With the best of intentions, I had planned a route northward that would take me through new territory, and certainly keep me away from the Pan American. Unfortunately, the stars were aligned differently for me, and as it turns out, for the better.
I had tried twice to get into the Peruvian highlands, the first time returning to Lima to have the mechanic fix the side stand switch properly by bypassing it completely, and the second time to the Pan American because Blondy was stalling badly. When she stopped completely in front of a rather large mine truck, I knew it was time to get out of the mountains and onto the relatively predictable route north via the Pan American highway.
Late night riding and Inca Cola, the drink for riders....
When I was early into my second day northbound from Lima, I heard a bike come up behind me, and it turned out to be a couple of riders from Kelowna.
We decided to stop and have a bit of lunch, and share ride stories. When we finished lunch, I went to start up Blondy, and the battery was completely dead. This was the new battery which was supposed to last longer and be better than the stock,and I had only installed it in July of last year. Oh well....after I ran around the local town finding a replacement battery, Bruce helped me install the new one. Thankfully, Blondy started up right away. I was worried that it could have been the alternator, or something far more difficult to fix. Bruce and Ann suggested that we ride together for awhile, and that basically is what I have been doing for the past four or five days.
We stayed at Cuenaca, and visited familiar sites for me. The big Church is still standing...
Wooden doors are carved in incredible detail...
These doors were part of the decorations of the Presidential Palace in Quito...
Anne and Bruce in Cuenca
Giant aluminum statue of the Virgin at the top of a hill in Quito...
The Peruvian flag again....
Presidential palace, Quito
Flowers are a major export item of Peru, and these roses were fresh...
Inside the cabinet chamber in the Presidential Palace...
Overlooking the Grand Plaza, Quito
We had to wait in line to visit the Palace, and go through a metal detector as well...
Gifts to the President...
Condor at the top of the crest..
Huge cypress trees are trimmed in a weird manner...
These wooden doors are old....
Here is the Condor again....
Quite the stonework...
Inside the Basillica of Quito...
We can climb up to the roof, if we want to....
I stopped here...while Bruce kept climbing.....
No..I don't like heights....
Am I getting closer to God??
The stained glass windows were exquisite..
We counted over 10 different churches that could be seen in the immediate neighbourhood of the old city of Quito from the Basillica...
We visited a site that was established in the 1500's for the education of Priests...
This illustrates the story of the devil almost getting the soul of the builder of the church...
An original hand printed book inscribed by the monks...
This section of the artifacts were pretty gruesome. They had to get the idea of heaven and hell across to the masses...
Silver for the altar...
Beautiful benches over 500 years old...
More doors.....
They were working on a new floor, and the cyprus wood used was incredibly grained and coloured....
A sneak shot of the interior, with gold every where....
And then we found an incredible museum of Pre-Columbian artifacts...
Sure looks Oriental to me....
More gold...
These guys are shamans...
After the musem, we hit the streets, careful to avoid street gangs...
These two were on the run....
Until we found this Jesuit Church from the 1600's...
The interior was covered in gold leaf. It was incredible, the amount of gold that was inside the building....
The art work was truly incredible. We were not supposed to take photos....
I am fortunate to be able to visit the different attractions of Quito, which is designated as a World Heritage site. A truly one of a kind experience in this city....
