ODO: 327,492
Our day starts with a 9000ft high farewell to our new friends. They are headed into Quito to run errands and we are headed for the equator on our way to Cotopaxi. The equator is very quiet when we arrive. A very bored looking attendant really wants to give us a tour, but we’re only interested in a quick in and out. Why? Because the thing we are really excited about today is Cotopaxi! And making Christmas dinner there, which means we actually have to get to camp in a timely manner. We arrive 1 min after the park closes, but all this means is we need to wait a couple minutes for the guard to open the gate for us, and they don’t charge us to enter the park. They also restrict our camping locations to right behind the main lodge, where there is a fantastically unobstructed view of Cotopaxi! At 12,071ft it’s cold and the air is thin, so pacing ourselves is critical if we want to continue to breathe comfortably. We make dinner as the sun goes down: stuffing, potatoes, gravy, ham, and a tiny bottle of wine to celebrate the holiday. And then we settle in to call our family and wish everyone well.
Starting the day at 12,071ft makes it easy to get up early, which we do, to watch the sun rise over the volcano. Breathing heavy, we pack up, hoping to beat the clouds for different views of the volcano and the rest of the park. Our first stop is a parking area at 15,000ft. There is a glacier hike that starts here, but we aren’t acclimated for something like that. This parking lot is a new record elevation for both of us and the truck. Using a horsepower to elevation calculator we discover we now make 99/220 horsepower, which makes having to shift into low range to get all the way to this parking lot make sense. KoKo finds her Ecuador yarn in the gift shop on the way out of the park, a nice lady sells her half the ball she is currently making a hat from.
Our plan for the day is a twisty route recommended to us by our new friends. It’s a road the twists and turns through a very steep, very green valley, broken up by small towns every now and then. By mid afternoon (we’re starting to learn the pattern) the rain and fog start to roll in. Our green valley has transitioned into something that looks like the John Day recreational area in eastern Oregon. The planned sleep spot for the night is a wild spot along our route that turns out to be a bust. No one sleeps well next to an abandoned train station…Eventually we find a campground to tuck into for the night with an overly friendly chocolate lab.
Today is all about laying down some miles. The road takes us up and down and up and down through the Ecuadorean Andes, but somehow never drops us below 7800ft. There is a cute town we want to explore, and manage to find a campground near their local transit. Unluckily, there are three large German Shepard’s, two of which are very unfriendly, one of which we are warned not to touch because it will bite. Yikes. We take the train into the historic district for dinner just as it starts to rain heavily. We buy an umbrella from a street vendor to keep dry. There is a rooftop Mexican restaurant that makes us delicious tableside guacamole. Turns out we’ve been missing Mexican food. Next up is a mediocre Italian place (we haven’t had mediocre Italian on this trip yet!). It is still raining when we finish so we take a taxi home, and make it into bed before 10pm!
We sneak out early in the morning, before the dogs wake up. The road continues to wind through the mountains. This end of the Ecuadorian Andes is still very green and very wet, and the roads are in surprisingly good shape for being rural mountain roads. After a relatively short day we land at a brewery with a barbeque shack next door. The brew master is a dual Ecuador American citizen, brewing craft beer and letting people camp for free on his property. The beer is delicious, as is the barbeque so we go to bed full and happy.
Another birthday on the road! KoKo turns 42 today. We celebrate with some delicious ham egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches and juice in the morning. It rained really hard the night before so we navigate several small landslides that cross the road. Our other celebration is crossing into Peru, and finding $10soles on the ground in front of the truck! The roads on this side of the border are not quite as nice as they were in Ecuador, our lane drops away into the river below in several places. And we are back to driving after dark….The dangers of which include vehicles with their lights off or no tail lights, giant invisible pot holes and speed bumps, invisible dogs, and most scary, invisible cows. Not so much gangs. Peru starts with a hotel night for us because we haven’t showered since Colombia and we are DUE.
In the Peruvian Andes we find lots of mining. The scenery has shifted to hanging valleys and large cliffs, it looks a lot like Iceland. The late afternoon fog is back. Or maybe still here. This seems to be the standard Andes weather pattern. We find our camp spot by feel, the fog is so thick. Arriving to camp like this is always a fun game because we have no idea if there is a view, or if we’re camped in the town dump. It’ll be a fun surprise for the morning.
Our spot is a bit of both, lovely views, and some cool geology, as well as some amount of garbage. The first town we come to is a decent size so we resupply and stop to look for brake pads. Spending all day everyday driving between 10,000ft and 7000ft takes a toll on the ‘ol brakes. While we’re outside the auto parts store, Berne notices the truck is trying to overheat, and finds a large, fresh puddle under the truck. Poop. Some poking around finds a loose radiator hose clamp, easy fix. A Leatherman, and a ton of water gets the truck feeling better. We discover mud speed bumps in Peru. Many of the small towns build speed bumps of mud on their roads.
Along one of the narrow windy roads we get in our first fender bender. It is very minor, we cross a single lane bridge as the oncoming truck speeds up and blocks our exit. Instead of backing up to let us finish crossing, he tries to drive forward, and dents his fender trying to squeeze past us. No one is impressed by this. After many words, and much waiting around we agree to split the cost of repairs with him, and hit the road with $50 less dollars. Apparently body work is very cheap in Peru.
Our spot for the night is on the shore of a lake, but also on the side of the road. It’s dark enough, and just high enough that we get a 180degree fireworks show from all of the near by towns as they start to ring in the New Year.
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