Into Quito

We spent the Day around Banos looking around, very tourist orientated place with lots of "adventure" tours going off into the Amazon and adventure sports type stuff so full of tourists. The bridge over the Gorge had bungee jumping off the bridge, we watched a couple of guys go off, the guy asked if we were having a go, even though I've lost weight there is no chance that rope would hold me, and no way would I throw myself into an at least 200 feet drop trusting the dodgy characters operating the jump. We took a taxi out to see what was meant to be a spectacular waterfall but to be honest it was underwhelming the good news is we found a great restaurant and I had my first curry since leaving the UK, excellent! We left Friday morning after a bad nights sleep due to being in the noisiest hotel we've been in so far, cheap but crap! Looking forward to the run up to Quito on the Avenida de la Volcans but it was very overcast so we never saw any of the Volcanos en route, Quito wasn't to bad to get into, a city of 2 million people and it covers a huge area but the road system seems well organised. We arrived at a hotel recommended by our new pal Louis from Cuenca and had a look around. Friday afternoon the place was busy with student types drinking in all the bars just down the road from us, so I suppose students are the same the world over!
Today we took a taxi to get the cable car up to the top of a mountain overlooking the city, it goes from over 2000 metres to over 4000, I'll be honest it was a tad worrying and I tried hard not to look down until my feet were back on Terra Firma. There was a nice Chapel at the top so I had a quick prayer to ask that we got down again in one piece. I also thought it was quite funny that they advertise Horse hire up there, I was struggling to breath so god knows how a horse with a fat guy on it gets on! All going well we will cross the Equator tomorrow so tonight could very well be our last in the Southern Hemisphere.

Fiona with Maria who we last saw in Ushuaia on Christmas eve!

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 Crazy, spot the jumper!!

Leap of Faith

Pretty waterful (but not worth the trip really)

The best food in Banos (with compulsory Che picture)

Confusing sign outside what was a Scottish themed pub (we didn't go in)

Ready for lift off! 

Quick prayer!

Amazing Views

We didn't hire a horse!

Quito from the top of a very big hill!!

Demo's & Volcanos

Our last night in Cuenca and it coincided with the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, so the local communist party had a demonstration calling for the same style of Government for South America (as far as I could make out) It was good natured and the Police kept a distance, music, flags and chanting, all good stuff.
Yesterday we rode the excellent road from Cuenca to Banos, with the exception of having to negotiate the busy city of Riobamba it was a great ride. The usual up , down and around huge mountains, in and out of the clouds, fantastic! We took the back road to Banos to save mileage , it was fine until about 15 miles from Banos then it was obvious landslides had destroyed the original road and then we were back on a track gouged out of the mountain, Fiona remarked it was a Ripio refresher course! We stopped at the worst bit to take a Photo, Fi was getting the camera out when I heard a rumbling noise, like a truck bouncing along the road or maybe thunder, I looked up and saw a Volcano next to us throwing out a huge plume, the noise got louder and to be honest with the condition of the road and with us not knowing what was happening we got to hell out of there to a better part of the road before we got the pictures. An exciting end to the day! In town we met up With Radick & Maria we last saw in Ushuaia and Mel who we caught up with in Cusco. We are all heading to Columbia and are keeping updated on the chaos there at the moment with strikers blocking roads, no petrol and guerilla activity on the rise apparently. Hopefully things will calm down in the next few days!

Political Demo, good natured, good music!

 The not to bad section of the road, the dust on the right is from falling stones

 Not the worst part but you get the idea

 Watching this remids you that nature is in charge

    Mr Angry Volcano

Another Day in Cuenca

Last night when we came back from eating we met Louis who moved here from Canada a while ago, we asked where we could get Equador stickers for the bike and he kindly said he'd look first thing for us, This morning we decided we liked this place so we stayed for another day. Louis appeared after breakfast to say he had arranged to get stickers made at a graphic design place, top man, he then told us about his friend with the classic vans so we ended up there to keep the guys off their work for a while. A visit to the Royal Enfield dealer finished the petrolhead morning so after lunch Louis took us to the superb (free) Museum and to the smaller Brother of Machu Picchu which is on the same site, a grand day out so we are glad we stayed another day, and thanks to Louis for the tour! (and stickers).
The pictures tell a better story! 

