Always expect the unexpected
So today’s “unexpecteds” were several detours where roads were closed and crowds gathered to vote in local elections. Geoff did read somewhere that election time was not necessarily the best choice safety wise to travel to any S. American country but as these are only local there weren’t any obvious signs of rioting.
Once out of Guayaquil’s rush hour traffic we drove through miles of banana and cocoa plantations. Eventually we began the slow climb along twisting roads up above the clouds. At times it was difficult to make out much except the steep drop on one side.
Driving through the clouds to Alausi
As Geoff expertly negotiated hairpin bends, (yes really) and avoided landslides where the road almost disappeared we encountered our second unexpected, a large number of animals sitting or standing in the road. A pretty dun horse just carried on calmly standing there dozing as we drove round it. 3 dogs which at first appeared dead but then looked up as if to say “what the heck are you doing here”. The third surprise was a large dog which threw itself in front of the car (yes Cara you do need to wear a seat belt at all times!). Then as we screeched to a horrified halt ran round the back and proceeded to chew the rear tyres even as we drove off. We saw sleeping pigs, cows and alpacas along the roadside as we drove through tiny mountain hamlets. As the road suddenly changed levels by about a foot (but its ok because there was a precaution sign right next to it!) I remembered the wise words of a friend who had travelled by bus this way as a student. I think he said something along the lines of “good god I’m not sure I would fancy driving on those roads”
We stopped to say hello to some school children then stumbled on the lovely Cascada Panama.
3 hours and a few wrong turns later we arrived at Hostel Killa Wasi in the pretty mountain town of Alausi. We were greeted enthusiastically by our canine hosts Lily and Laki
We had lunch at Meson del Tren, explored on foot (usual dog tagging along) and bought tickets for our mountain train trip tomorrow.
Its quite chilly here but we have the right clothes and as we sit here outside the hostel drinking tea and catching the last of the daylight, life seems pretty good.
Pirate Travels 