Gringos Locos

El Tambo – Cuenca – Santa Isabel, Ecuador

Buckle up. Or, maybe, settle in. It’s been a few days – but that’s because a lot has happened – not because we’ve been twiddling our thumbs . . .

To start with, the ride into Cuenca was beautiful. Sunshine. Perfect temperatures. Of course, we had one more giant climb – something like 9 miles straight up – finishing just shy of 12,000 feet – but that was at the start of the day, when we were still relatively fresh. 

Let’s skip ahead to Cuenca itself. The Palacios – Fabian and Monica and their wonderful family – hosted us. And boy,  did they host us. 

You might remember Lorena and Boris – of Rico Suave fame – whom we stayed with in Quito. Well, Monica and Lorena are sisters. And they are equally fantastic people – as are their husbands, their children and their growing family. The two nights we stayed with them were a whirlwind of laughter, warmth, great conversation, and fun. 

We arrived to great fanfare. The whole family was waiting for us – including Nati, whom we met previously in Quito, her brother Juan Diego (Juan D), their older sister, Moni, their older brother Junior, and their niece (Junior’s daughter), Juliana. They even had a poster welcoming us. Talk about instantly putting us at ease . . .

I won’t give you a play-by-play of the whole stay – but there was never a dull moment . . .

The Gringos Locos story . . .

I think it’s fair to say that middle class people from the mountain regions – where we have been – are pretty afraid of the coastal areas of Ecuador right now. It feels kind of like how Americans viewed New York City and, especially, Central Park at night, in the 80s. (We’ll come back to this theme later . . .)

For sure there’s some cause for concern. We talked a little bit about this in earlier posts – but apparently the narcos are operating along the coast in Ecuador because for years there wasn’t a big police/military presence – so it’s a pretty easy place to smuggle drugs from. This has led to a lot of murders and some other crazy episodes – culminating in some really bad times just over a year ago. Guayaquil – the biggest city in Ecuador – is kind of the epicenter of all of this . . .

Our friends Mark and Linda – who are our connection to the Palacios – had told us to shy away from Guayaquil (which we are) – but they also told us that the Palacios would try to dissuade us from even going anywhere near the coast. 

We had been thinking about this a little bit, and from Cuenca there’s a choice. Either go straight south through more and bigger mountains to the town of Loja – or head more southwest – basically downhill – toward a town called Machala, and then on to Peru. 

A little perspective on the option of riding toward Loja . . . We happened to run into another bike touring guy today – Daniel. Daniel is from Venezuela but now runs a restaurant in Cuenca. He had been out riding for a few days and was just heading back to town. Daniel was describing various routes for us, and when he got to the idea of going toward Loja he said something like:

”Yeah, I biked up there one time. The mountains were as big as f___. It was brutal!”

Daniel seemed like a pretty tough dude. In the same breath, he told us that we should go to see this waterfall in Girón. That turned out to be a 1,500’-up-over-3.5-mile climb. Daniel didn’t mention that it was tough to get there. So if Daniel says the route to Loja was a challenge, I’m pretty sure we would die going that way . . .

And, anyway, after most of Colombia and all of Ecuador in the Andes, we had pretty much made up our minds that we were going the Machala route before we ever reached the Palacios. 

Nonetheless, the topic came up at dinner that first night. Oldest daughter Moni – who, like all the Palacio children, is smart as a whip and knows perfect English – gave it to us straight:

”We don’t think you should go to the coast. It is too dangerous!”

At this point we don’t know the Palacios very well. Diana and I glance at each other, but we are non-commital. We mumble something about talking about it later . . .

The next day Fabian gives us a guided tour of the City on the way to the bike shop. 

First stop: one of Ecuador’s two Olympic medalists . . . Daniel Pintado. Gold medalist in speed walking. Looks like Daniel and two of his training partners have just finished a workout. Fabian flags him down – he must know him – and soon we’re all taking a picture together. We haven’t spent much time fantasizing about meeting the Gold Medal speed walker – but it’s pretty cool and he seems like a super nice guy.

We continue on along the Tomabomba River Bike Path. Fabian’s English is kind of like my Spanish. He adds some pantomime to get his point across. 

He says something like this:

“If the Gringos locos (crazy Americans) go to Machala, they will . . . (he slits his throat with his finger in the universal sign of death/murder).”

We laugh, and again don’t really respond either way . . .

Later he points out the road that goes to Machala: “Calle Machala.” To me, it seems like you can interpret that as advocating for the Machala route.

I think for a few minutes, then put together about the most complicated sentence that I can in Español:

”Moni, tu padre me ha dicho: voy a Machala.”

I’m not sure what it actually means, but what I’m trying to say is: “Moni – Your father has told me that we should go to Machala.”

Of course, I’m not actually saying this to Moni – she’s not on the bike ride with us. What I’m trying to get across is that I will tell Moni this when I see her.

