Wednesday August 29, 2012

Wednesday August 29/12 update

Well we have made it back safe and sound with not too many hairy moments.   About 30 miles from home a truck carrying loose tires lost a couple right in front of us but Miguel skillfully avoided them both.

Our attempts to get to Banos were stopped by the military due to the evacuation order.   They were only allowing locals in for a few hours every day to tend to business and their animals.

Unfortunately we got shut out last night from seeing the Tungurahua volcano (16,480 ft) from the neighboring mountain El Altar (17,454 ft) due to heavy fog and rain that has hung around since Saturday.   We stayed on this mountain for 3 hours in the dark hoping the weather would break, but it just didn’t.  So we drove the hour back to our $15 hotel room at the Rey De Los Andes (King of the Andes) in Riobamba and had a good sleep.   Why I sleep so well in hotel rooms in anybody’s guess but I was thankful to get a few zzzzzzzz’s.   There was absolutely nothing wrong with this hotel at that price and it had an attached restaurant that served great food.

It kinda was nice that there were only 4 of us on this trip, and we all got along so well, no whiners or complainers, so we easily agreed on almost everything.  Thank you to Miguel, Anne, and Michael for making the trip enjoyable in spite of the disappointments.

We tried going back this morning to the same spot and we were always heartened by any glimpse of blue sky but the morning on  El Altar was no different than last night.  The rain and fog was exactly the same and portions of the road were more slippery plus we had to deal with two minor landslides.   The only benefit today was more activity from the local indigenous folks, most delivering milk to a central processing place nearby, using donkeys or horses.  They were really so friendly and fun to watch despite the fact that everything and everybody was drenched.

We also could not see the snow-covered Chimborazo mountain nearby so we had to make do with what was available.   Chimborazo, because it is so near the bulge of the equator, is actually closer to the sun than Mount Everest.   It is over 20,561 feet high.

I took well over 200 shots so I will be doing a lot of processing tonight and tomorrow.  I will have many shots of the Andes Mountains at around 15,000 feet, and cloud and fog, and more indigenous folks as we passed by.  The glory and majesty of these mountains are a sight to behold.   In many areas it is like looking at a vertical Saskatchewan, with a patchwork quilt of fields covering mountains from top to bottom.  These are generally family farms separated by little rows of shrubs or trees and it really is amazing to see farming this high up.  Not only that but we were surprised to see huge greenhouse operations way up near the summits as well.

As the crow flies, we are not going far, but zig-zagging through the mountains adds a lot of miles and it is a very tiresome trip.

The Boys were happy to see me home and to get fed a good meal.

I may get some photos posted late tonight, but more likely later tomorrow.   I gotta go make myself a quick supper.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos later at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.