Week 106: to Otavalo: two milestones: crossing the Equator and reaching 30,000km

April 5, 2017

Our alarm has been going off at 6:00 am to get us used to the idea of getting up earlier. In a couple of weeks we will be in a much hotter climate and it will be important to be ready to ride at first light and get down the road before it gets too hot.

We have our cereal breakfast and leave the Hostal before anyone else awakens. Today is a tough day, we first lose a little altitude, then have to gain it back several times before peaking out at almost 3100 meters.

We are a bit surprised to reach the equator today, for some reason we thought it would be tomorrow. We stopped using paper maps all together and now rely completely on googlemaps and maps.me. These tools are great for detailed planning, but you do lose the overview a larger paper map gives you.

At the equator we eat our Bologna sandwich and take photos at both monuments. The one monument at a sundial park has an entrance fee of $2. On the opposite side of the road 100 meters back is another monument. Only one can be in the right spot, we like the globe-monument best so that's the one for us. The northern hemisphere welcomes us with a steep downhill immediately followed by a steep climb. Nothing new here.

With about 18 kilometers to Otavalo, we reach the high point for today. At the top are several restaurants selling "bizcochos", a dry cookie-stick that goes well with a hot cup of coffee. After that break we put on our rain jackets to stay warm in the downhill and down we go to Lago Pablo. There we reach the 30,000 kilometer mark of this trip. More photos of course.

In Otavalo, we have a recommendation for the El Geranio Hostel. It is indeed a very nice place. We settle-in, clean-up and walk into the city center. There is a bike shop just around the corner from the Hostel, and we pick up a pair of brake pads for spares. Once again the women's dress and headgear has changed,evidence that we are in another region. Gone are "hats" instead a cloth is used to cover the head, Arab-like and long black skirts with a cream colored lining. Blouses are embroidered and with puffy shoulders and lace to elbows, necks adorned with multi stranded necklaces of tiny golden colored beads. Complexions seem darker on some, perhaps descendants of the slaves the Jesuit's used for labor on their sugar plantations.

Otavalo is famous for its tourist souvenir market, it is a daily event, but especially big on Saturdays. Today is plenty big for us. We walk to the plaza, stop by an ATM to stock-up on US dollars, and have dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Nice town.

Cotopaxi is visible through the Quito air pollution.

Showers over the mountains, but it stays dry for us.

Not this time. In the run-off election between Lasso and Lenin Moreno the latter was declared winner yesterday.

At the equator. There are two monuments about a hundred meters apart on opposite sides of the road. We take no risk and make a couple of photos at each.

The nicer monument is a little bit hidden in a small park, but much nicer than the $2 entry fee sundial across the road. The line down the middle is the equator, Rachel is in the southern hemisphere, Patrick in the northern.

More storms over the mountains. This volcano has snow on its summit.

Downhill to Otavalo on the Pan American highway.

San Pablo Lake and the Imbabura volcano.

Lots of traditional clothing for sale in Otavalo. The embroidered white puffy blouses are widely worn.

Water feature in Otavalo main square. Statue of Ruminawi, an Inca warrior that lead a resistance to the Spanish after the Emperor Atahualpa was killed.

Nice street light decorations in Otavalo.

Lady cooking up some plantains and chicken feet.

Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 30,008 km (18,635 miles)

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