Part 12 Otavalo to Quito and Environs
The Otavalo market
Day 72 Quito
Today was a busy day of errands, the most important of which was getting
an “air-cast” for Isabelle. It has made her much more comfortable and at ease.
She can remove it to take a shower or just to scratch! She has a measure of
control over things now as we both wait for her body to repair its self.
Day 3 after the injury
She insists that I continue to get out and do things until she is better
able to move around. I will follow through with some local excursions we had proposed
with George, from Rose Cottage. George is a motorcycle enthusiast with whom we
had arranged to ride some scenic rural routes out of Quito. George had planned
to join us by renting a moto from Freedom Bike Rentals in Quito. Isabelle
offered to lend hers to him after she was sidelined by her injury. There will
be a separate blog entry dedicated to that ride, with videos.
Photos taken at Rose Cottage in Otavalo
Day73 Quito and South
This morning, George met me at “home” in Quito and we went for a
practice ride. Next week we will follow route advice from “Freedom Bike
Rentals” and ride an adventure route through some of Ecuador’s diverse
ecosystems. George got a chance today to try Isabelle’s moto, practice off-road
techniques and decide if the bike is right for him or if he would prefer
something lighter for next week.
We rode on the Pan-American highway to the turn off for Volcan Cotopaxi.
We had heard that they didn’t allow motos into the national park but decided to
give it a try anyway. Along the way we found a spot of flat ground and practiced
some basic off-road riding techniques. George is a natural and he picked things
up quickly.
We rode on many fun roads and tracks. Surfaces included pretty much
everything from many kilometers of cobbles and broken cobbles to gravel of
various kinds, packed sand, even some easy rocky and muddy bits. The scenery
was stunning.
We tried two different gates into Cotopaxi park and were politely
refused entry both times. The second gate was deep into “the middle of nowhere”
and we were on roads that didn’t appear on any maps. My GPS helped us keep
going in the right direction over unmarked rural tracks.
We completed a counter clockwise arc that began at the city of Machachi.
Traveling east we climbed up to the plateau between Mounts Cotopaxi and
Pasochoa. Then we arced to the north around Mount Pasochoa. At the north-east
corner of the volcano we followed signs to a waterfall but never found it. We
then followed a sign to the summit of Pasochoa.
It was a rough dirt track and we passed a man on a little dirt bike
riding with another man on horseback. We were getting a little tired by this
point and George had a tip-over on a rocky descent/corner. It was also getting
closer to dark. We were passed by the previous pair of riders as we sorted
ourselves out. We caught up with them again and realised that we had close to
an hour more of the rough stuff before we could finish the arc back to the
Pan-Am. The horseman turned left into his farm and the biker turned right onto
a cobbled track that actually appeared on my GPS. Abandoning our attempt to
summit we also took the right turn and made the steep, descent to connect with
the valley road below. That road improved with every kilometer and as we entered
the town of Amaguana we found ourselves on actual asphalt.
Princess Leah after some hard riding
We picked up the Pan-Am a George picked up a spike. It was huge and was jammed
right into his rear tire. The tire seemed to be holding air so we rode forward
hoping to find one of the ubiquitous “Vulcanizadora” tire repair shops at the
roadside. Sure enough, we found one within a few kilometers. We waited for about
half an hour while the owner finished a job and we realised that the tire was
still holding air. It had deflated by only 10 pounds in half an hour. We
decided to risk it and got within 15 km of home when George said he heard the
spike come out and the tire lost pressure.
Another roadside puncture repair was done, this time on the busy Pan-Am
highway. The first plug that I put in leaked so I tried a second and put lots
of rubber cement on it. I only dared pump in 25 pounds of air and could feel
just a hint of a breeze coming out of the poor tire’s now sticky-gooey wound. We
decided to risk it again and ride on.
George gave a rolling countdown over the intercom. He read from the
bike’s tire pressure indicator as we rode into Quito, “1.2 bar, 1.1, how far do
we have left to go? 1.0 bar”. I followed behind watching for signs that the
rear tire was beginning to deform but it didn’t. We reached the apartment to
find Isabelle was justifiably worried at our 7:30 pm return in the dark.
Day 74 Quito
The morning’s activity was to get the tire fixed, that of the afternoon
was to turn my I-Phone into an Ecuadorian one so we can use it. Isabelle’s
worry last night at my late return was unnecessary. It could easily have been
avoided with the use of a cell phone. Our apartment has a working land line.
There is a Vulcanizadora 3 blocks
away from our apartment. After scouting the place on foot, I put some air in
its tire and rode the bike over. Miguel’s manner was business like. He pointed
to the slowly bubbling soapy water he had put on the tire’s roadside repair and
said, “This is a bad patch”. I answered saying, “I know, I did it.”
He got to work removing the wheel assembly from the moto. Removing from
the rim and inspecting the tire came next. Miguel said that the hole was big and
could not be just patched. “No kidding”,
I thought, “You should have seen the size of the spike.” Miguel described the
likely result of applying a patch by saying, “pfff! (plus a two-handed
explosive gesture)”. That made things pretty clear. I asked if it was actually
repairable. He said yes, that the price would be appropriately higher and the
vulcanizing process would take two hours, that it couldn’t be rushed. I agreed
to a price of $25 US.
Miguel working his craft
Miguel got to work and I asked him if there is a café nearby. His face
lit up when I offered to buy him a coffee too. His business-like manner melted
immediately. I brought back the coffees and a couple of pastries. He asked if I
am Canadian, having seen the flag on the back of the moto. My positive answer
seemed to cause his face to further relax. We had a grand old chat as he executed
his craft.
