Thank you sir, yes it is incredible to say the least, snow near the equator.

Its all down hill from here!!!

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Going down on things....

Well, the ride down to the lowlands was nothing to write home about other than when we were in the mountains and we pretty much had the road to ourselves, it was so peaceful and a time to be admired, once on the flats were we inundated by trucks and buses and clouds of half burnt diesel coupled with hot and sticky ... almost like being back in Cuba!! ... except we were riding this time.

La Troncal ... yeah, had a nice shower, the only fun part was upsetting a guy who wanted to drive through me where I was parked rather than go just behind me and into the gate, yes you could have fitted a bus through there be head didn’t wonna do that.... he got angry and tooted etc so I just smiled and made him more angry, the hotel guy came out and gave him a right royal serve. :clap

Again I am no expert in Spanish but I understood clearly the hotel guy was not happy with the dickhead being very arrogant and told him to go around like a normal person ... which he did .... while I smiled.:lol3

That was La Troncal.

Sooooo, next day the gumball rally begin, gezz I hate main roads, we had one guy pull out to pass and he kept coming like we were invisible despite the LEDs in has face and we had to dive off the road to avoid being taken out head on ...wanker. :eek1

Once off the main drag heading down the coast the pace and stress levels dropped thankfully.

Puerto Lopez, Marylou and Rob were staying there so we dropped into their hotel per instructions to find they shifted to a much cheaper place and in town.

Suited us and they left more instructions, riding into town they found us easily ... only one big moto rolling into town with two big smiling faces .... being drunkards on level three they yelled out ...too easy:rofl.

We found some reasonably priced accommodation and Maya was parked out the back with the chooks and turkeys, we covered Maya in case they decided she was a good vantage point to shit from. :huh

Hanging with the dodgy Canadian we walked, relaxed, talked shit, drunk grog and ate ... as ya do.

Also took in the national park at the sulpher pools and gettin caked in mud ... awesome, this girl took a picture with us, ellen a got a picture of her with mud on her face :evil.



Me, Ellen, Marrylou and Rob ... luvin it.



The sulfur pool, neat spot.



Down at the beach ... kids having fun



Hitting the road south we headed out to La Libertard then back out and on our way to Playas.

Talking a side road created some amusement and was much nicer that 4 lane race track fighting for space with buses and trucks, down near to sea edge was a bit airy as there were 40ft shipping containers all painted yellow saying private property keep out (in Spanish) and we wondered what was so precious out in a desert area...one wonders??.



Lots of dry creek crossings



Lots of these containers ... :huh



Arriving at Playas we clocked into our hotel which was one street off the beach and only $10 for the two of us including parking, wifi, own shower and all...cool, Playas is a very locals place thus I was pretty much the only whiteyfoo there.

After having cerviche in Puerto Lopez and being in a seaside town we decided to have it here too .... well we were at the end of the day and no one else was there and the lady was overly keen ....should have known at that point.

First off she delivered a very half portion ... I said come on the picture shows this and you are trying to give us this so she took it back and two minutes later it was per the picture ,... and I suspect by the way my guts felt later it was complete with the days floor scrapings, later that night all hell broke loose, I could have shat through the eye of a needle from 5 meters away.uke1

That left me feeling very second hand the next day not to mention dehydrated and frail, we are now religiously sticking to our rule, no one in the place we are NOT going there, a place packed full of locals is a sure bet to a great feed for a good price and the risk of getting the shits from higher turnover places is greatly reduced.

Being off shade didn’t stop the hardened travellers tho .... nah .... onwards and upwards..... destination Machala for the night.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

So feeling like crap but still able to ride we set to first through Guayaquil, Ecuadors biggest city, if I hadn’t bummed our turn up we would have been through faster than a dutchman chasing a dollar bill in the wind ....but I thought a city tour was in order ...yeah. :evil

No dramas down the road other than boredom from a straight road and a dodgy guts, we did however manage to find a neat shortcut out to the sea, we shoulda stayed at the little village as it was quite nice but we punched on to Machala as we needed wifi and to be honest a touch of air con or a good fan and a nice bed was in order for yee ol sick one.

