Ecuador Bike Tour: San Clemente

		Pichincha / Imbabura
		Ibike Ecuador

		Dispatch 4 - San Clemente

		Left: It seems to be requisite for visitors to get their pictures taken when they cross the equator. The line under the bikes marks the equator. Right: If you live on the equator, the equator is just another jungle-gym, or perch from which to watch the tourist pass by.
		Left: Door of a small restaurant in Cayambe, with the day's menu posted at the entrance.. Right: Enjoying a nice meal at the small restaurant.
		Right: Getting a little bit above the floor of the valley you can start to realize how much horticulture there is in the area. All the long white buildings are hot houses. Horticulture replace the areas dominate dairy industry in the 1990. The dominate flower for a decade was roses, but they are now starting to diversify. Right: Agricultural land around Ayora.
		A large part of what makes Ecuador beautify and interesting cycling is the topography. We don't always get to wind along the valley floors. Sometimes we get caught with a climb.
		Left: The pipe storage yard for a water project. Right: The community carries iron pipes into place for a water project.
		Left: A corner of the village of Olmedo, with the cemetery on the far hillside. Right: Recess time at the elementary school in Olmedo.
		The roads around Olmedo are not too hilly. Mt Cayambe, Ecuador's third highest peak, is in the background (picture right). It is more spectacular in clear weather. We were having cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons.
		Protesters are moving a log across the road to block traffic (except bicycle). Blocking the highways and roads is a favorite form of protest in Ecuador and it has lead to the fall of several governments. The irony of the water project ten kilometers away was this protest was about water development. The local activist explained to us that they were blocking the road because they are angry that after ten years of promises they still didn't have safe drinking water.
		These two drivers confer about the blockade. The bus had taken the back road instead of the Pan-American highway to try and avoid the blockade there -- an unsuccessful strategy. The back road was blocked as well. Dozens of cars, some blocked for hours, were lined us when the logs were removed about sunset. Bicycles are exempt!
		Left: A boy rolls a hoop -- a game that can be seen in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Right: Girl standing by the road with a parakeet on her shoulder.
		The town center of Zuleta. About every third shop sells local embroidery. Right: A local bicyclist. Always nice to see.
		The entrance to Hacienda Zuleta, purported to be one of the fanciest in Ecuador. Non-paying guest aren't welcome to even look around. Bicycles are a popular mode of transport for workers coming and going from the hacienda.
		Left: Women doing embroidery. Zuleta is known for its embroidery. Right: Man doing carpentry. It takes him three days to make a door. He is paid $30 for the door.
		Family threshing grain.
		Field of uncut grain.
		Left: Dairy cattle hacienda on the outskirts of Zuleta.. This hacienda was more welcoming than the big boys down the road. Right: Cui (guinea pig) hacienda in the village.
		Non-motorized high occupancy transportation can't get much cuter. The boy and three girls were casually making their way down the road like they do it everyday -- they just might.
		There isn't a better value in Ecuador than a meal at Casa Jose Mario. Jose Mario is a chief at Hacienda Zuleta -- one of the highest priced lodges in Ecuador. He brings the same skills to Casa Jose Mario for a tenth the price. Carmen, his wife, puts out a superb meal by herself, as well. Advanced reservations are needed. Typical menu: Lunch: Potato soup, trout, salad, rice, fresh juice. Dinner: Asparagus soup, chicken, omelet, salad, rice, fresh juice, fried banana.
		Volcano Imbubara.
		Left: A stone road. Ecuador use these a lot for secondary roads. Ask to a motorist and the will say the road is great. Ask a cyclist and they will talk to you after they find the filling that was shaken loose. The secret is to find the smooth part along the edge -- which don't always exist. Right: Passing a hacienda.
		The short cut from La Esperanza to San Clemente takes you through beautiful farmland. Some of the most fun cycling of the route. It is that much nicer because it is not stone road.
		Left: After many miles of descent and relatively level, the last few hundred meters up to Pukyu Pamba seems humiliatingly steep. Pukyu Pamba is a small-scale community tourism project, Right: Pukyu Pamba is perched on the side of Mt Imbubara, with a view to Ibarra in the valley below.
		Manuel, the manager of Pukyu Pamba, leads a field lecture of ethno-botany. He was sharing knowledge handed down from his parents on the practical and medicinal uses for a variety of local plants. Lower right: Manuel's daughter prepares some local herbs for use.
		Harvesting and drying maize (corn).
		An orchard of tomato des arbor, which is one many delicious fruit juices that is part of Ecuador's healthy traditional cuisine.
		Mola (black berries) is one of Ecuador's most popular flavors. It is used in juice, ice cream and fruit jellies.
		The live stock at Pukyu Pamba included Llamas and Cui (guinea pigs).
		Most of the food served at Pukyu Pamba come from the farm or nearby farms. Dinner was bean soup with potatoes and cheese, tilapia, cheese empanadas, tomato and bell pepper salad, fruit salad, fresh juice.
		Left: making bread in the morning. Right: the daughter does homework, complete with CD player and headphones.
		Our hosts with the family dog, at Pukyu Pamba.