The next morning it was 42 degrees and we dressed warmly for the ride. Not too long into the morning it began to drizzle so we pulled over and put on rain gear. This continued for a few hours but we still made pretty good miles until we came to a city and tried to follow the “highway” out. This was the worst case of being lost we suffered so far. We spent almost and hour riding around, asking people, looking at maps, checking GPS…. I know it doesn’t seem possible but even with all these tools we were clueless which route to take. Finally after 5 out of 8 people said one direction we started that way and kept asking along the way. Folks down here do not want to tell you they do not know so will point whatever direction you are asking about or direction you are heading. It’s not that they are being mean they just want to be helpful and do not want to tell you “no”.
Even though it was pretty cloudy most of the day we enjoyed some of the most spectacular roads and views so far. The pics do not do them justice and many times I was afraid to pull out my camera for fear of water ruining my camera. Because we were many times over 10,000 feet in altitude the KLR was sluggish but still pulled it's weight through the mountains.
We arrived in Machala about 4:45 p.m. and were quickly able to find a hotel for $17. It is pretty nice for the money and centrally located. We parked the bikes in their secure garage and went to our room and showered up. We then got a taxi, because they are only a dollar and because the power went out in this part of town, to go to the only mall around as they supposedly have wifi. They didn’t but we took the opportunity to eat, me KFC and Mike pizza. We took another taxi into town center where was also power but also no wifi. We found an internet place but they closed before I got to really do anything other than Skype call Zoe (which is #1!) We headed “home” and found we had electricity but were so tired we were asleep within an hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment