Day 812, Friday, December 03 abandoned Police Station to Restaurant La Cabana* 29 km Total KM 14690
Min meters 1874, Max Meters 2484
Total Climb 1147 Total Descent 671
Min Temp 13 Max Temp 28 Ave Temp 18
*For Netman
*Osmand: 1.12692° N, 76.84196° W
*Google: Restaurante La Cabaña
https://maps.google.com/?cid=9067019459079115844&entry=gps
The Trampoline of Death Day Two: Magical mysterious mayhem
*Same story as yesterday. The photos in the first post refer to the early part of the day.....
If yesterday was about an epic road and scenery today is about the people and the flora.
Ah, I am so peed off with my tent.
A damp floor meant the floor of the tent was wet. Light rain during the night added slightly to the water on the floor leaving me with a soaking tent in the morning. It looks like I'll need to pick up some kind of tarp now.
I woke up about 2:30am bright as a feckin' button. I read until I fell asleep again then woke up properly just after 6am. Slow to get packed - wet sleeping bag, wet sleeping pad and wet tent plus the difficulty of breaking it down in a confined space - I eventually wandered back up for a coffee. And my morning abloutions. The nice couple didn't want any money for my coffee and I had to insist. The first act of kindness of the day.
Setting off into the mist and the mystery. It may not have been the greatest start to a day but I was full of enthusiasm
A light drizzle was falling amidst the mist as I set off. I'd a couple of hundred meters of climbing to get to the summit, then a drop, then more climbing until the end of the day, a small settlement where I hoped to camp. Truthfully that wasn't looking like a comfortable option given how wet my gear was and the uncooperative weather for a chance to dry it out.
There was a restaurant at the top and I hoped to breakfast there before the descent. Heavy mist and a steep ascent made those 2kms long, slow, tough but interesting. I'd be enveloped in mist then round a bend into clarity. One moment visibility was 20 meters, another I could see for miles. In no rush I was enjoying myself. I could stop and watch a patch of mountain across the valley appear then slowly disappear again.
The mist came and went at will, at least around me. I knew it was denying me views of the valleys below but after yesterday it would be churlish in the extreme to complain
The 2km became even longer when I got a puncture! I debated about stopping and fixing it in a tiny passing place or pushing on up. For safety's sake I thought it better to push and as I set off a gust of wind scattered the mist showing me my target.
There were a few huts bunched together consisting of a couple of restaurants/shops and an ever present tyre repair hut. I unloaded Roccado and set about repairing the puncture. Everything being caked in mud made it a messy exercise. A friendly truck driver was chatting to me from his cab as I worked.
I think I was lucky to have the puncture when I did because as I was putting everything back together I noticed that the bolt connecting my front rack to the brake was loose and that the brakes would eventually fail! Good timing in front of a descent! I tightened it up, had to readjust the brakes and gave everything the once over one more time. I'd done it in San Juan de Villalobos checking the racks, mudguards and my replacement nuts on the Ortliebs. All had been good - I'd never thought of checking the brakes!
Once done and reloaded it was time for food. This time it was all men doing the cooking and I was served up a delicious piece of meat off the grill, rice, beans, fried potatoes and an egg. It was simply delicious and one of the best roadside meals I've had in a long, long time. Just as I was finishing my coffee a group of men came in, one very boisterous wanting to know all about my trip. He was so commanding, so loud that no-one but him or I could participate in the conversation! Pleasant and entertaining it was and became more so when I went to pay and the voice boomed that he was picking up my tab. A guest in his country it was the least he could do. I tried to argue but that booming voice drowned me out. I looked to the cook to make sure it was ok and he nodded then smiled at my compliments for his cooking. My best meal in ages and I didn't have to pay.
Outside, I was just finishing up my post dining ciggie when the group drifted outside again. This time another chap started hitting me with questions and the others joined in until the voice rejoined the group. He's from Sibundoy where I'm heading towards and promised me a warm welcome - "his people were good people" while his colleagues assured me that Sibundoyans weren't all like him! It was a lovely, friendly group conversation and I was well able to hold my own.
It could be miserable..... I preferred mysterious
I set off again, downhill. You might think that downhill is easy but not on these roads! It's hard work trying to control the bike and speed. Mist came and went, rain came and went. Extremities got cold. A wet, slippy, bouncy road with sheer drops on one side sure is interesting!
