16/08/13 Stage 6 Chunchi - Ingapirca by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details

16/08/13 Stage 6 Chunchi - Ingapirca
16/08/13 Stage 6 Chunchi - Ingapirca by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details
                                                                                      16/08/13 Stage 6 Chunchi – Ingapirca

View back towards Chunchi

Another day of beautiful riding. The road is becoming quieter and quieter. The downside of this is that there are also fewer places to find food and water. It was quite a hard day riding with over 1900 meters of climbing. All would have been well if the final bit hadn't been off road. The first taste of ripio (gravel roads) definitely doesn't make me long for more. Bring on the asphalt I say. If I want to go off road riding I know nicer trails. The final bit was so steep I couldn't even push my bike up it. Every time I tried it seem to roll back further than I had pushed it forward. After a long day cycling and the sun still full of heat I was not a happy bunny but of course I did get to Ingapirca but it was 5.00 pm and too late to see the most famous Inca ruins in Ecuador. We wandered about the little town in the evening and soon realised we were the only tourists left in town. It was lovely to realise that we can speak and understand enough Spanish to have a simple conversation. Without that there would be very little communication because hardly any one speaks any English (which is fair enough of course). We managed to buy a few tomatoes and some cheese and luckily Malcolm had the foresight to buy some wine in the last big place we passed through so supper was sorted complimented by a take away from the little stall on the square. It was quite late when we crawled into bed at 7.30!