One challenge at a time

Day 16... Into the jungle You may remember that I had organised a taxi driven by a cousin of Alex and Isabel, my previous taxi drivers, to take me to Coca ready for the start of my jungle trip. They arrived promptly at midnight, Lucia and her boyfriend, whose name I don't remember. I hopped in the back and as we started out, I checked that they were taking me the right way... after all, I had no real idea of who these people were. We did take the right road however but that didn't allow me to relax much. I feel the roads in Ecuador are much safer on my bike. We wound up and down unseen mountain passes.. avoiding potholes by frequently driving on the wrong side of the road, hoping that no traffic was coming the other way. Roadworks appeared without announcement forcing us to the other side of the road... and barriers on the roadside often disappeared.... in fact it was probably a good job I couldn't see anything other than the road. It was scary enough as it was. Needless ...

Today I mainly saw churches... and more churches... and more churches!! But before I get to that, for anyone wondering, after 2 x 5a.m phone calls to my banks, probably costing me a fortune, they pronounced the problem solved! Great... so I went to the nearest cash point at 06:30 and proceeded to withdraw, in small amounts, enough to pay for my Amazon trip. Phew!! The banks of course had made a killing because as I was forced to do it in many transactions, I got charged nearly $5 per transaction! bastards! Still, at least my trip  was still on... at least I hoped so. I had arranged this through my original taxi drivers, Alex and Isabel... they had put me in contact with their cousin, Lucia, who in turn put me in contact with another cousin, Leo, who worked for the government tourist branch. He invited me to a tourist travel trade fair and we managed to plan this little trip. Lucia is coming to pick me up tonight to drive me to Coca, the gateway to Yasumi NP. Or at least that's ...

Having organised a trip to the Amazon, I now needed to do a couple of things... buy some trousers and get some cash out to pay for it. I also wanted to see a bit of the city over the next 2 days whilst I was waiting to be transported to the jungle. My plan... head north to Tatoo adventure shop to buy the trousers and then walk back through the city to my hotel, which is near the historic centre. As most of you know... I'm not a big fan of cities, but being stuck here meant that I was going to try and see as much of it as possible. I headed out early and managed to hail a taxi... go me!! Not as easy as it sounds in this city. I explained where I wanted to go and asked the cost ... $10!!! $10!!! ... I thought cabs were pretty cheap! With that we headed off... and I soon discovered why it cost (relatively speaking) a fcuking fortune.... it was bloody miles away! What looked like a short hop on Google maps, was a good 3/4 hour drive. Quito is a sprawling city, a good proportion o...

Yesterday, as I was trudging up the dry dusty slopes of the track by the river, one thought was running round my head.... is there a point to this??? I wasn't in a bad headspace... I felt ok... but yet I wondered.... Slogging my guts out is fine... I have no problem with that as a general rule, but there must be a purpose attached, even for one as CraZy as me.  I could continue to plod upwards every day for the next 10 days or so, but the truth is, I wouldn't be much further down the road, wouldn't have seen much different, wouldn't have had much to say in the blogs other than... 'another day uphill on cobbles' I love Ecuador, the rugged beauty, the eucalyptus pervading the senses, the warm breezes... I don't love the cobbles or the dogs!!! Whilst the beauty of this country is evident in the sights I have seen and some of the photos I have taken, is the time I have in this country better spent, to entertain and find a different adventure in which to...

Cry Havoc and let slip the dogs of war.... At least that's what it felt like this morning. It was like someone had alerted all the bloody fcuking dogs in the entirety of Ecuador that I was on the move. Is all I was trying to do was get over the other side of Quito, skirting the south of the city. Yet one by one, or rather 3 by 4, I got charged at... growling, teeth baring from different sides. It is quite a scary thing to be surrounded by dogs that are most certainly NOT friendly. The best practice I found was to get off my bike, stand my ground and put my bike between me and them... usually then you could move on, they would lose interest and you could walk away. Once this morning however, as I was starting to go up into the hills, 5 dogs came rushing out at me. I jumped off my bike... placed my bike between me and them, difficult when they were coming round the sides, and kept trying to move on, but as soon as I turned, one or 2 would make a lunge, requiring me to turn and...

I was in my tent, the sun had disappeared over the horizon and the temperature was dropping... fast!  Snuggled in my sleeping bag with every layer of clothing on that I owned at this particular moment. My body was ok... my peripheries ... not so much. Shivering at times ... (a good thing... when the shivering stops =bad ) and desperately trying to keep as curled up as possible. Aside from the cold issue, my brain was running away with itself.... images of the two girls, trekking in the Atlas mountains, who had been killed in their tents kept resurfacing. 'Don't be ridiculous' I told myself... 'more likely to be grabbed by a hungry puma'... of course after that, every little sound, including those made by my airbed or tent flapping, became a Puma, stalking up to my tent... I was still cold.. my feet had got to the point where I was struggling to feel them. Could have been worse... could be in the Peak District in March (the last time I had frostnip in my feet). I ...

Firstly, I apologise if Day 9's blog was hard to read... as you know I try and offer you a window into my thoughts and feelings whilst out on the road, and sometimes these are overwhelmingly negative. Such is life on the road... You may be glad to know then, after a pretty cold night in 'Rose Cottage' (nope its not anywhere near what you are thinking), a night where I pulled out my sleeping bag to help me get warm, I had decided a) to get a grip and b) To get as far as possible today, whether than was 10 or less miles. I knew what was in store for me... the cobbles from yesterday continued on up the road. Cobbles seem to be how the Ecuadorians differentiate between living altitude and working altitude.. in this case however, the lake at the top that I was aiming for had its own tourist signs, so I could assume that the cobbles would continue all the way up! Today was different however. My stomach was still cramping but maybe because I had barely eaten anything for ov...

I tried... that in the end of the day is the fact that I have to cling onto.... I got up and plodded onwards and upwards. The fact that it was for only a few miles killed me.... The fact that I could not push my bike any further up the cobbled hell is a source of utter disappointment to me... The fact that my body is not sorting itself out is frankly pissing me off ... The glass half full, developed a hole and was suddenly empty. I sat on a bench and hit rock bottom ....... I have been here before many times, each time it seems inescapable... each time it seems like worse than any before. I read messages from friends, all with faith that I do not have at this point, all seeing things that I do not see. This is the hell of the path I have chosen... this is what I got into this for....the struggle IS the point. Yet at the point, I do not see it for that. Irony in full flight. The beauty of my surroundings do not go ignored, they shimmer on the edge of my despair, mak...

Today I woke up still not feeling right and pretty soon made the decision that it would be silly to head up the mountain in this condition.  I tried to figure out if it was a cop out?? My own head winning the battle against me. I decided not in the end... I could have headed out this morning and not got very far, or had another days rest, hopefully kept some food in my stomach long enough for benefits to be had and set out tomorrow with renewed purpose and vigour. Going With The CraZy usually involves a sensible decision or two along the way. I had just swapped suffering on the bike for a different form. I did however decide to risk being away from the 'safety' of my room and have a quick look at the famed markets of Otavalo along with the square that the hotel receptionist had ringed on my map. As I walked towards the street markets, I had already decided I liked Otavalo the most so far... not touristy and not too city like, waay more chilled than Ibarra or Quito. Ibarra ...