Thanks

We want to thank everyone who participate in that adventure without whom, it would never took the turn it had taken. So,

Thanks

to Fabien et Laurent for assembling our bikes.

to Julien for the design of the blog.

to Blandine, Margot, Jeanne, Julien, Adèle, Agathe, Joris, Seb, Celine, Marie, Diane, Agnes et Roland, Sylvain, Renaud, Marie, Robin, Jean Paul, Helene, Meumeu, Sebastien, Julia, Louise, Rémi, Marion, Juliette, Claire, Timothée, Marie, Olive et Maguy, Emilien, Caro, Sylvain et Delphine, Ike et aux moultes anonymes for encouraging us with enthusiastic comments on the blog.

to cyclists and adventurers from numerous places of the world for their helping advices and exciting stories. Good road to them!

to people who welcomed us, accomodated us, provided us dining or simply a soda bottle, a chocolate bar or coca leaves by a car window.

to full of locals for  encouraging us with a klaxon, a 'Hola', a hand sign or a smile on the roads, for giving us the right direction to follow and for numerous fulfilling discussions about  locals customs, politics, adventures and others, which enable us to get a right view of the contemporain South America.

Last but not least, thanks to you, numerous readers of this blog to have viewed more than a 10 000 time these pages, and without whom we would never have continued to publish posts.

The Balance

In some numbers

                                                

Trip 7378 km cycled on around 11 000  30 % of dirt roads 20 km pushing our bikes 73 000 positive meters 6 crossing of strait or lake by boat 4 trecks 3 stages by bus 23 stamps on our passeports From 0 to 5686 m above the sea level From 52 degrees South to 0 degree of latitud From 10 to 165 km per day From -7 Celcius degrees waking up in the south Bolivia   to  40 degrees in the ecuadorian jungle
Equipement Thomas 3 broken spokes 1 buckled chainring 1 broken chain, twice 1 pierced sleeping pad Baptiste 1 puncture 1 broken brake shoe 1 broken  pannier fastening 1  pierced sleeping pad	Health Thomas 2 days of altitude sickness in the South Lipez Baptiste 2 indigestions in Bolivia and South of Peru 1 fall with some bad scars now...

Of roads

The grading is subjectif, depending on climatic conditions, the mood we were and feeling we resent while cycling. Roads 1 to 6 are particularly impressive. Roads 7 to 12 were hard to sort because of their equivalence. Roads non cited in that ranking have no main intersest.

1 Crossing of The Uyuni Salt Lake ++ White flats as far as eyes can see       Mountains reflects on water       The Cacti Island - - Salt on bikes and staff
	2 The South Lipez ++ Bluffing diversity of landscapes (deserts, lakes and volcanoes)       Magical bivouacs - -  Very dirt roads (with deep sand and ripples)        Baddly cooked pasta with altitud
3 The Paso Sico ++ Lanscapes, lagunas, colored rocks and volcanos       Sunset lights - -  Face wind if you are riding westward       Dirt roads
	4 The Carretera Austral ++ Planty of lakes       Clear water of numerous rivers       Good fishes (Salmon and truits) - - Rain and mud
5 Cycling on the side of the Titicaca Lake ++ Good ondulating roads        View on the lake       Agricultural environnement       Fried truits for all meals - -  Too much tourists in Puno and Cochabamba
	6 Peruvian Mountains ++ Welcoming local people       traditionnal parties (folk dances and music) - - Harsh and steep slopes       Long asecnts every days (No flats)
7 Equatorian Mountains ++ Quiet, verdant roads       The beauty of Quicha people       Imposing volcanoes - - Bad weather, often rainy
	8 Amazon ++ The abounding diversity of animal and vegetal life - -  The wet and warm air
9 Tierra del Fuego Moors  ++ The profundity of lanscapes  - -  Face Wind        Derricks along the roads
	10 The lakes Road ++ Beautiful bivouacs on lakes sides        Good fish - - Rainy and gray weather
11 The Peruvian Litoral ++ Fresh ocean food       Beaches and surf (good swell)       Sun in the northern part - - Panamerivan overcroweded       Hazy sky in the central part
	12 The Argentinean Pampa ++ Good roads       Bivouacs and sunsets       Steacks in estancias - - Monotony and dreariness

Puyo - Quito / Amazonia hasta la Mitad Del Mundo

Under the warm and wet air of the west Amazon side, we cyle in the jungle with various birdsongs, often unusual and sometimes really strange! Plants, insects and birds colors pierce the green of the vegetation. The slope is more and more steap, as we beggin our last and long ascent until 4100m, last pass before ... Quito.

Amazon

living diversity of the jungle

Truits drying over the ember, before being grilled and liberate 
an amazing smoked taste for the almuerzo

Fortunately, we are close to our last destination...
Equipements are getting weak!
Thomas´s chain broke twice during the ascent.

101km... of Quito

at 101.9km... per hour!

