Cayambe, Ecuador to Quito, Ecuador
Day's Ride: 44 Miles
Last night we celebrated the new year Ecuador style with a bonfire and an Ano Viejo burning. Advriders present included: Dylan (cleanwatt), Allison (bubbletron), Dwight (kedgi), Frank, Tony, Boris, Alain, and me (ulyses). After being on the road for a while, I've developed a sleeping schedule where I'm usually asleep by 10:00 PM and awake at 6:00 AM, but I forced myself to stay up and enjoy the festivities.
The Hotel set up the bonfire and they used eucalyptis wood; it smelled amazing! It was like having a fire where the smoke is all Vick's Vapor Rub.
After a while (and a few cervesas) we decided to liven things up and show the natives how to celebrate American style, so we started jumping the fire...
After all of the festivites from last night, we decided to sleep in. At around 11:00 AM, Dylan, Dwight, and myself all decided to head to Quito together.
The roads in Ecuador are pristine; however, they do charge a toll of .20 per biker. I'll gladly keep paying that toll if the roads stay this nice.
The road from Cayambe to Quito was a smooth and beautiful 40 mile stretch. We got into Quito and the town was dead. Everything was closed and there was zero traffic. Then we remembered that it was January 1st.
Based on a recomendation from Boris, one of the riders that we had spent New Year's Eve with, we checked in at the Casa Bambu Hostel. Private rooms: $15, a bed in the dorm: $7. Plus, a private garage for the bikes. Plus, it's a really quite, low key kind of place without a bunch of wasteoids making a rukus all night.
After a brief nap, we went down to old town Quito to check out the sights. As we were riding into town we had seen a huge cathedral from the road; it totally dominated the sky line. Naturally, that's the first place that we went to.
Instead of gargoyles and cherbim, the exterior was decorated with native animals like iguanas and jaguars.
We later found out that this was the new cathedral and that parts of it were still under construction. We then headed to the old cathedral.
This church started off as a small wooden chapel in 1534 and was gradually expanded over the years until it became a cathedral.
We went inside to see some the paintings and archetecture but were soon chased out due to the mass that was about to be performed. We managed to sneak back in but were unable to take any pictures due to the tight security. There were some interesting works inside; one depicted Paul's conversion on the road to damascus in which everyone was dressed in 16th century Spanish garb, complete with conquistador armor. Another depicted the last super with Christ and the disciples eating roasted guinea pig and corn tamales.
And that's all for today. Tomorrow I search for welders.
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