Week 20, Columbia, Ecuador
17/10
Slept in until 8.30 or so... just in time for breakfast.
Went on this coffee plantation excursion with Norm and Richard. Nice morning...
Back in the willy (name of the jeeps, they use here for transportation) and ate a soup at a local restaurant. About to (try to) publish week 19 of my blog now, in the bar of our hostel ...
Went back to town with Richard and Norm around 5. Sipped one, ate a bit, last one at the hostels bar.
Tomorrow on the truck again. Curious what will have changed...
An episode of Humans and then hopefully a good night sleep. Why do I sleep so bad lately?
18/10
Slept reasonably, woke up at 6 (early risers packed (quitly, but still)), rose at 7. Waiting for breakfast now while updating blog ... Laterz ...
Long drive during the day, but it felt good to be on the truck again. Feels a bit home-ish.
Cycling is a big sport in Columbia. You see groups of cyclists on the highways a lot ...
So, on the way to this town called Popoyan, where we wil camp again. Haven't done that in a long time.
Tried Karims tent, but will stick to my own. It's too big and it takes too much time to put it up.
Dinner was nice, and Richard went to town to get beer and we had a nice chat after dinner. At 9.30 however sleep struck and i called it a day. Didn't even watch a episode of Humans.... slept like a baby. It's a tent, but at least you have some privacy. Nice for a change.
19/10
Slept like a baby and rose at 7. Just in time for breakfast. Swapped tents, showred, laundried, wrote my blog and about to hop on the bus to Popayan, to check out the place.
This is the view from our campground ...
Did the media and hopped on the bus at 11.00. Love local transport! The town is also known as el ciudad blanco. This is why ...
It just takes 2 hours to see it though, so... took the bus back at 14.30, ate a bit at a local minimarket, sipped a beer at a local restaurant and watched a footbal match.
Back at the camp ground i tried to change the strings of the gitar, but 1 string is missing. Shit!
Updating my blog now while enjoying this nice view from the campground ...
Laterz...
Dinner was nice, chat afterwards too. Early night, starting with an episode of Humans.
20/10
Rose at 4.45, breakfasted, packed, booked a bed for Norm in Rio, off we go again. Towards the border. 1 night of (real) wildcamping ahead of us. Laterz....
Long drive through the Andes... man, i forgot how impressive it was (was here 15 yrs ago too). Take a look at these pics....
At 17.00 or so, we arrived at the village where we stay in a hotel (yes wildcamping turned out to be "imposible" (sissies 😉)).
But first we took a look at the most beautiful church of south america ...
We had to walk up and down 2 times (hard work for some of us, due to high altitude (2500 m)), but here we (Norm, Richard and me) are now, in our hotel....
Laterz ...
Richard, Norm and I shared a room. Grabbed a small bite, had a beer and slept around 9.15. It had been a long day after all and we needed to rise at 5 again.
21/10
Rose at 5.00, showered, packed and on our way to the truck, where .... nobody was.
Change of plans apparently. Everybody showed up round 6.20, with a breakfast. Luckily Richard brought Norm's and mine.
On our way to the border to cross into Ecuador. That went smooth and around 8.30 we were in Ecuador. Finally in a country where i have been before (2002).
Then the drive to Otavalo, to the biggest market in the area. Nice. Here's some pictures, made by Bijan ...
Met Hugo, sipping a beer, so what could I do? Right!
Back at the truck we sang for Norman, who has his birthday. Guess what we all bought him? Yes, indeed! Lots of it. And so did he, so, there will be drinks at the campground tonight. See you there then.
After the market we went to this campground. Nice place, beautifull views, with our heads in the clouds (3 K above sea level) ... Pictures made by Annette ...
Waiting for dinner now, but .. we don't have our stuff with us, coz we had to park the truck far away from the campground, so.... we sipped beers to celebrate Norms birthday. Bit hungry now though.
And then... the way to my rent is covered with huge tarantula's... oops. Don't leave my shoes outside tonight... look how huge they are .... i mean, im not afraid of spiders, but errr... these ones are creepy ... look ....
Ok, still waiting for food.... Laterz ...
Cookgroup had a hard time preparing diner in the dark, but they managed. Well done. And it tasted all right too.
We sang (again) for Norm and there was chocolate cake. A last cup of tea for me and to the tent i went. An episode of Humans and slept well. But ... around 2.00 it started to rain....
22/10
And it still does ... rain that is. Anyway, woke up at 6, but stayed in my tent till 8.00. Reading and snoozing. Ice cold shower, and updating blog while waiting for breakfast.
Weather forcast: rain, all day long ... and no chance to dry my stuff ... im afraid its gonna be a long day... laterz...