The wind with us, in the descent to Quito

Quito

Rangy city, strangled in between two mountain slopes. The historic center in the south has a cultural atmosphere. Steeples dominate in the sky, whereas prosperous colonial buildings mark the side of cobblestone streets. Further north, the new centre is very modern, living at night with planty of bars, comfortable cyber-coffee and shining buildings. While we are looking for cardboards to pack our bikes, we enjoy the stay in that pretty capital and drink a couple of beres to celebrate the arrival of this long and amazing trip.

The Plaza Grande, in the heart of the historic center

 

0 degree 0 minut 0 second

We reach it, good job!

In the 18th century, the french geodesic expedition, led by La Condamine aimed at find the precise line of the middle of the earth. A monument was built and a yellow line painted on the equator. Our GPS reveale that the real equator is not on the line... where all tourists take pictures, but 131 arcsecond further north!

Cuenca - Puyo / Cordillera de Ecuador

After having enjoyed the cultural atmosphere and the gastronomy of Cuenca, we continue our road by the mountains. Ondulating and verdant, Ecuadorian hills are more quiet than deep valleys, steep slopes ans arid peruvian ones. Once arrived in Riobamba, at the Bottom of the hazy Chimborazo volcano (Culminant point of Ecuador, 6310m), we go down by a humid valley along the Rio Pastaza, to reach the Amazon.



Cuenca

                                                            The imposing Inmaculada Conceptión cathedral,
                                                                             architectural melting pot

brochettes in small markets

The historic center, highlighted by numerous
illuminated steeples

Ecuadorian hills

Some times, the sun shine over the mist
which form a cover above the litoral

Other times, the cover goes up...
Like here, before arriving in Alausi

The Inti Sisa in guamote is a nonprofit foundation

organising workshops for indigeneous children of the surrounding area.

To fund the project, they hold a confortable, quiet and welcoming hostel.

Remarkable initiative.

Marnee and David:
"the less we have, the more free we feel"

After a long quiet period, without encountering any other cyclists, we met the pack of cyclists going south, toward austral latitudes. Indeed, it is the good period to be in Equador, in order to arrive in Tierra del fuego before the next winter. And as our trip is touching the end... we give you some good adventuring web pages. With different starting points, they all have the same destination: the southern most city of the world, Ushuaia.

- From Seattle, Marie and Olivier, french couple

- From Fairbanks, Wim, deutch 

- From Canada, Xinan and Emilien, chinese and french couple, in tandem with a trailer (good job!)

- From Mexico, Sarah and Geoff, british couple loving ecuadorian ice creams!.

- From  Quito, Jennifer and Rémi, french couple (the same itinerary than us, but on the other way. We feel   the enthusiasm of the departure, the same we had in Tierra del fuego...)

- From Mexico, Marnee and David, really light australian couple

Going down to Amazon

Just after Riobamba, the last part of blue sky disappear behind huge gray clouds. After three months of sunny weather, we are happy to get out our GoreTex, and to find agin the pleasure of mud on our faces...

Riding around the Tunguragua volcano, on several meters of solidified lava rocks, 
signs advertize us:
"In case of lava flowa, do not cross the dip", hum...Ok!

On the same dirt road, we met five tanks, with the sign:
"Caution, driving student" !
And, if he push a wrong button...

After Baños, a pretty thermal city, we snake along the Rio Pastaza and its 12 water falls.
Signs prove that lot of cyclist might ride this awesome descent, but we don't met 
any of them during this rainy day...

Trujillo - Cuenca / Litoral del norte peruviano y Ecuator del sur

A last bus enable us to cross the Peruvian northern desert on the crowded panaméricaine, behind a gray sky. From Piura, we reach easily the cost, with a very helping back wind. The north cost is a surfer paradise, with good waves and sun round year. The crossing of our last border, known as one of the most dangerous in all South America is very quite for us. Stifling in sweltering heat of the plain, we come back to fresh and invigorating air of the the cordillera, by a beautiful ascent of 3000m high.

Trujillo

Our penitentiary room in Trujillo!
Two beds between four high walls, 
behind a small door getting out on a narrow corridor, 
where similar other doors follow on.
 

Night glints on the Plaza de Armas

 

Small streets and decorations on the archeologic site of Chan-chan,
lanyrinthine palace of the pre-colombious Chimù civilisation

Northern peruvian cost

Arriving on the humidity of the litoral, 

mosquitos enjoy to bit us.

But, we have found the solution!

Two rest days in Mancorà, to enjoy waves andhot Pacific water.
Being in low season for waves (20 to 50cm), 
they still enable us to improve our push-up

South of Ecuador

Crossing our last border, 

on a huge 2x2 ways, only for us!

Beggining the ascent to the Andes, 
we cycle throught banana tree plantations

Thomas fixing the bike of an ecuatorian child.

On the middle of the acsent, after 6 hour cycling, locals told us that the next village where we can sleep is in  4 more hours... With the density of plantations, it is impossible to pitch the tent. A family will finaly kindly welcome us for the night in a side of there garage. We spend the end of the day playing with the 6 children.

Banana bunches of our host working on 
babana and cacao tree plantations
 

Spit-roasted guines pigs 
named Cuy in Spanish