See the bottle made from bottles advertising no biffing rubbish



Very basic wee fishing village



My wish was fulfilled and was well earned, surprising what a few home comforts when you need em can make a huge difference ... actually just not trying to sleep on the toilet makes the biggest difference. :rofl

Machala itself surprised us with its size and it is a modern town



Interesting when the tide came in during the afternoon the storm water sumps were flowing back onto the street creating a flood on the streets.

A lite snack of fries and a bottle of 7 up to settle the mid then bed for the oldies.

The road from Machala to Cuenca bought a whole new feel to the place as we had gone from jungle to mountains to beaches to desert in two days and had ridden down from 4860 meters to see level.

The mountain desert road





A solitary plastic bag racing us down the road ... we won :evil



Destination Cuenca, we were on course to meet with Luis, Janette and family, amigos of Julio in Ambato.

On arriving there was an audience and welcoming comity, a rider Alfonzo (Pocho) from Colombia, a couple Garston and Luciana from Argentina and Luis and family.

We were welcomed in and given lunch and shown to our room, very nice indeed.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Being big towns aren't totally our gig we have found some surprise in Central and South American towns.

A walk around Cuenca in the afternoon we had a small list of stuff we wanted to do including getting more insurance which was due to run out, we did a visit to the KTM shop looking for a replacement horn but the atmosphere was cool there, although we were not expecting red carpet some help would have been welcomed...never mind it is just a horn.

Las Cajas National park just out of Cuenca with hiking etc was our next mission, again up at 4000 meters our fitness was improving with every breath we tried to take.



Many lakes and tarns grace the park



There are weird "red trees' that are buckled



Stunning scenery again was served up in the intermissions of cloud. fog and occasional rain unveiling the true beauty that Ecuador hides on the top shelf.

We were there.:clap



While there we took in Cuena town as well as enjoying a very nice coffee at a gringo cafe (nice to have these luxuries every few weeks), Cuenca itself is a very nice city and by comparison very easy to get in and out of.

The Panama hat museum was in order to to see how the hats were made.

As you can see this lady has a nice hats....:evil



All shapes and colours



A hat forming machine



That evening Garston (a chief from Argentina) prepped and cooked up a big bar b que which involved drinking and lies ..as well as some BMX stunts on the top deck....good times.

...a balanced diet



A chiefs talent



Luis and I showing our appreciation



Janette is also a bombero (firefighter) so all the girls had a trip to the fire station for a photo session ....they have some pretty cool kit there.

These are BIG trucks :eek1



We tried to leave the next day and were told off ... we had to stay or there would be trouble, no prob, we don’t wonna be naughty at our age as that is seen as irresponsible :eek1:eek1 so Ellen reciprocated and made sushi that night for the gathering....again this went down like a treat.



Some cool and interesting people to, Pocho from Colombia travelling on a his Pulsar, unfortunately a "very strong gust of wind" :huh on a charm still perfect day :roflblew his bike over



Garsten and Luisa from Argentina travelling two up on their Honda 125



Yes 79424 km .... onya guys ..Respect!!!:clap



The girls doing girls things... they said it was nail polish I reckon they were graffiti taggers :evil



Saying goodbye to our new Cuencadorian family we took a cool route through small villages and a back road to Yantzaza on great advice from luis, anything to avoid the pan am and clutter that goes with it.

Huge thanks to Luis Janette and family for making us feel welcome.:clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Full of humanity ,,
This is what it's all about!

Nice work as always.If i don't catch up before hand have a wonderful Christmas ,will look forward to following your travels in the new year ,regards Noel

Heya seouljoe

You are absolutely right, the groovy locations and places are cool but the people are the ones that really make it

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Heya Noel

Yeah Merry Christmas mate have a great one, really appreciated your input on our thread this year ... more to torture with next year.

Cheers mate

Andi & Ellen

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Sorry for the delay here, wifi has been skinnier than a supermodel and so slow the dogs can piss on it, however now we have a connection :clap

Lets go to the back yard and play

Good bye to Cuenca dudes and thank you so much :clap



The road out of Cuenca was laden with trucks and buses which slowly thinned out as we got further off the beaten track, just as we entered into a small gorge we saw two moto riders, turns out they were part of a bigger group that we caught up to, they all turned off and with big smiles toots and waves we carried on now with virtually no traffic.