The weather got better though, so i took off for a 5K walk to the town of Otavato. However ... when i was halfway this dog came running up to me, growling and barking, so i made a kicking movement to chase it away. That overstretched a muscle in my calf and it hurts like hell now. I managed to stumble to town, but it hurt so much, that i took the bus back immediately. So, here i am ... ibuprofen and voltaren to ease the pain and as good as immobile. Hope it cures fast, but i have my doubts. Could be whiplash too after all. Lets hope for the best. Thanks Linda, Glynn, Nienke and Margarita for your medicine and advice . Laterz...
Spend the rest of the afternoon and evening, resting and relaxing. The dinning room of the campground had a nice open fire and wifi worked , so.... piece and harmony.
No cookgroup , so a nice dinner from Nienke and Jono (thx guys). Lutz bought us beer, since he will leave us soon.
Slept good despite the hurting calf.
23/10
Rose at 6.45. Luckily my calf felt a lot better. Not pain free, but i could walk, and so .... packed, prepared the packing of the truck (Pauwel, Richard and i form the "packgroup" from now on) and waited for breakfast.
We loaded the kitchen gear, tents and sleeping gear on a small, hired truck, that brought us to our truck. Everybody helped though, thx guys.
<somebody took pictures of that, but i forgot who. Add them later>
Anyway, round 9.00 we left for a short drive to Quito. After 2 hours we crossed the equator, and visited a place, where all kind of information was given about the equator.
13.00 we arrived in Quito. The truck brought us as far as possible. From then taxi's to this nice hostel. It poured with rain and as soon as a taxi arrived everybody tried to squeeze in. I found that panic ridiculous, so i waited for the next one, so ... alone in a taxi and a bit more comfort. Arrived at the hostel (before the rest, hihi). Nice people, nice hostel, nice view from the roof terrace. Look ...
Went to our dorm beds, unpacked and went to (one of the many) centres of town with Norm and Richard. Few pictures ....
I was here 15 years ago too, but i don't recognize anything. Probably in another part of town. Its a huge city after all.
Anyway, we ate a bite, sipped a beer and walked back to the hostel. The sissies took a cab, coz they didn't want to miss happy hour. I arrived .. 10 minutes before happy hour ended ... 😂.
Spend the rest of the evening chatting on the roof terrace over drinks. The view of Quito by night is astonishing... look...
Slept good!
See you next week ...
Slept in until 8.30 or so... just in time for breakfast.
Went on this coffee plantation excursion with Norm and Richard. Nice morning...
Back in the willy (name of the jeeps, they use here for transportation) and ate a soup at a local restaurant. About to (try to) publish week 19 of my blog now, in the bar of our hostel ...
Went back to town with Richard and Norm around 5. Sipped one, ate a bit, last one at the hostels bar.
Tomorrow on the truck again. Curious what will have changed...
An episode of Humans and then hopefully a good night sleep. Why do I sleep so bad lately?
18/10
Slept reasonably, woke up at 6 (early risers packed (quitly, but still)), rose at 7. Waiting for breakfast now while updating blog ... Laterz ...
Long drive during the day, but it felt good to be on the truck again. Feels a bit home-ish.
Cycling is a big sport in Columbia. You see groups of cyclists on the highways a lot ...
So, on the way to this town called Popoyan, where we wil camp again. Haven't done that in a long time.
Tried Karims tent, but will stick to my own. It's too big and it takes too much time to put it up.
Dinner was nice, and Richard went to town to get beer and we had a nice chat after dinner. At 9.30 however sleep struck and i called it a day. Didn't even watch a episode of Humans.... slept like a baby. It's a tent, but at least you have some privacy. Nice for a change.
19/10
Slept like a baby and rose at 7. Just in time for breakfast. Swapped tents, showred, laundried, wrote my blog and about to hop on the bus to Popayan, to check out the place.
This is the view from our campground ...
Did the media and hopped on the bus at 11.00. Love local transport! The town is also known as el ciudad blanco. This is why ...
It just takes 2 hours to see it though, so... took the bus back at 14.30, ate a bit at a local minimarket, sipped a beer at a local restaurant and watched a footbal match.
Back at the camp ground i tried to change the strings of the gitar, but 1 string is missing. Shit!
Updating my blog now while enjoying this nice view from the campground ...
Laterz...
Dinner was nice, chat afterwards too. Early night, starting with an episode of Humans.
20/10
Rose at 4.45, breakfasted, packed, booked a bed for Norm in Rio, off we go again. Towards the border. 1 night of (real) wildcamping ahead of us. Laterz....
Long drive through the Andes... man, i forgot how impressive it was (was here 15 yrs ago too). Take a look at these pics....
