Ecuador - La Bolsa, Vilcabamba and Riobmba

---

After twenty hours and seven different journeys we had arrived at our first intended stop in Ecuador, Vilcabamba. Not only was it a long journey but it entailed the most remote border crossing I have ever experienced - a town of no more than twenty buildings, with a rather intriguing system of having to visit two different official Peruvian offices, twice. The real intrigue came when we were safely on the Ecuadorian side. The hourly shuttle bus (of sorts) left La Bolsa with us clinging on for dear life. The now-classic South American drive for heath and safety again left us impressed with the state of their roads. We travelled to the Ecuadorian town of Zumba on a makeshift lorry with open wooden constructed ‘bench’ seating and a luxurious roof. Maybe the roof’s materials would have been more wisely used for ‘sides’ to the benches. Why? Well for two hours we bounced along a road that even put Bolivia’s death roads of La Paz-Corico and Rurrenabaque-La Paz to shame.
At a guess, the lorry was probably 3m wide and the width of the road averaged around 3m! Unbelievably steep, heavily rutted and armed with more than the road’s fair share of river/waterfall issues, the lorry wound its way over two valleys, tiptoed over a ridge and bounced over rock-studded potholes, all complete with sheer-drop cliff edges - all, of course, at F1 velocity. As the lorry crashed around the mountain lanes, we didn’t really have enough time to think about the crumbling road or gushing rivers we kamikazed through, we were too busy ensuring any limb spare was holding or linking our rucksacks to the wooden ‘benches’. Any item lost from the lorry would never be found again, so we put aside our thoughts on the journey and held onto all we could until the rollercoaster finished. All sounds a little too much? It was great fun!!

Vilcabamba offered us a tranquil start to Ecuador. Set in the Andean lowlands, it offers a favourable climate, mind-bending local cacti and a relaxed atmosphere. So relaxed that the locals live to 110! Well that’s what they say but I never saw anybody over 60. Mind you, if the vibe of this little town is anything to go by, they were all having a siesta.

Vilcabamba’s charm held us there for longer than expected. We finally managed to drag ourselves away and headed for Cuenca via pirate CD central Loja. Cuenca would be another place where we would stay for longer than expected. Colonial charms and some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted lay nicely with Cuenca’s handmade sombrero, the Montecristo - an original hat from this city, known more commonly as the panama. These well-made handcrafted hats are available from the factories themselves, for an extremely modest price (exported at a rather inflated price and eventually denied entry into Australia by over-zealous customs officers).

After Cuenca we travelled back into the highlands to stop at Riobamba. We were back in the Andes and ready for more mountainous adventures. We got ourselves on a downhill cycling trip from the cloud-encircled refugio at 4800m on the mighty Volcan Chimborazo (6310m). With its five craters the sheer size of this mountain makes for very special viewing. Not to mention her summit, a spectacular scene and the closest point on earth to the sun. Because of Riobamba’s location, it is an important climbing town and with an array of mountains to choose from, I couldn’t help but sign up for a two-day expedition to climb Volcan Carihuyrazo. It was a small group consisting of a guide, a Puerto Rican, myself and an indigenous helper.

The first day we hiked for a few hours at 4000-4300m to acclimatise and to trek to the base camp, where we rested for the night. In the early hours of the morning we started the ascent of Carihuyrazo. As we hit the snowline of the mountain, we left the protection of the surrounding hills. The strong winds started to batter us and the ever-closer cloud line relentlessly hammered us with hail. It is at this point we put on our crampons, attached ourselves to each other via the safety rope and started to the climb. At this altitude the going is very slow, the air is so thin that it makes you feel like an asthmatic - that’s just standing still, let alone trying to climb up a volcano! As the sun started to appear and brought daylight to our expedition our climb was now well underway. We had disappeared in the cloud and all I could see was a steep neverending ‘whiteness’. Finding a good rhythm we pressed on and as the weather improved and lifted a little we had made it to around 5015m. Here we had a break and our guide assessed the situation. As there had been a lot of snowfall in the last week or two, to continue the five extra metres to the summit would be too dangerous, the risk of avalanche was too real. So we rested for slightly longer and refreshed with the trusted coca tea. It was at this point that it dawned on me that the indigenous helper had completed the climb with no specialist / safety gear and in a pair of wellington boots!

We made our way down back to the snowline and the mountain demonstrated what a dangerous and unpredictable place it is - walking over an undercover crevasse (covered by the recent snow falls), I found myself falling into it after the covering of snow gave way. With my legs swimming in an underground river the guide quickly hauled me out via the safety rope and, fortunately, there was no damage done.

Having enjoyed the climb it didn’t take a lot of arm-twisting for me to sign up for the mountain that most people come to Ecuador for - the perfectly coned Volcan Cotopaxi.
Full Cuenca Photos on Flickr
Full Volcan Chimborazo Photos on Flickr
Full Alausi Photos on Flickr
Full Vulcan Carihhuairazo Photos on Flickr
Full Riobamba Photos on Flickr

---