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Part 13 Mompiche and back to Quito, Ecuador
Beach Babe in Mompiche
Day 86 Mompiche, Ecuador
George and Claire met us in a rented car on the Pan-Am highway and we
drove to the coast at Mompiche. The road brought us down quickly from the
dizzying height at which Quito lies. Highlands gave way to pastures, formal
crops and finally jungle on the lowlands. The heat was surprisingly comfortable
and we didn’t even use the air conditioning. We encountered a bovine traffic
jam. See the attached video.
Mompiche is a fishing village/hippie surf hang out. We are in a log and
bamboo hostal. If we look hard enough we can find someone who speaks a little
English but we don’t look. This is a place where Ecuadorians come to holiday. We
arrived at dusk and were keen to see the place in daylight. The beach is
supposed to be clean and beautiful. We hope to swim tomorrow, it will be the
first time we actually swim in the Pacific.
Typical Bamboo and Thatch Hotel in Mompiche
Day 87 Mompiche
The roosters began to crow outside our window at 4 am as the overnight
rains began to diminish. We slept past 8am in the wonderful sea air and spent a
slow day at the beach. The tide was out revealing a pristine expanse of fine
sand. Remarkably, there is no garbage, seaweed or any other imperfection in
either direction on the beautiful beach. The water temperature was perfect for
swimming, not too warm. The slightly cool water must be what is maintaining
such a perfect climate here. The days are warm and the evenings cool off enough
to tempt one to put on a sweater. It is hard to believe we are so near the
equator.
Naturally Beach Clean at Low Tide
Tonight, we had our best meal so far on this trip. There is a little
Mexican restaurant across the sand road from our hotel, called Retaurante El
Rincon De Mexico. Claire, George, Isabelle and I were the only clients this
evening. The chef is shy but clearly enjoys the pleasure his work brings to
others. The food really was spectacular. We started by sharing a large prawn
ceviche and the main course was fish tacos in large, hard shells. Everything
was presented elegantly. We left a good
tip and the promise of a glowing review on Trip Advisor. We followed that with
a slow walk through the quiet little fishing village before bed.
Claire, George and Isabelle
Day 88 On the Road to Quito
The drive home began well but we hit our first delay looking for a bank
machine. Each of us was out of cash. We have come to realize that a pocket full
of cash is essential in Latin America. Gas stations will often but not always
accept a credit card as payment but everywhere else won’t. The exceptions to the
cash-only economy exist in large urban centres and even then, only in the most
modern businesses.
Mompiche Beach
Once cash was acquired and food found we set off again but soon made a
wrong turn, adding close to an hour to the trip.
The village of La Union on highway 20 was where the real trouble began.
It is at this point that the long climb begins toward the high sierra along
which “Volcano Alley”, the Pan-American highway south of Quito, runs. George
and I had encountered a landslide clean-up and traffic jam here the previous
week when returning from our rural tour. We had managed to filter past traffic
on the motos and the police had waved us through the obstruction. This often
happens here with motos.
Today we hit traffic that was stopped dead at about the same place. It
ended up being a five-hour delay that caused us to pull into Quito after 11 pm.
There was no filtering past traffic in our rented car. The landslide area was
much larger this time. We saw it through the rain while finally inching past
the lengthy, cleaned-up site. Huge mounds of mud and massive boulders had either
been pushed off where the tarmac should have been or skirted entirely by a
temporary road. The spectacle of natural force caused us all to hope that no
one had been killed by the “derrumbe” (landslide).
Day 89 Quito
We slept late after yesterday’s excitement. Despite the road troubles
Isabelle really enjoyed the three-day excursion. She is becoming more and more
mobile as her injury heals. We will take on more activities in the coming days
to help prevent further “cabin fever”. She hopes that soon she will be ready
for her first test ride.
Home Life, Just Killing Time
George came over mid-morning and we went for a ride into the “hills”
surrounding Quito. Quito sits at 2850m and the hills rise past 4,000m. Our
route brought us “only” to 3600m before we crossed over the western range and
began to descend. The dirt track brought us right down into the steamy jungle.
We caught the paved highway near Mindo and rode it back into Quito. It was a
fun ride on a twisty, well surfaced road. The ride was easily as much fun as
the three hours we had spent off-road. We rode past “Mitad del Mundo” on the
way back into the city and I made a mental note where it was.
