Day 6... Feeling Down

Today was supposed to be an easy day... A short transfer to Otavalo ready to take on the mountains the next day. But it wasn't't just the flies that had bitten me. Ecuador is taking huge chunks out of me and it feels as if nothing is going quite right.

My seat pack is broken and the fix that I had done was just about holding on tarmac roads... it would not hold up to the battering of off road and so when I got to Otavalo, I needed to sort my kit out, reduce what I could and maybe try and do without the seat pack. The buckle has broken which is what holds it off the wheel and whilst I have zip tied it... it keeps slipping or undoing with big bumps. Not great as then the bag rubs on the wheel.

Anyway... fingers crossed, I set off out of Ibarra, my intention was to ride the main highway through the valley.
I stopped at a nice little place for breakfast. The sausage and eggs tasted good, as did the cheese and ham pasty... but more about that later!! I set off again.

 About 2 miles in and I was fed up of the traffic, the non existent hard shoulder to ride on and the feeling that I may well get killed if I continued on this road, so I looked for an alternative. After yesterday's road riding, I missed the peace of the mountain dirt roads and found an alternative route which obviously went up a hill.

The hill, I shit you not, went straight up, literally and it went on for a couple of miles. Too steep at many points to cycle, it was back to the old hike a bike. Worse that that I could see it stretching on up and up without respite.

I arrived at a small suburb of Ibarra, San Antonio. It was a sweet little place with the usual square and a wifi zone. I sat on a bench, totally fed up. I sat and watched the world go by. Unmotivated in the extreme. 
If I could have called a taxi, I would have, but essentially I had no choice but to continue upwards and so resolved to just plod on and enjoy the scenery!

As I got to the 'top' of the hill, where it flattened out a little, I was able to start riding. Now the village houses were changing to that of farm houses and shops turned to fields. The buses passed me, picking up kids for school. Lots of buses seemed to ply this route, serving the little communities along the way.

As I rode along I was musing to myself about the roads here.... there are essentially 4 types of road....

Straight up
Straight down
Flow... (flat down where it seems like down but you still have to pedal)
and my personal favourite....
Flup....

Flup is where you think you are cycling on the flat.... its hard work... you turn  round, to discover that actually you are on a reasonable upwards gradient!!

I was on some of the Flup, passing farm houses, all with dogs... fortunately none of them seemed that bothered. Perhaps it was too hot for the chase... and then another problem struck...

To put it politely... I needed the bathroom. Now I am not adverse to digging a hole but there was literally nowhere to hop into the bushes.... the houses and farms stretched out either side. I carried on... hoping to find a field with cover ... no luck.
Another settlement... this time it had a little shop, so I went and asked if there was a bathroom I could use, trying to look as desperate as I felt. The lady looked me up and down... then gave a nod and showed me into her house behind the shop. Man was I grateful.

Like I said before... problem.

I generally have no problems eating food in other countries. I eat off street stalls with no issues. But breakfast had caused a problem.... and it wasn't going away.

I eventually reached the top of the hill and began the descent to Otavalo. My seat pack kept falling and my stomach was now cramping up big style. I had to find a hotel. Racing through Otavalo, I tried one but it seemed to be shut. The second proved more fruitful and they showed me to a lovely ground floor room. The bathroom fortunately (sorry too much info) was really nice ... I was about to spend some time in there!!!

So cut forward to Day 7....

I have decided to stay another night here as I didn't sleep much due to stomach cramps. Its not pretty.

I am going to see if they can send some of my kit to the hotel in quito and reduce the seat pack or get rid of altogether. I have a plan. Hopefully the bug will clear and I will be able to go riding once again. Hard as it is, I am enjoying the scenery, the culture, the fresh air.... and am looking forward to getting away from the city again.

Sorry folks!

LHS





Comments

  1. Unknown13 September 2019 at 11:48

    Good plan! Get better soon xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hannah13 September 2019 at 12:22

    Get better soon Lydia. Love reading all about your journey :) xx

    ReplyDelete

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