Ecuador 2022 - Cloudforest, Coast and Craters Tour - Day 7 - Chugchilan to Quito

Was it the last day already? Oh man, this went by too fast.  Even though we were pretty tired by now, I really hated to see this trip end.  Only the ride back into Quito today and turn the bike back in.  I had no expectation of how beautiful the journey would be.

Again our ample breakfast was included as our hosts pampered us to the very time we had to leave.  I wanted to make sure that we got back into Quito well before 5:00 when the traffic really gets bad. We had the option today of an off-road route but we elected to stay on pavement and I'm glad we did.

After many hugs from our hostess, we set out on the Sigchos Highway to make our way back down to the Pan American Highway for the last segment into Quito. In the map below, our starting point in Chugchilan is in the lower left corner and we followed the highway north and then east.  The route was three times as twisty as the squiggly line represents. Left and right and left and right.  It was unending. Up and down and again as well.  It was definitely the twistiest day on the road.

Despite being in such a mountainous area with literally no flat areas, there were fields of crops everywhere on the side of the mountains.  It was astonishing to see the farmers out working the fields by hand. No modern machinery. Just back breaking work.

We passed through the namesake village of Sigchos and made the turn east towards the Pan American.  Little did we know that we had another 13,000+ ft pass to climb before reaching the flatlands beyond. Just some pictures to illustrate the beauty of the area.

The Sigchos Highway. Absolutely spectacular. A great way to end the trip.

Landscape on the Sigchos Highway

Rio Chisulchi

On the climb up to the side of the Iliniza Sur Volcano

Once over the pass we traversed another high altitude plateau and slowly began to descend into the vast flat valley between the Ilniza Sur and the Cotopaxi Volcanoes.  Cotopaxi is the highest altitude active volcano in the world and is in an extremely active phase right now.  We were told to be aware of the status of Cotopaxi during our stay.

As we reached the flatlands the temperature moderated a bit and we cruised into Tanicuchi where we were routed through some very bumby back streets to a large industrial rose plantation.  Ecuador, it turns out, is the largest exporter of roses in South America.  Plantations are spread all over the area.  We pulled into the plantation and were welcomed into the visitors center.  The tour operator had included this tour as part of the package.  As you can imagine, the vast greenhouses were kept quite warm which made it uncomfortable to walk through in our heavy riding gear. But the aromas were amazing.  Our guide told how cut standards vary throughout the world.  What we see for "long stem" roses in the States are between 24 and 36 inches in length.  The Russian standard is 6 feet!  She explained how only a small percentage of roses are developed to include a scent. Most are designed with very little scent. Below are some snaps of the greenhouses, the sorting room and the shipping room.  It was a very nice break during the day.

After the excellent tour we saddled back up for the final push back into Quito.  The Pan American Highway at this point was 3 lanes each way and was very much like an Interstate, except for the line of vendors parked on the roadsides selling anything imaginable.  It wasn't junky, just something that you would not expect to see.  A little over halfway to Quito we exited the Pan American onto the Simon Bolivar Avenue which led us towards downtown.  This area got quite busy even at 1:30 in the afternoon. As we neared the La Carolina area where our destination was, we were routed off onto the Avenue of the Conquistadors, the "old" highway into Quito.  This is a narrow, practically single lane road full of switchbacks climbing up a near vertical cliff.  It was also packed with traffic.  It wouldn't have been bad if there were no traffic, but this was miserable.  I was tired and could have done with bypassing this part of the route.

After topping off with some gas, we made our way back to the Freedom Bike Rental HQ to complete the tour.  It was difficult to grasp the finality of what we had experienced over the course of the week.  I couldn't have shared the experience with anyone else as I did with Karen.  She was a real trooper and was a great passenger.

The staff was excited to see us and the owner was visibly relieved to see that the bike was all in one piece.  I know that they were worried about the load the bike was going to carry, and frankly, so was I.  The bike was going out on another rental the following day so after we unloaded they wisked it away to the impressive workshop to do an oil and tire change along with a thorough clean up.  The big Suzuki performed flawlessly.

I was feeling rather funky so I took advantage of the shower at the shop to rinse off and change into street clothes.  We retrieve our luggage from storage and repacked for the journey home.  The rental company called a taxi driver that they knew and we said our thanks and goodbyes and headed off to our hotel near the airport.

I had used Hotels.com, as I normally do, to locate a hotel near the airport and found a Best Western Premier for a good price.  It was located in the suburb of Rincon which, at first glance, seemed to be on the impoverished side.  Our driver took a few wrong turns but finally was able to locate the hotel.  As before, the outside 8ft high walls didn't inspire confidence but once we walked through the gates we were again in a slice of paradise. Who know such an exquisite hotel was behind the walls. The gardens, the pool, the opulence was so unexpected and welcome.  I think I paid about $89.

After getting settled into our room, we wandered down to the restaurant for dinner.  And a dinner it was.  Arguably the best of the whole trip. Karen had a surf-n-turf plate and I had a meat lovers dream plate.

The restaurant had such interesting ceiling features that I had to walk around and snap some photos.

After exploring the hotel after dinner, we went back to the room for some final packing for the trip home.  This would be our 8th night in Ecuador. As had been our custom since arriving, we requested a fan for the room which the hotel staff delivered promptly.  I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Homeward bound tomorrow.