Ingapirca

ihana.com - big trip - diary - ecuador - july 2003

Monday 7 July

Leaving Cuenca we headed along the main road northwards towards the biggest Ecuadorian Inca ruins of Ingapirca, first coming across a handy oil change place where the landy had its regular blood transfusion. This time, though, the mechanic just let the oil spill out into the inspection pit and onto the ground, the first time such environmental irresponsibility has been witnessed on the trip (apart from our own!). Fuel and oil is cheap in Ecuador so it didn't cost much, including having the propshafts greased too. By chance we were right at the foot of a track which is a short cut uphill to the ruins.

The ruins aren't much to write home about (or write on the website), especially after seeing so much on the trip. The weather was warm and sunny and we got a bit of exercise too, T having to run a bit when a mad turkey attacked him!

The next place to visit was supposed to be Baños, a fairly straightforward drive along the snaking main road which heads to Quito. Somewhere along the way though we missed a turnoff because we found the cold alpine air getting decidedly warmer and the road just went on heading down and down. By the time we realised things were wrong, we could actually see the almost sea-level flatlands, covered in banana plantations. Stopping to take our matching black gringo fleeces off and enjoy the heat, we checked the map and saw that we may as well continue on down and take a different road back up to the mountains.

At the junction we were a mere 70kms from Guyaquil and it was lovely and warm. However we persevered with our mountainous ideas and headed uphill once more, pausing at a roadside shop to get some bananas. The price was an amazing $1 for the whole giant bunch of about 40 bananas. Four was plenty though and we ended up paying a ludicrous 25 cents for them but T got a healthy shot of rum for free.

With the darkness we were forced to stop for the night, still only halfway back up the mountainside. We put up the tent in a petrol station and went to sleep lulled by the chirping of jungle insects.

By lunchtime next day we still hadn't reached Baños but stopped for a bite in the typically colonial of Riobamba. After a quick wander about we set course once again.

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