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Published: March 29th 2005
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Work never stops!
Still finding time to bolster Australian-Peruvian legal ties OK, so I may not be Che, and I have a Bianchi mountain bike instead of a motorcycle, but I've been having a wild ride nonetheless. My first bike trip was a descent down Cotopaxi volcano, one of the highest active volcanos in the world. Fair call, it last erupted in 1905 but riding down the rocky terrain at breakneck speed my Bianchi was shaking so much it felt like the mountain was murmuring just a little. We started at about 4,800 metres, where a fresh layer of snow had fallen the night before, and raced down the winding track dodging approaching vehicles, wild horses, and cows that dotted the route to the grasslands below.
A low layer of cloud rolled in during the descent which tended to hamper visibility during the ride down. At the bottom of the track, my hands and arms felt as though they had been pounded with giant rocks by the bone-jarring ride. Once we reached the bottom it was time for a spot of cycling through the grassed hills that surround the volcano. By this time the fog had cleared a little and the vast expanse of hills and plains, with wild horses running across them, was like something out of a movie.
Its amazing how much of an effect altitude has. We biked up a relatively modest incline to have lunch at the top of a hill where some Inca ruins lay waiting. At the top of the hill, my lungs were ready to explode even though the climb had only taken about 10 minutes. Still, nestled in amongst the rocks of ruins, the food never tasted better.
My second bike experience took place in Banos, a small resort town reknowned for its thermal springs due to the presence of another active volcano which looms threateningly over the town. We started with another downhill descent, this time from about 4,000 metres and, once we reached the bottom, cycled along the road which is known as the Avenue of Waterfalls.
It was an amazing experience riding along the road and seeing spectacular waterfalls, across the valley which borders the road, every few kilometres or so. We were lucky that there had been some heavy rains the night before so the power of the water cascading down was simply awesome to behold. Along the way, some newfound friends decided to take a bridge jump off one of the many small steel bridges that dotted our path. I graciously declined the offer to jump with them, citing that I had already conquered a far more death-defying jump in Queenstown, NZ two years earlier. But that wasn't by only reason for deciding not to jump. When I saw that the three "man" safety team waiting at the bottom of the jump consisted of three boys who looked no older than 10-years I sort of figured that the standards of the Ecuadorian Safety Board probably aren't the same as at home. Nonetheless, three of my companions made the jump and survived to pay the $10 fee afterwards. I think I read somewhere in their voluminous safety guide that should death eventuate all costs are waived. How accommodating.
Whilst in Banos we also took a dip in the hot springs about 2km outside of town. Of course, we had the bad timing to visit Banos during Holy Week (Easter Weekend) where every man, woman, dog, and cow in Ecuador goes for vacation. Needless to say, the baths were absolutely teeming with humanity. It was ahrd to say whether there was more human sweat than envigorating mineral waters in the pools, but then again, the cuts on my feet have healed a bit so who knows. Of course, the tumour growing out of my ear is more of a concern now.
In between my two biking adventures, I visited Otavalo, a small-ish town about 2 hours bus ride north of Quito that is well known for its giant markets (handicrafts, livestock, produce) on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The markets are absolutely enormous and one could get lost for days amongst the hundreds of stalls selling jewellery, brightly-coloured cloths, and woollen and alpaca clothing. For anyone reading this who is expecting me to bring them back a souveneir I have to regretfully say that I bought nothing...for you. As for me on the other hand...well you may notice that I'll have a few additions to my wardrobe this winter. It was a good thing that I didn't bring more cash on the day because it would have been spent in no time. Bargaining with the locals was a fun experience since it was all done in good spirits, with their warm smiles ensuring that they always got the better of the deal.
Yesterday, I crossed the border into Peru and am in Mancora right now, a very small hippie town by the beach that occupies about 3 km of a stretch of coastal road. Its nice to back down at sea level where nosebleeds don't threaten quite so often. I'm here for about 2 days to relax by the pristine beach (not much wave activity though) before journeying further south.
I must say that the bus ride here though was particularly grim. Apart from taking about 10 hours, the first bus we were on screened a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, dubbed in Spanish. It was appropriately titled, "In Hell". I think just about every crime covered by the Crimes Act 1900 was committed during the course of the film, and I seriously don't think I was legally old enough to watch it. I don't know what was more troubling - the content of the film or the six-year old kids in the bus who sat transfixed by it.
Our bus driver wasn't watching the flick. He had his eyes on the road the whole time. He clearly had to in order to overtake another bus on the right hand side and passing between it and a road train on the left hand side, screaming downhill, down the middle of the road at about 150 km per hour. I felt like Steve Martin in that scene from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (the movie buffs out there will know what I'm talking about).
Riding buses over here is definitely an adventure. I'll always remember the two blokes who got on board during our ride to Mitad del Mundo, the official centre of the world where the equator line passes though the middle of town. Incidentally, the Ecuadorian government seems to have a shocker since their impressive-looking official 30m high monument is about 150 metres off the real equator line, calculated using GPS. At the actual site of the line we witnessed an amazing scientific experiment demonstrating the Coriolis effect - the phenomenon which governs whether water drains clockwise or anti-clockwise, depending on which hemisphere you're in. At a kooky "museum" I watched, amazed, as the guides moved a portable sink 5 metres either side of the equator line and the water drained in opposite directions. When they placed the sink right on the line, the water drained straight down with no swirling. Its comforting to know that The Simpsons were right after all (one for all you TV buffs out there).
But, I've digressed far too much and so back to the actual bus ride itself. Along the way, as I was saying, two blokes got on and one started yelling something, quite vehemently, to the passengers on board, none of whom were paying any attention whatsoever. Then they started beatboxing and went on for about 10 minutes. I thought they were making some political statement and that they were very good, despite the fact that I couldn't understand a word they were saying. It turned out that they were simply busking. My old bus ride on the 343 to Zetland was never this interesting. After they finished I gave them Joel Turner's number and told them that he may have a spot for them in his Modern Day Poets.
The 343 never had the shopping opportunities that buses in Ecuador do either. At random points along bus routes, people jump on board hawking all manner of things from fruit to cooked meals (which come in tupperware containers and the vendors will wait for you to finish before getting off the bus) to filofaxes to batteries. I swear that if I stayed on the bus for long enough I could've bought the deeds to a house somewhere in the Andean highlands.
Well it looks as though the bicycles are over for now, at least whilst I stay on the coast and head further south. More buses, and with them more shopping opportunities, await though. Apart from more boring travel tales next time, there may be other movie and TV references. Until then...
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Training
You will be pleased to hear that in your absence I have been out running in order to regain my Olympic fitness. But then you tell me about your altitude training in Equador!! You will go to any lengths to stay ahead, won't you? - Tim