Otavalo Roses Still Going Strong
Day 90 Quito
Today was a day of chores. I spent an hour cleaning and oiling the chain
on Princess Leah. I use liberal amounts of kerosene as a solvent and it makes a
pretty good mess. It’s best to do this before washing the bikes. Then I took
both motos to an auto detailing place just up the road. Andreas did a great job
in the almost three hours he spent working on them. I tipped him personally
after his boss left with the pre-agreed $14 fee I paid.
Dirty Bikes
Isabelle and I went for a “stroll” to one of the numerous small
restaurants in our barrio (neighborhood). We each had today’s “Menu del Dia” or
fixed menu for the day of a hearty soup followed by a plate of chicken breast
in sauce (seco de pollo) that was accompanied by rice, a small salad and a
slice of fried plantain. Almuerzo (lunch) like this can be found everywhere and
costs $2.50. Today’s was the best we’ve had in our little barrio. We passed on
our compliments and a nice tip. After lunch, we hailed a cab and rode to the
grocery store to do some shopping. We finished the day by cleaning up some of
our mess around the apartment.
Clean Bikes
It was a mundane sort of a day but it had been gently active for
Isabelle. Painless, low level activity is useful in maintaining her strength at
this point in her recovery.
Going Out for Lunch, Fun and Low Stress Excercise
Day 91 Quito
There is a segregated bus route that runs along the middle of Av. 10 de
Agosto, near us. We took it north to the end of the line, then stayed on it for
the ride to the south end of the city. We had enjoyed this little stunt in
Medellin, along the above ground metro. The views gleaned had been our
introduction to the geography of the city and had helped us plan the rest of
the week’s activities. Today’s ride through Quito was anything but fun.
Nuestra Casa en Quito
The first two buses had been jammed full of passengers. The doors closed
too quickly, after a few passengers exploded onto the platform, for us to even
attempt boarding. We moved up the platform to the placed marked as a priority
boarding point for people with ambulatory challenges. We got on the third bus
and were immediately compressed (literally and firmly!) by our fellow
passengers to allow the doors to slam shut. During the whole ride to the north
end of the city we couldn’t budge, never making it past the crowded front
entrance.
Everyone except us got off at the end of the line. The next stop had a
mass of people waiting at it. When the bus doors opened they ran like school
children to get a seat. The ride south was as unpleasant as the ride north had
been. We took a cab home from the south end and promised each other we would avoid
the bus in the future. We spent the rest of the day on our computers or
watching Netflix. We looked at each other at some point and acknowledged our
shared boredom. It will be good to get on the road again.
Day 92 Quito
“Ecuador” is derived from the word “equator”. Our taxi driver, Santiago took
us north for about an hour, out of town to the lookout point atop Volcan
Pululahua. It is an extinct volcano with a deep, flat and fertile crater. This
is rare, the farmland within represents one of only two inhabited volcano
craters in the world.
Agriculture in the Crater
We got back into Santiago’s taxi and rode to the “Mitad del Mundo” site.
This is a plaza built at the end of the nineteen-seventies that “divides the
world in half”. It was built to commemorate the 18th-century French
expedition to help determine the exact circumference of the earth. It turns out
that the actual location of the equator is in flux. It constantly drifts within
5 km on either side of the line that runs through the plaza. We straddled the
line for a photo anyway, feeling light on our feet knowing that due to
centrifugal forces caused by earth’s rotation we weighed about 1 kg less that
at home.
With Santiago, Our Driver
Mitad del Mundo
(L to R) North and South
Part of the Monument at Mitad del Mundo
Some of the Traditional Music and Dance Performances
The accompanying photos show my moto-mounted GPS reading full zeros for
latitude. It was taken on a solo trip on the dirt road up Volcan Cayambe a few
weeks ago. It shows the true location of the equator, at that moment, as
determined by the combined signals from at least 10 active satellites, no
French expedition required!
Approaching the Equator on Road to Volcan Cayambe
Almost There
All Zeros Across the Top!
A couple of hours passed as we visited the site thoroughly, enjoying the
traditional music and dancing shows performed throughout the complex. Santiago
was waiting for us back at the taxi stand and we appreciated a scenic and
different route home in his spacious cab. We gave Santiago $35 today and that
included a good tip. We enjoyed his company, photos of his family, descriptions
of his beloved city and didn’t miss the bus one little bit.
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