Hola !

Today I have arrived in Chunchi, a very small town somewhere in the middle of Equador. Yesterday I stayed in Guamote, a even smaller town a bit north of where I am right now.

The trip from Riobamba to Guamote was short, only a 52 kiometers. Nice because the legs were not feeling very good. Just getting used to the climbs and the height, so a short stage is very welcome right now. Overall I am getting used a bit better to the height, and also the hills. Things are going slow, but steady. Just do it my own pace, and I will get there finally ... The ride was nice, the roads good and the scenery also very beautifull. So finally we are getting away from the big citys, still on the PanAm highway, but it is getting quieter, still dirty busses and trucks, but that will probable the case in the whole of South America.

This time we din´t miss lunch, so we were happy to see the truck with the food ...

In Guamote we stayed at a project house, run by Dutch people that are educating the Equadorian people, some computer lessons, some sawing lessons for the women, to earn their own money and so on. Dinner was arranged by these people, so we had some nice soup, and rice with corn, very tasty !! I was sleeping witn about 15 other cyclists in the Dormroom on the 2nd floor. beds were good, and around 10 I went to sleep.

After waking up at 5, and getting dressed at 5:15 I was going downstairs, not to wake up everybody. Around 6 the first cyclist woke up, and at 7 we had breakfast. Which is normal, because we are leaving around 8 in the morning. Today´s trip was about 90 kilometer, with a 1500 meter climb in there. At the end it turned out to be a lit less, because of the road that was constructed in the last two years. So no unpaved part, and around 13:00 we were already in the hotel, relaxing from a nice day, but with two big climbs in there ...

Chunchi is also a small town, we played some soccer with local kids, Ruud and his team won with 1-0, ... probably my fault, I am not that great in soccer, and that is an understatement !!

tonight relaxing and tomorrow another day, and we will bushcamp tomorrow near some old Inca buildings ... we will see, hopefully I got everything and it isn´t to cold ...

Michiel