1 Month Cycling through Ecuador

Adios Colombia. Buenos dias. Ecuador. So excited. Got my stamps. Three years into my cycle from Alaska to Argentina and fresh out of three months riding through Colombia, in Ecuador I was seeking something I'd almost given up on. Real wild camping. Central America and a lot of Colombia had been too densely populated so I'd gotten used to asking permission or paying for cheap hotels. But I'd heard Ecuador was where that started to change with big wide-open wilderness areas to explore. But I'd soon learned that wild camping in the Andes had a bit of a learning curve to it. Man, this is so hopeless. Maybe I'm just not camped in a great spot. So in this episode I spend a month making my way through the highlands of Ecuador trying to relearn my wild camping skills and getting to know this beautiful country. I'm gonna be hopping on to the Trans-Ecuador mountain bike route and it looks spectacular. Been looking forward to doing this for a very long time. And immediately onto a dirt road. So nice to be riding on a road with no fences, just open land. It's been such a long time, but look at this. This is a nature reserve called El Ángel and they let cyclists camp here for free inside. So, got a beautiful setup for the night. But yeah, should be a nice night. Bit chilly, but happy to have the roof. All kitted up for a very cold downhill. It always takes me a few days to settle in and feel comfortable in a new country, so I was happy to have a safe spot to aim for on that first night. Onto the cobblestone, which I've heard is the Ecuador special. And it's funny how much changes the moment you cross a line on a map. Your brain is back on high alert, picking up on all the little differences. And those cobblestones were just the first of many. That is a crazy view. These huge peaks. Still a long way to go. It's better on the cobblestone for the climb. Are you from here? Ah, how nice. It's beautiful here. The valley is incredible. Where are you from? Sorry? Where are you from? Where am I from? From England. On the other side of the world. Have a good trip. You too, you too. Thank you. Look at this, that is crazy. Ecuador in two days. The diversity is crazy. I actually started today in the paramo, in a cloud, and I'm ending it in a desert valley. So cool. If I just had enough water, I've seen like four good camping spots already. That's a good lesson. There's a lot more world camping opportunities in Ecuador, so I need to make sure that I've always got enough water on me to spend the night. I think all day today is going to be going uphill, and then probably all day tomorrow too. Look at these hills. Ending my lesson today. I'm filtering a couple litres of water so that if the opportunity presents itself, I can wild camp and find a good spot. But this area is quite fenced up. As you can see, is that a little cow head? Yes. Hello. It's not legal. That right there is the town of Buenos Aires. Tonight is not the night. That is a shame. This is what we got. Honestly, it's not bad at all. For seven bucks, I got a good night's sleep in this little village, which I'd definitely be needing for what was coming up next. Wow, look at this view. That is one of the happiest little villages I've ever stopped in on. Look at that. That's where I'll be camping, up there somewhere. Oh man, I'm just so excited to be wild camping again. I can just go and know that I should be able to find a spot to camp wherever I end up. Good afternoon. How's it going? How's it going, my friend? Yes, very good. And you? Very good. Also very good. That's good. Yes, I'm going up there to see the mountains and the lagoons and all that. From the hill up there, you go around like this, and you see beautiful landscapes everywhere. It's incredible here. This view, wow. This horse seems very strong. Very strong. Tomorrow I'm going in here, to the mountains. Oh, really? On an adventure? Yes. Oh, that's good. Well, have a good trip. I wish you a lot of success with your trip. Thank you, too. A lot of success. Have a good trip. Thank you very much. It looks incredible up there. This is so crazy. I'm in awe. I'm in absolute awe. This will do. Man, what an incredible place. Look at the clouds down there. It's like this plateau. It's my little island in the sky. The wind started gusting pretty hard from that side. I'm trying to decide if this is worth packing everything up or not, because the wind is getting worse and worse. And at some point it's just like, you know, maybe I'm just not camped in a great spot. Am I just being stupid, trying to wait this out? Or should I pack up in the middle of the night and see what I can find further on? Man, it's bright. Right, anyway, I'm doing it. I'm evacuating. I've got everything packed up pretty much. And now just the tent, and then I'm going to set off into the night. I have no idea where I'll end up, but I don't know. I'd rather take this into my own hands and have some control over the situation than just be at the mercy of the Andes. And a lesson was learned. Wind protection is everything. I shouldn't have picked a pretty spot. In my defense, it was not windy at all when I set up camp. Packed up, ready to head down that way and try and find the road again. Guess I'll head that way. Okay, this... Man, this is so hopeless. This could work, I think. So I think I just have to go for it. Okay, I'm done. I think I'm done. It's now... You can't see it, it's 1am. It's definitely still windy here, but... I mean, it's a lot better than the spot I was. And I'm all covered. So, that's me for the night. I'm exhausted. And the wind didn't stop. So it's a good thing I moved right by the road. And running on just two hours of sleep. I had a long day ahead of me. I might be running on two hours of sleep. But man, what a privilege. Look at this place. I have, like, no energy in my legs. Okay, that is my road. That is