Day 6: Isinlivi

Sometimes, the best days are rest days!  We had been flying by the seat of our pants since the beginning of the trip and the days had been a blurry whirlwind of packing bikes, unpacking bikes, fixing bikes, route mapping, and fueling ourselves on little other than pure stoke.  When I stumbled down from bed, the coffee was already ready... did I mention the all you can drink coffee and tea?  My only advice would be not to stay here too long, lest you get completely and utterly spoiled and no longer able to live like a normal human being.

We had turned our clothes in the night before for laundry service and eagerly awaited our clean clothes.  The dryer was so hot that it melted my cycling top and Ed's shorts.  It wasn't really a big deal, but we did want to let the folks at the reception know so that they could warn others that synthetic clothes should be line dried.  The silver lining was that we got upgraded to a fancy cabin, with a private shower, private deck, and free hot tub access!  This was a sacrifice well made.

Dryer versus synthetic clothes.

Just one of the residents sharing this beautiful space.

Balou, the other furry resident.  He is clearly vicious.

Spent some time airing out our gear, doing bike maintenance, and hanging out with Balou.  His yellow palace is fancier than the shed in which we stored our bikes.

After a hard morning of doing nothing, we took advantage of our hot tub privileges.

Cabin upgrade!

Check out the view from the shower!

And the view from our balcony!  Time for happy hour with the first craft beers we came across in Ecuador (which, by the way, has a burgeoning craft beer scene, much to my delight).

We wandered around town, managed to find an internet cafe (a la 2002!) to tell our loved ones we were alive after days off grid, socialized with folks hiking the Quilotoa loop as they rolled in, and prepared to hit the road again.

The megatropolis of Isinlivi.  Ed is somewhere halfway down this small hill taking a nap.

Sometimes being a celebrity is hard.

Paradise found.  Also, the last time my hammock ever got used.  More on that later.

Heating up tortillas in our private fireplace to make wraps for the next day!

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• Isinlivi is pretty small and does not have many amenities.  My understanding is that there are two hostals, one tiny store, a dairy, one internet cafe which is really the front of someone's house, one place that has wifi available in the front of someone else's house, and not much else.  Although the Llulu Llama offers lunch at an additional cost, we decided to have a light lunch of sandwiches at the tiny store (they are only $1 each) made with the cheese from the local dairy.  The store has just enough for those who are on a budget to cobble together a meal, and also sells beer at a much better price than the hostal.