Cool 52 truck

The office! Jukeboxes and memoribillia galore

Cool seat

The team, thanks for the time! Louis far Right

68 Ford, totally original, no welds, fantastic

Royal Enfield dealer

Ducks teaching their chics to swim

Former Inca stronghold

Fiona bothering the wildlife

Birds

This one only spoke Spanish!

Cuenca to buy a hat!

A weekend in Loja, nice place and worth a visit (apart from the food, struggled to find anywhere that didn't sell only chicken, rice and chips or a variation of that three) We met Henry on Saturday from Canada and had dinner with him at night, good to swap tales, he is heading South, We North so advice on both sides. This morning (Monday) before we left we had to get Insurance (SOAT) to cut a long story short, 2 hours, 2 queues and a taxi ride eventually got us the insurance so we left at 11am for Cuenca, around 130 miles of the best roads and scenery i've been on, climbing mountains, swooping around bends, feeling dizzy when I looked over the edge at the crazy drops below us, it was fantastic, once again so high that we were riding in and out of Clouds, the air hot one minute, cold and wet the next, a great ride. En route we spotted Ricardo heading South so a roadside conflab on road conditions and places to stay. Into the really nice town of Cuenca, past a Royal Enfield dealer !! We found a nice Hotel and headed of to buy a Panama hat, contrary to the name a genuine Panama hat is made in Equador, hat found and bought and then a nice meal in the centre of town (thank god we were starting to feel we had malnutrition!)

Impresive Murals depicting history In Loja

Simon Bolivar

Loja City gate, very impressive

One of the many Markets

The smell of the chickens was turning my stomach!

One of the many impressive churches in Loja

Today , passing through a small town, looked like the whole school out with their teacher, all playing instruments, realy nice!

Stunning

Roadside chat with Ricardo

So high we are above much of the clouds

Panama hat shop

Fi tries one for size

I Buy one from the guy who makes them, they fit in that box!

Really nice town with typical Colonial architecture

Loja

We tried to get insurance yesterday but will have to wait until Monday morning before we can get it sorted out, not to worry we needed the break. We haven't been idle though , All Roads Lead to the Moon Episode 5 is here for your enjoyment & Comments. Tomorrow, all going well we march closer to the Equator, currently at 3 Degrees South & Counting.

Into Equador

As we left Chicalayo and picked the bikes up at the secure parking we had a bit of luck, the parking lot guy was asking us about our trip when we noticed he had a pet monkey, saves us going to the Amazon to see them, it was really funny and took a liking to Fi's mascot she has on the front of her bike, it also tried to take my (full) Hip flask, so it could have been a dead monkey!
The run from Chicolayo to Sullana was good, the only thing is the vast amount of rubbish lying everywhere, its a real shame, not good for the health of the people living here and not good for the tourists, that said the further North we went the nicer the people seem to be. Stayed in a Hostel in Sullana last night, just as you come into town from the South and only £10 for a nice room with pivate En Suite, cracked it at these prices. Filled the Scottoilers which are doing a great job up to now and changed my headlamp bulb which blew as I approached town (Fi's went last week!) Today we left a little later than planned and made our way to the border at Macara (as recommended by Barcelona Pat) Nice run up there, the scenery getting greener by the mile which was good. The crossing was quiet, only problem is the Peruvian Aduana had no electric so they couldn't copy the documents they needed so it was a waiting game, a group of Equadorian's got fed up and went back to their side of the border, a new guy came on shift and suddenly he said we could go, no idea what happened really and still no power. Into the Equador side, efficient and NO mention of SOAT (Insurance) so after a total of around 2 hours we were in.
The road From the border to Lojo was probably one of the best I've been on, twisting up and down the sides of the mountains in spectacular scenery, riding through the clouds at the top and feeling the heat in the valleys, it was great and took my mind of my increasingly sore backside. The countryside so far here has been very clean and orderly, the driving so far a bit better (but still South American). We've got a hotel here for a couple of days at least to help the backside recover and to get Insurance.

No you can't have my Whisky

OK Doll you're coming with me!

Biting my leg won't help!

Now with its special nappy on!!

House removals our speciality !

Lunch stop yesterday!

Rice fields in the North of Peru

Waiting for some electric or common sense

You see this often, note the guy on the back nonchalantly texting on his phone!

Video Episode 4

Now in Sullana , North of Peru and tomorrow (or today depending on your time zone) we hope to make the Equador border crossing, some fun stuff from today to blog but once again hours to produce a poor quality video due to various computing & Internet constraints. Hope you enjoy and we will blog next from Equador hopefully.