Day 305: 2011年5月25日

Lagua Quilotoa to Banos de Agua Santa
31,973km to 32,184= 211km

早朝まで雨が降っていましたが7時過ぎにはあがりました。朝飯を食べてテントを畳んで出発の準備。羊の群れがキャンプサイトにやってきました！ヒツジ大興奮!!　今日はキロトア・ループ（Quilotoa Loop）です。しばらくダートが続くので気を付けて行かなければなりません。フロントタイヤはツーランス。殆どオンロード使用なので砂利や砂の上で全くグリップしないからです。

マークとクレアは準備が出来てないのとトコトコ行くのでアダム、ウベ、ワシで先に行きます。

のっけからダートです。しかも少し砂。慎重に慎重に行きます。

途中のチュチラン村(Chugchilan)にスイスチーズの工場があるというので行きましたが、村から8キロも離れた山奥の集落にありました。ウベはスイスに住んでいたのでスイス・チーズを手に入れるのに執念があります。

山を登って結構なダート道を越えて行きます。集落の外れに工場がありました。ようやく着きましたが、誰もいません。スイス人の村があるのかと思ってましたがどうも違うみたいです。スイスのテクノロジーで作ったチーズと看板にあります。ちょっとガッカリ。


集落に戻り人に聞いてみると、お葬式に村中が出てるとのこと。しばらく待って工場の人がやってきたので工場へ。モツェレラとアンデアンの2種類がありました。味見はモツェレラしか出来ませんでしたが、なかなかのものです。アンデアンは味見用の小さいのがなかったので味見できませんでしたが美味しそうなので丸ごとを5ドルで購入。まだ食べてませんが明日の朝食に食べるつもり。楽しみだなぁ。苦労して手に入れたチーズなのでさぞかし美味しいことでしょう！

工場を出るときには霧が…。視界が悪い中本線まで降りです。ダートの降りはフロントのグリップがないとつらいです。慎重に慎重に。

シグチョス（Sigchos）の1時ごろに到着。ここからサキシリ（Saquisili）までは舗装されているので快適にワインディングを飛ばします。アダムはDR650とワシらのより小さいバイクでキャブレターなのに速い速い!流石元レーサーです。

サキシリで昼飯を食べて一路バニョス(Bonos de Agua Santa)へ。途中ラタクンガを通りQuilotoa Loopを制覇！それから脇道に入りバニョスまで。橋を超えて左カーブのところがいきなりダート。フロントを取られて、ガッシャン!　アダムとウベは気付かずに先に行ってしまいました。完全に横倒しなので到底独りでは起こせそうにありません…。どうしましょ…。

川の向こうに民家があったので大声で助けを呼んでたら車が来たので助けてもらいました。3人がかりで起こしました．Muchas Gracias!

ちょっと走ったところにアダムとウベがいて丁度引き返してくるところでした。しばらくダート。石畳を舗装路に変える工事中のようです。

それからまた舗装路に戻り快適に飛ばします。バニョスには4時半過ぎに到着。目的のHostal Chimeneaも直ぐに見つかりチェックイン。ガレージ付で3人部屋で1人8.5ドル。キレイで快適そうです。

夜飯は街中探した結果ピザに決定。Lサイズ6ドルを3人で。バーに寄って一杯ひっかけてから宿に戻って安眠です。マークとクレアはラタクンガにいるとメールで連絡がありました。無事でよかった！

明日は洗濯に洗車にズボンの繕い、そして温泉です！



Day 305: 25 MAY 2011

Lagua Quilotoa to Banos de Agua Santa
31,973km to 32,184= 211km

It was raining till 6am or so, but it was cleared around 7am. After having breakfast, we prepared to get ready for the Quilotoa Loop. There would be lots of dirt sections on this loop. I had to be cautious on dirt as my front tyre Mezteler Torance would not have much grip on loose gravels and sands.

Mark and Claire sent us off as they would go slowly to enjoy the scenary.

Just after the park gate, the dirt road began. It was sandy, so I went very cautiously.

We heard there was a Swiss Cheese Factory at the village of Chugchilan, so we were planning to buy some cheese there. Especially Uwe lived in Swiss, he was keen to go there. But there wasn't any cheese factory at Chugchilan, so we asked locals. In fact it was at a small village 8kms away from Chugchilan. To get there we had to rode up the mountain on dirt. It was little hard but enjoyable.

Finally we got to the factory, at the edge of the village but none was there. We went back to the village and asked locals. Everyone was attending a funeral, that's why none was at the factory. We waited for a while and cheese guys returned.

We expected that there was Swiss settlement there and wecould see some Swiss style village. But the reality was they were making cheese using "technology of Swiss". So we were little disappointed. There were 2 types of cheeses available, Motzerella and Andino. We could taste Motzerella but they did not have any Andino for tasting (only whole cheeses available).
Motzerella was not bad but Andino looked better, so we bought a whole cheese for US$5. I hope it would be so good to get there buying it.

By the time when we were out from the factory, it was misty... We could not see much...

The descend was pretty hard in the mist. I was riding really slowly ot to drop my GS. The whole cheese buying process took about 1 hour and we returned to the main dirt.

We arrived Sigchos around 1pm. From there, the road was paved, so we could ride like winds through curves.

Adam, riding DR650, was faster than Uwe on KTM 990 Adventure and I on R1200GS. No wonder he was a racer before.

We had lunch break at Saquisili. Then we headed to Banos de Agua Santa. Soon after Saquisili, we merged to Panamerican Hwy. We passed Latacunga and completed our The Quilotoa Loop!
It was fun riding there.

From Latacunga, we took a sidetrack to Banos. After crossing a bridge, there was a left turn. What I did not expect was the surface was loose due to onstruction. My front wheel lost grip and I dropped the bike...　It was an easy drop, so nothing major damage on my GS. But the GS was completely down on the ground, it was no way I could pick up her by myself. Adam and Uwe were gone without realising I dropped my bike.

Luckily, soo after that, a car came and help me to pick her up. 3 men picked up one bike. What a work!

Adam and Uwe were just about to come back to see how I was. The section of the construction was on for a while, so I had to ride on the loose surcafe for a while. I hated that part...

Back to the tarmac, I could happily ride through the bends. We got to Banos around 4:30pm. We could find the hostel we were planning to stay (Hostel Chimenea) easily too. A triple bedroom cost US$8.5p.p. It had a large parking space and very clean rooms. A nice hostel. 

We went out to the town in the evening to find foods. After working around, we could not find any cheap eat, so we setteled with a large pizza for US$6. We went to a pub after that but we found some cheap places to eat on the way. It's funny but happened often.　

Back to the hostel, I tried to update my blog but the Internet access was really slow....　Mark and Claire sent us an e-mal saying they were staying at Latacunga and fine.

Tomorrow we will do a big laundry, repairing clothes, washing bikes and possibly soaking ourselves in a thermal pool!

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