Sundays a big loop of road is closed to vehicles and opened just for cyclists and pedestrian. I biked slowly and enjoyed the scenery with hundreds of other cyclists. 

A couple days later I was at the highest point on the Pan American highway in Ecuador. It was late in the day and I turned off the highway onto a bumpy dirt road to look for camping. This is where I met Rodrigo. He let me sleep in his yard. In the morning I was invited in for breakfast and we got to chatting. Rodrigo owns the bed and breakfast there where I slept, he is a mountaineering guide, tour guide and producer of the very excellent documentary "The last ice merchant" (you can watch it here, thelasticemerchant.com). I could not have met a better person to tell me about Ecuador. That afternoon with his wonderful girlfriend Claudia we drove up to his little cabin in the shadow of the Chimborazo volcano. From that lofty aerie, five volcanoes, two of them active, could be seen in a single sweeping view. That night at an elevation of 13,700 feet I slept out under a sky that was more stars than space. 

I'm not sure what to say about this. I think it is an ice cream advertisement.

A lot of good hammockeering in Ecuador.

Flowers for you.

Quito.

I estimate I have my bike pictured with military jets of 15 countries.

Equator monument. This looks like progress but I was heading north when I passed this.

Quito suburbs.

I get to bike through these mountains!

Sunset over Chimborazo.

The mountain valleys fill with clouds every evening. 

 Clowns welcome?

 Lama, alpaca? I can't actually tell the difference.

 Thank you Rodrigo and Claudia!

 Sunset over Carihuairazo volcano.

 High mountain turf.

 Rodrigo's cabin.

An outhouse fit for a king. Five volcanoes can be seen from this perch.

A little more Columbia

I was feeling a tinge of writers block when I put up my last post. Attached here are a few snips from my journal to paint a better picture Columbia. Also a video I made using time lapses from Columbia.

In a climb this morning I kept pace with the scattered clouds drifting on the hillsides. It was overcast above and below me but the world seemed radiantly white, as if the mist held some incandescent source within. Soon I was in the clouds and they were still luminous but now it seemed to radiate from me, maybe it was. After three hours of climbing I approached a high ridge crossing where the clouds broke up behind me and I could see down to a majestic earthy green valley below, and climbing out of it, my winding road scarred into the mountain side. Splashes of blue sky broke through with columns of aureate sunlight. It was magnificent.

It is shortly after midnight and I woke up with very itchy ankles to discovered a half dozen mosquitoes inside my hammock. I killed them, I had to. My bug mesh was zippered tight so I knew I had bigger problems. I got out of my hammock to find a leaf cutter ants trail passing directly over my shoes. They were covered in ants. I pounded them on the hard ground to clear them off and quickly got into my bug free zone. Bug mesh on my head, rain coat, pant legs, deet on my ankles. Investigating my hammock I found dozens of red leaf cutter ants crawling on it and several large holes where they stupidly carried off my bug mesh. I cleared the ants and applied deet to my hammock ropes. I am not sure of that works but it is the best idea I had besides  switching trees. Unfortunately all other tree options in the immediate area are pretty bad. Next I got out my needle and thread and spent an hour or more sewing holes while the din of mosquitoes surrounded my head. I sewed up 15 new holes and it seemed that the ants would not crossing my deet barrier.

I stopped at a bakery for breakfast and ate various pastries with a middle aged man who was very interested in my trip. He would also explain my trip to anyone that came to the bakery or just walked by on the sidewalk. He was very excited about. He told a woman walking past and her jaw literally dropped. I know it is an expression but I can't recall ever seeing that reaction in real life. Later in the day, for lunch, I pulled off the main road and followed a dirt path into a pineapple and papaya farm where I sat on a bamboo bench so old that trees engulfed it in bark on both ends. Four farmers came around to have lunch with me. When I explained to them what I was up to one of the guys literally took his hat off, tipped it towards me. A tip of the hat, another expression I've never seen acted out so peerfectly. After a quick lunch they went back to work. As I sat reading the youngest farmer, a late teen I would guess, came back to me with a pineapple. A gift. He seemed to be trying to avoid being seen by any of the other workers. I got out my knife and started cutting into it, but he took over when he saw that I didn't know how to fillet a pina. I have somehow made it this far in life without ever cutting up a fresh pineapple. Now I've learned how to do it from a Columbian pineapple farmer. Apparently I was just waiting for the most qualified person to learn from. He didn't eat with me but headed back to work. It was delicious. Before I left, a second farmer brought me another pineapple. I packed that one up and ate it for dinner.

Across Columbia!

Columbia was such a nice place. I visited Cartagena, Medellin, and Pasto along the way. The cities were alright but what really got me excited were the mountains. Finally I was able to climb up and out of the tropical heat. I got to feel small in the landscape. 

Leaving Cartagena I traveled through pastures for a week before turning off of a river and into the mountains. It was a pleasant stretch and I camped in the fields with cows or horses most nights. The climbs are long and beautiful. Lasting for hours or even more than a day. The downhills are not so long but exhilarating while they last. I descended 4700 feet in a single 30 kilometers stretch. It was just the greatest. The mountainsides are farmed and the patchwork of colors is wonderful to see across the broad valleys. It was tricky to find camping off of roads cut into steep hill sides but the view was always spectacular when I did. 

I met quite a few cyclists this stretch. I went out dancing with a couple in Medellin. They are out on a 6 year bike tour. Two more couple passed traveling north over the next few days. Both of which have been tours g south America for over a year. A day before getting to Ecuador I met 3 cyclists traveling individually. One of them, Don, is out on an 9 month bike tour from Columbia to Bolivia and back. He is traveling solo at age 77. I was impressed. 

Every mountain bridge I crossed makes me this happy. 

Columbia military, keeping the peace.

Cloud hammockeering!

Corn graffiti? 

Mountain roads are so great. 

 I found this foot bridge in the forest. I hung my hammock across it for the night.

 Mountain bridge in miniature

 I had lunch with pineapple and papaya farmers. They gave me some to go fruit.

 Medellin brothel

 Medellin, these lit up at night.

 Often times I pick trees to put my hammock in based on their aesthetics.

 I listened to a river and watched fireflies this night.

 This guy bought me breakfast.

 New friends in Medellin.

 Waiter, there is a foot in my soup.

Sugar cane plantation. 

Now Ecuador!