5 hour bike ride adventure

Shay and I started the morning by hitching a ride in the back of a truck up to the top of a mountain and the plan was to have just an easy ride DOWN. Oscar, an Ecuadorian guy we´ve befriended here, took us and he led us the wrong way. We got lost and rode UPhill much more than I had anticipated, but it was so worth it. It rained and we got muddy, wet and cold and then the sun came out again and we rode through gorgeous country side, stopping to talk with people and pick fruit from the trees.

Me, Oscar and Shay, eating fruit and enjoying the smells of cows and horses.

Two women we stopped to talk to. They are packing up their fruit (tomato de los arboles, a tomato like fruit that is excellent for making juice with) for the next day´s Saturday market.

A mama donkey and her adorable baby donkey.

We brought some bread from a panateria (delicious fresh bread stores, where they make fresh bread every morning) and a little water. Jay, a guy from Korea we met when we went white water rafting went with us too. He is a really funny Korean travelling for a year or more (so far 104 days, according to him). He started in Cuba, went to Mexico and has been working his way south since then. He was very optimistic and laughed a lot. He´s 32, left his job at an oil refinery in Korea after 6 years of working there, sold his house and the majority of his possesions and is now travelling alone throughout S. America.

Burro Burro.

Workers we asked directions from.

Riding in the clouds. Cold, wet and muddy.

Jay, Oscar, me and Shay, gearing up.

Everywhere down here there are fruit trees, fruit I´ve never seen or heard of before. This is a fruit which I forget the name of, but you crack it open and then suck down the the seeds which are covered in something like a sack of fruit. You can either just kinda drink down the seeds or suck off the fruit off of each seed. Refreshing

The last stretch of the ride was ALL down hill on a paved road, no potholes. I was riding so fast and singing and zooming past all this beautiful countryside. It was so cool. It felt so good to use my biking muscles again. Today, I´m super sore, partly from riding and partly from dancing my butt off the other night. I was dancing with this nice (a.k.a. respectful) guy named Paulo and he kept dipping me back and now my neck muscles are aching. It feels like I was in a car wreck or something.