What a great road to take avoiding the Pan Am and having a great look through outstanding scenery in Ecuadors back yard. Needless to say we pretty much had the road to ourselves, once getting out of the small towns it turned from road carpet to normal tar to tar with potholes then to the worlds most dangerous road .. yes another gravel road rivaling the worlds most dangerous roads with slips and disappearing banks into a soup of fog.



What a treat



Got a bit skinny in places :eek1... not much between us and nothing.



Coupla groovy waterfalls along the way too



On exiting our exciting road after spending over half the ride on gravel, mud and washouts we hit the main drag and booted it down the semi main drag on brand new blacktop fit for Valentino Rossi making for a great spin for the last part of the day before retiring in Yanzatza.

Dropping over 2500 metres in a little over half an hour we rode from the fridge into the oven, baked kiwis on the lunch menu.

Yanzatza .....we arrived and it was 40 degrees taking us from baked to grilled kiwis, we found a hotel and got sorted only to have the lady try and charge more to park Maya, I got grumpy and said no we are still two people and one moto so nothing has changed, I told the lady we would go .....suddenly it was alright again...hmmm another try on to the whiteyfoo....this has been a reasonably common theme in Ecuador, this is the only this that annoys me daily having crosshairs on my forehead for a GT (Gringo Tax).

I am sure if they came to New Zealand and we tried to charge twice or extra like has happened they would spit the dummy ... nuf sed.

Luis gave us a side trip to look at in a boat but this seemed to be harder than hens teeth to track down so we did not get to do it in the end.

Loja was the next destination and in the middle is a beautiful mountain pass getting up over 3000 meters, the top was very cold and wet, looking through the screen down at Loja we realized how big the city actually was so we chose to carry on to Vilacabamba to spend a few days there hiking and taking the place in.

Another waterfall on the road side, mum nature washing our camera too



Vilacabamba is the valley of longevity where if you drink the water you get jedi powers and live for hundreds of years....not many hot young chicks there.

Backtracking slightly I met a Russian dude in Cuenca who lives in Vilacabamba and he was having trouble with his honda 125 so I helped him sort it out while we were there.

Again we launched an assault on another national park but this time we got our arses kicked.

Arriving at the top of the 8 km access road the weather was average, bit of fog and cloud so no views today, as we ascended the weather got progressively worse, the rain got heavier and the wind chimed in for good measure.



We soon left the safety and shelter of the trees then realized mum nature was having an off day, she made life hard for us with severe wind chill coupled with pouring rain, we were soaked from underneath from the wind blowing rain up our dresses.



Along the knife edge at the summit things got worse, we were both chilling down due to the seriously adverse conditions despite wearing very appropriate merino and wet gear, even with my hat held down tight with the draw string I had to hold the extra length and my hat was ripped off my head seven times.

Pics do not do it justice



Such were the wind gusts we had to crouch and brace in the undergrowth (about 400 mm high) to avoid being blown off the track, it is a weird feeling when you go to put your foot down and the wind stops your foot going down, we were very happy to get down off the ridge and into the tree line again.

While at Vilacabamba we meet Coen & Karen from Holland, they have been travelling for 10 years in a LWB landcruiser so we exchanged info and GPS maps etc which was great, the first night we tried to met mum nature had other plans and decided a valley cleanse would be the deal .... whoa did it rain.

Coen and Karens Cruiser



A little bit of rain :rofl



The street/river



There is a view point above Vilacabamba too, nice little jaunt with a good view, we got the timing right between the sun and the rain that came.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Shit it is only 134 km ... easy as, if we cruised at 268 km an hour we would be there in half an hour....and have time for a latte darling :rofl

They said 4 hours given road works etc, it started out ok then the weather caved in big time, wets on we carried on in first gear for quite a few km because of pea soup fog and heavy rain as well as lots on mud on the concreted road making it extremely greasy.

Stopping for roadworks we only waited a short time and we quietly meandered on amidst mud and cement.

With the concrete ending and the weather clearing we had an interesting time as the wet road was now drying quickly to form that stodgy semi bog that won’t clear from the tyres, this clay stuck like shit to a blanket.



