Day 332 Wednesday 7th August Ibara to Papallacata 215km via Quito

Last night we started nodding off during our German Sausage Dinner. Everyone went to bed at 20h00 and I sat there feeding the Mosquitos for a while before I went to see what bed Millsy left me in out little Tiny House;

This morning all the Over-landers and us shared stories, discussing routes and prepping for the next part of their trip, stocking with supplies and water. Mike, on a GS 1200 was off to the doctor for treatment of his burnt leg, the bike fell on him and his one leg got burnt, another couple from Seattle were on 300cc Hondas that were loaded to the hilt.

This is Adam, he has recently done 50 000km in this 1975 VW Combi, but only after he walked 10 000km from Mexico to Ecuador, to get away from his Ex Wife he says, plus he is also looking for a 10m Anaconda along the way. I wonder if he saw any 9m or 8m snakes along the way. He was from Australia and I find them from Down Under strange, so he fit the mould, but I guess he found us strange as we had a little Work-Shop going and the old Brave fluid was pumped out and replaced with new clean fluid, chains adjusted etc.

After Breakfast and some photos we set off on a scenic route Hans suggested avoiding the big roads and going through little suburbs and then into the mountains, passing farms and passing through areas with lots of Hot Houses for growing flowers as Ecuador exports lots of flowers.

It was a great road with green grass covered mountains and snow-capped peaks.

All the little villages along the way had a town centre where plants are planted and all the shopping takes place from little shops and the pavements are full of traders selling flowers and peanuts and clothes and fruit.

Then we arrived at Quito from the side and went to Luna Power Sports, a place Hans suggested for tyres and some help with the bikes. This was a strike of luck as the farther-son team at Luna were amazing, within minutes they had a few bikes inside the workshop and tyres were being fitted, Pie was given permission to use their tools and he fitted his bikes new Brake Discs, Tex was off to buy a new battery and I was taken to KTM to buy new Boots as my current boots has turned into compost where mushrooms grow which now invested my toes and my feet has become slimy and smelly, (I am planning to visit a grocery store tomorrow to buy vinegar to save my feet.) The shop next door had an Helmet Intercom. Then I saw a Ducati Dealer and asked them if they know where I can buy a GPS, the owner said he can sell me his second hand one, which I bought and while Rocky’s bike’s tyre was going on Millsy and I fitted the “new” GPS.

As you can see from the photo, Pie, who is not a Plummer, has a little problem. We in this group are very anti Drugs and we say no to “Crack.” The reason he looks like this is because he forgot to pack his belt, and even though I offered to lend him my extra one he insisted on using two cable-ties which he spent some time on adjusting before breakfast, but, obviously his “adjustments” were out after breakfast causing this little embarrassment for his friends.

They put out some Banana Crisps and Coka Cola for us ad we bought some Pizzas for lunch (we were there for 5 hours today.)

The guys from Luna then changed our planned route and sent us in a very different direction, to a hot Water Spring on a much smaller road we had in mind. These guys really helped us today and now we are off the main Trans American Route and as I am typing here Tex is planning out route for then next few days and looking at our options as we are considering not riding to LaPaz in Bolivia on this trip but to rather store the bikes in Peru where we get 180 Days to store the bikes as in Bolivia we only get 90 days and then fly to catch our connecting flight.

The ride was cold as we climbed up to 4074m and had a 20 Degree Temperature drop, but the route was very scenic, we stopped for a coffee and some freshly squeezed Pineapple juice.

The closer we got to the Hot Water Spring they most popular item sold next to the road were blow-up tubes and animal shape rings.

We got a Family Cabin and discovered that there were actually many little pools in-between the cabins.

This place is special and we decided to leave late tomorrow and go for a hike in the morning, then eat breakfast (included in the price.)