town down there. Man, it's so typical. I was absolutely gagging to get out of here. Finally getting into town now. My eyes. So sleepy. I am destroyed. However, one of the things I always try and do when I make it into town for a couple of days is call my mum and dad. But hotel internet is not often the best down here, so usually I end up using my mobile data and I've become an e-sim fiend. My go-to is Saili, who have very kindly agreed to sponsor this video. Thank you very much, Saili. Over the last few years of travelling, I've purchased countless e-sims. It just makes it so much easier knowing that I don't have to run around town trying to track down a local sim card whenever I cross a border. And yeah, it makes it super easy to stay connected. You just download the Saili app on the App Store or Google Play Store. Search for the country you're heading to. So for me, that is Ecuador. They have over 200 destinations you can choose from, so they'll probably have you covered. And choose a plan that suits you. And if you use the code GREG at checkout, they'll give you an extra 15% off. I'll leave the link in the description. And yeah, thank you very much, Saili, for supporting my trip. Back on the bike today after a couple of very nice days off. And today I'm headed way up into those mountains there. Laguna de Mojanda. That is incredible. That windy night had definitely knocked my confidence a bit, but I knew I needed to redeem myself, get back out there and give it another try. Adios, beautiful lake. But this time armed with hard-earned lessons to hopefully improve my chances. I was just able to grab some water from this little stream that I'm going to filter now. Just in case I do find a camp spot. Yeah, there's a forest there. You can't see it yet, but I think I might look for a camp spot in there. Something nice and sheltered after last time. There is some crazy thunder and lightning. I'm in a good spot, I'm pretty sure. Lots of trees, including lots that are much taller than the ones here. So I think this is my best chance of safety. Now just to move stuff from the bike. Lightning literally just struck immediately where I am. That is the closest I've ever felt lightning. Oh man, that was scary. I survived. I actually had a good night's sleep. Despite the rocky start, with that one good night under my belt, I was finally starting to feel a bit more confident. Well, where I'm standing here is on the equator. Might not look like much, but this is it. And now I'm officially in the Southern Hemisphere. I was now coming into the section I was most excited for. The three volcanoes, Cotopaxi, Quilotoa, and the biggest of them all, Chimborazo. Whoa. Just hit a speed bump, but that is Cotopaxi. Have you ever eaten bread in the rain? If you haven't, maybe you should. Maybe you should. Yes. Cotopaxi National Park. Now we're getting somewhere. Man, this is so beautiful. That right ahead under those clouds is Cotopaxi, an absolutely mammoth volcano covered in snow. I'm headed to a little lodge called Tambopaxi, which apparently is a good place to camp. I'm really hoping that in the morning I'll wake up and it'll be perfectly clear. And it looks like that might be the lodge. Tambopaxi. Got the tent up. Man, that is the view I was dreaming of. With the red, you've got a great view. On to the next volcano. With Cotopaxi behind me, I set my sights on Kilotoa. These are my first alpacas. Look at all that. Mountains everywhere. I think I'm going up there. I think it's a sad pug face. So beautiful. Man, this is unbelievable. This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I could cry. So beautiful. Now coming down into the clouds. Ecuador is my favorite country. It's very beautiful. Do you like it a lot? Yes, the landscapes, the views, the llamas and alpacas, I love them. Very beautiful. England, England. Do you live around here? Yes. I'm going super slow, with all the weight. But you need it to talk. Yes. Always talking. What are your names? I'm Gregorio, and you? I'm Gerardo. Gerardo, and you? Eluisa. Nice to meet you. We know two languages. Kichwa. Yes, it's indigenous. Yes. Nice to meet you. Good luck. Thank you. That is ridiculous. This was once, I guess it still is, a volcano. That blew up, and now it's a beautiful laguna. The wind is pretty crazy today, so I've decided to be a sensible boy, and not camp on the rim of the crater. After a glorious day on the rim of Quilotoa, I continued on my way towards Chimborazo. Little tiny one. I wasn't expecting views like this until Peru. Unbelievable. Because the route crosses all of Ecuador, from the northern border to the southern border. You can kind of just see the outline of Chimborazo. The tallest mountain in Ecuador, and if you measure it from the center of the earth, the tallest mountain in the world. Can't tell you how happy I am. To finally be in the land of long-necked creatures. It's been a long time coming. What a crazy landscape. Pretty cold up here. At like 4,300 meters. Wow, it's pretty spooky. I think that's it. Well, it must be it. So this is the National Park entrance. And they said I could come for the night there. So that is going to be a nice sheltered spot. Wow. There it is. Everyone has now gone home. And this is my humble abode for the night. The floor is packed up. This is pretty cold. So cold. My hands are frozen. But luckily the sun has come now. Adios Chimborazo. Come on. With the three volcanoes behind me, I was now making pretty good progress south. But the most challenging section was definitely yet to come. Good afternoon. How are you doing? Where are you going? I don't remember the name of the town, but it's over there. Are you making a route for the water? Yes. What's your name? I'm Gregorio. Gregorio? Yes, Gregorio. There's Mr. Gregorio. Oh yeah? San Gregorio. San Gregorio, that's it. Are there more... Rumbos? Yes. No, only here. Oh, okay. Have