Almost everyone who walked past his shop shared a greeting with Miguel. He
roughed up and cleaned the tire wound on the inside then added several thin strips
of treated rubber to the whole area. The new rubber was soft and sticky. He
applied strong pressure between the added rubber strips on the inside and the
tread on the outside of the tire. He did this with a devise that looked like a
large drill press. Contacting the inside, hard against the new rubber, was an
electrified metal plate. The combination of heat, sulphur and pressure caused
the new rubber to flow where it is need and to change chemically. It bonded
with the rubber of the tire. The slow cooling that followed (this was the part
that could not be rushed) cured the hardening rubber. This caused the new
rubber to have the same properties as that of the tire.
Heat and pressure
Back home we don’t repair damaged things, we replace them. You need not
look far in Latin America for a specific small repair business. Miguel’s
practiced craft allowed me to continue using something that had barely begun
its service life and for him to make a living. Handshakes, back patting and
well wishing, “Buen viaje!” finished our encounter and lengthy conversation.
Day 85 Quito
The days are passing and Isabelle is healing. She no longer experiences
pain and is becoming more mobile. We seem to be able to accomplish one project
or major errand per day. We are in a strange new place, are learning how to communicate
and where to get things done. We make mistakes that slow us down but along the
way we are soaking in the flavour and atmosphere of this wonderful Andean city.
Quito, at 2,850m is the second highest capital city in the world, La Paz
being #1. Temperatures mostly remain between 12 (night) and 22 (day) for the
whole year. It’s hard to believe that we are right at the equator, well almost.
Our house is actually a few seconds south but that is enough to cause the water
to go down the drain the wrong way!
"Home"
Our apartment is very spacious and comfortable and is surrounded by
businesses that offer most things we need. There is a locked gate for security,
a norm throughout Latin-America, the driveway provides a convenient place for
routine moto maintenance. A typical 15-minute cab ride is $3-4 so we use them
frequently, including supermarket trips.
We worried about how to make sure our daughter, Gabi has a good visit.
The concern was caused by not knowing how long Isabelle would require before
being well enough to ride. Gabi’s flights are paid in full and we are 2,000 km
from meeting her in Lima. In Latin-America that is almost two weeks of moto
travel.
The locked gate
We considered options:
1. Isabelle remains in
Quito, I ride to Lima and spend three weeks touring with Gabi, then ride back
to Quito. Isabelle and I then continue our trip (This would mean 8,000 km of
riding that would take many weeks while Isabelle twiddled her thumbs back in
Quito).
2.
We store the motos in Quito, fly to Lima, rent a car and tour with Gabi
for three weeks, fly from Cusco to Quito somehow and continue the trip (very
expensive).
3.
We buy a connecting ticket for Gabi from Lima to Quito. Isabelle would
very likely be ready to ride with the extra two weeks of recovery saved from
not having to ride to Lima. We would tour through southern Ecuador and northern
Peru, then get Gabi to her flight out of Lima. Gabi would forfeit her Cusco to
Lima connector flight and not get to visit Machu Pichu under this scenario.
Isabelle, who is seriously bored already, might lose her mind completely with
the extra waiting around in the apartment.
4.
Isabelle is well enough to ride by the end of our rental agreement on
the apartment, we continue our trip as planned (but delayed by a few weeks),
easily meeting Gabi in Lima. We would leave most of our gear in Lima in a
storage locker to lighten the bikes. We won’t need camping gear until the
“southern cone” countries.
o
The tour with Gabi would include:
§ Lima
§ Pisco, Pacific beaches
§ Ica dune village with
sandboarding and dune-buggies
§ Nazca with a flight
to see the mysterious “lines”, figures only visible from above
§ Araquipa and hiking
in the Colca Canyon (]With a depth of 10,725 ft (3,270 m),[2] it is one of the deepest in the world,
second in Peru after the Cotahuasi Canyon and more
than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in
the United States)
(Wikipedia) to see the condors (we would use a guide and Isa would get to ride an
animal)
§ Lake Titicaca
§ Cusco
§ Machu Pichu
o
This scenario causes us to miss the northern highlands of Peru, a
planned highlight of the trip. To remedy that we would tour north, along the
Andean highlands after seeing Gabi off in Cusco. We would tour all the way up
to the Cajamarca area but first descend east into the Amazon basin as far as
Tarapoto. We would then loop west and south, hiking the highest areas of the
trip out of Huaraz, again with a guide, Isabelle should be strong enough by
then. Continuing south we would return to Lima to pick up the extra gear.
All options require compromise and more information before choosing.
We rented a car one day a drove north to Otavalo so Isabelle could be
seen by the orthopedic doctor again. The sky was clear and the scenery was
great. We saw many large-scale rose plantations along the Pan-Am. 73% of the
world’s rose exports come from Ecuador and we bought 2 dozen beauties at the
roadside for $2. They are still resplendent on the table as I write this.
George rode with us, he was returning to Rose Cottage after our “off-road”
ride.
I dropped off Isabelle at the hospital, went to buy sandwiches for us
then took George home. I found free parking in the hospital lot and was
surprised to find Isabelle was waiting for me! I had expected us to be there for
the afternoon. It seemed that we had the wrong date. She did have the great
idea to ask for a copy of her x-ray photos on her iPad. These would prove to be
very important.
The next day we saw an orthopedic doctor, at a private clinic called
Clinica Pasteur in Quito. Dr. Fernando Noboa was friendly and helpful. His
English is strong, allowing us to understand everything quickly. He too is a
motorcycle enthusiast and loves to ride dirt bikes. He examined Isabelle and
declared that she was well on her way to mending! He liked the air-cast and
cleared her for:
-
Short duration removals of the cast
-
Slowly adding weight bearing to the ankle (must be pain free)
-
Moto riding in two to three weeks
It goes without saying that we are ecstatic with the news. We are keeping
our fingers crossed, hoping that scenario four will be possible.
Comfortable but bored
