Day 18: Chunchi To Alausi (24.5 Miles)

We woke up so early that no breakfast places were open, so we grabbed some provisions form the market and some bread so fresh we literally got to pick them off the pans from the oven, and made some egg, avocado, and cheese sandwiches at the hotel.  We were a little scared of the steep descent into the canyon and the long ass climb out, but this was going to be our last day of real cycling and we were determined not to ride on the PanAmerican.

Did I mention the perfect weather and views?

The long twisty road down and back up... sheer bliss and all 100% rideable.  No hike-a-bike for us for once!

We could not have picked a better route.  What we thought was going to be a dirt road grind, turned out to be a gorgeous recently paved road devoid of traffic.  We relished the riding this day even though it was mostly climbing up 4400 feet because the grade was downright comfortable.  And even all the dogs seemed to be in better moods.  

Lunch break in the first town we came across... had just one market and a friendly kitten who we fed tuna to...

As we descended towards Alausi, I felt a small pang of sadness that we were basically done with our time riding.  Soon we would be hopping on a bus to get back to Quito and meet up with a friend of ours from Oregon who now lived in Quito.  I wish I could say we ended the day on a glorious downhill ride into town, but Ecuador threw us one last steep climb into town.

A woman advised us on the way into town that the cheapest digs were at the Residencia Alausi, which was just one block from the bus station.  It was pretty rustic, but had plenty of space for our bikes and the price was right.  After we checked in, we headed to the bus station, which has just one big bus bay that sort of fits two buses in it.  We bought our tickets for the next day and then explored the town. 

Alausi was the second most touristy city we passed through, primarily because it is where people grab a train to explore the parts of the cloud forest that we had already biked through.  Real f-ing espresso is one of the perks of tourism... and it was only $1!  

Because trains need more headstands?

We got hungry so we stopped for a late lunch and hit up the market to make a huge quinoa beet salad for the bus ride to Quito.  And even though we had just had lunch, we couldn't resist whole wheat arepas and ice cream.

You haz ice cream?

We had some time to kill so we decided to abuse the wifi at the hotel and re-watch the Anthony Bourdain episode on Ecuador on Ani's cell phone.  Dammit, we didn't realize he had gone to Puerto Lopez in our whiskey-induced haze in the U.S. when we watched the show after buying our plane tickets.  Ah well, we had done well enough for ourselves but still had some food envy as we drifted off to sleep.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• Alausi has an abundance of places to stay.  I feel pretty certain the Residencia Alausi was the cheapest spot at $8 per person for a private bathroom ($6 per person with shared bath).  A few dollars more and I think you could find some classier digs if you shop around.

• The buses to Quito ran at 4 am, 8 am, and 10 am, but only the 10 am originated in Alausi.  You cannot buy tickets for the other buses at the station in advance because they originate elsewhere.  It would also be election day and market day when we wanted to take the bus, so we wanted to be extra safe.  So even though we wanted to leave earlier, we bought tickets for the 10 am train so we could ensure our seats and get to the bus terminal early to get our bikes aboard.  We were glad we did because the bus did sell out the next morning!