At 17.00 or so, we arrived at the village where we stay in a hotel (yes wildcamping turned out to be "imposible" (sissies 😉)).
But first we took a look at the most beautiful church of south america ...
We had to walk up and down 2 times (hard work for some of us, due to high altitude (2500 m)), but here we (Norm, Richard and me) are now, in our hotel....
Laterz ...
Richard, Norm and I shared a room. Grabbed a small bite, had a beer and slept around 9.15. It had been a long day after all and we needed to rise at 5 again.
21/10
Rose at 5.00, showered, packed and on our way to the truck, where .... nobody was.
Change of plans apparently. Everybody showed up round 6.20, with a breakfast. Luckily Richard brought Norm's and mine.
On our way to the border to cross into Ecuador. That went smooth and around 8.30 we were in Ecuador. Finally in a country where i have been before (2002).
Then the drive to Otavalo, to the biggest market in the area. Nice. Here's some pictures, made by Bijan ...
Met Hugo, sipping a beer, so what could I do? Right!
Back at the truck we sang for Norman, who has his birthday. Guess what we all bought him? Yes, indeed! Lots of it. And so did he, so, there will be drinks at the campground tonight. See you there then.
After the market we went to this campground. Nice place, beautifull views, with our heads in the clouds (3 K above sea level) ... Pictures made by Annette ...
Waiting for dinner now, but .. we don't have our stuff with us, coz we had to park the truck far away from the campground, so.... we sipped beers to celebrate Norms birthday. Bit hungry now though.
And then... the way to my rent is covered with huge tarantula's... oops. Don't leave my shoes outside tonight... look how huge they are .... i mean, im not afraid of spiders, but errr... these ones are creepy ... look ....
Ok, still waiting for food.... Laterz ...
Cookgroup had a hard time preparing diner in the dark, but they managed. Well done. And it tasted all right too.
We sang (again) for Norm and there was chocolate cake. A last cup of tea for me and to the tent i went. An episode of Humans and slept well. But ... around 2.00 it started to rain....
22/10
And it still does ... rain that is. Anyway, woke up at 6, but stayed in my tent till 8.00. Reading and snoozing. Ice cold shower, and updating blog while waiting for breakfast.
Weather forcast: rain, all day long ... and no chance to dry my stuff ... im afraid its gonna be a long day... laterz...
The weather got better though, so i took off for a 5K walk to the town of Otavato. However ... when i was halfway this dog came running up to me, growling and barking, so i made a kicking movement to chase it away. That overstretched a muscle in my calf and it hurts like hell now. I managed to stumble to town, but it hurt so much, that i took the bus back immediately. So, here i am ... ibuprofen and voltaren to ease the pain and as good as immobile. Hope it cures fast, but i have my doubts. Could be whiplash too after all. Lets hope for the best. Thanks Linda, Glynn, Nienke and Margarita for your medicine and advice . Laterz...
Spend the rest of the afternoon and evening, resting and relaxing. The dinning room of the campground had a nice open fire and wifi worked , so.... piece and harmony.
No cookgroup , so a nice dinner from Nienke and Jono (thx guys). Lutz bought us beer, since he will leave us soon.
Slept good despite the hurting calf.
23/10
Rose at 6.45. Luckily my calf felt a lot better. Not pain free, but i could walk, and so .... packed, prepared the packing of the truck (Pauwel, Richard and i form the "packgroup" from now on) and waited for breakfast.
We loaded the kitchen gear, tents and sleeping gear on a small, hired truck, that brought us to our truck. Everybody helped though, thx guys.
<somebody took pictures of that, but i forgot who. Add them later>
Anyway, round 9.00 we left for a short drive to Quito. After 2 hours we crossed the equator, and visited a place, where all kind of information was given about the equator.
13.00 we arrived in Quito. The truck brought us as far as possible. From then taxi's to this nice hostel. It poured with rain and as soon as a taxi arrived everybody tried to squeeze in. I found that panic ridiculous, so i waited for the next one, so ... alone in a taxi and a bit more comfort. Arrived at the hostel (before the rest, hihi). Nice people, nice hostel, nice view from the roof terrace. Look ...
Went to our dorm beds, unpacked and went to (one of the many) centres of town with Norm and Richard. Few pictures ....
I was here 15 years ago too, but i don't recognize anything. Probably in another part of town. Its a huge city after all.
Anyway, we ate a bite, sipped a beer and walked back to the hostel. The sissies took a cab, coz they didn't want to miss happy hour. I arrived .. 10 minutes before happy hour ended ... 😂.
Spend the rest of the evening chatting on the roof terrace over drinks. The view of Quito by night is astonishing... look...
Slept good!
See you next week ...
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