Then the roadworks ... ruts from the Terex 6 x 6 trucks were 200 - 300 mm deep in places so causing enough trouble sliding from side to side and not being able to climb out.

An easy patch for a change



Just when you thought it could not get worse it did (or better depending wot you are riding)

Getting to a point where a road worker flagged us over I sat and waited for a bus to try and climb the incline but no way, he tried and tried, in the end they hooked the digger on and towed the bus up.



Getting through that section we thought well shit we are top of it now .... nup, we were stopped again further down the road again, the bridge was broken and we had to turn around and go back to a town some km’s back and take a diversion ... well this turned out to be stunning scenery and took us miles out the back.

Also sloppy but much more fuild so at least the tyres cleared a bit



Gettin better



This of course completely shattered the “4” hours as we had been riding for 5 hours and we still had 60 km of this to go, considering it was only 134 km to start that was less than ideal.

From River to Ridges we got to a great height on the diversion and on a dry road :clap



Our border crossing plans for that day shelved we stopped in Zumba for the night, filled up for the final time on $2 per gallon gas with Maya having her 38 liter belly filled to the brim, at this station it is run by militars, they write down all ya details and the bike.



While in Zumba Maya attracted the younger crowd on potential moto riders, we made fiends and they all sat on Maya .... yes they ALL sat on Maya.



Setting off from Zumba we had 26 km to do, no pavement so no expectations other than to cross in Peru and get to San Agnacio.

Trouble free (its true) to the border, our only stop a military check point, stinking hot was the greeting at the border and the border guards relaxed and friendly exiting Ecuador, we were done in less than five minutes.





Crossed the bridge into Peru with the border guard unlocking the gate and welcoming us with handshakes and smiles ... awesome welcome to Peru.:clap

Again they were all friendly and helpful with the Police running it, finally the import permit for Maya .... that is when the fun started.

The very friendly and welcoming border guard set to with enthusiasm that was not matched by his computer, the connection failed ...came back ... went....came back ...failed ..... arrived and stayed WOH HOH ... it works.

All information was entered and accepted no worries ....time to print .... yeah ... time to print ...his printer had left for lunch and never came back, now we have an official hand written document ...it is beautiful.



So over a feed of crackers and cheese he filled out the hand written document, he was very apologetic but he was unaware his printer had packed a sad, I don’t think he gets many vehicles through there.

While waiting we also watched the local ants cart a dead butterfly some 5 meters on burning hot concrete you could not stand on with bare feet (I know), these little guys are strong....we made sure we kept an eye on Maya so they didn't flog her :rofl



All in all that was the nicest and cruisiest border crossing we have done yet, if not for the printer and connection probs we woulda been through there quicker than a robbers dog.

WOH HOH Peru, finally and down to San Agnacio, with our few setbacks we decided to get our insurance and so Soles and head on into the new lands the next day.

Entertainment in San Agnacio provided by an enthusiastic Honda CG 125 made by Landrover.





Happy to be here :evil

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

[QUOTE=Two Moto Kiwis;446101]

Yes lots ask the question, I just play down the value now.

We get (well I do with my blonde/silvering hair) the gringo thing and even some snide sorta treatment, when we say Nueva Zelandia the whole conversation lifts, some have it bad against the yanks although most don't know where New Zealand is anyway .. .so we add Australia ...there reply is argh Austria ...so we just smile

They view us as seriously wealthy, they don't see us as working class people who worked their arses off and sold a bunch of shit to get there .. never mind all part of the deal.

And yes meeting, finally ...where do you wonna have Christmas in Peru?


Yes, I guess, we just have to accept it...I also tell lower prices.
Well, I am still in Cuenca and am seriously wondering how I can combine the trip with the Dakar. Where are you at?
Some nice mountainous village with good fud and lotsa grog would suit fine ... ouwh and some petrol. sounds good to me

I guess you meant San Ignacia? I thought about taking the other border at Macara, maybe in 2 days.

Check out the Christmas in Peru thread in Latin on ADV, things are happening there.

The other border will be easier riding and if you are going coastal it makes sense, certainly way more to see and do in the mounts.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Waterfalls ...common as rice in China :rofl

Our plan started as heading to Chachapoyas however meeting Oliver and his girlfriend by chance at the hostel he suggested some alternate ideas, being a local we took it on.