a good day. You too. Incredible view. This is where I camped last night. At this little school. There's a family that lived behind there. They gave me permission. I got into this little town and decided to treat myself to a room as I had a very big decision to sleep on. Today is the day. So this is the town of Achupallas. It is 6am. South from here, there's only two options. Option one is to head down this way and around these mountains on the Pan American Highway. And that would be 100km on a busy highway. Doesn't sound that far. Option two is head up and over these mountains on the Inca Trail. Just for context, this is a remote section of trail that's over 500 years old that the Incas used to navigate their empire. That would only be 36km to the same place. But maybe 36 are the hardest kilometres of the whole trip. My friend Dan did this successfully a month ago and it has been done by other people on bicycles before. But Dan just told me yesterday that he was basically pushing his bike the whole way. And it took him three days to complete those 36km. And that it was unbelievably beautiful. But the toughest three days of his trip so far. Two days uphill on the busy Pan American Highway versus maybe three in a stunning wilderness area. But suffering through it. I think it might be the better choice. Yeah, that's the plan. Up through that valley on the Inca Trail. Am I ready for it? I don't know. I'm going to give it my best shot. And I guess the road ends here. And this is my trail. Time to move some things around on the bike. Get the backpack on. It's already crystal clear that I have severely underestimated the difficulty. Leaving behind civilization now. See you later, mate. I can also now see the mountain pass that I'm going to have to make it over. Man, this stuff is absolutely brutal. Very slow going. Honestly, although this is brutal, it's fine. I can do this all day, no problem. What I'm nervous about is where I'm going to end up. And if I'm going to be able to find a wind-protected spot at all. Because there's not really much out here. And it's definitely pretty windy. And I think I'm still a bit scarred from that night a few weeks ago. Because out here, just packing up in the middle of the night is not an option. But yeah, here we are. So much better than eating bread on the Pan American Highway. What a place. The pass is just there. It's 3.09pm. Oh man. The rain has begun. And of course, the Incas did not feel like going straight down into the next valley. But instead, they went up to the ridgeline and walked along that for a little while. A more scenic route. Okay, that was the pass, all the way down there. I'm now up here. Still a little bit more to go. It's 4.10pm. Hopefully I can get down and find a good spot before it gets dark. This is it. The high point. Probably 500 metres. I'm going to get down. I don't know how I'm going to get down there. Okay, little update. It's now 5pm. I was hoping to camp around 5pm. But this descent is incredibly rocky and technical. This is really tricky. And I'm really trying to concentrate because I know that this is when mistakes happen. When you're super tired at the end of the day and then you suddenly have an unbelievably technical section. Look at that. Where am I? I'm almost there. Just as the sun is setting, it's finally starting to open up a bit. This will absolutely do the job. Man, what a luck you find. The sun has set. There are minutes of daylight left. But look at this. I will happily take a relatively wind protected flat spot. So cool. This whole valley is all to myself. Except for a few cows over that way and a dog I heard. Man, what an incredible place. I've finally got everything done. I'm fed. Brushed my teeth. And I am absolutely exhausted. I mean I started at 8pm and got here at 6pm. And I think I took maybe 20 minutes total in terms of a break. I think I took two 10 minute bread breaks. Otherwise it was non-stop. So that is 10 hours. 9 of those were pushing. 9 hours of pushing my bike up a huge mountain. Physically that was incredibly difficult. But I loved it. Just being out in these wild places is my favourite thing in the world. Even if I'm kind of suffering through it. My feet are in pieces just because they've been soaking wet all day. And it's a lot of pressure on them pushing the bike. But I've got a dry pair of socks ready for tomorrow. So that will be nice. And I'm sure they will stay dry for maybe the first 30 seconds. And then they'll be completely wet again. But you've got to try your best. Ok, now I'm going to sleep. Sunny day. You can see the trail over there going up over that mound. No. Ok, one shoe is in the water. The other shoe is fine. I was half successful. And as I was pushing my bike through this incredible valley, something clicked. The technical lessons mattered. Like stocking up on water. Or seeking out a sheltered spot. But the real lesson was bigger than that. Both feet are officially drenched again. It was just to back myself. To know that I can set off into these big unknown situations. Give it everything I got. And trust that somehow it will work out. Whether that's stumbling around in the dead of night looking for somewhere safe to sleep. Or hauling my bike up and over an ancient mountain trail. I'm learning that I can trust myself to make good decisions. And my body to keep going way further than I ever thought it could. And something tells me that this lesson is going to come in very handy further down the road. The rain has come. I think to show me not to take yesterday for granted. But I was very lucky to get a clear day. Woah. That kind of looks promising. I see a road. This might actually be it. It's a beautiful road. I've made it. Oh man. There you have it folks. That is the city of Cuenca. Beautiful bike lanes. That was on the left hand side. A big jump to be fair. Adios. Put his foot down. Not having it.