up the peaks into the jungle & back again - Ecuador

very pleased after 3 great publications in quito thanks to Patricio and Aon.

Mike. a great rider on his ktm 950. great fun with large adventurous tendancies. http://www.mahridingsouth.blogspot.com/

Jeff who i met in quito and his alien queen resembling KTM 650. He helped loads as a translator with the el comercio interview in quito. http://web.mac.com/jeffsherren/iWeb/MY%20WORLD%20ON%20A%20KTM/Welcome.html

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Riding out of quito was easy. I couldnt help feeling quite satisfied with the way the publicity rolled. I have to be honest though, i couldnt have got the attention of the big newspapers without patricios help. I wont ever be able to say thanks enough in a lifetime to Him and the Aon office. The same with Peter, Alvaro and the medellin Aon office. Still riding with minnesota mike , we caught another rider leaving quito. Jeff, from alberta canada on another KTM, but the slightly smaller 650 version. still a proper, tough adventure machine. how am i sposed to keep up with these 2 ?,,,,,,, we left the city getting lost and riding north. after finding our way again we headed south easterly. the map showed a secondary route, skimming the amazon jungles rim. Quito is relatively not that high a city, but riding the road we chose, sank down into the sweltering heat of the jungle. the secondary rode became a dry stream of loose rocks and boulders, that throw the front end of the bike into sharp aggresive directions. my arms ached and my heart raced everytime i picked up the pace only to be shocked into an almost stand still by the bike suddenly charging for directions i didnt want. The road was littered with shadows of giant leaves and strange trees of many a shape and size. all kinds of shades of green. dappled sunlight and the dramatic sounds of insects and gawd knows what. Villages of bamboo came and went. Faces of the residents smiling at us. At any stop the kids come charging over shouting and excited. great kids, not shy at all. The road was bad for half a day, then it suddenly became smooth black stuff once more. i wanted to get down on my knees and kiss the stuff, with relief. Mike and jeff thrive on the dirt. i couldnt keep up. For me super dirt riding is painful in my learning, but on looking back i wouldnt have the road any other way. one day i will master it and do what they advise, in, when in doubt throttle out, skimming the surface in a straight line , instead of screaming in my helmet and sliding into ditches. with mates cracking up at my wetness. Night came. a town with a beautiful rapid river view. hardly any cost to the room. the rain fell all night , making me doubious of the next days ride in slush and slpperyness. it wasnt that way though. the road had dryed and we blasted out of the jungle rim and back up into the clouds heading for cuenca city. That ride was one of the best yet. the tarmac wasnt bad. the again sinuous cliff side racing up into the familiar mist. the clouds running along side at the same speed. pina con leches at all stops. ecuador is amazing. a hidden gem, as is all south america. one hour in the jungle, one hour in the andes. and back again in a day. I still couldnt keep up. those KTMs are fast. My KLR isnt, but i still love her. shes still going strong after 13000 miles. only 2 parts have dropped off. parts i dont need. Cuenca. another gorgeous colonial town. balconies of all colours again. huge wooden carved to perfection door ways on all edificios, big or small. we have to park our bikes in the hotel restuarant. no one minds. From cuenca its a few hours ride to the border with peru. the mountains are growing. now there is 3 rows back of going darker peaks, instead of just one in view. We must be nearing peru i think. My right side panniers decides to fall off. No problem. no bolts or fittings have broken. phewww, i am lucky ! ..... I cant believe my nite watch either ! its the only watch i have ever had that takes a right old battering and doesnt even have one hairline scratch on the face. it really does do what it says on the box ! it really is a tough adventurous watch. We loose jeff. oh well, im sure he will show up along the way.

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up out of the amazonian jungle into the andes once more
ecuadorian andian town high up in through the mists

oops. on the rim of the amazonian jungle

the jungle. hot and beautiful. the riding was getting hard. roads of rocks that send the bike dancing in steps i found hard to dance with.

kids from a jungle town. full af laughter and inquisitive inteligence. they spoke in broken spanish and kechua.

jungle town kids

the riding get interesting heading up into the clouds

slippery roads get the heart racing and the knuckles a shade of white

ecuador andes

splash. the waterf falls into the mountain roads. ecuador

in one day. the mountains down into the jungle then back up into the mountains. incredible shocking vistas along the way.

ecuador . enjoying the tarmac while it lasts

the KLR can be fast. honest

splash again.............................. NEXT INTO THE NORTHERN DESERTS OF MYSTERIOUS PERU !

From the middle of the world

Banos, ecuador. the village sits at the foot of tungurahua , a volcano, thats quiet right now, but always up for some red hot spewing. gonna find a way up it today. 2 years ago vacuation.
Aon Quito. Thnak you. i wish i could remember everyones names.
All fun and helpful at Aon Quito
I was welcomed with open arms and big smiles. Aon quito

