Quito, Day 61, 369km

After breakfast on the beach with a fresh melon juice we continued heading north along the coast to Perpendales before we turned east to Quito. There was almost no traffic and we made good progress. We crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere. Just a simple sign on the side of the road and my Garmin showed 0°0’0” for the first time since we started in Valparaiso at S 33°. When we left the coast we rode through the jungle again until Santo Domingo de los Colorados. Just after we made a short stop and suddenly Thomas passed us. He stayed on more night in Puerto Cayo because he was sick and we planned to meet in Quito again. But after Santo Domingo our route has been the same and by accident we met. 180km to Quito and we started to climb up the Andes once again to over 3000m. Twisty road but good and occasionally with two lanes. It was very foggy in the mountains and my tinted visor was not a great help for visibility. Further up it started to rain and it was very chilly. It was the first proper rain in 2 month but I would have preferred it in warmer conditions. However, at the top the rain was so heavy that the streets were partially flooded. Not ideal for riding a bike. But when we descent down to 2800m to Quito it was only drizzling. Quito reminds me a bit of La Paz in Bolivia because of its surrounding mountains. One of them is Pichincha, an active volcano! The hostel was in the old town and on the phone they told me parking for our bikes is available. Well, yes if you ride into the lobby, down some stairs to the kitchen and from there more stairs down to the restaurant which was in an atrium of the building. It would have been possible without lugguage but in the end we decided against the hassle and went to another hostel. So we rode to new town and found Mogens Pod hostel. Very cool place, modern and brand new. Dry parking for the bikes next to the room, fast Wifi, a bar and a bakery with proper coffee. Perfect! We are in a 8 people dorm but because the beds are in sleeping pods it feels like an own room. We will stay here for 3 nights before we continue towards Columbia.

Quito, Day 62-63, Rest day

After many long days of riding since Lima we had to recharge our batteries and the bikes needed some maintenance. I cleaned the air filter which got very dirty in the last weeks. The hostel was a perfect place to relax and we didn’t do much on our first day in Quito. On the next day we took a cable car up to Teleferico at 4100m. The weather was perfect and we had spectacular views over Quito and its surrounding volcanos. In the afternoon we went by public bus to Mitad del Mundo. A massive monument built by the French after they found the exact location of the equator back in 1736. Well, they thought they did. The real equator line is 240m north of the monument. Nearby there are also some ruins from 1000 years ago indicating the equator line much more accurate than the french did many hundreds years later. However we took some photos at the monument and went to a testaurant nearby which is on the correct location. One foot on the southern hemisphere, one the northern. Due to the missing coriolis effect at the equator it is much more difficult to balance along the line with closed eyes than 30cm next to it. It didn’t believe it until I’ve tried it myself. Pretty cool! At night we went to an Indian and had our last dinner with Thomas. He will stay in Quito for 2 more weeks for his spanish class. Daniel and I will continue heading towards Columbia tomorrow. The plan is to meet Thomas again in Bogota just before Christmas.