The road chose me

When I last saw The Pebble Pedalers, Seth & Parker we were in Baja California, Mexico, just starting the Latin American leg of our respective journeys. The night we shared food and water at our campsite on the side of the highway has remained at the front of my mind as one of my best campsites, all through nine more countries.

While in Quito recently I met another cyclist coming down from Canada and after a few minutes I had news of Seth and Parker – and most importantly found out they were close. Really close. A few emails and days later, I watched them ride into The Secret Garden Cotopaxi on a sunny morning, grinning from ear to ear. It’s great to see how fit and healthy they both look, their bodies now very used to the punishment of riding 100+ kilometers every day for a year. All of us talk simultaneously and try to ask three questions at exactly the same time.
There is lots of laughter.

Seth, Dan & Parker

We spend hours over the next couple of days telling stories about the adventures that have transpired since our last meeting, loving every minute. It’s amazing to spend time with guys I can relate to so well – they understand my journey so completely I feel like they’ve been with me the entire time through the good, the bad and everything in between. More than a few times in the middle of a story we finish each others sentences, more than well-versed in life on the road in Latin America.

The guys & the gear

On more than a few occasions thinking to myself “If Seth and Parker can do this on bicycles, surely I can do it in a Jeep…” has helped me push through difficult times, and it’s cool to get a boost from seeing them for real. To know they’ve now ridden 18,000km and are still loving every minute and going strong is a huge boost to my energy and I’m more excited than ever to get back on road. It’s awesome to know they are now forging the trail in front of me, and we know we’ll see each other again before the journey is done.

Riding off into the sunrise

Good luck guys, seeya down there

-Dan

Today marks a year on the road for me, which sounds like a long time when I say it out loud. I’m really loving the simple life in the mountains and my batteries are recharging quickly. Every day my head is filling with stories of Peru/Bolivia/Chile and Argentina that will help me move further south when the time comes.

I’ll leave you with a few photos of recent times.

The mounatin behind The Secret Garden I hike up twice a week (4200m)

Carrying Mash through a hailstorm

The waterfall I jump off almost daily

-Dan

While I’m living the simple life far away from the Internet I thought it would be a great opportunity to write about things other than what I do day-to-day. Maybe I’ll write more of my back story or some general thoughts on life. I have some great stories from my earliest traveling experiences, about the cool people I met and what motivates me to go on adventures like this.

If there is something in particular you want me to write about, please leave a comment here and I’ll see what I can come up with. It could be about me, my trip, your trip, or really anything you think I might have something interesting to say about.

I know lots of you have been asking about money & my budget, and I promise to write about it after the adventure is finished – I don’t feel comfortable writing about while I’m still on the road. That, and it’s going to take a heck of a long time to write in any intelligible way.

-Dan

With winter fast approaching in the south I’ve been looking for a place to stop off and stay put for a while. While in Quito I learnt about The Secret Garden Cotopaxi (check the photos), a beautiful hostel in the foothills of the massive Volcán Cotopaxi (5897m), Ecuador’s second highest peak. As luck would have it, a volunteer position has presented itself.

When I first dreamed of this adventure and decided to write a blog I really wanted to capture my feelings and emotions along the way. I wanted to make sure I wrote about the good and bad times to paint an accurate picture of solo life on the road and my state of mind along the way. I don’t think I’ve done a good job on that so far, because I’ve been so busy visiting places and taking photos to share it’s just been easier to write about happy times.
Here goes.

To be honest, I feel the need to stay put for reasons more important than winter. The last couple of months have been the hardest of the journey for me, mostly due to loneliness and a bit of monotony has crept in. Constantly going new places and seeing amazingly beautiful things is great, though not being able to share it with anyone is getting kind of hollow and meaningless. On top of that, things are starting to feel the same day-to-day and I think I’m stuck in a bit of a rut.
I haven’t seriously thought about giving up, mostly because I have nothing else to do and nowhere to go, but it does cross my mind from time to time. I’m definitely not enjoying myself as much as I was for the first six or eight months, so I want to change my setting for a while to break out of the ‘funk’ I’ve found myself in.

By staying in one place I hope I can get my fill of things I miss from the ‘normal’ world, to recharge my batteries and get me back on the road full of excitement for the final stretch through about four more countries to Tierra Del Fuego.

In no particular order I’m looking forward to:

• Lots of fitness related stuff.

• Eating really well.

• Learning more Spanish, which might be tough with so many English speakers around.

• Meeting a ton of travelers and potentially a new friend to jump in the Jeep for a while.

• Waking up every day and knowing that I’m already where I will goto sleep at night.

It sounds like I’ll be doing anything and everything; painting buildings, setting the table for meals, manning the phone, taking guests hiking, working on ‘projects’ around the place and anything else I feel like doing.