{above photo at the equator}......... I rode out of Medellin, Colombia heading south with mike and willy. Mike from minnesota on a gorgeous ktm 950 and willy on his saucy bmw gs1200, all gadgets inclusive. Paul owner of the casa kiwi lead us out of town, which i am grateful for, that saved the habitual getting lost , sweaty and a tad stroppy. as soon as we were out of town the mountain roads took us , winding higher and higher. Passing through villages, built on the peaks. Sometimes above the clouds with the buzzards to keep us company and always a symbol of to be careful. i dont wanna be their grub. As night was near i managed to loose the boys and take the wrong road. I stayed in Anserma. a small town once again built on the edge of a mountain, beautiful and friendly. Realising the boys would be in santa rosa i managed to catch up with them blasting down to popayan. a colonial town celebrating haloween in gorey style. This is a part of the world that they say is a hotspot, due to guerilla activity. I saw nothing threatening or cold. just more freindly faces and good wishes. pasto is the town we needed as a last stop before the border with ecuador. 3000 metres up in the mist. willy had blasted off, leaving mike and myself to cut through the damp mountain mist into the early night. it was dificult. cold and vision was almost zero. we had to wait and just follow a cars rear lights. when that car disapeared , we`d have to wait and catch the next car. mike got disorientated at one point , stopped and didnt know whether he was unside down or not, which infected to me and we both dropped the bikes at a stand still. laughing our heads off laying on the wet tarmac. That night in pasto, scoffing chicken and rice mike had the horrendous realisation, with his head in his hands, that he had left all his papers, back at the previous nights hotel in popayan, under his matress. 150 miles back along a beautiful, difficult ride. All his legal in colombia papers everything. Alongside getting the bike nicked this is the worse thing that can happen. Alls rosy now though, we took a taxi back the next day, which took all day. Victor was our nutcase driver, who without fibbing, nearly got us meeting our maker more than 20 times, including just narrowly missing a donkey, who was wistfully standing around a corner in the middle of the night time road. i still cant guess how he managed to avoid that one. he just laughed all the close shaves off, in that , oh well, what will be will be way. I am a lucky man ! i dont take that for granted though !....... crossing the border was a breeze. 40 minutes. all the windows and offices needed all colse to each other. the only problem was trying to get these tequila supping nutters off of the bikes to let us out of colombia. all good fun. The clouds are down so far in ecuador. until today that is. the bluest of blue skies and visible volcanoes at last. The faces have changed now. the people smaller. indeginous ways, clothes , smells and foods. incredibly interesting just to sit and people watch. weathered faces telling so much. giggling kids , waving from the road shoulders. After a few stop overs in more beautiful towns and crossing the equator into the southern hemisphere and summer, i`ve landed in Quito. ecuadors heaving capital city. the easiest to navigate city i have visited so far. clean and stunning this place. many many euro tourists. all waiting to go off into their own adventures, mountain climbind, white water rafting, horse riding. all sorts. this is a hubb. Volcanos majestic overlooking the city. The last eruption, around 5 years ago. I have been spoiled by the Aon office here, as i was in medellin. Olvaro put me intouch with patricio rodriguez at the quito office. i visited them to day, to have a newspaper photographer waiting for me and an interview already set up the national paper named, Hoy. I was also warmly recieved by gustavo proano tola, alberto davalos b, alejandra garzan and all that work there. They all took time from their busy days to listen to my story and heartfeltly wished me sucess. My good luck hasnt changed yet. gustavos daughter diana. just so happens to work as a journalist, for the Hoy newspaper. She interviewed me over an hour, asking great questions. understanding fragile x syndrome. again no one has heard of FXS, but now they have. The article is released next wednesday. check it out at the website http://www.hoy.com.ec/ .. El comercio the national paper of ecuador interviewed me with high passion also. their article on the FXP will be released in their sunday supplement called Famlilia, 2 months from now. so keep an eye open for that one. also while doing that interview, a young lady from an organisation that helps families in need also interviewd me, so theres another article out there....... patricio is a motorcycle fantatic aswell. he has invited me to ride out on saturday with his friends, to ride some great roads and see more vistas, that i wouldnt have seen otherwise. Like in medellin i will never forget these peoples generosity, understanding and huge help. I have definatly fallen in love with south america ! i am pushed for time now. must get my skates on.....

border. colombia into ecuador

buzzard

mike and me. my klr and his ktm. a beast.

guillermo and family. Otavalo, ecuador

otavalo residents

otavalo residents

market town otavalo

quito from the Aon office

warm latin american welcomes again !

Quito. a heavy mass of wonderfulness

Gustavo and patricio. Aon Quito. Top blokes. no end of help to the FXP.

Aon quito

Diana and patricio interviewing me, from the Aon office

Aon employees hard at it.

the aon building

Colombia - It really is dream land

Arauca

Risaralda

Risaralda

risaralda

Santa Barbara - Colombia.

Santa Barbara - Colombia

Paul and his Casa Kiwi Gang. Medellin Colombia. The perfect Hostel. Bikers get discount and paul is no end of help.

Santa Barabara. The town is built on top of a razor sharp mountain.

nanas

Coffee bush

Post landslide

This great family i had the pleasure to meet and ride with . 3 up and fast.

oops again

Jose. More pleasures riding with new mates. Supia Colombia

Met this bunch of kids in santa rosa near pereira. intelligent and fun. they were all ears about FXS

Pinapples definatly taste better here !

Popayan

With the fantastic help of Peter Sohm, Alvaro Uribe and the Aon Office in Medellin, we had an interview and publication in th eColombia newspaper, EL COLOMBIANO. Click to read the online article. I could never thank these amazing people enough !http://www.elcolombiano.com/BancoConocimiento/D/de_alaska_a_tierra_del_fuego_ruge_la_moto_de_simon/de_alaska_a_tierra_del_fuego_ruge_la_moto_de_simon.asp?CodSeccion=9

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