We all laugh, and Fabian reiterates that if Gringos locos go to Machala they will end up with their throats slit. 

It’s a beautiful tour. Fabian shows us the four rivers that run through Cuenca, and explains that they all get their start up on Chimborazo, and they all end up in the Amazon. 

We eventually make it to the bike shop, and we end up leaving Old Dan and Little Anne there for a few hours. Moni and her husband, John Carlos, bring us to the mall in order to pick up a few sundry items that we need. Which is basically like going back to the United States – with North Face, Columbia, McDonald’s, and Burger King all in attendance, among others. 

After eating lunch in the food court Moni and John Carlos have to go back to work. We decide to take a cab back to the shop with the plan of biking back to the Palacios. But by the time we reach the shop it’s pouring rain. Maybe we’ll find a cab big enough to take us with the bikes. We’re debating this point when another guy in the store overhears our conversation and volunteers to drive us – and the bikes – back to the Palacios’ casa.

I mention this guy – Francisco – for a few reasons. 

First, just one more in our long string of super nice, helpful people. Second, Francisco is a mountain biker and has done really cool rides – like the one from near the top of Chimborazo. I guess he mountain biked from Chimborazo all the way to the coast. Pretty cool. He even showed us some helmet-cam videos of a recent ride. (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMkGXrWg9/).

But the most important reason for mentioning this nice guy in this narrative came later . . .

Last night, I receive a text from Francisco: “In the store I thought I heard that you might be considering riding to Mánchala. It is too dangerous. I would advise against it . . .”

It is definitely a united front. 

Fabian and Monica end up having to go to a church meeting. Fabian tells us that when he goes to church he will pray for the Gringos Locos. We are all laughing.

Nati and Juan D bring us to Moni’s and John Carlos’ new flat. Now it’s John Carlos’ turn: “I used to ride my motorcycle to the coast, but now it’s too dangerous . . .”

I finally pull out my trump card. (Maybe this term is not in vogue these days – I mean is a trump card really a good thing in today’s world? But I don’t care – I’m not letting him steal one of my favorite phrases . . .)

I explain that Diana grew up in New York City in the 80s. She would ride the subway an hour and a half each way to and from the Bronx in order to get to school. She literally had a guy try to mug her on the subway. She just pushed him away and went on with her business. 

“Diana is not afraid of these narco guys,” I tell them. “If there’s any trouble she’ll take care of us . . . And, anyway, she’s not a gringo, she’s a Chino.”

We left this morning after a super-nice send-off from Monica, and enjoyed a mostly nice ride to Santa Isabel – on the way to Manchala. Of course, it started raining on us – but that’s just par for the course in Ecuador. Plus, now that we’re a little lower altitude it’s warmer so the rain isn’t as big of a deal . . .

A few other things to mention . . .

Moni and Lorena, whom we met in Quito – have their own candle business – Vipal Light. When we arrived at Moni’s last night she had just finished recording a promotional video – which I think you can find here on Instagram. Sadly, they only do business in Ecuador . . .

The Ecuador Election. 

Current President Daniel Naboa and his main challenger, Luisa Gonzalez, ended up basically tied – with each receiving about 44% of the vote. I think this was a bit of a surprise as Naboa was thought to be the big front runner; in fact, the New York Times just ran a piece last week on how popular he is. I guess now they go to a run-off election in April – with the other fourteen candidates not making the cut. Diana and I were not too surprised with this result – having seen a ton of Luisa support as we have been riding along. 

We had a lot of good discussions about the election and Ecuador with the Palacio children. 

On Ecuador, they talked about the tension between the  Spanish people – who tend to be more educated and more well-to-do, and the indigenous people – who tend to have fewer resources. Sounds reminiscent of some of the struggles that the United States has. I guess people are clan-ish the world over . . .

On politics, the Palacio children are all Naboa supporters, and my guess is that we would be, too, if we lived here. But my sense is that Ecuador has some real soul searching to do as a nation. Does Ecuador want to focus on maintaining cultural traditions, including lots of very small farmers and shops and restaurants? Or does Ecuador want to become a more modern economy, which would probably mean more jobs, but also probably a big shift in how Ecuador operates? Or maybe there’s a way to have both – it’s just not obvious to me . . .

My guess: Luisa will win – which I think means more of a focus on maintaining cultural traditions. We’ll see . . .

Oh, you want to know how our first day biking toward the coast went? No sign of danger yet – we didn’t even have many dogs chasing us. But we don’t really hit the coastal region until tomorrow. 

Can’t say that we are particularly worried. After biking through Mexico, El Salvador, and even Arkansas without a problem, we’re just not real sure that two basically homeless people on bikes are going to be a big focus of the bad people. Nonetheless, we’ll make sure to travel only by daylight. We should be fine . . .