The cure in Ecuador
I needed a proper passport. The temporary one that I had been cycling around with for the last few months had to be replaced and I had been assured that it would be in Quito around the same time as I would. I arrived in the city, but the passport didn’t. I found myself stuck while my bike buddies continued to pedal on the country roads towards the jungle, the mountains or the coast. I had to get myself a city map instead and one of the first places that I pinpointed on this new map was a clinic.
During my first week in Quito I started to feel sick. The doctor said that I had parasites, which could be cured with eight days of antibiotics. I also put my own diagnoses on other small disorders of mine, like frustration and abstinence symptoms. My frustration was more of a mental disturbance which couldn’t be treated with pills, it required another type of cure that consisted of nice, new friends. The wait didn’t feel as long when I had some great city company. They were my conversational therapy and my laughing-gas while waiting.
Abstinence, my other diagnose on myself, also needed a cure. I had abstinence symptoms when it came to riding my bike and the best healing method seemed to be alternative nature medicine. I prescribed a mountain climb a week to myself. The first prescription was named Pinchincha at 4 700 meters and the other one Cotopaxi at 5900 meters. I took the first one twice without feeling any side effects. I overdosed on the second one however, and started feeling weak, dizzy and nauseous from the altitude. I never reached the top, but I did enjoy standing below the peak with a breathtaking view over the southern landscape that I wanted to cycle to.
The nature and people around Quito has certainly eased the pain of waiting, but it is not until today that my frustration and abstinence really have been cured. Today I finally received my passport and will soon return to my everyday life on the bike, where I can feel perfectly well and healthy.
Peace
Härligt! Vilken väg tar du söderut nu?
Kram
Congratulations Hanna!
Först blir det österut mot djungeln och ner på vägen via Tena till Puyo. Sedan blir det Baños och förhoppningsvis en vy över ett vulkanutbrott. Jag ska försöka nå Cuenca till Jul, Vilcambamba till Nyår och korsa gränsen till Peru någon gång i början på 2011.
Jag är väldigt peppad nu.
Hi Hanna, is Guillermo Bustamane, we met in your way going down to Tena. I really hope that you have had a nice trip to Puyo, where I suppose you are rigth now.
Take care, I wish you a very nice trip. The only thing that I can tell you is that I envy you, I need to do a trip like it!!
Let me know if you receive this note and if you have some problems in your way, I have a sister in law living en Loja.
Regards, Guillermo Bustamante
Regards
Hola Guillermo,
Thank you for the friendly breakfast break. I ve stopped in Baños for a small Christmas holiday before continuing south. I had a lovely ride through the oriente and might return to those quiet roads and cross into Loja from the east. Thank you for the Loja-offer and the Cuenca-number.
I hope you have a great christmas with your family and the humming birds.
Hi Hanna:
I just saw that you have spent the new year in Vilcabamba. How has been your journey? Any problem? Are you going to leave Ecuador through Zumba?
I will follow your trip to Argentina through your blog, I am sure that you will get the objective.
I am planning to do a nice trip, from Quito-Manaos,Brasil (10% cycling and 90% by boat by the river Napo and Amazonas). Then cycling from Manaos to Caracas-Bogota-Quito. Let me know the road you took from Bogota to the border with Ecuador.
Take care, Guillermo Bustamante
Hello Guillermo I hope you ve enjoyed the holidays,
Yes, I had a sweet new year in Vilcabamba and I am still enjoying the surroundings and tranquility here. I have decided to go on pavement to the Peruvian coast instead of the Zumba road.
I am very glad to hear that you are going out riding and I ll write you a route description for Colombia on e-mail.