We hit the road at 6.00am to avoid upwards of 8 hours delay on the road due to massive roadworks, again great advice from the hostel dude saying get past the roadworks prior 7.00am when they start or it will take all day to cover about 60 km.

Riding through the roadworks and being wet the base binder they use it stuck to Maya like concrete, we wanted some good rain to help wash this stuff off but that did not eventuate despite ominous looking clouds, we did have treats further on tho where the road has some cool overhangs through the gorges.



We took a wrong turn ... ooops



This boat was gonna take us across the river but we decided against it wanting to keep Maya a little longer



We hoped this went somehwere .. in Peru we have found many surprises on the road



Old bridge new bridge



Cool rock into under cut rock



So, between paper maps and Mrs.Garmin we made it however Mrs.Garmin has us in a different place to where we are ... as do the paper maps......must be the Japanese earthquake eh.:huh

There is one Hostal here in the main plaza (only plaza) so we based ourselves there, you won’t know it is there unless someone tells you ... so here it is, the GPS coords and what you are looking for.



GPS coords



Cool wee tranquil town up at 2000 meters so easy to sleep and quiet, secure and enjoyable, no wifi tho.

As far as a quiet hangout it ticks the boxes well and we thank Oliver for the local information :clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Ecuadawesome!!!!

So first off a massive thanks to Freedom rentals for great information, also to Julio, mum and dad of Ambato and Luis and Jeanette & family of Cuenca you guys rock and made Ecuador for us....and we had a good crack at the rest of it.

Starting back at the beginning arriving at Tulcan we bedded in getting used to new another country after leaving the comfort and fun of Colombia, let me tell you Maya nearly turned back....it was close, my enthusiasm to head to Ecuador overruled the want to stay in Colombia, was it a smart move ... who knows but the idea is to see the place so to move on.....nonetheless my heart was not in leaving Colombia.

Hitting the coast we wondered why the hell we did that, it was not anything like we thought, both of us agreed our hearts are in the mountains.

Heading to Quito was great, nice ride and accom and meeting the guys from Freedom Rentals, now if you are coming to Ecuador GO SEE THEM, these boys know the place like the back of their hand ... trust me they WILL make your trip.

Ecuador has stunning national parks worthy of world class status so we made the most of these.

Ambato, Julio,mum and dad ... outstanding, great times from great people and Julio is an inspiration doing his RTW trip on a KTM 525EXC.

Chimborazo was undoubtedly the highlight for both of us and the highest point we have ever been on land . .... if we look a bit red it is cos we were the closest to the sun we have ever been.

Over to the coast further down we enjoyed that apart from the guts ache from a dodgy food tienda, shit happens (ouwh and it it did)

Cuenca, amigos of Freedom and Julios, Luis and Jeanette put up with us and to be fair we loved staying and torturing them with sushi, again great times with local people, they really make the trip putting the icing on a great cake.

The roads were outstanding condition... even the dirt roads were great condition and despite the road from Vilacabamba to the border was difficult we really enjoyed it and the entertainment of diggers towing buses etc on the main drag was something different.

The down side, as with anywhere it is not perfect and the blemish for me was the daily dose of people “trying it on”, doubling prices, quoting prices then changing it, I have started to grow a thicker skin after being ripped a few times....and allowing it...fool on me.

Now I fight back, they think nothing of trying to take me to the cleaners so I have no bones about defending my position and standing my ground, I am sure if they came to New Zealand and we did it to them they would get tell us to get stuffed.

Much to their surprise when I say no, that is NOT what you said they are taken back, I think they must do it to white faces and other white faces just blindly go “ouwh OK”, so I raise my voice one notch and they don’t seem to like that attention.

So enough on that but I do advise any whiteyfoos to stand your ground and let them know it is not cool as it makes it more difficult for the next people if they think they can do it and get away with it all the time, some food for thought anyway.

To finish on a good note we both enjoyed and loved Ecuador and wouldn’t hesitate for a second to recommend it to other travellers, as for danger, no this is not a dangerous place and like anywhere you mind your stuff and be sensible.

http://youtu.be/3nZxixgyzTY

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere