It is great to back.

It is great to back. 

Our bike is SAFE. Carmel has done a great job. We found this parking site on iOverlander and can highly recommend it. Although covered in dust, there is one happy bike and two happy owners. We hand over the remaining forty thousand colombian pesos ( 11 euros per month) and unwrap our precious parcel. Concealed underneath the waterproof cover are helmets, bike gear, panniers and petrol can. All as we left it. How marvellous. We change out of our four day old clothes, change into motorcycle gear and after a quick cheese roll and coffee, ride the 2kms south to the Colombian border. We are stamped out, and the bike is stamped out. It is so early in the morning the Venuzeulans havent ýet arrived and it takes a mere hour. The short 500 metres over the bridge brings us to the Ecuador side , where we get stamped in and so does the bike: Our permit is for 67 days in Ecuador and the motorcycle gets photographed front back and sides, including the VIN number: All done and dusted by 11 am.

Its a wonderful feeling to be back on the bike. It is lighter, but we´re not after a 3 month European visit to family and friends. The roads are smooth and wide and the elevation takes us from 2700 down to 1500 and back up again. 

Our Go Pro has packed in but we bought a much less expensive French Sports Camera equivalent which we stick onto the front windscreen. The ride on the sweeping mountain pass from the Border to Ibarra is fantastic. We are comfortable and excited and happy to be on our  Motorcycle Adventure Travel trip again. It is such a beautiful day we look for a campsite, eager to pitch the tent and start the adventures. iOverlander directs us to a campsite run by Hans , the German, who is a keen enthusiast of Namibia and all things South African. His site is on the edge of a Laguna and also next to the one and only Formula 3 International Race Track in Ecuador, with the grand satand overlooking track an lake. We are welcomed by his enthusiastic dogs and a whole bunch of miggies. Glad to dismount after the exhilarating 130kms ride, we stride off to seek out the perfect campsite. The meadows are filled with Jacaranda trees and Amarilla lillies and we spot a tiny bright red bird of which I only have a blurred photograph :(  . We find the perfect location, on flat green lush grass, nestled in between two overlander vans and settle down to chat with Hans over an ice cold beer. And then the miggies attacked again. You know what, we cannot camp here! We really need a good nights sleep in a comfortable bed with crisp clean sheets and a soapy hot shower. Thank you Hans, perhaps next time. A short distance down the main road we stop at a hotel advertising Spa, Sauna, Jacuzzi, Pool and Turks. That´ll do. Budget blown, but who cares! The old fashioned elegance is so charming , with waiters rushing around carrying large trays on their shoulders. Nothing is too much trouble and we feel as if we have stepped back in time on board a luxury passengerliner. We wallow in the Pool, sweat in the Sauna and bubble up in the Spa. It´s too steamy and hot in the Turkish Baths. And that´s when we discover our sarongs are long gone. Not wishing to lament for too long and interfere with the pleasures the luxury bed and shower are supplying we mentally wish them well in their new home. Supper is a budget street treat of ´choclo assado´ (corn on the cob on the fire sprinkled with grated cheese and smeared with salsa) for one dollar at a BBQ trough on the road. Fortunately breakfast is included in the room charge so we hang on till then and eat enough for the day. 

It´s only Sunday, five days since leaving France and we feel as if we never even left Ecuador. The main road travels down the ridge of Ecuador, dividing it into coastal or amazon halves. Along the ridge are plenty of volcanoes and volcanic craters. The craters are filled with water creating wonderful Lagunas for recreation, fishing, boating and camping. We ride West to Cotacochi, and climb the road to the 3000 metre mark where the snowcapped peak overlooks the high altitude lake. An Ecuadorian has his ancient miniature weaving machine all set up with weft and waft and many coloured threads. His feet trundle away and his fingers deftly lift and drop the threads as he shoots the shuttle back and forth spelling our names on bracelet bands just in case we forget who we are. En route back down to the main road we are overtaken by three biker couples, hooting and waving: We hoot and wave back . A few kms down the road they are waiting for us at the Toll, where they have pre-paid the 20 cents for us to pass through and we meet up on the other side of the boom. There´s lots of hugging and chatting and arm waving and bike inspecting before we all kiss and say goodbye again. What a very special sunday, indeed.

153kms later, after another incredible mountain pass on wide sweeping roads with steep banks and drops and just the perfect camber, we arrive on a sleepy Sunday in Quito. The roads are empty, the traffic is minimal and we arrive at Hotel Margarita, ready to park up, a week short of 3 months since we left. It´s great to be back in Quito, Ecuador.