Ecuador does not celebrate Halloween in the way the United States does. The Indigenous population goes to the cemetery and spend the day with their family and relatives honoring the deceased. This year it worked out to be a five day weekend. There had been protests the week prior but the protests were put on hold until the holiday was over.
Daniela had a long weekend and asked if I wanted to go to the mountains for a couple of days. Off we went to a lodge in the village of Chugchilan. We arrived Saturday evening and Sunday morning headed off on a bike ride. Two local chaps let us tag along which was great for Daniela learned much about the local area. The very start of the ride was a long steep hill that kicked my behind right off the bat.
After reaching the top we entered into a cloud forest then had a long decent to the highway. It was steep and long so you had to manage your brakes not to over heat them. I mistakenly thought that we would be near the lodge when we hit the highway but it was another 12k up hill. In total the ride was almost 31k. The weather was perfect. That afternoon the Turkish bath at the lodge felt wonderful.