By the time you read this I will have already started, and have no idea how long I will stay. A month sounds great right now, and I’ll see how I feel after that. There is no electricity or internet out there so regular updates here are going to be tough.

If I don’t update the site as often as normal, please don’t worry – I’m perfectly safe living the simple life.

-Dan

At 6310 meters, Volcán Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador, and there are a few fun pieces of trivia that go along with it:

• Because of the bulge in the Earth at the Equator, the summit of Chimborazo is actually the furthest point from the center of the Earth.

• There is no mountain higher than it anywhere north in the Americas.

The mighty Volcán Chimborazo

The highest paved road in the country passes right next to the mountain, which I obviously can’t pass up. I’m greeted by a sunny blue sky day, which makes for some stunning volcano viewing.

I’ll let the photos do the talking, safe to say I get some breathtaking views as I drive almost the entire way around the mountain, well above tree line the entire time.

Jeep loving the view

The road way up high

Maybe these guys are wild llamas?

Loving the blue sky view of Volcán Chimborazo

This side was almost entirely glacier

-Dan

I pick up another backpacker and together we move south, through a market in Riobumba for lunch and into the city of Cuenca. I’m normally not much of a city guy but this one is really beautiful – the streets are clean, the people friendly and there is endless old architecture to admire. Unfortunately the day we have for the city is a Sunday so pretty much everything is closed and Jena is disappointed we can’t goto the museum with the small heads. In the evening we both feel ‘normal’ after going to see a movie where I eat way too much popcorn (which is just enough).

The stunning views in Parque Nacional Cajas

In the morning we’re off to Parque Nacional Cajas, an amazing spot on the side of the highway high in the mountains between Cuenca and Guayaquil. We hike for a couple of hours into the amazing wilderness, well above tree line, passing only a few locals moving supplies around on horseback. When the rain sets in we move down to the refuge to cook lunch and chat to the park ranger guys before hiking around Laguna Toreadora, which again is peaceful in a way I can’t adequately explain.

Laguna Toreadora in Parque Nacional Cajas

More views in Parque Nacional Cajas

I wave goodbye to Jena and settle into the refuge for the night as the temperature drops lower and lower. I’m wearing all my thermals and am barely warm enough to sleep – It must be quite a way below freezing. I drive up and over another mountain pass towards Guayaquil and find myself in a tiny little village in the middle of dense jungle. Now that I’m down from the mountains the temperate has gone up about 20 degrees and the humidity is through the roof. The vegetation is extremely green and dense and banana plantations stretch into the distance as far as I can see.
Ecuador continues to amaze me with it’s diversity.

There is an amazing amount of nothingness

I find the nearby hot spring, another overly concrete affair perched on the side of a beautiful little river in a lush green valley and the owner lets me camp under a roof for only the price of admission ($2). While soaking I meet some locals, Engel and his wife and young daughter. He’s a really cool guy and before the night is done he invites me to hang out with him in his little town tomorrow. Cool.

Engel's farm in the jungle

In the morning we meet up and quickly head out to his farm in the Jeep, because the roads require 4×4 and his little VW will not make it all the way. On the road Engel tells me about his time in the US about 15 years ago; he caught a ship to Guatemala, hitchhiked to Mexico City and paid $12,000 USD for fake papers to get him across the border. Once in Los Angeles, he moved all over the country and finally settled around New York City. For the next seven years he lived and worked illegally in pretty much every borough around the city, to save money to bring back to his family in Ecuador. After the seven years he flew back to Ecuador (“nobody checks your papers when you are leaving”) with enough money to buy a really nice house, farm, car and still have enough left over so he doesn’t have to work too hard now. Hearing him talk about his time there is really amazing and when I ask if he wants to go back or live full time in the US he says “No, people in the US work to hard and are only interested in money and things, not family.”
His words, not mine.

Engel, proud of his machete

Cocca cut open and growing

The farm is possibly the most green, dense jungle I have ever seen and he proudly shows huge amounts cocca growing in the lower lands and young trees up higher that will be exported for timber. In five years one tree will sell for $30, which is a lot of money here. For the rest of the day we hang out in his town, meeting friends and family who are all extremely friendly and welcoming and want to hear all about my travels and life in other countries. The next day we drive into the enormous city of Guayaquil with another friend to buy parts for the bus Engel works on as a ticket collector. The city has a reputation of being very, very dangerous and they tell me time and time again I would not be safe on my own. In fact, I get the distinct feeling neither of them would feel comfortable in the city alone. It’s interesting to watch them roll up the car windows and lock the doors as soon as we get near the city – clearly they are aware of what happens here. It’s a huge city, complete with pollution, traffic and massive billboards plastered with western brands and slogans.
We drive all over town twice, and eventually end up with what we need late in the day.

The Hot Spring complex where I camped

Hanging out with Engel is a really great time and only serves to increase my liking for Ecuador.

-Dan