The cracks and the gaps that I had bounced over yesterday were little ríos today, carving their way between and around embedded rocks, turning potholes into little lakes. A child's geography lesson in vivid, minature scale. All day there was a constant display of waterfalls, usually beside me, sometimes way off in the distance. Little ríos ran alongside the road on both sides too and moving water was the soundtrack of my day.
When the mist was so dense that I could see feck all there were always phantom trees to amuse me
The mist swamped any chance of views but Mother Nature had that covered - the vegetation all around, within touching distance, was a joy to behold. Mosses on rocks were vivid reds and pinks a beautiful contrast to the dull, grey weather. The sheer variety of plants growing out of the cliffs whether upwards, sideways or sometimes hanging down (after something collapsed) was mind boggling to me. The coating of moisture on plants gave a sparkle and life to leaves and ferns again so welcome and in contrast to the gloom everywhere. Occasionally rushlike plants had leaves that started as green morphed towards yellow and finished in red.
Every now and then as if to let me know what I was missing the wind would blow a hole in the mist and cloud let me see a mountain and possibly a section of my road way ahead or far behind then slowly fill it back in.
Waterfalls were everywhere again. Some rushing and pounding others toodling along and tinkling.
Then the climbing started all over again. I don't really notice the climbing on these roads - all my attention is on staying upright. Every now and then a steep turn would have me noticing but otherwise I slowly ascended into a clearer sky. Checking Gizmo every now and then was a pleasant surprise to see a new, higher number. These days progress isn't in kms - it's in meters!
There were still more than enough hairy moments to keep me satisfied
The wet surface was easier than yesterday for climbing. A bit sticky, perhaps, but less slippy. I was counting on a restaurant stop after about 19km and with the late start and the puncture I was thinking of calling it a day there. Most of the places along here allow camping. It's basic, but it's possible. Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn't where I expected it to be! That meant another 11 km to my original destination. 11 km is not far but on these roads it is time consuming. I had the makings of a picnic lunch with me so food wasn't the issue, sleeping was.
The wind blew a hole in the cloud and gave me a view of the mountain ahead. I scrambled to grab a photo before ot disappeared again
Then I came across a restaurant, not the one I was expecting, but welcome nonetheless. I had chorizo with rice and frijoles from an all female kitchen and chatted to a couple of truck drivers as I ate. One was expounding on the need for a sachet of energy to mix with water to get me up the mountain. The other agreed with me that natural stimulants like coffee were more enjoyable. When the two boys left I was the only person in the little restaurant and suddenly became aware of my gender as the women suddenly focused their attention on poor little old me!
A cursory run through my trip and the conversation quickly focused on my single status with lots of in jokes shared amongst the ladies. They knew to slow down their speech when talking to me so I knew when the tempo increased they were talking about me. I'd had a look around outside and saw no comfortable places for a tent and fearful of a night alone with this pack I headed back out into the weather.
Part of the cliff on the right fell away so the vegetation above is hanging down. O was getting so comfortable with the drops that I could notice these things as I cycled past
I encountered more roadworks but as a cyclist in the rain was permitted to pass. Dumper trucks were depositing black stone and soil on the road, a big machine was spreading it along the road and a steamroller was attempting to compact it down. Messy at first, then a bit better, then ultimately much smoother it helped a lot with the climbing even if it made the edges more perilous. I was reasonably confident of making my target before dark so wasn't feeling any pressure. When the rain lightened and eventually stopped I took it as a license to relax a bit. There was still lots of mist and low cloud and they played with the slopes that seemed very close, revealing, hiding and revealing once more. At first glance these dense hillsides look green but in real life the random pink/purple trees are striking.
The scar of a landslide
It was just coming up to 5pm when I arrived at the restaurant where I hoped to get permission to camp in the local school. Unfortunately, not one but two buses had arrived and the place was thronged with people, kids and animals all wanting to eat and use the bathrooms. I bided my time. When the rush was over I was led up a hill to the school, given the use of a store room with electricity and pointed towards bathrooms on the other side of the schoolyard. Me, a stranger in a foreign land treated like this is a normal occurrence! Home had a couple of open windows, a gap in the roof but was dry and cosy.
I set about changing my clothes, hanging up my sleeping bag where a bit of a draught might dry it and set up my sleeping pad. No tent tonight.
Then it was down to the restaurant for a bit of dinner and then back up to sleep. My second night sleeping on the Trampoline!!
The road still had a fair amount of light brown mud which made me think that the landslide was very recent
To be continued.......
Chat? Yes Please!
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098
